#heritage activist

[scotianostra]

Ishbel MacAskill often referred to as The Gaelic Diva passed away on March 31st 2011.

Ishbel was born in my hometown of Loanhead on the outskirts of Edinburgh in 1941 and was put up for adoption. Her adoptive Parents, Allan and Christina MacIver, natives of Broker, Isle of Lewis. When she was 12, she moved with her family to Stornoway, the Island’s capital, where she attended the Nicolson Institute.

Her numerous radio and television performances and countless world-wide live appearances established her position as probably one of the best internationally-known Gaelic singers.

Ishbel’s singing took her to venues throughout the UK, Ireland, Europe, Asia, Canada, USA and Australia. Her recordings are always in demand at home and abroad and significantly, sell to people who have never before heard the Gaelic language. Whether her audience was Gaelic speaking or not her English introductions to these centuries old songs of love, war, sea and landscape, exile and life itself made each one a memorable experience.

Her profound respect for the tradition was gently balanced by a humorous irreverence in her witty observations on the reality of Highland life and culture. Ishbel was deeply motivated by the rich beauty of her heritage of Gaelic music and poetry. She was especially moved by the intensely emotive quality of the poetry and, through her unique delivery, managed to convey to her audiences a feeling of involvement in the colourful history and culture of the Gael.

Here is Ishbel singing Gradh Geal Mo Chridh (Fair Love Of My Heart)

'N àm bhith cromadh ris a'ghleann Thàinig snaidhm air mo chridh' Bho nach d'thug thu dhomh do làmh 'S mi'n dùil nach fhàgadh tu mi

[Curfá] Bheir mi ò hu o hò Bheir mi ò hu o hì Bheir mi ò hu o hò 'S mi fo bhròn 's tu gam dhìth

Dhèanainn trabhadh dhuit is buan Chumainn suas thu gun dith Bheirinn as a' ghreabhal chruaidh Do mo luaidh teachd an tìr

[Curfá]

Ged nach eil sinn fhathast pòsd' Tha mi'n dòchas gum bi Fhad' 's a mhaireas mo dhà dhòrn Cha bhith lòn oirnn a dhìth

[Curfá]

Dh'fhàg thu sìlteach mo shùil Dh'fhàg thu tùrsach mo chridh' Dh'fhàg thu tana-glas mo shnuadh 'S thug thu ghruag bhàrr mo chìnn

[Curfá]

English Translation:

Bheir mi ò hu ò hò I am sorrowful without your company

Many nights wet and cold I took a trip all by myself Until I reached the place Where was my heart’s fair love

Chorus (after each verse): Bheir mi ò hu ò hò Bheir mi ò hu ò hì Bheir mi ò hu ò hò I am sorrowful without your company

I would plough and reap for you I would keep you unfailingly I would like to take from the hard gravel A livelihood for my love

Although we are not yet married I hope we will be As long as I have my two hands We will want for nothing

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

You might assume that Dr. Anthony Fauci, after 54 years working at the National Institutes of Health and helping save countless lives, has retired so he can rest. However, Dr. Fauci doesn’t have time to retire.

Last month, Fauci joined Georgetown University School of Medicine’s Department of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases as a Distinguished Professor. He was also appointed to the university’s McCourt School of Public Policy.

“I’ve also been busy lecturing and writing my memoir, and since I’ve been out of the NIH for seven months, I’m not following the ins and outs of the government, but I am paying attention to what’s going on with PEPFAR,” he tells me.

PEPFAR is the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which was signed into law 20 years ago this summer by President George W. Bush. It serves as a conduit to providing HIV medications to individuals in impoverished nations who would otherwise lack access to these drugs.

When I spoke to Fauci a couple years ago on the 40th anniversary of the discovery of HIV, he cited the opportunity to be the architect of the program as one of his greatest achievements. "It is the largest commitment by any nation to address a single disease in history," he told me. "It's been an honor to help lead this. I really value my participation in this program that has already saved 15-18 million (in 2021) lives around the world."

“PEPFAR impact has been truly remarkable,” Fauci told me during our phone call Friday evening. "It is one of this country’s greatest global health policies in history. It’s been a resounding success, and has saved at least 25 million lives worldwide and it provides antiretroviral treatments for over 20 million people worldwide.”

However, groundless claims from anti-abortion activists have put the program in jeopardy. Conservative and anti-abortion groups sent a letter to Republicans in Congress who are responsible for PEPFAR’s reauthorization. The letter said that PEPFAR funds are “used by nongovernmental organizations that promote abortions and push a radical gender ideology abroad.” They provided no evidence to back their claim.

Also, the ultra-conservative Heritage Foundation released a report that said Congress needs to “reassess” PEPFAR. The report claimed, “The Biden Administration has misused the program as a well-funded vehicle to promote its domestic radical social agenda overseas, as it has done with other foreign aid programs.” This so-called report also did not provide any proof.

As a result, Republicans in Congress are threatening not to reauthorize the program.

“The idea that this program would be interrupted, despite its overwhelming success, is unfortunate,” Fauci said. “There’s a real danger to associate the program with cultural issues as opposed to scientific ones that clearly show PEPFAR is saving lives.”

“It seems paradoxical that abortion rights groups who fight for life want to interfere with a program that has saved millions of lives,” Fauci pointed out. “If the program doesn’t function, lives aren’t saved, millions of them.”

Instead of castigating the program, shouldn't these groups, as well as all Americans, be celebrating the 20th anniversary of this milestone? “What’s ironic is that it was signed into law by a conservative Republican President, and it is without question George W. Bush’s greatest achievement. It took years to put together, in a bipartisan way, and it is one of the world’s signature global health initiatives. The thought of it not being authorized is not only dangerous, but disastrous.”

[adelphiaxo]

yall, we need to talk about the heritage foundation and its project 2025.

the heritage foundation is dangerous, and is going to have significant impact on the government. it's a long term initiative to make the us as conservative as possible, aka make america a fascist state. they have a policy agenda that would help their conservative beliefs.

what they are trying to do is simply minimizing the people in the government administration to mainly conservatives and right winged activists. this way, the people who are in power will enforce laws that reflect conservative principles, which include limited individual liberty, free markets, and a strong national defense. it also involves training and recruiting conservative activists to work in the government.

2025 is coming in two years, and it is already becoming a threat to basic human rights and the american government. the project is based on a narrow ideological view of the world, and it does not take into account the needs of all americans.

if you read till the end, please, reblog this post, like, and/or spread the word.

thank you all <3, adelphi signing out

here is the website linked to project 2025, and their 180 day playbook: https://www.heritage.org/conservatism/commentary/project-2025 https://thf_media.s3.amazonaws.com/project2025/2025_MandateForLeadership_FULL.pdf

[akaessi]

reading an article that uses the phrase "linguistic rights as human rights," and damn if that isn't the exact thing I want to explore and study in my life !!

so excited!

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Christian Heritage Month Cancelled by PRIDE Month Activists

by Rod Lampard | A Californian County has cancelled its newly minted American Christian History Month after complaints from left-wing activists. El Dorado supervisors unanimously rescinded the daring 18 July proclamation, one month after adopting and authorising their chair to proclaim the month-long observation in a 4-1 vote…

Link: https://caldronpool.com/christian-heritage-month-cancelled-by-pride-month-activists/

[stupid-sloot-headcanons]

Kind of amazed at the reveal that Ichiban's mom is apparently a mixed Japanese and indigenous Hawaiian woman, bc I've always hc he was mixed race. Unless the game reveals that she lied about her heritage or something, I'm just pleasantly surprised that Ichiban being mixed is canon

[probablyasocialecologist]

Palestine Action ruined a 1914 painting by Philip Alexius de László inside Trinity College, University of Cambridge of Lord Arthur James Balfour – the colonial administrator and signatory of the Balfour Declaration [1]. An activist slashed the homage and sprayed the artwork with red paint, symbolising the bloodshed of the Palestinian people since the Balfour Declaration was issued in 1917.  Arthur Balfour, then UK Foreign secretary, issued a declaration which promised to build “a national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine, where the majority of the indigenous population were not Jewish [2]. He gave away the Palestinians homeland — a land that wasn’t his to give away.   After the Declaration, until 1948, the British burnt down indigenous villages to prepare the way; with this came arbitrary killings, arrests, torture, sexual violence including rape against women and men, the use of human shields and the introduction of home demolitions as collective punishment to repress Palestinian resistance [3] [4]. The British were initiating the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, fulfilling the Zionist aim to build their ‘home’ over the top of what were Palestinian communities, towns, villages, farms and ancestral land, rich in heritage, culture and ancient archeological history [5]. The Palestinians refer to this time as the Nakba — which translates into the great catastrophe. In 1948, the Zionist militia, trained by the British, forced over 750,000 Palestinians into exile, destroyed over 500 villages and forced those who remained to live under a brutal reign of occupation [6].

[uvmagazine]

Civil Rights Pioneer Constance Motley Honored With USPS Stamp

Civil rights pioneer Constance Baker Motley will be honored with the 47th USPS stamp as part of their Black Heritage series.

The 47th stamp of the USPS Black Heritage series will honor civil rights pioneer Constance Baker Motley.

USPS stamp for Constance Baker Motley

Motley was a civil rights activist  and the first African American woman to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court and the first to serve as a federal judge.

A dedication ceremony will take place Wednesday, January 31, at the Constance Baker Motley…

[t-jfh]

Nirvana Talukder, aged 16 years, helped lead the latest School Strike 4 Climate rally in Sydney.

‘It’s giving people more power’

The School Strike 4 Climate protests were sparked by Greta Thunberg's lone protest in Sweden back in 2018.

(Supplied: School Strike 4 Climate, Marcus Coblyn)

A duty of care

Anjali Sharma, aged 16, has sued the federal government over alleged climate inaction and lobbied in the halls of Canberra’s Parliament House for stronger climate laws.

“Don’t push us aside … we have real environmental and existential fears.”

Alongside Sharma lobbying in parliament this week was 22-year-old April Harrison.

She was just eight years old when the Black Saturday fires tore through her community of Kinglake, 56 kilometres north-east of Melbourne, in 2009.

Walled in by fire, she was forced to shelter in her house along with three of her siblings, as their dad fought the fire outside.

They survived, but many others in her community tragically did not. Of the 173 people who died on that terrible day, 120 were from the Kinglake area, leaving scars that will last generations.

A global movement

April Harrison says attending the School Strike 4 Climate in Melbourne made her feel less alone. (Supplied: School Strike 4 Climate)

Ditching school for a day — to save the planet.

‘It’s not just me’: How an idea to ditch school sparked a global climate movement that’s giving kids hope.

From the streets, to the courts, to the halls of parliament, the youth climate movement continues to knock on the doors of power.

By the climate team’s Michael Slezak and Jess Davis

ABC News - 18 November, 2023

•

[astraystayyh]

Israel doesn't want to repopulate Gaza, you loveable dummy

Seriously, find one Israeli on this site who'll say otherwise. And no, quoting Ben Gvir doesn't count (assuming you even know who that is) anymore than quoting, say, Rudy Giuliani would count for anything, even though he supposedly spoke for the president of the USA for a time.

Hamas has 136 hostages. Including women, and actual literal babies, assuming they're still alive, that is. This could all have ended weeks ago if they'd fucking returned them. Israeli society would physically march on Benjamin Netanyahu's home and remove him in a coup if the hostages were returned tonight. But as long as they have Israeli people, and are unwilling to negotiate their return, that's an ongoing war crime. Is Israel evil for being a bull in a China shop trying to get back a "mere" 136 innocent civilians? Maybe. But Hamas started this and they can end it, they just don't want to. Please, justify that.

Hello, since you asked for one Israeli, here, I'll give you multiple statements:

Hundreds of activists at an Ashdod gathering in late November called for the reestablishing of Jewish settlements. “Let it be known that you support the appeal to renew Jewish settlement throughout all of the Gaza Strip. The nation is waiting for you”— Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council.

Israel “should fully occupy the Gaza Strip”— Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party.

An Israeli real estate firm pushes to build settlements for Israelis in Gaza. “Wake up, a beach house is not a dream” reads the ad.

Israeli Knesset member Limor Son Har Melech posted a video of herself in a boat with other settlers off the coast of Gaza. “Settlement in every part of the Gaza Strip … A large, extensive settlement without fear, without hesitation, without humiliation. This land is the land that the creator of the world gave to us.”

Israeli Settler, Daniella Weiss says Palestinians who live in Gaza, have no right to stay in Gaza.

An Israeli soldier saying that Israelis should start “investing” in Khan Younis.

Also why would the words of Ben Gvir not count? He is an elected minister, his words hold weight and they expose Israel’s clear intent to make Gaza inhabitable for Palestinians so that Israelis could settle in there— by destroying the infrastructures, making the health system collapse entirely, bombing entire residential neighborhood, Israel is trying to ensure that Palestinians wouldn't be able to return back to their land, because there is nothing livable left there.

And I'm glad you bring up all of this ending if the hostages were returned— Hamas tried to strike up a deal for the return of ALL the hostages, in exchange of the release of all Palestinian prisoners. Israel refused. You know why? Because this has never been about hostages and their safety for Israel.

There is a reason why Israel shot its own hostages when it mistook them for Palestinian civilians, waving a white cloth. There is a reason why the IDF called to shoot indiscriminately on Oct. 7, knowing that it could kill some of the hostages too. Because Israel wants to kill Palestinians, to "thin out its population" (or maybe we shouldn't take into account the says and actions of Netanyahu too ://). This is why it targets schools and mosques and hospitals and ambulances and refugee camps. Israel knows that if it does get all its hostages back, then there would be nothing to “justify” its genocide in Gaza (although, as UN Secretary-General said : "Nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people. The humanitarian situation in Gaza is beyond words")

Israel is the only reason why the hostages aren't fred yet. THEY are unwilling to negotiate the return because they don't want to stop this genocide. What good is a five days ceasefire only for the bombings to return? Do you even realize how psychologically traumatizing it is to have a countdown of when your massacre would resume? The only acceptable deal is for Israel to establish a permanent ceasefire, something that it refuses to do. The only one to blame is Israel.

And you say Israelis would instigate a coup to oust Netanyahu, that's nice, then what? Will you return the land to its rightful people? Will you give back Palestinians their rights unequivocally? Will you call for the dismantlement of Israel that was built on massacres? The reason why Israelis are angry at Netanyahu is rooted in the unresolved hostage situation. Just because you don't support Netanyahu doesn't mean that you aren't a zionist who finds the murder of more than twenty thousands Palestinians justifiable. A young girl had her leg amputated with no anesthesia on the kitchen counter of her home and you talk about “Israel being a bull in a China shop”? You consider the targeted attacks on civilians as careless actions by Israel? It actually astonishes me how inhumane some of you can be.

And here is what Dr. Refaat, who was targeted and murdered by the IDF btw, had to say about this matter:

Whether it's Netanyahu or someone else, it does not matter because Israel as a whole is an occupation, one built on the bloodshed of palestinians.

And it is funny how you choose to distort history whichever way you like it, to regard October 7th as an isolated instance that happened out of the blue. Hamas didn't start anything, Hamas was created in response to the indiscriminate and careless shooting of palestinian civilians in the first Intifada, that was decades ago. October 7th was a resistance to an ongoing colonization, Israel started this when it displaced and murdered palestinians on 1948. None of this would've happened if Israel did not colonize Palestine. It has been 100 days of this ongoing genocide, wake up and stop deluding yourself into a reality where Israel is the victim.

[fullhalalalchemist]

URGENT: Congress about to pass a mass censorship and surveillance bill under the guise of "protecting children"

May 13 2023

The Senate has been in a "do something!" mode regarding children's online safety. They're using this as an excuse to push for widespread internet censorship and surveillance. The EARN IT Act, has a slimmer chance of passing with widespread opposition and some senators saying they won't vote for it. TLDR;The real threat is actually KOSA (s.1409), the Kid's Online Safety Act, which will mass censor and surveill the entire internet by giving all 50 state attorney generals the power to remove content that is "harmful" for kids, and force you to upload your govt ID online to access the internet. I'll explain how it works below the action items but it's absolutely urgent that anyone who likes having a free and open internet fights back. It's all hands on deck, because this has so much public support it's insane:

HOW TO FIGHT KOSA

CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES & THE COMMERCE COMMITTEE

This is a link to the Senate Commerce Committee phone numbers and a call script to read off of. (202) 224-3121 connects you to the congressional hotline

Opposition is getting drowned, and these upcoming weeks will be heavy for lobbying and they're using young people to do it. We NEED to show these senators that young people are actually opposed to this and don't want it.

2. Sign these petitions

Open Letter Against KOSA

Petition 1

Petition 2

Petition 3

Petition 4

Resistbot: Text PHJDYH to 50409

3. Spread the word.

The opposition is getting absolutely drowned online. Dove has nearly 100k signatures to push for KOSA. Influencers on tiktok are pushing for this without ever having read the bill. Fucking Lizzo is sponsoring it. If you have twitter, reddit, tiktok, are in any community, SPREAD THE WORD, PLEASE.

Here is a linktree with all the above petitions for easy shargin: Link to linktree

HOW KOSA WORKS

First, KOSA pressures platforms to install filters that would wipe the net of anything deemed “inappropriate” for minors. This means instructing platforms to censor. We saw how these filters impacted websites firsthand with tumblr in 2018, with not only blocking all adult content but also sfw queer content such as suicide hotlines, art archives, wiping out entire blogs because they had queer fandom related posts, etc. Places that already use content filters have restricted important information about suicide prevention and LGBTQ+ support groups. KOSA would spread this kind of censorship to every corner of the internet. And who gets to decide what is and isn't harmful for minors? Oh don't worry, just every single state attorney general and the FTC, which is appointed by the president. You know, the same attorney generals that just banned gender-affirming healthcare under the guise that it "ruins mental health" of minors. This is why the Heritage Foundation was one of the first to sponsor the bill because they can use it to censor trans content, and Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee is it's co-author.

Second, KOSA would ramp up the online surveillance of all internet users by forcing websites to use age verification and parental monitoring tools. Yup, that's right. Now every single person who wants to access the internet has to upload their govt ID online to third party apps that get hacked all the time. You queer in a red state? You undocumented? You an activist? Have fun getting all your online activity and metadata attached to your govt ID.  

Over 90+ human and LGBT rights groups agree that KOSA is dangerous and updates to the 2023 version won’t and can’t address the big problems with the bill. This bill has MASSIVE bipartisan support, and the authors Blumenthal and Blackburn (yes, that Blumenthal that's pushing the EARN IT Act, and who also sponsored the RESTRICT Act and SOPA/PIPA if you remember) are using the tragedy of mothers who lost their kids to online harassment and young adults who've been traumatized online to lobby for it, and got Dove the company to use a bunch of influencers to push for this under the guise it prevents eating disorders...I wish I was lying. There are already 30 co-sponsors.

It is all hands on deck. I'm dead serious when I say if this bill is passed it is the beginning if not end of the open and free internet.

[sayruq]

Just days after US Army Major Harrison Mann resigned, the Biden administration has been hit with another major resignation, this time Lily Greenberg Call, special assistant to the Chief of Staff

An interior department staffer on Wednesday became the first Jewish political appointee to publicly resign in protest of US support for Israel’s war in Gaza.Lily Greenberg Call, a special assistant to the chief of staff in the interior department, accused Joe Biden of using Jews to justify US policy in the conflict. Call had worked for the presidential campaigns of both Biden and Kamala Harris, and was a longtime activist and advocate for Israel in Washington and elsewhere before joining the government. She is at least the fifth mid- or senior-level administration staffer to make public their resignation in protest of the Biden administration’s military and diplomatic support of the now seven-month Israeli war against Hamas. She is the second political appointee to do so, after an education department official of Palestinian heritage resigned in January.Her resignation letter described her excitement at joining an administration that she believed shared much of her vision for the country. “However, I can no longer in good conscience continue to represent this administration,” she wrote. In an interview with the Associated Press, Call pointed to comments by Biden, including at a White House Hanukkah event where he said “Were there no Israel, there wouldn’t be a Jew in the world who was safe” and at an event at Washington’s Holocaust Memorial last week in which he said the 7 October Hamas-led attacks that triggered the war were driven by an “ancient desire to wipe out the Jewish people”. “He is making Jews the face of the American war machine. And that is so deeply wrong,” she said, noting that ancestors of hers were killed by “state-sponsored violence”.

The resignation letter:

[fairuzfan]

Joint statement by Wikimedia organizations and individuals regarding the ongoing situation in Palestine, 7 April 2024

We, the undersigned Wikimedia groups and individuals, express deep concern over the ongoing Israel-created humanitarian crisis facing the Palestinian population, particularly the widespread loss of life, infrastructure devastation, and severe food shortages in the Gaza Strip. We express profound concern for the safety and well-being of Wikimedia and allied movement activists within the besieged Palestinian territory. Ensuring the safety and well-being of individuals behind the realm of free knowledge is paramount; knowledge cannot truly be free if it comes at the expense of human safety and security.

In the words of the late Reverend Desmond Tutu, "If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor." In alignment with our commitment to uphold human dignity and justice, we firmly advocate for peace and equitable resolution.

In a demonstration of solidarity, some of the undersigned groups have adopted the colors of the Palestinian flag within the respective logos, following the initiative of the Arabic Wikipedia community to symbolize support following the December 2023 day of action.

We urge all Wikimedia groups, affiliates, allies, and volunteers to unite in solidarity with humanity and demand an immediate and lasting ceasefire to halt the tragic loss of life and destruction of Palestinian cultural heritage. Furthermore, we call upon the Wikimedia Foundation to take proactive measures to ensure the safety of volunteers, communities, partners and knowledge and memory institutions from Palestine contributing to the dissemination of knowledge.

We urgently request the Wikimedia Foundation to prioritize the unbiased dissemination of information and the accurate and timely documentation of the ongoing human-made humanitarian disaster and the erasure of cultural heritage. Additionally, we take this opportunity to underscore the importance of global support for enhancing Palestinian content across all Wikipedia projects.

[reasonsforhope]

"Discarded shells from restaurants and hotels are being used to restore damaged oyster ecosystems, promote biodiversity and lower pollution in the city’s bays...

Nestled in between the South China Sea and the Pearl River Delta, Hong Kong has been seen historically as an oyster hotspot. “They have been supporting our livelihood since ancient times,” says Anniqa Law Chung-kiu, a project manager at the Nature Conservancy (TNC) in Hong Kong. “Both oysters and their shells are treasures to humans.”

Over the past five decades, however, the city’s sprawling urban development, water pollution, as well as the over-harvesting and frequent seafloor dredging by the lime industry – which uses the crushed shells to make construction material – have destroyed Hong Kong’s oyster habitats and made the waters less hospitable for biodiversity.

The more oyster colonies falter, the worse the problem gets: oysters are filter feeders and purify water by gobbling up impurities. Just one Hong Kong oyster can filter up to 200 litres of water a day, more than any other known oyster species. But decades of rapid industrialisation have largely halted their water-purifying services.

The depletion of Hong Kong’s natural oyster reefs also affects the ability of local farmers to sustainably cultivate their oysters in a healthy environment, denting the reputation of the city’s 700-year oyster farming tradition, designated by Unesco as an “intangible cultural heritage”.

Inhabitants of the coast feel abandoned, says Ken Cheng Wai-kwan, the community leader of Ha Pak Nai on Hong Kong’s Deep Bay, facing the commercial city of Shenzhen in China. “This place is forgotten,” Cheng says. “Oysters have been rooted here for over 400 years. I ask the question: do we want to lose it, or not?”

A group of activists and scientists are taking up the challenge by collecting discarded oyster shells and recycling them to rebuild some of the reefs that have been destroyed and forgotten in the hope the oysters may make a comeback. They’ve selected locations around the island where data they’ve collected suggests ecosystems still have the potential to be rebooted, and there are still enough oyster larvae to recolonise and repopulate reefs. Ideally, this will have a positive effect on local biodiversity as a whole, and farming communities.

Farmers from Ha Pak Nai were among the first to hand over their discarded shells to the TNC team for recycling. Law’s team works with eight oyster farmers from Deep Bay to recycle up to 10 tonnes of shells every year [over 22,000 pounds]. They collect an average of 870kg every week [over 1,900 pounds] from 12 hotels, supermarkets, clubhouses and seafood restaurants in the city, including some of its most fashionable establishments. About 80 tonnes of shells [over 176,000 pounds] have been recycled since the project began in 2020.

Restaurants will soon be further incentivised to recycle the shells when Hong Kong introduces a new fee for waste removal – something that is routine in many countries, but only became law in Hong Kong in July and remains controversial...

Preliminary data shows some of the restored reefs have started to increase the levels of biodiversity, but more research is needed to determine to what extent they are contributing to the filtering of the water, says Law.

Scientists from the City University of Hong Kong are also looking to use oyster shells to increase biodiversity on the city’s concrete seawalls. They hope to provide tiny, wet shelter spots around the seawall in which organisms can find refuge during low tide.

“It’s a form of soft engineering, like a nature-based solution,” says Charlene Lai, a research assistant on the team."

-via The Guardian, December 22, 2023

[decolonize-the-left]

Everyone asks what I read and truth be told I learned a lot of politics through experience and listening to Black revolutionaries.

There is nothing- nothing- that I say on my blog that Malcom X or James Baldwin or Frantz Fanon or Thomas Sankara or Frederick Douglass didn't say first (and much more eloquently)

Further, their words have given me the tools to think critically about not just my place, but everyone else's and what we owe each other.

I myself, wouldn't have a Lot of the politics I do had I not been exposed to the ideas they talked about with such knowledge and experience. Whether it was by following activists or looking up things up or learning about them myself, they're influential and I would even say foundational to decolonization and dismantling white supremacy.

My usual recs are Wretched of the Earth and Braiding Sweetgrass, but those are just starters since people just usually ask where to begin.

So I wanted to make this post and for them to be Very Much credited for the following I have and my politics since I don't often mention them.

For example, I talk a lot about how the comfort of the privileged is an obstacle that stems directly from their privilege. How libs who only conditionally support peaceful protests don't understand what's necessary; that challenging the status quo can't be done comfortably and it's never been "peaceful" for the oppressing classes. How it's detrimental to progress to compromise on how we fight for our rights and to have been liberals telling us we demand too much.

Frederick Douglass:

Frantz Fanon:

Privileges multiply and corruption triumphs…Today the vultures are too numerous and too voracious in proportion to the lean spoils of the national wealth. The party, a true instrument of power in the hands of the bourgeoisie, reinforces the machine, and ensures that the people are hemmed in and immobilised.

Thomas Sankara:

Malcom X:

James Baldwin:

In a way, I owe the invitation to the incredible, abysmal, and really cowardly obtuseness of white liberals. Whether in private debate or in public, any attempt I made to explain how the Black Muslim movement came about, and how it has achieved such force, was met with a blankness that revealed the little connection that the liberals' attitudes have with their perceptions or their lives, or even their knowledge—revealed, in fact, that they could deal with the Negro as a symbol or a victim but had no sense of him as a man.

Bonus MLK Jr quote:

Over the last few years many Negroes have felt that their most troublesome adversary was not the obvious bigot of the Ku Klux Klan or the John Birch Society, but the white liberal who is more devoted to “order” than to justice, who prefers tranquillity to equality. In a sense the white liberal has been victimized with some of the same ambivalence that has been a constant part of our national heritage. Even in areas where liberals have great influence— labor unions, schools, churches and politics—the situation of the Negro is not much better than in areas where they are not dominant. This is why many liberals have fallen into the trap of seeing integration in merely aesthetic terms, where a token number of Negroes adds color to a white-dominated power structure."

Whether your medium is a PDF, a book, movie, clips, quotes, podcast, whatever. However you digest info easiest: learn about them and their words. Think about them. Talk about it and process it with friends.

That's how you shape your politics to be similar to the ones you find on my blog.

[simmerkate]

XTRA Interactions v2

If you have the older version of this mod please remove and replace with this one :) introducing the latest update to XTRA Interactions v2 for The Sims 4, now with positive and negative buffs for each interaction outcome, each with a 50/50 chance of occurring! Embrace the unpredictability of social dynamics as your Sims navigate through a diverse array of conversations, where every choice carries the potential for both positive and negative effects.

Foodies Talk (Pie Menu):  Your sim has to have the foodie trait

Engage in culinary discussions and experience the flavorful consequences. While sharing insights on "Discuss Food Documentaries" might leave your Sims feeling enlightened, debating on "Washing Chicken" could leave a lingering sense of uncertainty.

Discuss Food Documentaries:

Positive Buff: Food Cravings

Negative Buff: Food Guilt

Suggest the Perfect Wine:

Positive Buff: Wine Connoisseur

Negative Buff: Wine Snobbery

Swap Kitchen Disasters:

Positive Buff: Culinary Friends

Negative Buff: Cooking Frustration

Talk about Favorite Restaurants:

Positive Buff: Culinary Enthusiasm

Negative Buff: Dining Disappointment

Tell about Family Recipes:

Positive Buff: Heritage Connection

Negative Buff: Family Recipe Disrespect

Debate on Washing Chicken:

Positive Buff: Chicken Tips

Negative Buff: Wash Your Goddamn Chicken!!

Activism (Pie Menu):

Stand up for what you believe in and face the repercussions. Embracing "Female Empowerment" could empower your Sim with confidence, while discussions on "Social Justice" might stir up feelings of frustration.

Female Empowerment:

Positive Buff: Empowered Sisterhood

Negative Buff: Gender Bias Awareness

Stand Up Against Gender Inequality:

Positive Buff: Equality Advocate

Negative Buff: Gender Stereotype Pressure

Talk About the Living Crisis:

Positive Buff: Empathy Activist

Negative Buff: Crisis Fatigue

Talk about Social Justice:

Positive Buff: Social Justice Warrior

Negative Buff: Activist Burnout

Discuss Animal Rights:

Positive Buff: Animal Advocate

Negative Buff: More People Needed

Body Positivity Conversation:

Positive Buff: Self-Love Boost

Negative Buff: Struggling with Body Image

Health & Wellness (Pie Menu):

Nurture your Sims' well-being and explore the balance between mind, body, and soul. Engaging in "Mindfulness" might bring a sense of tranquility, but discussions about "Mental Health" could trigger feelings of vulnerability.

Discuss Fitness Classes:

Positive Buff: Fitness Community

Negative Buff: Fitness Comparison

Engage in Mindfulness:

Positive Buff: Mindful Serenity

Negative Buff: Mindless Distraction

Share Self-Care Tips:

Positive Buff: Self-Care Boost

Negative Buff: Self-Care Struggle

Share Skincare Routines:

Positive Buff: Glowing Complexion

Negative Buff: Skin Troubles

Talk About Mental Health:

Positive Buff: Feeling Supported

Negative Buff: Emotional Turmoil

There is a few Extra Interactions too : Indulge in the drama and mischief, but beware of the consequences. "Spill The Tea" could lead to a sense of camaraderie with friends, while "Throwing Shade" might result in strained relationships. There is all updated icons too.

Experience the ebb and flow of social interactions like never before with Xtra Interactions v2. Explore the nuanced dynamics of conversation, where every choice carries the potential for both positive and negative outcomes. Will your Sims rise above the challenges or succumb to the pitfalls of social interaction? It's time to find out in The Sims 4!

Patreon (xx) ad-free