Let the Storm RaJohn

Sideblogs:awainadwam.tumblr.com: My lanskip photos & Deep Style pics obscureoldscotspoems.tumblr.com: Bits of Scots poetry & Scots language stuff What I mainly do with this blog: Reblog stuff John • 39 • Scottish Highlands • Aspergers/Autistic • The cold never bothered me anyway

[gaelicinternet]

What it’s like being black in the Scottish Gaelic community | gal-dem

In Scottish Gaelic, to ask where someone is from you ask Cò às a tha thu? – which roughly translates as who are your people?

tha an liuthad de shàmhachdan ann an saoghal na Gàidhlig, a thaobh eachdraidh is a thaobh coimhearsnachd an latha an-diugh — an liuthad de dh’obair chruaidh agus anabarrach cudromach ri dèanamh againn uile, luchd-labhairt geal na Gàidhlig, a’ tòiseachadh le bhith ag aithneachadh agus ag ainmeachadh gilead saoghal na Gàidhlig.

there are so many silences in the Gaelic world, about history and about the contemporary community — so much difficult but extremely important work for all of us, white Gaelic-speakers, to do, beginning with recognizing and naming the whiteness of the Gaelic world.

[whitepeopletwitter]

[cheeseanonioncrisps]

God, I remember when I started sixth form (last two years of high school in the UK, seen as a more university style learning environment) and the teachers kept complaining about how quiet we were during lessons.

We wouldn’t talk. They’d tell us to do something and we’d just sit there quietly and do it, until eventually they just said “hey, guys, it’s okay to chat while you work!” and then everybody would start talking.

One teacher described it as creepy.

And I just remember thinking, what the fuck did they expect to happen? We’d all been taught from the age of four or five onwards that talking in class was bad. That if we did it, we’d be told off, or punished, or in some instances maybe the entire class would be punished along with us, just to make sure we really got the idea. It was a whole thing.

But now, because we were sixth-formers and therefore ‘grown ups’, we were suddenly expected to flip a switch and be able to talk as much as we liked? The whole reason we were in sixth-form was because we had worked hard, done well at school, and generally followed the rules— but still the teachers couldn’t understand why we didn’t just talk to each other.

Now I’m at uni, and seminar tutors are having a similar problem. People will talk in seminars, but a lot of them will insist on raising their hands and waiting to be called upon first. “Don’t put your hands up, just shout at me!” the guy keeps saying. But they keep doing it anyway.

Like, I really don’t know how to tell these people that you can’t train somebody to act in one way for over half their lives, and then suddenly expect them to start acting differently just because the expectations have changed.

[cursedobjects]

Ive spent five years in university and every single professior would always say: the education system is outdated/incorrect/misaligned and genuinely shit. Think about it, what jobs do you listen to what you are told and not to disobey orders: usually retail and industrial jobs. Which is what this system was designed for. Mordern jobs require thought, innovation, creativity, discussion; all things our system discards.

[wilwheaton]

CPB and ICE are among the most aggressively politicized branches of federal law enforcement and heavily supportive of the President’s policies. They are also accustomed to and indeed trained to deal with people with few civil or political rights and little ability to invoke the few rights they have. The specific officers deployed in support of FPS aren’t even regular CBP and ICE officers. They’re the immigration equivalent of SWAT teams. The acting head of CBP openly says they won’t wear name tags or numbers because this would allegedly put them and their families at risk from Antifa. In other words, they’re explicitly invoking the Antifa hysteria one sees on Fox News and right wing media to justify what are commonly understood as secret police tactics.

Cuccinelli: Totally Legal and Totally Cool How CPB and ICE Now Control Your City

CPB and ICE are Turmp’s secret police. Fascism is thriving in America, thanks to Republicans.

(via wilwheaton)

[oh-glasgow]

Alright, Edinburgh, you finally did something good.

[mysharona1987]

[scavengedluxury]

Survivors mark 25th anniversary of Srebrenica massacre

Far fewer people than usual attend commemoration events in Bosnia due to coronavirus

On the anniversary of Srebrenica, it’s worth remembering that Boris Johnson wrote in the Spectator in 1997:  ‘the fate of Srebrenica was appalling. But they weren’t exactly angels, these Muslims.’

It’s also worth remembering the libel trial between LM Magazine (then the magazine of the British Revolutionary Communist Party, now known as far right/libertarian media outlet Spiked), and ITN News. LM claimed that the Guardian’s Ed Vulliamy and ITN’s Penny Marshall, journalists who had witnessed in person the Serb concentration camps in Trnopolje in Bosnia, had “deliberately misrepresented” what was going on at the camps. The jury found unanimously against LM and awarded the maximum damages, bankrupting them. Nevertheless, the LM journalists who lied about the ITN reports still work in the mainstream UK media today as if nothing ever happened, for example Mick Hume, who continues to write for The Times and The Sun. Is this cancel culture?

[workingclasshistory]

On this day, 11 July 1981, it was rumoured that fascists were planning to attack Asian communities in Bradford, England, so members of the United Black Youth League, which included Asian and Black members, decided to organise defence of the community and assembled a cache of petrol bombs. It occurred against a background of repeated racist attacks and firebombings. Police found the Molotovs, and 12 young Asian men were arrested and charged - the Bradford 12. Following a big campaign in their defence, they were all acquitted on the basis that their actions amounted to community self defence. Learn more in our podcast with one of the defendants, Tariq Mehmood: https://workingclasshistory.com/2019/09/18/e28-29-asian-youth-movements-in-bradford/ https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1472396776278801/?type=3

[fandomsandfeminism]

Full time work should entitle someone to enough pay for rent, food, bills, and leisure activities. Full time work for a full life wage. You put in your 8 hours a day, 5 days a week? You should be able to afford the basic shit you need in life, no matter where you work.

[rainydayshea]

pisses me off that this is considered a radical statement.

[ew--gross]

I do agree with this but from economic standpoint if you are working at a job like McDonalds as someone flipping burgers and making fries you are getting paid for the amount of skill needed for the job. But if its any other job that requires you to have an actual skill that you can make a career out of then yeah you should be getting paid enough to live a standard life.

[geekandmisandry]

If you work FULL TIME you should be able to afford to fucking live. No, it doesn’t matter if it’s flipping burgers, these people contribute to our fucking economy and they MATTER. They should be allowed to be alive.

Jesus fucking Christ do you people hear yourselves?

[janothar]

People like this are why we can’t move on to issues like reducing how many hours is full time, or working out UBI. We’re going to need to do that. Most people just don’t know what’s coming down the pipeline, without a major change to the structure of the economy, we’re looking at large scale permanent unemployment, even in the “skilled” labor force.

[tikkunolamorgtfo]

Also? Making food is a fucking skill. Running a fast food kitchen is a fucking skill. Operating a drive-thru is a goddamn fucking skill.

I do not know how to do these things. I have a masters degree and I have no fucking clue how to operate a deep fryer or make coffee drinks. I’d probably not be very good at it, because that kind of hands-on, fast-paced work is very hard for me.

But thankfully, there are people who are good at it, so I can do my job, and they can do theirs, and we can benefit one another by putting our skills to use in different areas. People who work in fast food are not less deserving of comfort and security in their lives just because their skills aren’t valued like they should be. That is a myth developed to deprive people of rights.

[goodness-gracious-great-balls-of]

My friend works as a medical assistant and I’ve worked at McDonald’s and Starbucks. You know there’s a lot of things you gotta learn in this typa job?

Like in addition to it being physically demanding (standing up for 4-6 hours straight, carrying heavy ice/coffee, constantly getting burned by boiling water and an oven, a lot of reaching and squatting (like a lot a lot I lost 40 FUCKING pounds in a year okay this job demands a lot from the body)), there are actual skills required. Also your skin splits from using so much antibacterial soap.

Do you know what temperature different foods have to be to prevent contamination? If it’s a “cold” or “hot” plate?? Do You know how long food can be out before bacterial contamination can happen?? Do you know the difference between say 1% and heavy whipping cream? Can you teach a chemistry class using milk????? That’s p much what you gotta learn to be able to do. My friend who works as a medic was surprised, because I do more in my day than they do, and THEY told me that. They were shocked how much I actually do; I am on my feet more, talking to more people, I have a working knowledge of food germs food born illnesses and chemistry, I gotta do the same shit with sterilizing my tools the same exact way a doctor sterilizes theirs. Etc etc.

There’s no such thing as an unskilled job. There are only undervalued skills.

[tikkunolamorgtfo]

“There’s no such thing as an unskilled job. There are only undervalued skills.”

[sapphictv]

Hannah Gadsby, “Douglas” (Now on Netflix)

[mysharona1987]

[spooky-catboy-angel]

the third poster is actually the funniest fucking thing and it cheered me up way more than the first two so mission accomplished

[mysharona1987]

Mike Pence’s new press Secretary.

[chaos-and-cookies]

Sure would be a shame if this got spread around and he lost his job 💅🏽

[julilentille]

Weber State professor resigns after "abhorrent" tweets

Weber State University says they are investigating criminal justice professor for tweets he is alleged to have made during protests and civi

He was ordered to resign. 💅🏻

[buckythelittlepuppy]

[starrynight0612]

OMG I live around there. I am beyond grateful I chose not to attend Weber's Criminal Justice program.

[starrynight0612]

Guys,he rescinded his resignation and I am physically sick by the amount of support I've seen in my community (I live in Utah) that he is receiving because a man "shouldn't be fired over having an opinion."

"He was just emotional......Haven't you said things in anger....Freedom of speech.....what he said was wrong but you shouldn't be fired over an opinion......Hes a great teacher."

He's a damn criminal justice professor! How is any minority supposed to feel safe going into his class?

I just...Ahhhh! My screams aren't loud enough to convey how angry I get being a BLM supporter in a state that has an extremely small black population outside of Salt Lake City (still really small). I have had to bear so many "All Lives Matter" speeches and pro-police from my husbands family and ugh. My mental health is being taxed.

[massacre-girlypop]

Cannot stress how bad this is. I live in Utah as well and if people are protecting a man like this, we are in an extensively bad position.

[chaos-and-cookies]

Hey can u guys start reblogging this version and the other ones where they say they TOOK BACK his resignation and hes WORKING again. OUR WORK HERE ISNT OVER YET WE GOTTA MAKE THIS COLLEGE EAT SHIT FOR PUTTING SO MANY STUDENTS AT RISK.

[nativenews]

[ess-main]

[image id: a series of 5 tweets; all except the last are by @/stevenspohn. the last is by @/LoveAndShalom. they state as follows: 

tweet 1: “On June 11th, Michael Hickson, a quadriplegic black man with COVID-19 was killed by a hospital in Austin Texas. Doctors decided he had “no quality of life” and was not worth spending the resources to save. The conversation between his doctor and his wife was caught on audio 1/?”

tweet 2: 

“Doctor: So as of right now, his quality of life -- he doesn’t have much of one.

Melissa: What do you mean? Because he’s paralyzed with a brain injury he doesn’t have quality of life?

Doctor: Correct.

Hickson was refused food or treatment for 6 days”

tweet 3: “In the YouTube video, the doctor can be heard saying ‘he will have lines and tubes coming out of his body... That’s not a quality-of-life’ I have tubes coming out of my body. I happen to like my life. Without those tubes I’d be dead. Our definition of quality is vastly different” 

tweet 4: “So, when you see me repeatedly yelling about masks, paying attention to disabled people, and you don’t understand why I tweet with passion, remember this. I’m fighting to change culture that doesn’t see disabled life as quality. Many of us are afraid and rightfully so.” 

tweet 5: “Please, please, please don’t sweep this under the rug. Your disabled friends are in danger. We must unite and fight this!” end id.]

[closet-keys]

Black Disabled Lives Matter

[ayeforscotland]

Funny that British historians who compare the SNP to the Nazis turn out to be the most racist pieces of shit alive.

[ayeforscotland]

Speaking on Brexit Britain’s favourite young Tory cunt’s (Darren Grimes) podcast or whatever, historian David Starkey said:

“Slavery was not genocide, otherwise there wouldn’t be so many damn blacks in Africa or in Britain, would there?”

What a piece of shit.

[harriyanna-deactivated20221223]

since my writing post was received pretty well, i though i’d make other, to give some insight on the racism in the film industry and why it’s still a big problem now as it was in the past. 

[ayeforscotland]

Hello! I really want to learn Scots, but ugh, life. So, for now I’m collecting songs in Scots, especially with different dialects and accents, in the hopes that it’ll at least help me get past the “my ears hate my brain” issue. If you find yourself with time and energy, do you happen to have any music recs, of literally any genre? (I like to ask people, bc I end up with a lot of cool stuff I’d never find on my own.)

If you don’t mind I’ll open the floor to everyone, I’m sure there will be some great suggestions.

[letthestormrajohn]

There’s Hamish Imlach (1940-1996) , a folk singer who represented the Glesca patter in his songs.

The Corries? Would not recommend! Simply on the basis of their racist cover of Scotland the Brave. Seriously, fuck them for that. “Oh! The absurd indignity of having to share our once-proud country with funny foreigners in turbans and ‘wee fat Jews (sic)’ — but when we get independence we’ll sort all that shite out! Wha’s like us, eh? Ho-ho!”— The whole sentiment in that song really goes to something smug and rotten in the historic and ongoing Scottish national character that we’re needing to take a long, hard look at. Okay, so, that was a rant.

And of course there’s the Proclaimers, you’ll know about them. Their song Scotland’s Story is pretty much the opposite of the song I mentioned above.

Also, not a song, but look for Liz Lochhead’s short poem Kidspoem/Bairnsang. YouTube is your friend here.

[fuckyesfeminist]

Average size mannequin with average size woman.

[powertripenterprises]

The problem, in one picture.

[doshicryptid]

I never realized until seeing this picture that my interpretation of an average size woman has become REALLY SKEWED oh my god I wanna cry

[foreignpussy-deactivated2015062]

best picture ive reblogged in a while.

[feminismandmedia]

I’ve been struggling with my body image recently because I’ve gained a lot more weight… and this is so helpful to me because I think my image has been skewed by a lot of mannequins in stores. 

[gramjams]

Boost the fuck out of this post. The fashion industry has a lot to answer for in making women feel so shitty about their bodies. Curves are beautiful ♥️