You Don't Need To Follow Me

[azspot]

Michael found questions irresistible. In his relentless pursuit of the answers to questions that other people might find remotely relevant or insufficiently urgent, he developed an encyclopedic, autodidactic knowledge of the history of global movements against exploitation and oppression, which made him uniquely adept at discussing international current affairs. His global political coverage was unparalleled, and his passing constitutes a serious blow to the project of left internationalism.

I Owe a Lot to Michael Brooks (via azspot)

[oo111111]

[politicalprof]

Maybe “cancel culture” isn’t the most dangerous thing in the world after all.

THIS is what fascism looks like. In America. Today.

[eowyntheavenger]

What have the protests accomplished?

5/26 4 officers fired for murdering George Floyd 5/27 Charges dropped for Kenneth Walker (Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend, who police accused of killing her) 5/28 University of Minnesota cancels contract with police 5/28 3rd precinct police station neutralized by protesters 5/28 Minneapolis transit union refuses to bring police officers to protests or transport arrested protesters 5/29 Activists commandeer Minneapolis hotel to provide shelter to homeless 5/29 Former officer Chauvin arrested and charged with murder 5/29 Louisville Mayor suspends “no-knock” warrants 5/30 US Embassies across Africa condemn police murder of George Floyd 5/30 Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison takes over prosecution of the murdering officer 5/30 Transport Workers Union refuses to help NYPD transport arrests protesters 5/30 Maryland lawmakers forming work group on police reform, accountability 5/31 2 abusive officers fired for pulling a couple out of their car and tasing them - Atlanta, GA 6/1 Minneapolis public schools end contract with police 6/1 Confederate monument removed after being toppled by protesters - Birmingham, AL 6/1 CA prosecutors launch campaign to stop DAs from accepting police union money 6/1 Tulsa Mayor agrees to not renew Live PD contract 6/1 Louisville police chief fired after shooting of David Mcatee 6/1 Congress begins bipartisan push to cut off police access to military gear 6/1 Atlanta announces plans to create a task force and public database to track police brutality in metro Atlanta area 6/2 Minneapolis AFL-CIO calls for resignation of police union president Bob Kroll, a vocal white supremest 6/2 Pittsburgh transit union announces refusal to transport police officers or arrest protesters 6/2 Racist ex-mayor Frank Rizzo statue removed in Philadelphia 6/2 6 abusive officers charged for violence against residents and protesters - Atlanta, GA 6/2 Civil rights investigation of Minneapolis Police Dept launched 6/2 San Francisco resolution to prevent law enforcement from hiring officers with history of misconduct 6/2 Survey indicates that 64% of those polled are sympathetic to protesters, 47% disapprove of police handling of the protests, and 54% think the burning down of the Minneapolis police precinct was fully or partially justified 6/2 Trenton NJ announces policing reforms 6/2 Minneapolis City Council members consider disbanding the police 6/2 Confederate statue removed from Alexandria, VA 6/3 Officer fired for tweets promoting violence against protesters - Denver, CO 6/3 Walker Art Center and the Minneapolis Institute of Art cut ties with the MPD 6/3 Chauvin charges upgraded to second degree murder, remaining 3 officers also charged and taken into custody 6/3 Richmond VA Mayor Stoney announces RPD reform measures: establish “Marcus” alert for folks experiencing mental health crises, establish independent Citizen Review Board, an ordinance to remove Confederate monuments, and implement racial equity study 6/3 County commissioners deny proposal for $23 million expansion of Fulton County jail 6/3 Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board unanimously votes to sever ties with MPD 6/3 Seattle withdraws request to end federal oversight/consent decree of police department 6/3 Breonna Taylor’s case reopened 6/3 Louisville police department (Breonna Taylor’s murderers) will now be under review from an outside agency, which will include review on training, bias-free policing and accountability 6/3 Colorado lawmakers introduce a police reform bill that includes body cam laws, repealing the “fleeing felon” statute, and banning chokeholds 6/3 Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announces plans to reduce funding to police department by $150M and instead invest in minority communities 6/4 Virginia governor announces plans to remove Robert E. Lee statue from Richmond 6/4 Portland schools superintendent discontinues presence of armed police officers in schools 6/4 MBTA (Metro Boston) board orders that buses wont transport police to protests, or protesters to police 6/4 King County Labor Federation issues ultimatum to police unions: admit to and address racism in Seattle PD, or be removed 6/5 City of Minneapolis bans all chokeholds by police 6/5 Racist ex-mayor Hubbard statue removed - Dearborn, MI 6/5 NFL condemns racism and admits it should have listened to players’ protests 6/5 California Governor Gavin Newsom calls for statewide use-of-force standard made along with community leaders and ban on carotid holds 6/5 2 Buffalo officers suspended within a day of pushing 75 year old protester to the ground, and lying about it 6/5 2 NYPD officers suspended after videos of violence to protesters 6/5 The US Marines bans display of the Confederate flag 6/5 Dallas adopts a “duty to intervene” rule that requires officers to stop other cops who are engaging in excessive use of force 6/5 Dallas City Manager T.C. Broadnax releases an 11-point action plan for immediate police reforms 6/6 Statue of Confederate general Williams Carter Wickham torn down - Richmond, VA 6/6 2 Buffalo officers charged with second-degree assault for shoving elderly man 6/6 San Francisco Mayor London Breed announces effort to defund police and redirect funds to Black community 6/7 Frank Rizzo mural removed, to be replaced with new artwork - Philadelphia, PA 6/7 Minneapolis City Council members announce intent to disband the police department, invest in proven community-led public safety 6/7 Protesters in Bristol topple statue of slave trader Edward Colston, throw it in the river 6/7 NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio vows for the first time to cut funding for NYPD, redirect to social services 6/7 A Virginia police officer faces charges after using a stun gun on a black man 6/8 NY State Assembly passes the Eric Garner Anti-Chokehold Act 6/8 Democrats in Congress unveil a bill to rein in bias and excessive force in policing 6/8 Black lawmakers block a legislative session in Pennsylvania to demand action on police reform 6/8 France bans police use of chokeholds 6/8 Seattle council members join calls to defund police department 6/8 Boston reevaluates how it funds police department 6/8 Honolulu Police Commission nominees voice support for more transparency, reforms 6/8 Rights groups and Floyd’s family call for a UN inquiry into American policing and help with systemic police reform

No, it’s not enough, but this is only the beginning. Keep fighting!!!

(I adapted this list from this blog post and added sources and new entries. Please reblog with additions.)

[stitch-please]

I’ve been asking Husband to only give me good news lately. Here’s a great list for anyone else who needs something uplifting.

[monzterzack]

Please donate to this philippine organizations that are helping indigenous groups survive during the current pandemic

[mapsontheweb]

Australia’s hottest summer on record, maximum temperatures.

[cocainesocialist]

if you want a vision of the future picture fox news trying to own alexandria ocasio cortez with a graphic that says something like ‘foolishly thinks workers should have better lives’

[cocainesocialist]

[cecinestpasune2]

What they’re furious about is how the other staffers will see that it can be done and possibly revolt against the unfair pay they’re getting or just up and leave.

Which they should.  Staffers should revolt or leave, and underpaying congresspeople should be fucking scared.

They’re pocketing the money that they could be using to pay those staffers a decent wage, but damn, they want that fifth car and extra 20th vacation to cheat at golf and fuck kids in Thailand or some shit. 

It’s not about the principle, it’s about demonstrating that it can be done, successfully, and the idea spreading to us little people that we can rise up and take back what is already rightfully ours anyway.  Vive la revolution!  Madame Guillotine is thirsty for the blood of liars and pigs.

[spacefaring-kissboi]

I can’t get over what a righteous line “madame guillotine is thirsty for the blood of liars and pigs” is.

[beif0ngs]

pretty sure Klaus would never be able to win this argument with Ben

[progressivemillennial]

[azspot]

The Saudi government, which is soliciting bids for the nuclear reactors, reportedly spent more than $450,000 over a one-month period to lobby the Trump administration to approve its purchase of the equipment and services from U.S. sources. Westinghouse Electric Co. and other American companies are preparing to construct the facilities, which would allow Saudi Arabia to enrich and reprocess uranium. The secretive effort to give Saudi Arabia a nuclear capability is not only colossally stupid, but has been done without being reviewed by Congress, as required by law, and violates the Atomic Energy Act.

Chris Hedges (via azspot)

[blogging-phelddagrif]

controversial topics should be stuff like “is cloning good” or “should we fuck aliens” and not whether people deserve to be poor or deserve healthcare

[blipsterinsverige]

I have a son! My midwife had another delivery so was super late to me and so I was forced to have a natural no drugs home birth, Cos by time she got to my apartment at 5 am I was fully dilated 😬 Loooooooooool but damn he is worth it. His name is Onome Åke, Onome is Urhobo Nigerian and translates as ‘this is mine’. Åke after his Swedish great-grandpa who I love to bits. I’m super overwhelmed and incredibly happy, even if he takes more after the Viking than me smdh. 🙌🏾

[lazyexceptwhencooking]

CONGRATS!!!!!!!!!!

[stayingwoke]

Congratulations!!!

[iamaffscandallover]

[bussystuff]

Congratulations. God bless you and the baby

[everythingi-love-deactivated202]

Grattis till nedkomsten! 💐

[blipsterinsverige]

Tack så mycket!

[youdontneedtofollowme]

Not been on here a while but returning to say a huge congratulations to my good friend (and amazing artist) @blipsterinsverige and her Viking on the birth of their baby!

[youdontneedtofollowme]

We’re all Russian Bots now ... those 84 accounts caught us all and totally swung Brexit & 2016 US Presidential Elections and it was nothing to do with SCL or CA or UKIP/Farage/Johnson/Gove or Bannon/Trump/DNC/MSM

[art-tension]

10 Magical Paths Begging To Be Walked  

Roads and paths pervade our literature, poetry, artwork, linguistic expressions and music. Even photographers can’t keep their eyes (and lenses) off of a beautiful road or path, which is why we collected this list of 28 amazing photos of paths. Source: boredpanda

Autumn In The White Carpathians

Rhododendron Laden Path, Mount Rogers, Virginia, USA

Spring In Hallerbos Forest, Belgium

Autumn Path In Kyoto, Japan

Autumn Path

Bamboo Path In Kyoto, Japan

Hitachi Seaside Park Path In Japan

Dark Hedges In Ireland

Winter Forest Path, Czech Republic

Path Under Blooming Trees In Spring

[yourhoneylizblog]

oh my goodness

[nemomatic]

Case Study 2017 (74” x 48” x 33”) This piece evolved from observations made while watching my 3 year old son play with the steering wheel and radio buttons in our car. I told him “We can do better” and this is the result. The dizzying array of analog interface elements are equally engaging for children and adults.

Materials: Luggage trunk, X-Ray machine stand, meters, gauges, tubes, indicators, motors, aluminum, wall paper, LEDs.

[sandra-afrika-deactivated201910]

Concrete clickbait: next time you share a spomenik photo, think about what it means

Why these Yugoslav monuments deserve to be understood in context

Put the Serbo-Croatian word spomenik into Google Images, and you’ll find dozens of photos of large, seemingly abstract sculptures, of architectural scale, placed in fields, on mountains, and in woods. These are photographs – each of them numbered, thusly – “Spomenik #1”, “Spomenik #2”, and so forth, with locations, but nothing else – by the Belgian photographer Jan Kempenaers. They have been published in a book – of course, called Spomenik – and exhibited around the world.

Recently, in the Guardian, Joshua Surtees described them as follows. “Erected in tranquil fields in the middle of nowhere, Spomeniks – which means monuments in Serbo-Croatian – look like alien landings, crop circles or Pink Floyd album covers.” He continues: “Commissioned by Tito to commemorate Second World War battle sites, they tear down traditional ideas of what a war memorial should be. Tito asked leading architects of the Yugoslav cultural movement, such as Dušan Džamonja, to design them – the British equivalent would be Harold Wilson commissioning Henry Moore to create war memorials and dotting them all over Britain in the least-visited places.” Spomeniks have become a successful brand. However, almost none of the statements made above are true. And in several exhibitions, publications and actions, architects, artists and activists in the countries that once made up the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia have started to answer back.

anyway, anyone who’s seen and is interested in those ‘soviet’ monuments should read this