#like water it's used to communicate an internal change but the ways it differs from water is that it usually occurs at the end of a

[blackhholes]

teen wolf meme: [3/5] motifs -> resurrection

It's different now. I think dying did something to him. It did something to me, too. But none of it was good.

[sophieinwonderland]

The Plurality of... Avatar: The Last Airbender

Major Spoilers For Avatar: The Last Airbender ahead! And minor spoilers of related properties.

Water. Earth. Fire. Air. Long ago, the four nations lived in harmony. Then everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements could stop them. But when the world needed him most, he vanished.

Welcome to the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender. A world where some people are born with the gift of bending, an ancient art that allows them to control one of the four elements. But only one. Even if they came from parents who were different types of benders, each bender only gets a single element.

But there exists a single exception to this rule. The Avatar. The one person in the world who can master all four elements.

But we're not here to talk about the Avatar's cool bending powers. We're here today to talk about…

The Plurality of The Avatar

Plurality: A state of multiple self-conscious agents, or "headmates," sharing a single body.

The Avatar isn't merely a jack of all trades bender. Simply knowing how to use the four elements is only a small part of their toolbelt. And perhaps one of the least important. Despite the series placing a strong focus on the need to master all four elements, perhaps the actual most important thing about the Avatar is that they reincarnate and are connected with their past selves.

This allows each Avatar to speak to and learn from the experiences of past avatars. This is most prominent in what's called the Avatar State, a sort of super form where their eyes (and downvotes) glow as they channel the skills and abilities of all the past avatars through them.

(Art by @joeyscomics)

Aang's avatar state is a sort of blending of the avatars without a distinct identity of its own.

Additionally, there were also a couple instances through the show where Aang, the current avatar, switches into other avatars.

During the season 1 mid-season finale, The Winter Solstice, Aang first contacts Avatar Roku, his firebending predecessor. Trapped in a temple with no way out, a group stands outside the door prepared to strike as soon as the avatar steps through. They expect to see a small child walk through the doors. But what they see instead is Avatar Roku.

Once the enemies have been defeated and fled, Roku turns back into an exhausted Aang, who drops to his knees.

In season 2, this happens again with Aang switching into avatar Kyoshi. Again, sure to spirit magic, Aang physically transforms into Kyoshi.

(Obviously, real plurals don't physically transform, as cool as that would be. But spirits in the avatar universe do have shape-changing capabilities, being able to alter both their own forms and the forms of others. There are many examples in Legend of Korra and the comics, but one big one we see in A:TLA is Koh The Face Stealer, who as you can guess, steals people's faces, physically transforming their bodies. Simply put, we can accept the Avatar Spirit as having the ability to naturally shapeshift.)

So there's the basics of the Avatar's plurality. We have multiple people sharing a body. We have system-like internal communication. We have switching. And we even have a state that could be best described as blendy.

In the plural community, a system that's formed from past lives is sometimes called Fenigenic or Phoenigenic, drawing its name from the phoenix; The mythical bird that dies and is reborn from its ashes.

From Pluralpedia:

Fenigenic is a system origin that describes systems who formed from past lives in some way. They may believe they left their past life and were reborn again as a system, came into the system from a past life into the body (causing plurality), were a system in a past life and were reborn again with the same one, and/or various other scenarios. This is an intentionally broad label that can describe many different experiences.

With these established facts, without a doubt, the avatar would qualify as a Pheonigenic system.

But I want to delve even deeper. Because at its core, Avatar: The Last Airbender isn't just a story about a kid who happens to be plural. It's a story about plurality. It's a story about dissociation. About connecting with and building connections with parts of yourself. And about taking responsibility for those parts, even when you aren't actually them. And all of this is what make the series so fascinating from a plural perspective!

The Avatar State as a "Self-Defense Mechanism"

At the beginning of season 2, Aang enters the avatar state while scared of losing his friends, and talks to Roku again. Roku explains to Aang what the avatar state is.

The Avatar State is a defense mechanism, designed to empower you with the skill and knowledge of all the past Avatars. The glow is the combination of all your past lives focusing their energy through your body. In the Avatar State, you're at your most powerful... but you are also at your most vulnerable.

At this point, Aang learns that if he dies in the Avatar State, the cycle breaks and the avatar will never reincarnate again.

Let's take another look at that wording though. "The Avatar State is a defense mechanism." It's a word choice that you wouldn't expect to find in a fantasy cartoon. "Defense mechanisms" are more a psychological term, having their origins in psychoanalysis.

Why does this matter?

Because the avatar state, at its core, is a dissociative state. And dissociation has often been described as a defense mechanism itself. From Wikipedia:

In mild cases, dissociation can be regarded as a coping mechanism or defense mechanism in seeking to master, minimize or tolerate stress – including boredom or conflict.

And later when talking about traumamatic dissociation, it goes on to explain:

Symptoms of dissociation resulting from trauma may include depersonalization, psychological numbing, disengagement, or amnesia regarding the events of the abuse. It has been hypothesized that dissociation may provide a temporarily effective defense mechanism in cases of severe trauma; however, in the long term, dissociation is associated with decreased psychological functioning and adjustment.

What's interesting about the avatar state is that, while there are some times Aang goes into the Avatar State to protect himself, often he enters it as a response to stress in general.

The first couple times we see Aang go into the Avatar State, it's to physically protect himself. Once to freeze himself. Then again to fight Zuko. But the next time he enters the Avatar State, there's no danger. There's no need to use it.

This is when he's at the Southern Air Temple, and sees his old friend Monk Gyatsu. It's when he really learns and has to process that he's the last airbender and everyone he ever knew is dead.

Aang doesn't use the avatar state as a physical defense mechanism here. Rather, he enters the avatar state as a psychological defense mechanism.

It takes over because he's disengaging. He just learned something traumatic and he can't come to terms with it. He shuts down, and his friends have to reach him through the pain.

This becomes a pretty common theme throughout the series from then on. Sometimes, it's the physical danger that causes him to transform. But other times, he's triggered into this state by his friends being in danger, or from losing Appa.

Time and time again, we see the Avatar State as being triggered by extreme mental stress more often than by any sort of physical stress.

A big part of Aang's journey though the series then becomes learning to master the Avatar State and the dissociation that comes with it. To take control of it instead of letting it control him.

Avatar's Take on System Responsibility

"System responsibility" is the concept in the plural community that if one headmate does something, then the entire system of headmates is responsible for it. Some feel this is unfair, but for practicality, it makes sense. If someone steals something, then obviously you can't send only one headmate to prison. So a big part of being plural ends up having to accept that if someone else you share a body with does something wrong, even if you don't agree with it or don't even remember it, you're responsible for it.

And Avatar has its own form of this, where all Avatars have a single spirit that is reincarnated, and are therefore responsible for the actions of their past lives.

This is most exemplified in the episode Avatar Day.

In this episode, the Gaang wander into a town that's celebrating the titular Avatar Day. They see a parade with massive wooden floats of the past three Avatars. Aang, Roku and Kyoshi.

What appears to be a nice festival that the Gaang is enjoying is quickly turned on its head when a villager sets fires to the figures and the crowd begins chanting "down with the Avatar" while the figures burn.

It turns out, this town believed Avatar Kyoshi murdered their leader, Chin The Great.

In order to prove he wasn't a murderer, Aang volunteers to stand trial. Even though Aang and Kyoshi are separate people in a way... in another, they aren't. And Kyoshi being a murderer is something that would continue to follow Aang around.

So he agrees to go on trial, and refuses encouragement from his friends to escape. And he could escape if wanted to.

When viewed through the lens of a plural system, what we see here is a demonstration of system responsibility, where Aang is showing himself willing to take responsibility for the actions of past Avatars.

Later in the episode, Katara decides that they need to call Kyoshi herself to prove their innocence, and dresses Aang in Kyoshi's clothes to "see if it might trigger something."

And it actually does! This stunt causes Kyoshi to take front! (With a full body transformation because spirit stuff.)

In the end, Kyoshi confesses to killing Chin, who she calls Chin the Conqueror, and Aang is willing to accept the outcome of the trial.

It's not just this one episode though. It's a running theme of the series.

The franchise even.

In season 3, Roku reveals that the whole reason the world was in danger was because of his connection to and weakness in stopping Fire Lord Sozin, who went on to wipe out the Air Nomads. Aang is left with the responsibility of making up for Roku's mistakes.

In the books, it's revealed that Avatar Kyoshi's earliest trials were a direct result of the failings of Kuruk, the avatar before her. And his were a result of Yangchen's mistakes. And in the sequel series, avatar Korra is left to make up for the mistakes of not just Aang, but also Avatar Wan who started the cycle.

The Avatars are people who share a single soul. Each new avatar can be viewed as a new host in the same system. And each one therefore is responsible for making up for the mistakes of those that came before.

This is what the avatar franchise, at its core, is about. A single system making mistakes through life after life, and having to fix those mistakes in the next, hopefully making the world a better place and keeping balance along the way.

A Story of Connection and Balance

With all of this in mind, Aang begins his journey is a system cut off from his headmates.

A central theme of the story is restoring that connection. This story really begins with Aang entering the avatar state in the Southern Air Temple. This is the first time he loses control and nearly hurts the people he cares about.

The avatar state here is something powerful, yes, but also something to be feared, making him a danger to his friends. He doesn't understand at the time what that state is exactly. It's something that leaves him confused and scared.

Through the series, he gradually learns more about the avatar state and his past lives. He begins to learn from avatar Roku. Then from Kyoshi. He learns about their lives, and has to reconcile their past mistakes. He also has to learn to accept himself as the avatar. Something which he struggled with throughout the series, and led to him fleeing his people.

At the end of season 2, Aang nearly dies in the avatar state. In a canon webgame called Escape from the Sprit World, while unconscious, Aang enters the spirit world and goes on a journey where he has to reconnect with the past avatars in order to prevent the avatar cycle from being broken, going back all the way to meet Avatar Yangchen, the airbender before him.

After meeting and learning from all these avatars, he's able to awaken with a new connection to them. (Albeit with no memory of this side quest.) Although he's told he won't be able to enter the Avatar State for the time being.

After this, on the Summer Solstice, he was able to meet with Roku once again to learn about Roku's own past, and his history with Fire Lord Sozin.

All of these events laid the groundwork for a final realization in the series finale. That the past avatars were always with him. He's able to meditate and reach out, and commune with each of them.

Finally, Aang has become a fully-realized avatar, tearing down barriers that kept him separate from the rest of his system!

And in the final battle, Aang is able to access the avatar state with full control over it for the first time.

Some would say that this was because of a conveniently-placed rock. Which, yes, that might have been the literal trigger that unblocked his chi. But narratively, I would argue that it was the connection with the past avatars that truly allowed him to access the avatar state again. That finally connecting with them all was how he truly earned this ability!

Conclusion

So there we have it! The story of Avatar: The Last Airbender is not just an incredible story, but an incredible story of plurality and connection between headmate.

This was really fun to write about, and I enjoyed talking about the plurality of the Avatar.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read!

I think with that, I've covered everythi...

Oh... right...

I guess I didn't cover everything about the plurality of the Avatar, did I?

Guess I need to plan for a Plurality of The Legend of Korra in the future! 😁

(And if you're interested in more of my ramblings about plural representations, you can check out my post about the Plurality of Batman. Or you can read about The Plurality of The Hybrid Chronicles: What's Left of Me, where I analyze a novel about a world where everyone is born with two souls.)

[starrydust-npc]

Primal Sirens AU Info 4: The Turning Process

The most powerful magic a siren can perform is to change a human into a siren. No siren alive knows the reason why they have this ability in the first place. An ancient magic that lingered from a time long forgotten? An alternate way for them to keep their numbers up incase of a sudden decline of population? It could be anything, but the process for it is ingrained into every siren including already turned sirens. The start of the process is for the siren to sing while a human is drowning. The magic within the voice envelopes the human’s soul as the last breaths leave them. Trading their old human life for a new one as the song guides the soul to remain in the body as it is imprinted by the ocean itself. This is where it gets tricky for the siren. The singing siren has to have enough energy to keep the process stable. Too little and the human will simply drown, too much and it’ll just kill the human by overloading their internal systems. If the siren is able to keep the flow of energy steady and for a long while, it’ll make the transformation successful. If they do this steady singing for a longer period, the transformation will be smoother and faster. Most of the time though sirens will only do as much as needed since singing like this takes a toll on their own bodies. Going further could risk full numbing and barely be able to get themselves and the turning human to somewhere safe to recover. This is the most vulnerable both are during this process. The transformation can take up to a few days to a week to complete with apex predators taking the longest. The human’s clothing will either be removed by the siren that turned them or they will simply tear off as the body changes shape and grows. It’s like a dreamless, comatose sleep for the turning human where they have to be guarded by the siren that turned them. In only this and one other time in air-breathing sirens’ lives that they are able to breathe underwater. Waking up after the transformation is a disorienting adjustment. The siren that turned them is usually the one that would teach and guide the newly turned siren in how to survive and live in their new life. Each relationship between a siren and the one they turned is different. Some good, some really bad. It usually takes years before a turned siren can survive on their own and master their use of singing. Even with guidance, if they don’t adapt to their new life they could end up dead by predators, starvation, etc… The reason why a siren turns a human varies to the individual siren. Love, spite, grief, greed, anything. It’s most likely due to turned sirens that taught human languages to other natural sirens thus why some sirens can verbally communicate with humans. The type of tail that develops is by chance of the water itself. Modern sirens have forgotten this, but the ocean contains within its waves the ‘memory’ of all its residents. From modern day species we see today to the extinct creatures from the first life within the waters. During the turning, it’s whatever’s ‘memory’ is strongest within the waters surrounding the human during the turning process. Usually the strongest 'memories' are of modern creatures as they are the most recent, but never complete covers up the past 'memories'. It’s why, on very rare instances, a turning human becomes a Primal Siren with the tail of an extinct creature… ….and there’s only so many fossils that humans have discovered and know about. The ocean is both vast and ancient with countless species that had lived in it the entire time. There are many undiscovered extinct species’ fossils yet to be found, yet a few have already returned as the tail of turned Primal Sirens.

[mariacallous]

The prospects of a united front preventing Donald Trump returning to power in the US looked a little bleaker this week.

Let’s be frank they weren’t great to begin with. To an outsider Joe Biden just seems to be too old to be a viable candidate. He doesn’t pas​s the first impressions test. Look at him and you do not see someone capable of serving another four years.

True, he won Michigan's Democratic presidential primary a few days ago– but he was hit by a significant protest vote from left-wing and Arab-American voters angry about his qualified support for Israel's war in Gaza.

And at this point that second cause for worry, and, frankly, panic kicks in.

The left urged registered Democrats to vote for the "none of the above" category to express their opposition to Biden's Israel policy – and about 100,000 did. Their votes represent a wider chunk of the electorate who could well stay at home or vote for minor Green or left-wing candidates and deny the Democrats key states.

In a deeply divided country with a warped electoral system that favours the Republicans, it does not take many voters abandoning the Democrats for Trump to retake power.

I wrote at the weekend about how the Trump example shows how hard it is to unite against a dictatorial threat.  People, or to be fair, many people, cannot put aside their commitments and ally with men and women they profoundly disagree with for the greater good of defending democracy.

On the one hand, they cry that Trump is a fascist and white supremacist. On the other hand, they refuse to use all available means to stop him. Mainstream liberals do not moderate their demands to win over wavering conservatives. The far left sees the Biden administration as its true enemy.

The history of the struggles against Nazism are highly relevant to the dilemmas and the dangers we face today.  

As Hitler began his rise to power at the end of the 1920s, the European far left was in the same place as a section of the modern US left.  

The threat of fascism was as nothing when set against its hatred of moderates.

 In 1928 the communist movement adopted one of the cruellest and stupidest policies in its history, which considering the history of Soviet communism was nothing more than a history of cruelty and stupidity was quite an achievement.

Partly because it helped Stalin in his internal power struggles in Russia, Moscow ordered all Europe’s communists to follow an ultra-leftist policy. They were told to denounce moderate leftists as “social fascists”, and fight them to the death.

Communism’s triumph was inevitable, the party line went. No compromise was possible with anyone who stood in history’s path. Reformists were opportunists and traitors. They were social fascists who were as bad as the Nazi gangs which were already gathering on Berlin streets.

Or perhaps they were worse….

For an argument that is still heard today held that, say what you like against them, at least fascists were honest in their way.

By contrast centre-leftists were traitors who had been “bribed by the bourgeoisie” to deceive the masses, as no less an authority than Lenin had said.

They were hypocrites who pretended to want change while watering it down. Nothing could be achieved until they were swept away.

When Stalin’s enemy, Leon Trotsky, who was hardly a moderate, warned that instructing left-wingers to fight other left-wingers was a sure way of allowing fascism to “ride over your skulls and spines like a terrific tank”, Ernst Thälmann, the leader of the German communist party, denounced him for his ‘criminal counter-revolutionary propaganda’.

The result was a disaster. The communists and socialists fought each other instead of the Nazis, making Hitler’s rise easier. Thälmann went along with Stalin’s categorisation of social democrats as “social fascists”  until actual fascists came to power in Germany. They taught him the difference by holding him in solitary confinement for 11 years at the Buchenwald concentration camp, and putting him before a firing squad in 1944 and shooting him dead.

Today there are plenty of Thälmanns who believe with absolute certainty that the discredited centrist mainstream is the enemy.

Here is a columnist on the Washington Post greeting the Michigan result

As I emphasised in my previous piece, his stance is absolutely fine in normal circumstances. US leftists are perfectly entitled to refuse to support the Democrats if Biden’s behaviour outrages them.

But surely only enormous levels of delusion prevent them acknowledging that Trump is a threat to democracy.  If he wins, the American republic may be so gerrymandered and its civil service so politicised that it will be a Herculean task to remove Trump and his successors. There are plenty on the US far right who cite the rigged democracy of Viktor Orban’s Hungary as their model and dream, after all.

The​ alternative is to build alliances and once again history is a guide,

Having seen that their previous policy of treating moderate leftists as Nazis had resulted in Hitler coming to power 1933, the geniuses running the Soviet Communist party decided on a U-turn. Henceforth communists were instructed to support “popular front” movements where everyone opposed to the fascist threat would be welcome.

Some of the most interesting US writers have reached back to the 1930s to find ways of dealing with Trump. In How Democracies Die the US academics Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt found an example in the little-known story of how fascism was stopped in Belgium in the 1930s.  

Belgium might have gone the same way as fascist Italy or Nazi Germany. In 1936 far-right outfits —the Rex Party and the Flemish nationalist party, or Vlaams Nationaal Verbond (VNV)—surged in the polls, capturing almost 20 percent of the popular vote.

They challenged the historical dominance of three establishment parties: the centre-right Catholic Party, the Socialists, and the liberals.

The leader of the Rex Party, Léon Degrelle, was a classic far-right figure.  A journalist (like Mussolini, and so many other believers in simple solutions) he would go on to become a Nazi collaborator in the Second World War.

Levitsky and Ziblatt wrote that, “the Catholic Party, in particular, faced a difficult dilemma: collaborate with their longtime rivals, the Socialists and Liberals, or forge a right-wing alliance that included the Rexists, a party with whom they shared some ideological affinity.”

 Unlike the mainstream conservative politicians of Italy and Germany, who brought Mussolini and Hitler to power, or the mainstream Republican leadership who collaborated with Trump, the Belgian Catholic leadership declared that any deals with the far right could not be contemplated.

"Catholic Party leaders heightened discipline by screening candidates for pro-Rexist sympathies and expelling those who expressed extremist views. In addition, the party leadership took a strong stance against cooperation with the far right. Externally, the Catholic Party fought Rex on its own turf. The Catholic Party adopted new propaganda and campaign tactics that targeted younger Catholics, who had formerly been part of the Rexist base. They created the Catholic Youth Front and began to run former allies against Degrelle."

Right-wing Catholics knew that they must ally with socialists and liberals they normally deplore in a popular front. And it worked. The far right was beaten.

I think popular front politics are essential. But they are not easy or even particularly principled. Go back to the 1940s and you find George Orwell was utterly repelled by communists and conservatives allying to stop Hitler

He looked back with mockery on

“The years 1935-9 were the period of anti-Fascism and the Popular Front, the heyday of the Left Book Club, when red Duchesses and ‘broadminded’ deans toured the battlefields of the Spanish war and Winston Churchill was the blue-eyed boy of the Daily Worker.”

To Orwell, the idea of covering up the crimes of communists for the sake of the greater anti-fascist good was horrific. But that was what the left of the 1930s did. And that was what the British and American governments did during the Second World War. Defeating Hitler came first. They were prepared to forget about the millions Stalin killed until the war was over.

It's a hard choice. But in the circumstances US progressives face, it is an obvious one. There is no argument against making every necessary compromise to prevent a second Trump term. You will have no right to protest, if you do not.

[olderthannetfic]

EOTWR is at heart asking for common decency and trying to appeal to the fandom community's sense of common good. Racism is an issue in fandom, let's be the good people we proclaim to be and rally behind a righteous cause. Yay!

Amazing how call out culture can turn a good thing into a shitshow.

We just went through a global pandemic that pretty much proved that common good stops being a priority when people feel inconvenienced or think their freedom is curtailed. I certainly fantasized about screaming out all my rage at any anti-masker I encountered. Would have felt amazing. Not gonna change minds that way though.

I don't understand what results they were expecting when taking this exact approach with their campaign. It's all call out culture language! The very thing that is making fandom a general nightmare for everyone right now! The very thing that watered social justice language down until you genuinely can't tell good actors from bad actors anymore.

How were people supposed to know different when their language, the language of the supporters and the language of their most infamous member are basically indistinguishable from the language of the bad actors.

They're tired, they're angry, they're just trying to enjoy fandom in peace. It's not their job to educate us, answer any questions or perform the emotional labour to handhold white fragile hands through confronting their internal biases.

Ok, then don't be an activist because that's kind of the job description.

The people EOTWR failed to connect with are just as tired, just as angry and have also never known peace in fandom.

They're not going to perform the emotional labour to check if this callout is genuine when it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck.

And they can just not reblog, simply not engage, just not react AT ALL because we're on the internet and block functions exist. And from what I have seen everyone who DID engage but had questions and concern was immediately suspect.

Perform more rage at them while not gaining enough support to make a blip on OTW's radar. Keep wondering why they feel in no hurry to even REPLY. They probably took one look at the Campaign and breathed a sigh of relief because THEY know their audience well enought to know exactly how this would go.

I don't get the circular logic here. They approached the community call out first, got the entirely expected backlash, doubled down on calling everybody out and then performed more outrage because the response proved what they were saying all along!!

So they KNEW they were asking a bunch of awful racists to implement anti-racist policies in an awful, racist organization and decided the best approach was... *gestures*

The counterarguments will be all about tone policing, respectability politics, etc.

But that's just a lot of noise from people who are embarassed that they fell flat on their faces with this. I'm sure it's also a lot of genuine disappointment that fellow fans seem to care about other fans welfare so little. I get that.

So I'll be on the lookout for another campaign that is willing to meet people where they're at and for arguments that actually speak to the target audience. I'll reblog that one.

--

I'm sure some people did feel that way...

But this kind of "failed" campaign also operates how sending your cult members door-to-door does: it reaffirms that Outsiders are all Bad People who are against them and sucks them in tighter to the group. If someone's looking to recruit loyal followers, this is exactly how to do it.

[plethoraworldatlas]

When one small town saw its livelihood drying up, it had a choice: find new ways to make money, or overcome its fears and enlist an unlikely ally.

Crocodiles.

About a decade ago, the small fishing community of Topón in southern Mexico noticed that the shrimp on which its economy depended were dying off.

The community suspected that climate change, increased deforestation and overfishing had pushed the ecosystem too far — a suspicion since confirmed by scientists.

In the past, the community saw crocodiles as pests at best — threats, at worst. But a years-long project from Conservation International, the Global Environment Facility and the Mexican government has helped change that mindset — and show that conservation works best when it considers the entire ecosystem.

“Ecosystems are a complex and interconnected whole,” said Gustavo Garduño, project specialist at Conservation International-Mexico. “When one part gets out of balance, it can have a domino effect. Such is the case with crocodiles and shrimp.” 

For Topón, that ecosystem starts high in the Sierra Madre de Chiapas mountain range, where water flows steadily through the Pijijiapan River before spilling into the Pacific Ocean. But just before that, in the brackish waters of the estuary, is where the shrimp that sustain Topón live alongside an abundance of life.

Vibrant roseate spoonbills wade through the shallows to find fish. Reclusive crocodiles and caimans bask in the sun. And towering mangroves — the largest in North America — provide refuge for migratory birds, spider monkeys, jaguars and more.

Yet deforestation upstream has transformed the estuary. With the trees no longer there to act as a buffer, sediment flows freely, clogging waterways and causing the estuary's oxygen levels to plummet.

The shrimp were effectively being choked out, Garduño said.

“It’s a vicious circle,” he added. “While deforestation hurts shrimp populations, it is driven by falling incomes for fishermen who are catching fewer shrimp and instead turning to environmentally damaging, but more profitable, activities like cattle ranching and palm oil production.” 

Chiapas — where Topón is located — is the poorest state in Mexico, and with little control over deforestation upstream, the community needed to take a different approach to cleaning up the estuary’s water and making shrimping profitable again.

That's where the crocodiles come in.

Crocodiles are wetlands engineers, said Ramón Flores, coastal manager at Conservation International-Mexico.

When they swim through the water, their movements stir up sediment that has settled at the bottom. This action aerates the water, improving oxygen levels, and keeping minerals and nutrients from settling and clogging the system.

“Without the crocodile, the wetland ceases to exist,” Flores said. “If you want good fishing, crocodiles must be present — their decline is one of the main reasons that shrimp numbers have plummeted. Everything is connected.” 

But crocodiles’ role in the ecosystem was misunderstood — and fishermen would hunt the endangered species.

“We were very afraid of them and fear made us act against the animal,” said Mario Becerra, a founder of the Topón fishing collective. “There was hunger and there was need. Some killed it, and they’d say, 'We’re doing something good because we’re killing the crocodile, and we get to eat it too.'”

To change this perception, the project hosted workshops that showed the critical role crocodiles play in keeping the ecosystem healthy — and ensuring there is an abundance of shrimp to fish. They also organized monitoring brigades to keep an eye on the species and measure progress — an eye-opening experience for the community, Flores said.

“When the community joined in monitoring the crocodiles, they realized there weren’t many left,” he said. “Before, the community typically only encountered them in threatening situations. But witnessing the crocodile’s life cycle — from eggs to hatchlings to adults — play out in front of them had a profound and moving effect. Knowledge is power.”

While it is too early to know how the project has impacted crocodile populations in the estuary, Becerra said it has already transformed the community's relationship with the animal and helped them learn to coexist with it.

As for shrimp, the fishermen’s catch has increased tenfold since the project began more than five years ago — though hasn’t yet returned to the yields seen a decade ago. The local economy is also showing signs of improvement, notably for women and youth. With a new shrimp processing plant, the fishermen hope to connect directly to higher-value markets that support sustainable production. 

“None of this would have been possible without taking this holistic and community-driven approach,” Flores said. “These are essential pieces to long-term sustainability.”

One of the most underrepresented groups within a community is children, he added, and Topón was no different: Many of the children there had never seen where their parents fished. So the project organized an environmental festival where each child received a pair of binoculars and bird guides to see the wildlife firsthand, and participate in lessons and activities about the local ecology.

“It was an amazing experience for the children and a powerful lesson,” Flores said. “If you want to achieve lasting conservation, you must involve people from an early age and establish that link between a community and the nature surrounding it.”

[n3xii]

This post is aimed at anyone wanting to communicate with their spirt guides and attune to their message. This will include guidance, affirmations, and what signs they're giving you. Close your eyes, take a few deep breathes and ask you guides to help you choose an item

Pile one

Their message 》

Dance with life. You have become stagnant and you need to make your enrgy more dynamic so that you can embrace the flow of life. Do something to change your energy. Do something different. What habits and behaviors are you stuck in? The habits we create perpetuate the energy were in. Your guides want you to evaluate your habits and routine and do something to shake things up. What would the ideal version of you being doing? What changes can you make that would align with thr energy you want to embrace?

Affirmations 》

I embrace the flow of life. I regonize stagnant patterns and take action to change them. Change does not intimidate me. It feels good to change. I am dynamic and ever evolving. I dance with life with a natural rhythm. IT feels safe to change.

Signs they're giving you 》

Seeing alot of greenery, water. 444. Waking up at dawn alot. Seeing imagery of cherubs, horses, and harps. 3 of cups. Ariel. Ribbons. The symbol for Venus.

Pile two

What guidance they're giving you》

You're birthing new creations and imagining a new world into reality. You are becoming the vortex and Centerpoint of creation. Your guides simply want you to be aware of your increasing power and your ability to create. Now is a good time to manifest, set intentions and start new projects.

Affirmations》

Old habits have fallen away. I am the creator of my reality. I m always creating positivity and abundance. I embrace new projects and ideas. I am dreaming a new world into being. I am awakening to my true power and I know how to use it

Signs they're giving you》

Seeing arrows, images of cupid. 222. Flowery or cottage like dresses. Red heals. Black birds. Ravens. Driving by old houses or estates. Driving by churches. Alchemical symbols. The esoteric image of a snake biting itself illustration

Pile three

Guidance they're giving you》

Your spirit guides are saying yes to something you've asked about or they're wanting you to say yes to something. Either way you've been reflecting for a while, meditating and praying and waiting for an answer. You've gone within and internally sought for this answer. Your spirit guides are saying yes. The period of waiting for the answer and thr validation to move forward is over. You're getting the thumbs up from your spirit guides.

Affirmations 》

I am receptive to the things I want. I don't wait to initiate. I take action on the things I want. I am ready to embrace action. Validating myself feels good and makes me confident in my descion. I stand firm in everything I do.

Signs from your spirit guide》

Stars. Star fishes. Swords. Three of swords. 777. Roses. Scales. Sail boats. 1111. Pink and blue paired together

Pile four

Guidance from your spirit guide》

You feel a sense of disconnection with this world because you're ahead of your time. You do belong. In fact you have a higher purpose that you don't even fully understand yet. You belong and and play a big role in the life of others. Evaluate what you've been clinging onto. What beliefs, people and situations are you fastening your grip onto? Let it crumble. Let it fall away. A new life and way of being is opening up for you. Stop anchoring yourself to things that are ttying to fall out of your life. This will help you awaken to your purpose and sense of belonging in the world.

Affirmations 》

I let go of everything trying to fall away in ny life. I have a higher purpose and I matter. I let go of beliefs that no longer resonate. I create space for my purpose in life to awaken. I belong in this world and it feels good to be here

Signs from your spirit guide》

999. Horses. Cherubs. Pink clothing.star of David. Spider webs. Gemini. Spelling errors. Typos. 333. 1111. Water bearer. Jugs. Donkeys.

[brown-little-robin]

more of my mp100 zombie au lore! Dimple this time <<<>:} (behold my beautiful Dimple emoji)

the thing with Dimple in zombie AU is, he's the only survivor of a village that got completely wiped out by zombie disease early in the apocalypse. Water that's in contact with zombie bodily fluids becomes a disease vector, and a zombie drowned in their water purification plant, and everyone was infected before anyone realized.

But there's different forms of the zombie disease, and—rarely—it reacts uniquely to someone's body. Dimple is one of those cases. Dimple thinks of himself as half-turned, but that's not quite right; technically he definitely Has The Disease, he's completely turned, he's just mostly asymptomatic. The biggest change was that he got amnesia—lost his name and his past and even his hometown after he wandered away in the days of fever and pain that was his turning process. He doesn't know his real name. He became numb to pain, and then his nerves built themselves back; he got a zombie's resilience, but less of the strength. And, of course, Dimple still has language and awareness.

More details about the LOL cult below the cut!

Okay, so, to quote a conversation with a friend:

in this early-meeting scenario, Dimple would think Ritsu had some mysterious power to control zombies, because Dimple himself has something like that.

Dimple is extremely charismatic, but also can use body language to get zombies to react the way he wants them to.

he looks like he's dancing or something, but he's good at grabbing zombies' attention and manipulating it.

It's not magic, it's not psychic powers. It's just Dimple being good at non-verbal communication.

he still preaches happiness, but the main "miraculous" draw of the (LOL) cult is the fact that with only a few full-body gestures and a laugh, Dimple is able to temporarily tame zombies. Even starving ones. Everyone who travels with Dimple is safe from attacks. And if his followers conveniently leave zombies to die after Lord Dimple hypnotizes them temporarily wakes up their souls and distracts them with fragrant food, well, that's just the way this world works. The point is that Dimple keeps people feeling safe.

and to people who are sick of terror, that's a power worth worshipping someone for.

(Zombies are "people with sleeping souls", according to Dimple. when a zombie dies, it's like a person dying naturally in their sleep. that brings a lot of comfort to people who want to think of zombies as people but also want to feel good about killing in self-defense.)

Dimple is making this all up as he goes along, but he's trying, okay? With his charisma, his hunger for power, he could easily be doing something far worse than leading a band of people to where he hopes the Narita International Airport is still operating. He's trying to escape Japan first and foremost, because he heard that other countries still have, like, wealth and stability and stuff.

Yeah.

[mythicalcoolkid]

This disability pride month I wanna talk a bit about some ways my autism presents, because I feel like I don't personally see it talked about in current autism settings. I guess maybe because it seems kind of "old-fashioned?" Like a more stereotyped view of autism, that gets discounted a bit now in favor of more nuanced and varied views. But people with "stereotypical" autism still exist and I wanted to talk a bit about what that looks like

I'm very hyposensitive. I have very poor interoception (sensing internal sensations). I have a few areas I'm more sensitive in, like smell and hot surfaces/water, but overall I'm really underresponsive. I often can't tell:

if I'm hungry (meaning I chronically undereat)

if I need to use the bathroom

whether I'm hot or cold: I often dress inappropriately for the weather and have health problems

what emotions I'm feeling

if I'm sick or hurt: I've had serious health problems go untreated for years because I didn't notice them

how much time has passed: I have alarms that go off every hour and sometimes every 15 minutes because I can't keep track of time

if someone touches me

the difference between some foods: a lot of different foods taste or smell the same to me. I've tried and cannot learn the taste difference between chicken, turkey, and pork

how much force I'm using: I often drop things or pet animals harder than I should

The only exception to these is food taste/texture. I have ARFID, an eating/feeding disorder that makes a lot of foods difficult to eat to the point that I go without food entirely

My "reality sensor" is broken. It's really hard for me to internalize "safety truths" and understand that they apply

I eat food when it's no longer good

I have a hard time "fearing" germs a healthy amount

I over- or underestimate risk

I massively underestimate how much time things will take

I have trouble recognizing certain things

I'm faceblind (prosopagnosia): I can't recognize people without memorizing certain traits

I have aphantasia: I cannot visualize things in my head, at all. (I can hear things in my head exceptionally well though!) Because of this I can't easily memorize images, give directions or "improvise" routes, follow maps, imitate visual actions, or do many visual puzzles

I usually don't recognize wordplay in titles because it doesn't register to me the same way

telling if someone is laughing or crying

picking up on non-obvious cues and sarcasm

understanding what's appropriate in different contexts

telling where sound is coming from

noticing smaller changes

I "look autistic"

I rock back and forth in public

have a notably flat voice and facial expressions or they don't match how I mean to come across

sit on the ground in stores

sometimes need AAC to communicate

have shutdowns where I'm fully unresponsive

use language that makes sense to me, but not others

have meltdowns when forced to change tasks early and extreme distress with life changes

had an extremely strict routine growing up and had meltdowns with self-injurious stims if anything deviated. Similar meltdowns from things not going the way I meant continued into my 20s

if my approach to something isn't working, I'll often try the same approach over and over, like looking in the same place for something repeatedly

All the "stereotypical" autism things. Even if autism doesn't actually look a certain way, there is a specific look people associate with autism and I fit it. I'm sure people have thought my partner was my carer and in some ways he is. When I was 16 I expected to be living in an independent living facility as an adult, and it's only because I got on proper meds for my comorbid disorders that I'm not

Anyway, there's probably more I'm not thinking of, but I wanted to talk about my experiences a bit because I think some people view them as maybe an outdated view instead of a way that people actually experience autism. I'm open to answering questions.

Happy disability pride month everyone!

[sanguinosa-blog]

The formation of the Palestinian state is a starting point.

On the 12th, the United Nations held an emergency special session and adopted a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. 153 countries, more than three-quarters, voted in favor, while 10 countries including the United States and Israel opposed, and 23 countries abstained. International backlash against the United States, supporting Israel and backing the massacre, is increasing.

◇ Israel is likely to lose support from the international community.

The genocide by the Israeli military against Palestinians has devastated the northern region, and the attacks have shifted to the southern region. Of the 2.2 million Gaza residents, 1.8 million evacuated according to the Israeli military's "evacuate to the south" instructions, but now those evacuation locations are under attack, with hundreds of locations being bombed daily.

On the 13th of this month, the Gaza Health Ministry announced that the death toll since the start of the fighting on October 7th was 18,412, and the number of injured was over 50,000. The Israeli military began a "water siege" operation on the 12th, pouring seawater into underground tunnels to kill Hamas leaders, and the brutality of the Israeli military is going beyond the norm.

Even US President Biden, who vetoed the resolution calling for a ceasefire at the UN Security Council on the 8th and defended the Gaza massacre as an exercise of self-defense, criticized, saying, "The Netanyahu government must change."

◇ The "two-state solution" proposal is being discussed once again.

In 1947, a year before the end of the British Mandate for Palestine, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution dividing the region into two states, one for Jews and one for Arabs. However, in 1948, after Israel declared independence, five Arab League countries declared war, leading to the First Arab-Israeli War. As a result, Israel won and established a state, and many Palestinians were expelled as refugees.

The Labor Party once pointed out, "If the Arabs had accepted the 'Palestine' state proposal at that time, the history of Palestine might have been different. The subsequent struggle between Arabs and Jews in the Palestinian region has become barren, grim, and a quagmire with no prospect of resolution until now" ('Kaitsubame' No. 1157, October 2, 2011).

Amidst such circumstances, the international momentum for the "two-state solution" has increased since the shock of the October 7th military attack and Israel's Gaza offensive. Wang Yi, a member of the Central Political Bureau of the Chinese Communist Party, who was previously passive about the Palestinian issue, stated after the UN Security Council meeting on November 19th, "The 'two-state solution' is the only way to solve the Palestinian issue," and proposed the early convening of a large-scale international peace conference with authority and effectiveness (China declared its participation in the power struggle in the Middle East under the pretext of promoting peace). On November 27th, the "two-state solution" was agreed upon at the Arab-EU Foreign Ministers' meeting.

The international momentum for the "two-state solution" that has grown in the wake of the October 7th attack has led to proposals from various countries, including China, the United States, and bourgeois nations, to create an international institution or something similar for the formation of the Palestinian state, and there is no objection to the active participation of Palestinians. "Two-state solution is impossible," says the one-state solution advocate (Iran, Pape). "Reconstruction of relations under the principles of correct democracy" and "Victory in the liberation struggle means creating a democratic state that includes all the people living in that land" ('Ten Myths About Israel'). Israel has begun a war of aggression to oppress and control Palestine. Beautifying democracy is nothing more than following bourgeois states.

◇ Israel and the United States, refusing peace, must take responsibility!

"(The Netanyahu government) does not want anything like approaching the 'two-state solution'" (Biden), and the Netanyahu government has consistently taken a position of refusal. However, support for Netanyahu in Israel is low (28% on November 11th), and he is instigating a war for war, even encouraging the war for the destruction of Hamas, to maintain power. The Israeli military announced that it would take several months to destroy Hamas.

One of the factors that made the resolution of the Palestinian issue difficult was the "Vision for Peace" proposed by Trump in 2020, which advocated a "realistic two-state solution." Based on the current situation (Israel occupying 61% of the total and only 39% of the area under Palestinian autonomy, which is also fragmented), the proposal suggested a "two-state solution" for the benefit of Israel. Taking advantage of the proposal, Netanyahu has expanded settlements in the occupied West Bank, suppressed Palestinians, and under the protection of the Netanyahu government, 700,000 people have been advancing the Israelization of Palestine in 150 settlements, violating Israel's domestic law.

The U.S. has supported Israel economically and militarily as the frontline against the Arabs. Israel does not allow less than 39% of the Palestinian Autonomous Region to be under the control of the autonomous government, and it controls everything, including infrastructure, economy, and movement. The U.S. has nurtured and assisted Israel in becoming a militaristic state that oppresses and dominates Palestine.

If the United States seriously considers the "two-state solution," it must immediately stop military support for Israel and withdraw Israeli troops and Jewish settlers from the West Bank Autonomous Region. Only when the United States refrains from exercising its veto power at the Security Council and takes the first step toward "sanctions" against Israel, will the construction of the Palestinian state make significant progress.

The Netanyahu government, which justifies the extermination of Palestinians for "its own security," is trying to turn Gaza into "Auschwitz." The accomplice United States must take responsibility for Netanyahu's "great crime."

◇The formation of the Palestinian state is the starting point of the workers' struggle.

The misfortune of Palestine lies in the corrupt Abbas government of the autonomous region, which manipulates aid to various countries for its own benefit, and has become a corrupt regime tainted with corruption and decadence (demand for Abbas's resignation was 75% in a December 20 survey). The political opposition to this has been represented by the struggle of religious political organizations, such as the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), rooted in the teachings of Islam. The urgent task for the people of Palestine is the construction of a Marxist political organization that fundamentally criticizes the ideological positions of nationalism and Islamic movements.

For the workers, the "two-state solution" is neither the goal nor the endpoint but the starting point of the struggle. With the formation of a democratic state in Palestine as a starting point, the working class of Palestine, within the framework of the "nation-state," initiates a struggle to elevate themselves to the ruling class—namely, the struggle of the working class, with the liberation of labor as its objective, begins.

The formation of the Palestinian state will bring conditions for the Palestinian workers and Israeli workers to overthrow their respective governments based on a common position of internationalism and to unite in solidarity for the liberation of labor.

The task for the Israeli working class, which has undergone capitalist development, is the overthrow of capital's dominance and the liberation of labor. This struggle is also a fight to overthrow the Netanyahu government, which oppresses and economically usurps Palestine, and its coalition with religious Zionism and extreme right-wing parties advocating Jewish supremacism.

The fusion of Israeli and Arab workers will be realized within the context of the workers' world revolution that transcends "ethnicity" and the nation-state.

Workers Party aiming for the liberation of labor. from ”Umitsubame” No.1465 24/12/2023 https://www.facebook.com/SappDasKapital/posts/pfbid02UvDADEeDtMF8N4o97AY1yRcX15xR7qx65Apz5cxpvxdmkUVdDF646mejWWeduFT3l

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

NASA Demonstrates ‘Ultra-Cool’ Quantum Sensor for First Time in Space

Future space missions could use quantum technology to track water on Earth, explore the composition of moons and other planets, or probe mysterious cosmic phenomena.

NASA’s Cold Atom Lab, a first-of-its-kind facility aboard the International Space Station, has taken another step toward revolutionizing how quantum science can be used in space. Members of the science team measured subtle vibrations of the space station with one of the lab’s onboard tools — the first time ultra-cold atoms have been employed to detect changes in the surrounding environment in space.

The study, which appeared in Nature Communications on Aug. 13, also reports the longest demonstration of the wave-like nature of atoms in freefall in space.

The Cold Atom Lab science team made their measurements with a quantum tool called an atom interferometer, which can precisely measure gravity, magnetic fields, and other forces. Scientists and engineers on Earth use this tool to study the fundamental nature of gravity and advance technologies that aid aircraft and ship navigation. (Cell phones, transistors, and GPS are just a few other major technologies based on quantum science but do not involve atom interferometry.)

Physicists have been eager to apply atom interferometry in space because the microgravity there allows longer measurement times and greater instrument sensitivity, but the exquisitely sensitive equipment has been considered too fragile to function for extended periods without hands-on assistance. The Cold Atom Lab, which is operated remotely from Earth, has now shown it’s possible.

“Reaching this milestone was incredibly challenging, and our success was not always a given,” said Jason Williams, the Cold Atom Lab project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “It took dedication and a sense of adventure by the team to make this happen.”

Power of Precision

Space-based sensors that can measure gravity with high precision have a wide range of potential applications. For instance, they could reveal the composition of planets and moons in our solar system, because different materials have different densities that create subtle variations in gravity.

This type of measurement is already being performed by the U.S.-German collaboration GRACE-FO (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-on), which detects slight changes in gravity to track the movement of water and ice on Earth. An atom interferometer could provide additional precision and stability, revealing more detail about surface mass changes.

Precise measurements of gravity could also offer insights into the nature of dark matter and dark energy, two major cosmological mysteries. Dark matter is an invisible substance five times more common in the universe than the “regular” matter that composes planets, stars, and everything else we can see. Dark energy is the name given to the unknown driver of the universe’s accelerating expansion.

“Atom interferometry could also be used to test Einstein’s theory of general relativity in new ways,” said University of Virginia professor Cass Sackett, a Cold Atom Lab principal investigator and co-author of the new study. “This is the basic theory explaining the large-scale structure of our universe, and we know that there are aspects of the theory that we don’t understand correctly. This technology may help us fill in those gaps and give us a more complete picture of the reality we inhabit.”

A Portable Lab

About the size of a minifridge, the Cold Atom Lab launched to the space station in 2018 with the goal of advancing quantum science by putting a long-term facility in the microgravity environment of low Earth orbit. The lab cools atoms to almost absolute zero, or minus 459 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 273 degrees Celsius). At this temperature, some atoms can form a Bose-Einstein condensate, a state of matter in which all atoms essentially share the same quantum identity. As a result, some of the atoms’ typically microscopic quantum properties become macroscopic, making them easier to study.

Quantum properties include sometimes acting like solid particles and sometimes like waves. Scientists don’t know how these building blocks of all matter can transition between such different physical behaviors, but they’re using quantum technology like what’s available on the Cold Atom Lab to seek answers.

In microgravity, Bose-Einstein condensates can reach colder temperatures and exist for longer, giving scientists more opportunities to study them. The atom interferometer is among several tools in the facility enabling precision measurements by harnessing the quantum nature of atoms.

Due to its wave-like behavior, a single atom can simultaneously travel two physically separate paths. If gravity or other forces are acting on those waves, scientists can measure that influence by observing how the waves recombine and interact.

“I expect that space-based atom interferometry will lead to exciting new discoveries and fantastic quantum technologies impacting everyday life, and will transport us into a quantum future,” said Nick Bigelow, a professor at University of Rochester in New York and Cold Atom Lab principal investigator for a consortium of U.S. and German scientists who co-authored the study.

More About the Mission

A division of Caltech in Pasadena, JPL designed and built Cold Atom Lab, which is sponsored by the Biological and Physical Sciences (BPS) division of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate at the agency’s headquarters in Washington. BPS pioneers scientific discovery and enables exploration by using space environments to conduct investigations that are not possible on Earth. Studying biological and physical phenomena under extreme conditions allows researchers to advance the fundamental scientific knowledge required to go farther and stay longer in space, while also benefitting life on Earth. 

IMAGE: NASA’s Cold Atom Lab, shown where it’s installed aboard the International Space Station, recently demonstrated the use of a tool called an atom interferometer that can precisely measure gravity and other forces — and has many potential applications in space. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

[rabbitcruiser]

International Tea Day 

While everyone loves a cup of tea, many of the workers and producers of that tea face poor conditions and pay. Help raise awareness and keep tea fair.

The tea industry provides millions of people around the world with cups of tea in the morning. One of the biggest producers of tea, India, recognizes the importance of tea in its communities and as a commodity for commerce.

However, much of the working conditions for those within the tea industry still need much improvement. If you think this holiday was about drinking tea, well think again! International Tea Day is all about the tea workers and bringing civil rights into action. Let’s see how this holiday came to pass.

Do you love a good cup of tea? While International Tea Day can certainly involve paying homage to tea, we should pay homage to those working in the tea industry. The best way to do this is by helping to raise awareness regarding their working conditions so they can be improved.

History of International Tea Day

The International Tea Day campaign was launched in 2005 by the trade unions, small tea growers and civil society organizations in Asia and Africa to address the issues of living wages for workers and fair prices for small tea producers.

The International Tea Conference in New Delhi came out with an International Declaration on the rights of workers and small growers to help regulate uneven competition, land ownership, safety regulations, rights of women, social security and living wages. Another organization, The Tea Board of India, proposed International Tea Day in hopes of it becoming an official holiday to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

This was proposed by chairman Santosh Kumar Sarangi in 2015. According to the chairman, the proposal of India was supported by countries such as Canada, the United States, European Union, Sri Lanka, China, Japan, Kenya, and Malawi. While the holiday doesn’t have official status, the goal of this holiday is to recognize the vulnerable situations that tea producers in India have with current living conditions and worker-related policies.

The day also focuses on deliberating on urgent issues such as residues, climate change, technology and trends on production and consumption in the tea industry. To observe this day, over 150 representatives from tea organizations gather and conduct a seminar to discuss the pervading problems the tea industry has as well as problems faced within their own country.

International Tea Day Timeline

2737 BC Tea is discovered as a beverage

Legend has it that Chinese Emperor Shen Nung is sitting beneath a tea tree while a servant boiled water for drinking. Some leaves fall into the cup and begin  the practice of drinking what is now called “tea”.

1610 Tea comes to Europe

It is believed that the Dutch were the first to bring tea to Europe, just a few years prior to the introduction of coffee by Venetians.

1773 The Boston Tea Party occurs

With the intention of revolting against the high taxes levied by the British government without providing any voice, residents of Massachusetts throw tea into the Boston Harbor. “No taxation without representation” is the major complaint.

2004 International Tea Day is created

At the World Social Forum, International Tea Day is conceived and then celebrated the following years in New Delhi and Sri Lanka, then later in other tea-producing places like Nepal, Viet Nam, Bangladesh and others.

2019 United Nations adopts International Tea Day

After some years of advocating for its observance, International Tea Day is adopted by the United Nations General Assembly at the suggestion of the FAO Intergovernmental Group on Tea.

How to Celebrate International Tea Day

If you’re a lover of tea, then do some research about some of your favorite companies. Try looking up tea brands that support fair trade, and possibly switch to those brands to make a difference in the way you buy products such as tea. Use the hashtag #internationalteaday to help recognize it as an official holiday and educate others about the tea industry if you’re interested.

You could also use International Tea Day to try a variety of tea you have never had before. Matcha, for example, is highly popular as of late. You need to shop with care, though! The first thing you need to take a look at is how the Matcha has been produced and sourced.

You need to ensure that all veins and stalks have been removed so that there is not any bitterness and only the finest leaves should be used. Secondly, the color of the matcha powder is a significant factor. The greener the color is, the better. This is because the leaves are forced to overproduce chlorophyll because Matcha is shade-grown, which causes the vibrant green shade.

If the Matcha is yellow or brown in color, this is a sign that the leaves have not been properly shaded or that branches and stalks have been included. The price is the third factor to consider. Like most things, if you want quality, you can expect to pay a little bit more.

If something seems too good to be true, the chances are that it is. The feel of Matcha is also important. It should be a fine powder that is very silky. Last but not least, the taste is obviously a crucial attribute when it comes to quality. It should have a clean and naturally sweet taste.

Why not make some delicious baked green tea treats on International Tea Day and have a bake sale to raise money and awareness regarding working conditions in the tea industry? Green tea recipes are available in their abundance. People are actively searching for different ways to enjoy green tea. While green tea is delicious when simply mixed with hot water, there is nothing wrong with switching it up from time to time, especially on International Tea Day!

An easy and delicious recipe is Matcha Meringue Kisses. To make this you will need Matcha, sugar, egg whites, and powdered sugar. Begin by sifting together the Matcha and the powder sugar, and then whip the egg whites until they have soft peaks. Gradually add the sugar and whip until stiff peaks. Gently fold the Matcha into this mixture and then transfer to a pastry bag. Pipe the mixture into small kisses onto a baking tray and then bake for around an hour.

Or, why not make Green Tea Donuts? For this, you need green tea, honey, melted butter, milk, egg, salt, baking powder, sugar, and cake flour. You whisk the green tea, salt, baking powder, sugar, and flour. Add the honey, melted butter, milk, and egg, and then whisk. Use a pastry bag to pipe the batter into the mould. Then, simply bake the donuts for eight minutes. You can make your own glaze to go on the top – chocolate goes well!

Other delicious baked treats to try include green tea muffins, brownies and shortbread!

International Tea Day FAQs

What is International Tea Day?

Created to celebrate and pay tribute to the countries that produce tea to supply to the world, starting in India and moving to other places like Sri Lanka, Malawi, Uganda, Bangladesh, Vietnam and more.

When was International Tea Day first celebrated?

International Tea Day first got its start in 2004 when it was celebrated in New Delhi. It grew over the years and by 2019 the day was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly.

How to celebrate International Tea Day?

A great way to observe this day is by learning a bit more about the nations who produce tea for the world. Also, don’t forget to order a cup of fair trade tea for one, or take a friend out to enjoy a cuppa together.

What is the theme of International Tea Day?

The theme for this day devoted to tea producers changes each year, but some of the past themes have included themes such as Tea and Fair Trade or Harnessing Benefits for All from Field to Cup.

When is International Tea Day celebrated?

Taking place on May 21 of each year, International Tea Day originally took place on December 15 from 2005 when it was often only celebrated by tea-producing countries. It changed to May 21 when the UN adopted the day.

Source

[locustheologicus]

En El Camino: Our Pilgrimage to Compostela. (part 1)

Wendi and I took the ancient medieval pilgrimage to the famed Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia Spain. It was an amazing spiritual journey for us as we traversed the beautiful Spanish countryside with other pilgrims from many different places but mostly from Spain (we assume that early and perhaps late in the season is when locals make their pilgrimage while the tourist community from come in peak season).

The term "pilgrimage" is both literal and allegorical. We literally went through a journey from Sarria to Compostela, a 117 km walk where we stopped at 5 towns along the way.

Sarria to Portomarin

Portomarin to Palais del Rei

Palais del Rei to Arzua

Arzua to Amenal

Amenal to Compostela

The literal journey brought us to a holy place, the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela where the bones of the Apostle St. James are interned. I will reflect more on the Compostela experience in the next post.

But there is also an allegorical aspect to the concept of "pilgrimage" that is deeply important. The pilgrimage serves as a symbolism for the journey of life. As the Pilgrim's Museum stated:

The physical effort required to reach the pilgrim's goal is interpreted as a metaphor for the human spiritual journey, full of sacrifices, abnegation and heartache. Depending on the particular belief system one adheres to, the object of pilgrimage is to reach the highest level of knowledge, spiritual renewal, glory, paradise or eternal salvation.

I am glad I took these pictures (although I felt like such a tourist) because after you reach your goal I notice that the journey itself becomes a blur, as with life. For the pilgrimage to serve a full effect you need to journal about the path itself and my journal includes the images that remind me of what we saw and experienced. Let me share with you what I experienced in the pictures above.

The Chapel at the edge of Sarria: so this was at the beginning of our journey. As you left the town you see this old chapel that served a purpose in dismissing pilgrims as they started their journey. The chapel is a reminder of small holy sites that allow us to be close to God and to find meaning along the journey. There are many towns along the way and often you would find these churches that offer rest and resources like water that are essential for the pilgrim's journey.

The path along a stream: The path changes through the way. At times you are on rough gravel shielded by the forest, other times you share the open road where there is no shield from the sun or the elements. Here we had the pleasure of walking through a stream which felt very peaceful as you heard the cool water going past you. This was a very peaceful experience along the way.

The old stone bridge: Rivers and creeks run through the path and these old stone bridges were built to help the pilgrim traverse them. The bridge is now just part of the path itself and it easy to forget the amazing contribution that it offers. But the fact is that they were built for us pilgrims ages ago. These are infrastuctural designs that we can now take for granted but which have to also recognize as a social program that a community built to ease our path through difficult terrain. There is beauty and grace in these infrastructural systems that sometimes we need to recognize and appreciate.

The little Chapel on the path: Here on the path, we also find these little humble chapels that give us the opportunity to again rest and pray. This little chapel is cute and very humble with just a few hanging pictures inside but it serves a peaceful purpose along the way.

Livestock and farmers: The community along the path are made up of simple farmers and livestock handlers who share the road with us. Sometimes they greet you but more often than not they just ignore you are gaze at you wondering what exotic story you may have. This region is known for its cheese and there were many cows and sheep (and we were often greeted with a strong smell of manure) that either lay, walk, or graze along the way. Our way of life is dependent on the contributions from these animals and farmers and this again is something we also need to appreciate.

The narrow gorge: We had the opportunity to stay on the historical path or take an easier detour. We stayed on the historical path and chose to go through the narrow and steep gorge that brought us to town or Portomarin. It was not difficult for us as we enjoy hiking through rock scramblers but it is a reminder of the narrow twist and turns along the way that life gives you.

The water fountain: In almost every community, like this one at Palais del Rei, offer pilgrims access to the most essential resource for us humans. Part of our daily preparation was to fill up our water bottles or reservoir for the day's journey. As you can see I was up before dawn getting our stock ready. Throughout life we need to be ready to go on the path we are given and we need to be attentive to to these essential resources.

A misty dawn: Here, along the path, we woke up to a very misty fog that covered us before the morning sun hit us. Once the sun did shine you could see the mist retreating and the path is made clear once again. We often need to walk in the darkness and mist that is a part of our journey but we know that the sun will, at some point, bless us with its light and help us to clearly see where we need to go.

The Roman Ruins: pictures 9 and 10 highlight the amazing ruins of an ancient Roman town that was built atop of the hill in Galicia. The placement is rather obvious, on top of the hill where it has command of the high ground and can be vigilant with the Celtiberian community that would challenge now and again. We have an historical context that is an important part of our own identity. It is valuable for us know where we have come from and to learn the lessons of our past as we journey to our own future.

The moon greeting us as we begin the day's journey: It may not be easy to see but the light in the middle of this early morning picture is brilliant moon that lighted our path. It was an impressive site that kept us company as we left the town of Palais. When we first saw the moon it appeared huge and we kept our gaze on it until it finally set beyond the horizon. For a time however we felt that it accompanied us as we began that day's journey. At the end of that day, when we entered Arzua, we were greeted again by the moon and we thanked it for accompanying us on the beginning and end of the journey on that day.

The Bridge entering Melida: We found that many towns, like this one that we stopped along the way to Arzua, were often connected to rivers (some large and others small) that brought resources to the community. There is a delightful beauty in the way that a town develops itself and it is amazing to see the forces of economic and social development as it has for many years when old communities like this one formed.

The quiet beauty of a small Medieval town: Leaving Arzua we past by this smaller town which was very old and simple. Here again you can see an old church and a quaint old stone buildings (some empty and others still in use) This basket just sat there to hold offerings it seemed in front of the Church. There is something very simple and idyllic about towns such as this. Something peaceful and timeless. if I had time I would go in to meditate within the church but alas, the journey called me forth.

Planter Boots: I thought it was amazing that in this other town a community took up old and worn boots and transformed them into planters. I thought that this was an ingenious way of symbolizing the path. New life springs forth from the boots that take us through life's journey. At some point they may retire from their initial function but even in then they can be source of new an unexpected life.

A much-needed Coffee Break: Here we are stopping at a cafe in one of these small towns along the way. The cafe allowed us to enjoy a cafe con leche and some crackers that gave us the energy we needed before we continued on our way. These are necessary breaks that we need to be mindful of as we need to the refresh ourselves every now and then before we continue on our way.

The mystical forest: Now and then something mystical can be found in the book of nature. I certainly felt something mystical when we encountered this forest which invited me to enter into its natural portal which you can see beyond the broken stone wall. This forest reminds me of a quote we saw from Martin Buber, a Jewish mystic who famously said "all journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware."

A Church offering the sello: Larger medieval churches would give pilgrims an opportunity to learn about the role of the Church and aspects about the faith. After leaving Amenal I entered two churches to receive that seal which we put on our camino passport (I will show you mine in the next post). Often times these churches can offer some insights along the journey.

The World is a book and those who do not travel read only one page - St. Augustine.

[manofmanymasks]

The Man of Many Masks

I would like to introduce you to my main deity. The Man of Many Masks is a very personal deity to me. I've only ever worked with a masculine face, so I refer to him with he/him. However, he contains multitudes, and I'm sure there are parts that use any pronoun you can think of. Some people may see him as a concerning deity to work with due to a lot of the verbiage he uses to describe his domains or the fact that blood can be an appropriate sacrifice, at times. He is not an easy God to work with, but he makes me feel fulfilled and like I am not alone in the way I am. I hope you can appreciate him as much as I do and consider integrating him into your practice. He has certain aspects that encourage plural folks to seek him, I believe, and have listed it as a domain of his. I don't see it as "he causes plurality" and much as he is and protects those who are plural.

Domains:

• Concealment, Deception, Doubt

• Multitudes, Plurality, Reflections

• Protection by way of hiding, information and knowledge for self protection

• Paranoia, Anxiety, Instinct

Prayer Marks

The graphic is not all exhaustive. These are just what I've figured out. Learning the language of your God is the hardest part.

[Image id: bluish-white digital drawing on a black background. 8 symbols are labeled. From the top, left to right: "greeting" is a chin shape with a single line to the left inside. "Knowledge" is the chin shape with a triangle inside, pointing upwards. "Doubt" is the chin shape with 4 lines inside. Furthest left is a sideways J. Next is a short line above it. Next is a long line that goes past the top of the J. Next is a short line, shorter than all the previous. "Change" is the chin shape with a downward pointing triangle in it. "Mask is a chin shape with an oval near the top and 3 lines below it, making two eyes and a nose. "The Self" is a complicated mask. 6 vertical lines point from the chin, and are matched across the center line. The lines descend into the chin like steps. There are two off-kilter Xs in the free space on either side of the lines. "Rejection/Punishment" is the chin shape with an X in it. "The Other" is the chin shape with a total of 5 lines. One is in the center and goes about halfway down. Two on either side are a little lower but the same length. In between each line is a very short dash, making eyes. End Image id]

Communication

• Mirrors or Pools (srying)

• Tarot (masks)

Suggestions

The Man of Many Masks is very internal. Communication is often through you. The relationship tends to be very transactional and distant. This deity is very personal to me, and this guide includes a lot of UPG.

Emoji associations

Any face, but especially: 😶‍🌫️🥸, 💦👤🐢🦚🦎🍽🌑🌚💧🌬🌫🎭🪞🪟🚿♒️🆔️🔹️

Ways to worship/devotional acts

• Therapy: Shadow work, Self-Reflection, IFS, Working with the idea of different selves in different situations

• Religious: Prayer Marks and prayer, Mirror scrying/Water scrying, reading Tarot, meditation (especially for reflection)

• For systems: internal communication, switching intentionally, striving for functional multiplicity. Striving to understand roles and triggers. Not disclosing status to others to keep yourself safe.

• Art: Community Theater, acting/voice acting, Role-playing or "being someone else." Making or printing masks. Writing/representing the self through characters.

• General life: Self Defense Classes, Home Defense Classes, not just "how to defend" but "preventative measures." Hot showers. Keeping animals that choose to hide or disguise themselves. Wearing earrings or other bilateral clothing/accessories that doesn't match. Protecting your information (not just regularly changing passwords, but not disclosing more than necessary to coworkers, bosses, Teachers, landlords, strangers etc. They are not your friends and they do not need to know.)

Correspondences:

• Objects/Concepts: Masks, The Self, Deception, Names, Multitudes, Mirrors

• Animals: Turtles, Chameleons, Octopi, Cuttlefish, Snakes, Peacocks

• Plants: Bee orchid, Lithops, White dead nettle

• Crystals/Gems/Rocks: Pyrite, Fake gemstones (think craft store gems), Metamorphic rocks, cubic zirconia, zircon, moissonite, glass

• Elements: Water/Air

• Celestial Body: Neptune

• Numbers: 2 (masks in the comedy/tragedy masks, representations of the self in a single mirror), 3 (minimum to not be a singularity or duality, but multiple.), 10 (average numbers of alters in a system)

• Scents: Lemon, Bergamot, Green Tea (alertness), Vanilla (Safety), coconut (protection), Rain or Ocean (water)

• Colors: Gray-Blue, Blue, Mirror-Green, Gray/White

Offerings

• Foods: Cookies or other foods shaped like something else, ie. Heart cookies, gingerbread men, braided bread, meatloaf Man.

• Burning Appropriate Incense or Colored Candles

• Mirror (dedicated, with Prayer Marks drawn onto larger mirrors), Masks (make them, display them, wear them, use mask shaped soap, etc etc)

• An array of one kind of object's variants. One of each color of a candy, a set of tabletop dice, a bunch of different novelty erasers. Show Multitudes through objects.

• Any listed correspondence can make a good offering

• Shredded documents. You could even blend them and make them into clean new paper.

Transaction/Ritual examples

• You want to know if you can trust someone. You set yourself in front of a mirror and begin meditation. Draw the appropriate marks on the mirror if large enough, on a chalkboard, paper, tablet, etc if not. Appropriate Marks may include "Knowledge" "doubt" "mask" "the self" "the other" and directional indicators like arrows, joining symbols like circles, and other grammatical symbols. Keep your face visible. When you feel sufficiently connected and like he is with you, pray and commit your offering. This should be appropriately scaled to the task at hand: consider current distance of relationship, social standing of target, and how guarded they may be. Once the offering is complete, scour your face for changes, and interpret accordingly. Consider the language of the deity, and what his communication may mean. This Ritual may be helped with steam, smoke, or other concealing things between you and the mirror.

Altar/Shrine Ideas

• Appropriately colored flowers, especially the correspondent flowers. If those are difficult to get, Fake flowers are not only acceptable, but encouraged.

• Mirrors

• Masks. Black, blue, or green masks, especially ornate ones. Any representation of the theater masks are also acceptable, and if they have meaning to you, can be used.

• Chalkboard, Whiteboard, second mirror for writing on, etc. These are important for your Prayer Marks. Choose something you can wipe off (dry or wet erase work. Wet erase is good if you plan on leaving it until next time.) Unless you're okay replacing your sketchbook from time to time.

• Candles. Blue or green. It may be hard to find candles that are the correct color with the correct Scents you want.

• Incense. See above Scents. Finding an appropriate holder can be an exciting devotional activity.

[Img ID: blue-white digital drawings on a black background. From left to right: a circle labeled candle. A long, thin rectangle labeled "mirror." Above this is handwriting that says "mask is on mirror, glued to top." Below is handwriting that says "optional incense" and below that is an upside down house shape labeled "chalkboard." To the right is another circle, assumed to be another candle. An arrow points towards the mirror and says "The mirror has a metal frame that swirls. Flowers are woven in." End Image id]

[piscesseer]

New Moon in Cancer 🦀🌑 July 17, 2023

Tune in to your emotions to gain clarity about what nourishes your soul

Release emotional baggage that might be holding you back

Envision your life desires

Take care of yourself

Embrace the celestial magic of New Moon in Cancer and embark on a journey of deep introspection and emotional renewal. Cancer, the sensitive and nurturing water sign brings forward powerful energy to explore the depths of our emotions and find solace in the loving embrace of our closest relationships.

This New Moon will be helpful for connecting to our emotions and letting the things we feel motivate us to take action. It will give us new motivation to get going, focus on ventures, projects and opportunities that we connect with emotionally, that strengthen us internally, or that we can build from the ground up with. We can enjoy working from the bottom up when we know that our foundation is solid and secure.

It’s a great time to set intentions that revolve around matters of the heart, family and home. Home and family matters and get togethers may be in focus, which can help us feel closer to our home, community and those we think of as family. We can be these for those we care about as well. Our nurturing side will come forward.

Tune into your intuition and tap into your emotions to gain clarity about what nourishes your soul. Cancers prefer comfort and familiarity, so we may want to stick to what we know. It’s not a great time to venture out of our comfort zones. We can find ways to work on what we already know, and how to expand on that. We may be able to take a different approach to things we already know. We can work on ways to make change that will benefit the foundation of our lives and strengthen our cores.

Release emotional baggage that might be holding you back and embrace a fresh start. This New Moon offers an opportunity for healing, forgiveness and establishing healthy boundaries that allows you to nurture your own wellbeing and support others with love and kindness. 

Harness the power of this lunar energy and envision the life you desire. Embrace the path of emotional healing and self-care. It’s through honoring your emotions and tending to your heart's desires that you will manifest the life you deserve.

Ask yourself

✨How have my emotions evolved over the past lunar cycle? ✨What emotional patterns or tendencies have I noticed within myself? Which ones would I like to let go of? ✨How can I honor and express my emotions more authentically? ✨What does the concept of home mean to me? How can I create a nurturing environment in my living space? ✨In what ways can I prioritize self-care and self-nurturing activities in my daily life? ✨Are there emotional wounds from my past that I am ready to heal and release? ✨How can I create space for emotional healing and embrace forgiveness as a transformative process?  ✨How can I create more quiet and reflective moments in my life to listen to my inner wisdom?

[saymoretv]

I read something recently that suggested the idea of 'selling out' doesn't exist in culture today. My first thought was, 'I'm not sure about that'. You can still see people having some of the same debates that connect with this idea; whether that's in people 'gatekeeping' genres, artists watering down or changing their sound, or bands getting getting backlash for working with big corporate sponsors. However, from my vantage point at least, 'selling out' certainly does seems to be a much lesser point consideration or judgement when it comes to conversations around music, art, commerce, identity, etc. and that certainly is to do with the new ways we consume and access music, art, as well as the re-formation of the music industry in the streaming era.

It got me thinking also about a book I about Jawbreaker read recently. The format of the book and the series its published as part of, is notionally a long-form close read / deep listen on a culturally important album by a band, but in actual fact it's basically a biography that takes 24 Hour Revenge Therapy as its central focus by which to tell the story of the band. So even though I would have been happy with someone waxing very lyrical about why they love each element of each song on the record, in hindsight a wider story about who the band where, and their journey along the way probably did make for a better read overall.

Perhaps the most interesting theme within the book is the idea of 'selling out' and how this coloured so much of the bands' legacy and story. Internally it seemed to it seemed central to the decisions and the arc of the 'career' of the band, Such as their initial refuting of the possibility of ever 'selling out' to a major label, and then eventually doing so. And externally, it seemed to colour so much of how they were viewed by their fans and the punk / underground or DIY music communities the band had its roots in, such as the band going from the admiration and adoration they got for being underground heroes of the Gilman Scene, and then the backlash that followed for supporting Nirvana and then signing to Geffen. Boxcar, like no other song in the Jawbreaker discography best encapsulates the way this discourse around 'selling out' is attached to the band.

It's hard not to hear "I was passing out when you were you were passing out your rules" and not regard it as one of the punkest lyrics of all time, but the rules aren't societies rules that say UK82 punks were railing against but the scene politics of the day, and who or what does and doesn't get to be ascribed or as 'punk'. Jawbreaker and Blake are pretty unequivocal: "I never was one". So, maybe fans shouldn't have been so surprised when they signed to a major after all.

That said, for all the bands protestations about not being punks - the visuals tell a different story. Gritty Super 8 B+W footage, gear being loaded into tour vans, and candid band footage shot in and out of the tour bus. I mean all it's missing is some gnarly live footage and a stage dive and all the punk music video boxes are ticked!

Also, it's interesting to note that the band only have two music videos, to my knowledge. The raw, B+W Boxcar video and the glossy Fireman video where they appear in yellow suits (!). Both great songs, but again it definitely highlight this idea of the band Pre and Post 'selling out'.

For me, as much as I love their music, I get a certain 'cakeism' when it came to their relationship with the punk / DIY scene. They got so much affirmation and a sense of community from it, whilst also feeling held back by it's conformity and the policing of behaviours and practice. They both needed the scene and wanted to transcend above it. A song like Boxcar is emblematic of this in that: it takes being part of or close to the punk scene to have the context to reject or even reference what Blake is rejecting. It's the things that are closest to home that often wind us up the most after all.

But this is all to say that these considerations of selling out which were so central to the story of Jawbreaker feel somewhat anachronistic in today's world. Maybe this is because the importance or regard people in bands and fans give to 'selling out' has lessened over the years due to the fact that the stakes are a lot lower. There's less money to go around. Jawbreaker may not have been in line for millions when they released Dear You but they might have gotten rich, but now only a select few (and not many guitar bands I would imagine) will ever get 'rich' by virtue of their music. It's hard to sell out if no one's buying I suppose.