Memories of Mountain

My memories are foggy. Maybe you can help me remember better.

[memoriesofmountain]

On loving from afar, and on rejecting conquest

On the horizon, there are shadows of the mountains in the north. We can’t see clearly. Driving back from a city in the south, hundreds of kilometers away, the mountains are just shadows hidden behind the curvature of the earth or the smog of the city at the foot of the mountains. I wonder which one hurts me more in the future. The yearning for what is on the other side of the earth or having breathed the air that place for too long.

I am pulled toward those mountains. But not to conquer them. Climbing to the peak, putting a flag up, camping. None of these brings a fragment of love for the mountains. They are about humans, not nature. In a documentary - misleadingly - called “mountains,” it demonstrates and records attempts to conquer these vasts entities. It boasts about humanities strength and history of challenging itself for excellence and greatness. This depiction is not about mountains. It is not about the love of nature. It is about human conquest of them. It is a remnant of a white man’s burden, to demonstrate the greatness of a few men. What part of this conquest suggests a love of mountains? 

I don’t want to be close to that place so I can climb to the top of the mountain. Neither to breath the fresh air as we go above the city’s polluted air. My yearning is for the sight of those mounts. To be grounded by their sight. The comfort of knowing such places are timeless, comparing to my short lifetime. To see a metaphor of stability right in front of me. To be unmoving and unyielding. And to love like that. And to fight like that.      

[memoriesofmountain]

The alleyway

Once upon a time, I strolled through the familiar ally’s that would lead to the path going up the mountain. I recall a specific narrow street with brick walls on both sides, a wooden street lamp, electricity lines hanging up above, and a waterway going in the middle. I remember the sun was still just coming out of the east and the street was facing north. I don’t recall if my father was behind me or somewhere else. I just remember walking down this ally. I remember the freshness of the air and the excitement of hiking on a cool morning. Did I realize that was going to be the last time I walk that alleyway? 

[aljazeera-blog]

Iran is not a top destination for most tourists, but tour operators are hoping the country’s new president and government will give their industry, which has been underdeveloped for years, a higher priority.

In Iran, there are no shortage of world class tourist attractions, including a newly listed ancient palace.

Al Jazeera’s Soraya Lennie reports from Tehran.

[garconniere]

Cultural Appropriation: A conversation by Sanaa Hamid

This body of work is an exploration of the extent of cultural appropriation and encourages a discussion about it. I give the appropriator and the appropriated the opportunity to defend themselves and create a dialogue between them, while maintaining a neutral stance myself. I am not attacking those who appropriate, merely educating and creating awareness. Neutrality is key in this series, as i remove myself from my political and social status and opinions, stripping the problem to the most basic issue; taking an item that means a great deal to somebody and corrupting it.

[globalvoices]

[pritheworld]

Via globalvoices: ‘No’ to Homosexuality, ‘Yes’ to Child Marriage in Nigeria

[thesociologicalcinema]

Cultural Appropriation: A Photographic Journey to Explain Why You Should Wash Off the Warpaint and Put Down the Headdress. AND IT’S NOT JUST NATIVES THAT THINK YOU ARE BEING OFFENSIVE: “Centuries of Native Americans—as well as indigenous peoples all over the world—have suffered under dominating entities that tried to extinguish them—both physically (i.e., genocide) and culturally (i.e., the banning of traditional practices, such as the criminalization of the Lakota sun dance for most of the 20th century, residential schools in Canada until the 1970s, and so forth). So while it’s great that you can walk around feeling like hot shit in your feathered headband, there are many Native Americans still too ashamed or afraid to even discuss their ethnicits or cultures with their children. Many whose songs, languages, ceremonies and skills have been lost by force. Many who are so mired in poverty and depression and addiction and other forms of social strife that you might have more access to their traditional cultures than they do.” ~ Mimi Thi Nguyen SO KNOCK IT OFF ALREADY. Signed, Ashley Fairbanks

Follow this link for a video and brief analysis of cultural representation as a practice of domination.

[carlboygenius]

[yarrahs-life-deactivated2014090]

American History 101

[thatbloodredreaper]

truth. i honestly dont give a rats ass if you unfollow me for this. learn the truth, sometimes the truth hurts. 

[potestatemobscuri-archived-deac]

^

[boxlunches]

Reblogging for the gif about shrinking Native American territories. Just look at the huge difference between 1860 and 1870. In just ten years.

[globalvoices]

‘Dark Is Beautiful’ Campaign Questions India’s Skin Colour Prejudices

[globalvoices]

We live in a time when anyone may commit an act of journalism. The person who sets up a Facebook page to cover the hurricane hitting her community. The person who live-blogs a court case from start to finish. Each of these people is participating in journalism in ways we should protect and celebrate.

Chelsea Manning Case Surfaces Issues of Transparency, Security, Journalism, and Sexuality

(via globalvoices)

[antiracistresources]

No, Where Are You Really From? http://www.mixedheritagecenter.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1228&Itemid=27 My Jalapeño Blood http://www.racialicious.com/2012/07/03/my-jalapeno-blood/ Things Asians Hate [VIDEO] ...

[memoriesofmountain]

In many forums over the past decade, public intellectuals seem unable to talk about pressing social issues without performing the equivalent of an aca...

A very interesting read on intellectualism and academia. 

  "The impact of this development of market-driven knowledge is evident in how many professional intellectuals with an avowed social critical project write and present their work. Although it is important to engage valuable research in presenting matters for the public good, the reality is that some scholars function more like the knowledge equivalent of brand names than ideas. ... For example, the more mystifying knowledge capital becomes, the more linked is the relationship between the author and the product, making them one and the same and, since no one else is identical with the author and the brand, the reference point of the flow of profit becomes restricted. What this means is that the demand for the product becomes the demand for the author who has also become the product and, thus, an affirmation of market forces. ...consumers seeking right-wing, centrist or left-wing intellectual products have an array of public intellectuals and academics offering also their politics as grounds of their marketability. Under the right circumstances, one's politics sells."

[thisiscitylab]

"Florida criminals have a well-earned reputation as some of the strangest in the country, possibly the world. But as the Escambia County Sheriff’s Department demonstrated late last month, when it shot an unarmed man in his own driveway, it’s not just Florida perps who are out of line. A number of the state’s police and sheriff’s departments are every bit as notorious for employing weird, backwards, and even criminal Floridians.” 

Read: A Visitor’s Guide to Florida’s Most Notorious Law Enforcement Agencies

[pubhealth]

The Most Efficient Health Care Systems In The World

As supporters and opponents of the Affordable Care Act debate the best way to overhaul a clearly broken health care system, it’s perhaps helpful to put American medicine in a global perspective.

The infographic below is based on a recent Bloomberg ranking of the most efficient countries for health care, and highlights enormous gap between the soaring cost of treatment in the U.S. and its quality and effectiveness. To paraphrase Ricky Ricardo, the American health care system has a lot of ‘splainin’ to do.

It’s remarkable how low America places in health care efficiency: among the 48 countries included in the Bloomberg study, the U.S. ranks 46th, outpacing just Serbia and Brazil. Once that sinks in, try this one on for size: the U.S. ranks worse than China, Algeria, and Iran.

But the sheer numbers are really what’s humbling about this list: the U.S. ranks second in health care cost per capita ($8,608), only to be outspent by Switzerland ($9,121) — which, for the record, boasts a top-10 health care system in terms of efficiency. Furthermore, the U.S. is tops in terms of health care cost relative to GDP, with 17.2 percent of the country’s wealth spent on medical care for every American.

In other words, the world’s richest country spends more of its money on health care while getting less than almost every other nation in return.

(From The Huffington Post)

[breakingnews]

Kerry: Syrian first responders test positive for Sarin

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told NBC’s “Meet the Press” this morning that samples collected by first responders after the reported Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack in Syria have tested positive for the nerve agent Sarin. Read more from NBC News.

[globalvoices]

An Arab giving a Syrian child a pamphlet on how to protect herself from chemical weapons. The child responds by giving the Arab a pamphlet on how to live with dignity.

A Lesson on Dignity from Syria

[memoriesofmountain]

Forgiveness in War: Aisha Ahmad at TEDxUofT

One of the most inspiring TED talks I have ever seen. It has a very powerful message. For those working in conflict resolution and humanitarian efforts, this is an everyday reality. This is something that we can apply to our daily lives as well. Although I have to admit, it would take extraordinary effort to be able to calm that much suffering and despair. 

Aisha Ahmad is an Assistant Professor in Political Science at the University of Toronto. She is also the Chief Operating Officer of the Dr. Hawa Abdi Foundation, and internationally renowned non-governmental organization that provides emergency relief in Somalia. Aisha recently completed her PhD at McGill University, and was a former research Fellow in the International Security Program and Initiative on Religion in International Affairs at the Belfer Centre for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School. Her work explores the political economy of state failure and state formation in the Muslim world, with a particular focus on the local business community in failed states. Aisha has conducted extensive field research in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kenya and Somalia over the course of several years.

[memoriesofmountain]

Why are Buddhist monks attacking Muslims?

A very interesting analysis of the situation in Burma and Sri Lanka. It's a little old, but the situation have not improved significantly. 

"Christian crusaders, Islamist militants, or the leaders of "freedom-loving nations", all justify what they see as necessary violence in the name of a higher good. Buddhist rulers and monks have been no exception."