#same river

[fieriframes]

[I'M HERE IN TIVERTON, RHODE ISLAND, ON THE NANNAQUAKET POND THOUGH ONE CANNOT STEP TWICE INTO THE SAME RIVER. NOW THAT'S A MOUTHFUL, BUT THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT YOU'RE GONNA GET--]

[fieriframes]

[AND SINCE PIRATES STOPPED TROLLING BUT ONE CANNOT STEP TWICE INTO THE SAME RIVER, SMALLEY HAS FOUND A NEW WAY TO WREAK SOME HAVOC...]

[catskewl]

Same River, Twice: Putin’s War on Women by Sofi Oksanen – review

This harrowing study of the Russian leader’s weaponising of sexual violence argues that misogyny goes hand in hand with imperialism

Oksanen describes herself as a post-colonial writer. East Europeans went through totalitarianism twice – first with the Nazis, and then for nearly half a century, under the Soviets, she says. Typically, though, the experiences of those who lived behind the iron curtain “do not find a place” in the west’s cultural consciousness. Without a reckoning of Russia’s“colonial” crimes, where the present echoes the lurid past, justice is impossible, she thinks.

Same River, Twice is thoughtful, instructive and deeply harrowing. Today’s anti-Kyiv Kremlin rhetoric has deep historical roots, she points out. Stalin demonised the Estonians and other rebellious ethnic groups as “fascists” – an enemy within. The state film industry in Moscow cast actors from the Baltic Soviet republics in the role of Nazis or American spies. Under communism, “fascist” became a synonym for non-Russians.

In the run-up to his Ukraine attack Putin reactivated this “dehumanising and racist” language. Russia’s president said his “special military operation” was necessary to free Kyiv from “neo-Nazis”. The claim is absurd. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is Jewish. Most of his male relatives perished during the second world war fighting against German invaders. Zelenskyy’s defence minister is a Muslim Tatar from Crimea.

The book makes a compelling case that misogyny and imperialism are linked. At the same time as killing Ukrainians, Putin has rolled up women’s rights within Russia. In 2017 the pro-Kremlin Duma effectively legalised domestic abuse. Russia’s patriarch argued that criminal sanctions for men who hit women amounted to foreign interference. There was, one female deputy argued, nothing wrong with a mere “slap”.

Putin’s regime likes to portray itself as bastion of conservative Christian Orthodoxy. It has restricted the rights of sexual minorities and denigrates feminists as terrorists and extremists. “Russia is a classic example of a patriarchal authoritarian state,” Oksanen says. In contrast to Baltic and Nordic countries, where talented female politicians become president or prime minister, women are mostly absent from the top levels of Russian political life.

[nonesuchrecords]

Pat Metheny has released “Same River,” a new track from his forthcoming album, From This Place, due February 21 on Nonesuch. This follows the release of the album tracks "Wide and Far," “America Undefined,” and "You Are."

[quotesoccasionally]

You cannot step into the same river twice.

Heraclitus

[motherf-ckingbearshark]

For when you next have tumblr access! Cynth: 15, Matt: 18, Nadia: 18, Blade: 8 :D

15, Cynth, How might they be ignorant or prejudiced?Cynth is from a pretty wealthy background and has a lot of ignorance on how people are affected by poverty even within her society. She has a lot of prejudice against people working for and within corrupt branches of the government and fails to recognise that some people might not have much of a choice. She will carelessly blow a lot of money on fast cars and bail fees and is constantly surprised to see other people struggling.

18, Nadia, Are they ever a pushover about something? If so, how?Nadia will do ANYTHING for her sisters. Bake a small mountain of cake for their birthday, play laser tag with her face painted like a lizard, lie on the living room floor so they can wrestle over her stomach. She almost dropped out of uni a week in because they said on Skype that they missed her and asked when she was coming home.

18, Matt, Are they ever a pushover about something? If so, how?Matt is incapable of not helping people whether that is his mum after a serious incident, any number of friends needing a space to crash and a new identity or a semi-broken robot who may or may not have recently committed a murder. He will pretend to be all stoic and ‘I have my own problems’ but one flash of the big sad eyes or the vaguest attempt at a sob story and he will fold like a house of cards.

8, Blade, What mistake(s) do they continue to make/have not learned from?Other than always falling for the wrong girl, I’m not sure. Blade stepping up and overcoming her mistakes is kind of a theme of her story. Even the whole 'sleeping with the wrong girl and also the queen’ thing kind of worked out for her in the end ;)

[riverortiz]

I don’t have to meet this dude for like another two hours down at the docks, I thought being a drug dealer was supposed to be exciting?

[witabif]

speaking of my dad, when i visited them besides the isolation (which isn’t actually that, but i live in the suburbs and they can drive out of their development and right into a fucking field), the temporary home that my dad and step-mom are staying in until their actual house gets built was like... so thin? it felt like a condo. but it was also like, really... bare. both in terms of furniture (sorta) and energetically speaking.

like i can’t wait for them to move honestly b/c i was very uncomfortable in that house. it felt flimsy and i felt very exposed the entire time and couldn’t do anything about it b/c i was away from all of my things. i assume the new house won’t feel like this by default, but my step-mom has started collecting minerals so that might help too.