#and i dont have That much annotating to do in those as opposed to the arcane ascension ones

[earlyspringtranscendence]

ik im talking a lot abt the books im reading rn (this is due to the fact that after eons of not having the time or energy i am once again reading books) but theydies i can happily announce that after 2 unsuccessful weapons and wielders books soulbrand has truly captured my enamoration once again i’m kissing keras lovingly and tenderly (the only way to kiss him)

[radthursdays]

#RadThursdays Roundup 08/10/2017

This week's edition of #RadThursdays is now CUTE ANIMAL FACTS. YOU HAVE BEEN SUBSCRIBED TO CUTE ANIMAL FACTS.

CAT FACT: Cats spend at least two-thirds of their lives asleep.

A tweet by @catsu contains three pictures of a black cat with huge green eyes and tiny ears, sticking out their tiny pink tongue. The cat looks like a huge, fluffy lump. Source.

Poetry

“The Orphan Performs An Autopsy On The National Anthem” By Donte Collins: "you / proud. we / fight. / we / red / bursting in / the night. / our flag was / the land."

Poetic License: Lyric annotations on Genius divorce meaning from black sound: "In the Genius environment, music along with language must be standardized to the brand. That imperative becomes a problem when applied to entire genres of music predicated on bucking standardized language and sonic respectability. If the lyrics on the page fail to reflect the music in our ears, what are the epistemological limits to knowing the music in our ears through the lyrics on the page? This question and its implication — a mismatch between what’s heard and what’s known — threatens to unsettle the entire ethos of the Genius project, which, for now, persists as a mission to disambiguate black musical production. Can Genius ’tate the world if it (still) cannot grasp the black voice?"

DOG FACT: Dogs prefer to poop in alignment with the earth's magnetic field.

Two images, side by side: On the left, a cute grey and white pitbull waits expectantly to be adopted. On the right, the same pitbull lies on the floor looking very happy, having been adopted. Source.

Politics

Cogito Zero Sum: “I think, therefore I am entitled to my opinion”—isn't helpful: "It is only through such an understanding of how we treat opinions and identity that we can even begin to make sense of the seemingly infinite cases where people who hold certain political opinions and beliefs genuinely feel like they’re being oppressed when others argue against those opinions. While this may seem like ridiculous hyperbole, it actually makes sense in the warped political culture we have, where all of my opinions (ranging from personal taste to expertise) are bundled together as the expression of who I truly am inside and out. […] At the collective level, the implications of this linking of opinion to selfhood are obvious—we’re living through them. Dangerous and stupid opinions are 'normalized' and given an equal footing with others that have substantiated themselves through some agreed-upon criteria of legitimacy. Fringe groups with violent goals feel emboldened by their growing acceptance in the mainstream. People all over become more and more alien to one another as we all harden into stubborn, fixed kernels, retreating ever farther into our skull-shaped cages of self."

Pleasure Won: A Conversation with Lauren Berlant: "I’m also interested in thinking about politics as comedic, by which I don’t mean delightful or funny in the easy Schadenfreude sense. I’m interested in the comedic dictum, which is that disturbance doesn’t kill you, it forces you to live on. The thing about trauma, as I always say to my [Literature of] Trauma students, is that it doesn’t kill you and you have to live with it. And that’s the thing about comedy, too. The comedy is that you get up again after you fall off the cliff, and have to keep moving. You have to live with the brokenness, and you have to live with surprise, and you have to live with contingency. And you have to live with the pleasure of not knowing, if you can bear it. But how you have to live with it is another story. Comedy is a lot about the question of whether you can bear it, in a way that tragedy isn’t. Because in tragedy the world can’t bear you."

COW FACT: Cows can hold a grudge for years against animals who have crossed them.

A brown and white cow and a black and white cat share a tender moment, their faces touching. Source.

Life and Death

[CW: flashing lights and images, discussions of suicide] Dancing towards the light: "For Nunavut youth, dancing has become a way to keep suicide at bay. ᓄᓇᕗᒻᒥ ᒪᒃᑯᒃᑐᓄᑦ, ᒧᒥᕐᓂᖅ ᐃᑲᔪᕐᓂᖃᖅᐳᖅ ᐃᓅᓯᕐᒧᑦ ᑭᐱᓯᑎᑦᓯᑦᑕᐃᓕᓂᕐᒧᑦ."

[CW: description of murder] Necrocapitalism, Or, THE VALUE OF BLACK DEATH by Kwame Holmes: "Much in the same way that taxation, welfare and military service produce (however coerced) citizenship and national belonging, the real estate market demands its own form of tribute as a condition of the distribution of equity and retirement income. In that sense, the housing market wields a kind of sovereignty over American life, assigning positive value and the right to live to those populations who contribute to its strength and longevity, and demanding the expulsion—to the point of death to those who threaten the same. What we face, in short, is necrocapitalism. […] There may have been a time when we could say that markets quantify our desires and reflect them back to us. But our coevolution with capitalism has progressed beyond that sort of linear, direct relationship. Now to oppose the devaluation of blackness is to oppose how markets assess value itself. Perhaps then, the only way to break free from a necrocapitalist order is to demand a society that rejects any coherent system of value assessment."

RACCOON FACT: Raccoons can run up to 15 miles per hour.

A small raccoon hides behind a rock on a person’s porch to get away from the sound of fireworks. Source.

Feminism

Pretty Unnecessary: Taking Beauty Out of Body Positivity: "If we insist on the primacy of beauty, doesn’t that give the word 'ugly' even more power to cause us harm?"

“Empowering” my ass: "There’s money to be made in marketing products as inherently 'empowering' instead of as tools women can use to fix problems society tells them they have. Makeup is no longer a way of covering up blemishes, but instead a tool of self-expression. Gym memberships and activewear aren’t for losing weight, but for gaining strength. Bath bombs, spa treatments, and manicures aren’t occasional indulgences; they’re an empowering form of self-care. The messaging has changed, but the purpose remains the same: Companies want you to buy their shit, and they’re happy to trick you into thinking consumerism is a form of self-expression to do so."

GOAT FACT: Goats have rectangular pupils, which allow them to see 320-340 degrees in their periphery.

A white goat lies down and rests their head on a pink stuffed pig, a peaceful expression on their face. Source.

Issues

The Pity of Okja: Okja critiques affective labor—but it nonetheless relies on its effects to market animal rights. "Despite Bong Joon-ho’s representation of human agents as grotesque, naïve, or marginal, Okja’s narrative reinforces a world order in which animals, machines, and animal-machines matter because they’re made by humans for humans. They even look, act, and feel like us."

Why Asian Americans Refuse to Be a Wedge in the War on Affirmative Action: "Affirmative action opened the door to higher education for the pan-Asian community in the aftermath of the Chinese Exclusion Act—which was in force from 1882 to 1943—and Japanese American internment during World War II, at a time when systemic racism barred our grandparents and parents from accessing a better life for themselves. Now more than ever, when 12% of Asian Americans in the U.S. live in poverty and more than a quarter of Asian New Yorkers live below the poverty line, we must remember that our community as a whole made advances through affirmative action programs. Most of us have succeeded because of admissions policies that took our race, class, and unique experiences as immigrants and children of immigrants into consideration."

FISH FACT: The ocean sunfish is the largest bony fish, also holding the record for largest vertebrate growth. An ocean sunfish will grow nearly 60 million times their size, from a larvae 0.1 inch in length to a mature adult up to 14 feet fin-to-fin.

A school of huge, pale ocean sunfish swim beneath the water's surface. Source.

Direct Action Item

Have the human animals around you been a bit too much recently? Consider spending time with some non-human ones!

CAT FACT: Cats can jump about six times their length in height.

A tweet by @EmrgencyKittens says "RT to pass along for good luck" above a picture of a peaceful white cat relaxing in the sun, a four leaf clover delicately placed on their forehead. Source.

If there’s something you’d like to see in next week’s #RT, please send us a message.

In solidarity!

What is direct action? Direct action means doing things yourself instead of petitioning authorities or relying on external institutions. It means taking matters into your own hands and not waiting to be empowered, because you are already powerful. A “direct action item” is a way to put your beliefs into practice every week.