#ngo images

[digimarksposts]

The Each One Educate One Foundation is an NGO for education, uplifiting the underprivileged children out of poverty and paving way for a brighter future. Your donations will help sustain this noble cause and bring smiles of success. 

[homo-house]

hey uh so I haven't seen anyone talking about this here yet, but

the amazon river, like the biggest river in the fucking world, in the middle of the amazon fucking rainforest, is currently going through its worst drought since the records began 121 years ago

picture from Folha PE

there's a lot going on but I haven't seen much international buzz around this like there was when the forest was on fire (maybe because it's harder to shift the narrative to blame brazil exclusively as if the rest of the world didn't have fault in this) so I wanted to bring this to tumblr's attention

I don't know too many details as I live in the other side of the country and we are suffering from the exact opposite (at least three cyclones this year, honestly have stopped counting - it's unusual for us to get hit by even one - floods, landslides, we have a death toll, people are losing everything to the water), but like, I as a brazilian have literally never seen pictures of the river like this before. every single city in the amazonas state is in a state of emergency as of november 1st.

pictures by Adriano Liziero (ig: geopanoramas)

we are used to seeing images of rio negro and solimões, the two main amazon river affluents, in all their grandiose and beauty and seeing these pictures is really fucking chilling. some of our news outlets are saying the solimões has turned to a sand desert... can you imagine this watery sight turning into a desert in the span of a year?

while down south we are seeing amounts of rain and hailstorms the likes of which our infrastructure is simply not built to deal with, up north people who have built everything around the river are at a loss of what to do.

the houses there that are built to float are just on the ground, people who depend on fishing for a living have to walk kilometers to find any fish that are still alive at all, the biodiversity there is at risk, and on an economic level it's hard to grasp how people from the northern states are getting by at all - the main means of transport for ANYTHING in that region is via the river water. this will impact the region for months to come. it doesnt make a lot of sense to build a lot of roads bc it's just better to use the waterway system, everything is built around or floats on the river after all. and like, the water level is so incomprehensibly low the boats are just STUCK. people are having a hard time getting from one place to another - keep in mind the widest parts of the river are over 10 km apart!!

this shit is really serious and i am trying not to think about it because we have a different kind of problem to worry about down south but it's really terrifying when I stop to think about it. you already know the climate crisis is real and the effects are beyond preventable now (we're past global warming, get used to calling it "global boiling"). we'll be switching strategies to damage control from now on and like, this is what it's come to.

I don't like to be alarmist but it's hard not to be alarmed. I'm sorry that I can't end this post with very clear intructions on how people overseas can help, there really isn't much to do except hope the water level rises soon, maybe pray if you believe in something. in that regard we just have to keep pressing for change at a global level; local conditions only would not, COULD NOT be causing this - the amazon river is a CONTINENTAL body of water, it spans across multiple countries. so my advice is spread the word, let your representatives know that you're worried and you want change towards sustainability, degrowth and reduced carbon emissions, support your local NGOs, maybe join a cause, I don't know? I recommend reading on ecological and feminist economics though

however, I know you can help the affected riverine families by donating to organizations dedicated to helping the region. keep in mind a single US dollar, pound or euro is worth over 5x more in our currency so anything you donate at all will certainly help those affected.

FAS - Sustainable Amazon Fundation

Idesam - Sustainable Developent and Preservation Institute of Amazonas

Greenpeace Brasil - I know Greenpeace isn't the best but they're one of the few options I can think of that have a bridge to the international world and they are helping directly

There are a lot of other smaller/local NGOs but I'm not sure how you could donate to them from overseas, I'll leave some of them here anyway:

Projeto Gari

Caritás Brasileira

If you know any other organizations please link them, I'll be sure to reblog though my reach isn't a lot

thank you so much for reading this to the end, don't feel obligated to share but please do if you can! even if you just read up to here it means a lot to me that someone out there knows

also as an afterthought, I wanted to expand on why I think this hasn't made big news yet: because unlike the case of the 2020 forest fires, other countries have to hold themselves accountable when looking at this situation. while in 2020 it was easier to pretend the fires were all our fault and people were talking about taking the amazon away from us like they wouldn't do much worse. global superpowers have no more forests to speak of so I guess they've been eyeing what latin america still has. so like this bit of the post is just to say if you're thinking of saying anything of the sort, maybe think of what your own country has done to contribute to this instead of blaming brazil exclusively and saying the amazon should be protected by force or whatever

[fearsmagazine]

THE PARK | Trailer, Poster & Images

When a mysterious virus starts killing all adults, society is left to be governed by children living on borrowed time. After the adult population is wiped out, rival kids battle for control of an abandoned theme park. Danger lurks around every corner, and they must do whatever it takes to survive their hellish Neverland.

Filmmaker Shal Ngo's feature debut is a thrilling, dark journey through a dystopian world where children rule - and life is fleeting.

Written and directed by Shal Ngo, THE PARK stars Chloe Guidry, Nhedrick Jabier, and Carmina Garay; is executive produced by Ryan Chanatry, Nick Borenstein, and Matt Miller; and produced by Natalie Metzger, p.g.a.

Shal Ngo's dystopian thriller, starring a cast of amazing young actors and set in a long-abandoned amusement park, arrives on U.S. VOD on March 2nd, 2023.

[poetessinthepit]

One thing I think that is so insidious about the Pro-Israel narrative is that they don't even want you donating to the Palestinian cause to provide things like food or medical care for children. There is a concerted hasbara campaign to associate any NGO that provides any aid to palestinians with terrorism.

For example, if you attempt to raise money for the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund, a charity rated 4 stars by Charity Navigator, you may be linked to a page on a website called NGO Monitor. At first glance, this appears to be a neutral charity rating website similar to Charity Navigator. It's not.

Try searching any charity with no connection to the Israel-Palestine conflict on NGO Monitor, and you'll get no result.

Do a little digging, and you'll find out that NGO Monitor was founded by Gerald Steinberg, a Likud party member and former Israeli Security Council consultant. It is essentially a right-wing Israeli front posing as a legitimate charity watchdog while spreading misinformation.

Or consider this racist parody song from Israel's version of SNL. It depicts a hjiab donning woman crying and begging for money in front of an image of shelled out buildings presumably in Gaza. It then cuts away to reveal it is all a set, and her crying is acting, alluding to the Pallywood conspiracy theory. This is followed by caricatures of Hamas members swimming in riches in a luxurious hotel room in Qatar chanting "dollar bills, dollar bills" as donations pile up. The implication is clear; if you give money to Palestine, you are giving money to Hamas. The fact that this video is in English tells you who the intended audience is. It was posted on instagram by Noa Tishby, a former Israeli spokesperson.

This all reflects the true cruelty of the Israeli regime. They don't just want to harm the Palestinians; they don't want you to help them.

[mutant-distraction]

In 2001, there were only 62 mature Iberian lynx individuals on the Iberian Peninsula. Now, thanks to dedicated conservation efforts, the population has surged to over 2,000 adults and juveniles. Breeding, reintroduction, and habitat restoration projects played a crucial role. Nature reserves in southern Spain and Portugal now harbor 648 adult specimens. Since 2010, over 400 Iberian lynx have been reintroduced to parts of Portugal and Spain.

Attention to the rabbit population (their main prey) contributed significantly. Changes in agricultural practices helped restore rabbit habitats. Public bodies, scientific institutions, NGOs, and local communities worked together. Farmers receive compensation if lynx prey on their livestock.

Image credit: Raul Santos

Text credit: Earth of Wonders

[afeelgoodblog]

The Best News of Last Week - September 11, 2023

Sorry for not sending last week's issue as I got covid again :/ I passed it, so here's the best things that happened last week :)

1. The IRS plans to crack down on 1,600 millionaires to collect millions of dollars in back taxes

The IRS announced on Friday it is launching an effort to aggressively pursue 1,600 millionaires and 75 large business partnerships that owe hundreds of millions of dollars in past due taxes. The newly announced tax collection effort will begin as soon as October. “We have more hiring to do,” Werfel said. “It’s going to be a very busy fall for us.”

2. The NGO African Parks announced it would purchase the world’s largest population of privately owned white rhinos

Africa’s beleaguered rhinos have been thrown a significant lifeline with the announcement that nearly 2,000 semi-wild rhinos owned by South African rhino breeder John Hume will be “rewilded” into reserves across South Africa and other parts of the continent over the next 10 years.

3. Mexico supreme court decriminalizes abortion across country

Mexico’s supreme court has unanimously ruled that state laws prohibiting abortion are unconstitutional and violate women’s rights, in the latest in a series of victories for reproductive rights activists across Latin America.

Wednesday’s ruling came two years after the court ordered the northern state of Coahuila to remove sanctions for abortion from its criminal code, a decision which prompted a tortuous state-by-state process of legal battles. So far 12 of Mexico’s 31 states have decriminalized the procedure.

4. The first human organ created inside an animal opens the door to manufacturing ‘spare parts’ for people

It is a historic image. A team of researchers in China has successfully generated a blueprint of a human organ in another animal for the first time. The experiment, conducted with humanized kidneys in pig embryos, represents a step toward the still-distant dream of using other mammals as source of organs for transplants.

5. Study Shows a Single Dose of Psilocybin's Astonishing Impact on Depression and Could Change Medical Treatments of Mental Health Forever

Psychedelics are making a comeback, and this time, they're dressed in the respectable garb of clinical research. Recent studies have reignited interest in these substances, particularly psilocybin, the active compound in magic mushrooms, as a potent treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD).

6. Missing cat reunited with owner after it disappeared during Alaska flooding

Twenty-six days after he went missing, an adorable black and white cat named Leo has been reunited with his family. Brave Leo went missing after historic glacial flooding swept away his home and all his owner's belongings.

7. Dogs perform Mozart with orchestra in Denmark

A classical music festival in Copenhagen, Denmark, has opened with some canine additions to the orchestra.

---

That's it for this week :)

This newsletter will always be free. If you liked this post you can support me with a small kofi donation here:

Buy me a coffee ❤️

Also don’t forget to reblog this post with your friends.

[fireheartwraith]

Hello everyone. Climate change and lack of infrastructure has cause severe floods in the south of brazil and thousands of people are displaced or missing. If you can help, please do, especially those who use dollar or euro. You don't know far your money can take us

This tweet has a video showing how absurdly fast the water rose. Image if this was your home, completely taken by water in under three minutes. Imagine if you had children, elderly, disabled people living here. What would you do in this situation? What can you even do?

Most of the state is now underwater, and the parts that aren't don’t have power or water. Getting prescription meds and other necessities like hygiene kits and food is difficult because capitalism sucks. The military police are protecting supermarkets because the people are hungry and taking the food. Mind you, the food will spoil anyway. But god forbid people don't go hungry.

And in the midst of this chaos, public transport still isn't free. People are charging to rescue folks. So people can only be rescued by helicopter because of the currents. There are people debating whether or not they should leave pets to die.

And the government has done basically nothing. It is the government's fault, everyone knows this. The money that was supposed to go to preventing something like this simply doesn't exist. The people organizing rescues are distributing resources are the people themselves. Influencers have been doing more to the cause than the government at this point.

Some people were bringing up Madonna because the flood hit the night of her show, and they were saying the money she received should have gone to the affected people. And so she donated 10 MILLION reais. It is utter madness. There are bodies floating in the water people have to wade through.

If you can do something to help, please do

Here's a link to donate to an ngo that is feeding the displaced people

Paypal: Fathiele14@gmail.com

Edit: Floods are also displacing people in the northeast, literally on the other side of the country. The situation is dire. Remember, you are closer to being a climate refugee than being a billionaire. If I find where you make international donations to help Maranhão I'll share it here

[dtmsrpfcringe]

the definitive dictionary and almanac of Tinhattery

hi, this will be a list of the main misogynistic accounts, definitions people have questions about, accounts you should follow and abbreviations— let’s gooo!! If you’re tagged in this I probably put you on the accounts to follow section. Adding a cut here because it’s long and gonna get longer

definitions!!!!

LCB- Used to stand for letscoffeebreak, she has since changed her username to dejadestalkearmeloser.

NGO- Nightgoodomens

Ingrav, Amy- Ingravinoveritas.

tardisrose- thetardisisblueandroseistoo

Tinhatters- A group of (mostly) tumblr users who think everything in these two relationships are fake and the women are abusive and the men want to run away.

Queeranoners- same as above, my favourite way to refer to them, coined by the amazing @theeminentlyimpractical

sheenbergs- Mix for Michael and Anna’s name

sheenbergnant- the amalgamation of the four bad bitches we love

sheenant- ship name for David and Michael. (Remember kids: shipping is cool but it’s fictional!!)

DT- David Tennant (Georgias husband)

MS- Michael Sheen (Anna’s boyfriend)

GT- Georgia Tennant

AL- Anna Lundberg

PR- public relations

GM- a…delegitimising way of referring to Georgia by refusing to use her last name. Instead use her maiden name. Note how they don’t refer to David as David McDonald

APAT- usually used by tinhatters (stands for Anna Plain And Tall) to refer to Anna Lundberg

PR (Tinhatter definition) - an omnipresent being forcing two rich white men who constantly champion human rights and lgbtq acceptance into a hetero relationship because they just are so oppressed and abused and not because they love their partners!

PR (actual definition) -the professional activities of an agency hired by a person, company, or other entity to shape, create, and manipulate that person/company’s public image. A public relations firm is often useful in helping a company manage its media reputation when a crisis happens, in order to attempt to minimize false information or slanderous statements which could damage reputations.

Shipping- Shipping (derived from the word relationship) is the desire by followers of a fandom for two or more people, either real-life people or fictional characters (in film, literature, television series, etc.), to be in a romanticrelationship. Shipping often takes the form of unofficial creative works, including fanfictionand fan art.

Shipping (Tinhat definition) - NO THEY HATE THEIR PARTNERS AND WANT TO FUCK EACH OTHER LOOK HE BLINKED IN HIS VICINITY THEIR PARTNERS ARE ABUSIVE I SWEAR

GREATEST HITS (posts that killed Tinhatters, feel free to submit your favourites in my inbox)

The breakdown of an anon

tassel jokes

backstreet cringe

Ingravinoveritas admitting it

Laurens amazing fuck off post that snowballed into half the fandom straight up saying fuck you to these people

HALL OF SHAME (Worst of tinhatters, again feel free to submit more)

• Taraiha’s rivals meltdown

NGO hates this fandom for…calling her out

it’s not a choice to be weird and creepy about people’s lives! (Again shipping is fine. This shit is not!!!)

it’s okay if you attack women just don’t criticise Michael Sheen (no idea what she was talking about with David) this same lady had another absolutely dog shit post I guess she removed?!

How dare women…have fun at their birthday parties?? (Part 1)

for a group constantly sexualizing David and Michaels every movement we can’t stand when a woman shows a little chest and has fun

Accounts you should follow!!!!:

@goodomenswarning - same purpose as this account, hilarious, an amazing friend

@badaziraphaletakes - calls out shitty takes in good omens as well, so much more level headed about toxicity than I am but I love talking shit with them. @thegeorgiatennantblog - best Georgia content

@fightingalgth8rs -bad bitches calling out extreme sexism

@phoen1xr0se - one of the best and I devour everything she posts

@davidtennantgenderenvy stands up for what’s right in the fandom, one of my idols and stuck up for me during a vulnerable time.

lmk more I need to add because I’m definitely missing some

THE REPEAT OFFENDERS (booo 🍅🍅):

Ingravinoveritas- one of the bigger ones, refuses to believe Georgia does anything nice for David, or that any of them actually like their partners. Can’t stop fetishizing gay male relationships to save her life. If David blinks he apparently wants to be bent over. Likes to pretend she’s not as bad as the others but has some of the wildest takes and said she felt threatened and scared for her life at someone making a Shakespearean reference. Professional victim

Nightgoodomens- a particularly nasty motherfucker. So toxic she’s quarantined. Misogynistic, ableist, um…yeah not much to say there except for the fact that apparently anything that David does that involves his wife means he’s forced into it. Would rather see them as abused puppies than accept they love their partners. Heavy on the homophobia and bi erasure since yes, fetishization isn’t allyship, it is homophobia. Everything is PR. She doesn’t know what PR means nor that David and Michael are not nearly important enough to have a 24/7 team controlling all social media and personal aspects of their lives. Neil gaiman apologist who blamed his sexual assault revelations on David’s support of trans people. Denies women flirting with each other and boils it to PR friendships??!?

Dejadestalkearmeloser- pretty much the same as nightgoodimens, flips shit when you call her out on it, I mean look at her pinned post about me and you’ll see. Also apparently I’m every account that doesn’t like her. Seems to have a problem with lesbians not liking her (wonder why lesbians don’t like the misogynistic people who only talk about the lgbtq community when it comes to fetishising mlm relationships)

Thetardisisbluesndroseistoo- flips shit at Georgia getting credit for anything, lost her shit on someone saying that Georgia has educated David on lgbtq allyship (he quite literally said himself that she does) later deleted posts when I called her out. Can’t stop laughing at that

invisibleicewands- really, really creepy about Anna, delving into her past and family to try and find…something. Body shaming. Mom shaming. The usual misogyny.

dtmsrpf- I guess a spoof on my name, belongs to one of the others on this list. The usual misogyny with a particular axe to grind against their looks and other things. Definitely a little salty.

georgiatennantunofficial (instagram)- extremely fucking gross. Body shaming and misogyny. Usual. You guys see a pattern yet?

[womenaremypriority]

This is so horrific.

———————

I have been following Siro’s story for 30 years, ever since I went to interview her and four other rural midwives in India’s Bihar state in 1996.

They had been identified by a non-governmental organisation as being behind the murder of baby girls in the district of Katihar where, under pressure from the newborns’ parents, they were killing them by feeding them chemicals or simply wringing their necks.

Hakiya Devi, the eldest of the midwives I interviewed, told me at the time she had killed 12 or 13 babies. Another midwife, Dharmi Devi, admitted to killing more - at least 15-20.

It is impossible to ascertain the exact number of babies they may have killed, given the way the data was gathered.

But they featured in a report published in 1995 by an NGO, based on interviews with them and 30 other midwives. If the report’s estimates are accurate, more than 1,000 baby girls were being murdered every year in one district, by just 35 midwives. According to the report, Bihar at the time had more than half a million midwives. And infanticide was not limited to Bihar.

Refusing orders, Hakiya said, was almost never an option for a midwife.

“The family would lock the room and stand behind us with sticks,” says Hakiya Devi. “They’d say: ‘We already have four-five daughters. This will wipe out our wealth. Once we give dowry for our girls, we will starve to death. Now, another girl has been born. Kill her.’

“Who could we complain to? We were scared. If we went to the police, we’d get into trouble. If we spoke up, people would threaten us."

The role of a midwife in rural India is rooted in tradition, and burdened by the harsh realities of poverty and caste. The midwives I interviewed belonged to the lower castes in India’s caste hierarchy. Midwifery was a profession passed on to them by mothers and grandmothers. They lived in a world where refusing orders of powerful, upper-caste families was unthinkable.

The midwife could be promised a sari, a sack of grain or a small amount of money for killing a baby. Sometimes even that was not paid. The birth of a boy earned them about 1,000 rupees. The birth of a girl earned them half.

The reason for this imbalance was steeped in India’s custom of giving a dowry, they explained. Though the custom was outlawed in 1961, it still held strong in the 90s - and indeed continues into the present day.

A dowry can be anything - cash, jewellery, utensils. But for many families, rich or poor, it is the condition of a wedding. And this is what, for many, still makes the birth of a son a celebration and the birth of a daughter a financial burden.

Siro Devi, the only midwife of those I interviewed who is still alive, used a vivid physical image to explain this disparity in status.

“A boy is above the ground - higher. A daughter is below - lower. Whether a son feeds or takes care of his parents or not, they all want a boy.”

The preference for sons can be seen in India’s national-level data. Its most recent census, in 2011, recorded a ratio of 943 women to every 1,000 men. This is nevertheless an improvement on the 1990s - in the 1991 census, the ratio was 927/1,000.

By the time I finished filming the midwives’ testimonies in 1996, a small, silent change had begun. The midwives who once carried out these orders had started to resist. 

This change was instigated by Anila Kumari, a social worker who supported women in the villages around Katihar, and was dedicated to addressing the root causes of these killings.

Anila’s approach was simple. She asked the midwives, “Would you do this to your own daughter?”

Her question apparently pierced years of rationalisation and denial. The midwives got some financial help via community groups and gradually the cycle of violence was interrupted.

Siro, speaking to me in 2007, explained the change.

“Now, whoever asks me to kill, I tell them: ‘Look, give me the child, and I’ll take her to Anila Madam.’”

The midwives rescued at least five newborn girls from families who wanted them killed or had already abandoned them.

One child died, but Anila arranged for the other four to be sent to Bihar’s capital, Patna, to an NGO which organised their adoption.

The story could have ended there. But I wanted to know what had become of those girls who were adopted, and where life had taken them.

Anila’s records were meticulous but they had few details about post-adoption.

Working with a BBC World Service team, I got in touch with a woman called Medha Shekar who, back in the 90s, was researching infanticide in Bihar when the babies rescued by Anila and the midwives began arriving at her NGO. Remarkably, Medha was still in touch with a young woman who, she believed, was one of these rescued babies.

Anila told me that she had given all the girls saved by the midwives the prefix “Kosi” before their name, a homage to the Kosi river in Bihar. Medha remembered that Monica had been named with this “Kosi” prefix before her adoption.

The adoption agency would not let us look at Monica’s records, so we can never be sure. But her origins in Patna, her approximate date of birth and the prefix “Kosi” all point to the same conclusion: Monica is, in all probability, one of the five babies rescued by Anila and the midwives.

When I went to meet her at her parents’ home some 2,000km (1,242 miles) away in Pune, she said she felt lucky to have been adopted by a loving family.

“This is my definition of a normal happy life and I am living it,” she said.

Monica knew that she had been adopted from Bihar. But we were able to give her more details about the circumstances of her adoption.

Earlier this year, Monica travelled to Bihar to meet Anila and Siro. 

Monica saw herself as the culmination of years of hard work by Anila and the midwives.

“Someone prepares a lot to do well in an exam. I feel like that. They did the hard work and now they’re so curious to meet the result… So definitely, I would like to meet them.”

Anila wept tears of joy when she met Monica. But Siro’s response felt different.

She sobbed hard, holding Monica close and combing through her hair.

“I took you [to the orphanage] to save your life… My soul is at peace now,” she told her.

But when, a couple of days later, I attempted to press Siro about her reaction, she resisted further scrutiny.

“What happened in the past is in the past,” she said.

But what is not in the past is the prejudice some still hold against baby girls.

Reports of infanticide are now relatively rare, but sex-selective abortion remains common, despite being illegal since 1994.

If one listens to the traditional folk songs sung during childbirth, known as Sohar, in parts of north India, joy is reserved for the birth of a male child. Even in 2024, it is an effort to get local singers to change the lyrics so that the song celebrates the birth of a girl.

While we were filming our documentary, two baby girls were discovered abandoned in Katihar - one in bushes, another at the roadside, just a few hours old. One later died. The other was put up for adoption.

Before Monica left Bihar, she visited this baby in the Special Adoption Centre in Katihar.

She says she was haunted by the realisation that though female infanticide may have been reduced, abandoning baby girls continues.

“This is a cycle… I can see myself there a few years ago, and now again there’s some girl similar to me.”

But there were to be happier similarities too.

The baby has now been adopted by a couple in the north-eastern state of Assam. They have named her Edha, which means happiness.

“We saw her photo, and we were clear - a baby once abandoned cannot be abandoned twice,” says her adoptive father Gaurav, an officer in the Indian air force.

Every few weeks Gaurav sends me a video of Edha's latest antics. I sometimes share them with Monica.

Looking back, the 30 years spent on this story were never just about the past. It was about confronting uncomfortable truths. The past cannot be undone, but it can be transformed.

And in that transformation, there is hope.

[digimarksposts]

Centre For Transforming India(CFTI) is an Non Profit Organisation located in Mumbai, Delhi and Alibaug. The bicycle distribution programme of CFTI is a flagship programme that helps the rural girls to continue their education and be empowered. Learn more by clicking here https://cftiindia.com/bicycle-distribution

[fashionlandscapeblog]

Jean Dubuffet

Chambre au Lit Sous L’arbre, 1977

Image: Ngoc Minh Ngo, © 2020 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris

[gatheringbones]

[“Carceral feminists hold that if we could abolish prostitution through criminalising clients and managers, the trafficking of women would end, as there would be no sex trade to traffic them into. As the deputy prime minister of Sweden writes, ‘It is very obvious to us that there is a very clear link between prostitution and trafficking … Without prostitution there would be no trafficking of women.’ This perspective also views prostitution as intrinsically more horrifying than other kinds of work (including work that is ‘low-status’, exploitative, or low-paid), and as such, views attempting to abolish prostitution through criminal law as a worthwhile end in itself. For those who hold these views, defending sex workers’ rights is akin to defending trafficking.

In these conversations, trafficking becomes a battle between good and evil, monstrosity and innocence, replete with heavy-handed imagery of chains, ropes, and cuffs to signify enslavement and descriptors such as nefarious, wicked, villainous, and iniquitous. This ‘evil’ is driven by the aberrance of commercial sex and by anomalous (and distinctly racialised) ‘bad actors’: the individual villain, the pimp, the trafficker. A police officer summarises this approach as: ‘we’ll put all these pimps, all these traffickers in prison … and that’ll solve the problem’. Numerous images associated with modern anti-trafficking campaigns feature a white girl held captive by a Black man: he is a dark hand over her mouth or a looming, shadowy figure behind her.

Fancy-dress ‘pimp costumes’ offer a cartoonishly racist vision of 1970s Black masculinity, while American law-enforcement unashamedly use terms such as ‘gorilla pimp’ and link trafficking to rap music. There is a horror-movie entertainment quality to this at times: tourists can go on ‘sex-trafficking bus tours’ to shudder over locations where they’re told sexual violence has recently occurred (‘perhaps you are wondering where these crimes take place’) or buy an ‘awareness-raising’ sandwich featuring a naked woman with her body marked up as if for a butcher. Conventionally sexy nude women are depicted wrapped in tape or packed under plastic, with labels indicating ‘meat’.

Conversely, the victim is often presented with her ‘girlishness’ emphasised. Young women are styled to look pre-pubescent, in pigtails or hair ribbons, holding teddy bears. This imagery suggests another key preoccupation shared by modern and nineteenth-century anti-trafficking campaigners: innocence. A glance at the names chosen for police operations and NGOs highlights this: Lost Innocence, Saving Innocence, Freedom4Innocence, the Protected Innocence Challenge, Innocents at Risk, Restore Innocence, Rescue Innocence, Innocence for Sale.

For feminists, this preoccupation with feminine ‘innocence’ should be a red flag, not least because it speaks to a prurient interest in young women. Conversely, LGBTQ people, Black people, and deliberate prostitutes are often left out of the category of innocence, and as a result harm against people in these groups becomes less legible as harm. For example, a young Black man may face arrest rather than support; indeed, resources for runaway and homeless youth (whose realities are rather more complex than chains and ropes) were not included in the US Congress’s 2015 reauthorisation of the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act. Anti-trafficking statutes often exclude deliberate prostitutes from the category of people able to seek redress, as to be a ‘legitimate’ trafficking victim requires innocence, and a deliberate prostitute, however harmed, cannot fulfil that requirement.”]

molly smith, juno mac, from revolting prostitutes: the fight for sex workers’ rights, 2018

[felipeandletizia]

December 24, 2024: King Felipe Christmas Message

Good evening and thank you for allowing me to accompany you for a few moments on such a special night of meeting and celebration, which I wish you, along with the Queen, Princess Leonor and Infanta Sofia, to be happy and peaceful.

This Christmas Eve I would like to refer first, and I am sure you understand me, to the terrible Dana that almost two months ago struck with unusual force several areas of eastern and southern Spain, especially in Valencia.

The people who lost their lives and those who disappeared deserve all our respect and we must never forget the pain and sadness they have left in their families. Thousands of people saw how what until recently was their town, their neighborhood, their work, their home, their business, their school, was reduced to rubble or even disappeared. A difficult fact to accept, but from which we should all be able to draw the necessary lessons that strengthen us as a society and make us grow.

We must never forget those first images of the flood that swept everything away, the rescues of people, some sick, elderly or exhausted, who tried to get out of their cars or took refuge on roofs and terraces. We also saw those who opened their homes to welcome the most vulnerable, opposing the relentless force of water and mud with the overwhelming force of solidarity and humanity. Neighbours, volunteers, civil protection teams, firefighters, security forces, Armed Forces, NGOs, and also companies that organised collections and donations, even mobilising their staff and machinery… the help and collaboration of everyone is helping, little by little, the more than 800,000 people affected to gradually recover a certain degree of normality in their lives. And that the medium and long term be equally addressed to really ensure recovery We have recognized this solidarity in its purest and most concrete sense day after day in the enormous work of anonymous volunteers and public servants; and we have also seen - and understood - the frustration, the pain, the impatience, the demands for greater and more effective coordination of administrations. Because all these emotions - those that move and comfort and those that hurt and sadden - arise from the same root: the awareness of the common good, the expression of the common good, or the demand for the common good.

Above the eventual divergences and disagreements, a clear idea prevails in Spanish society of what is convenient, of what benefits everyone and that, for that reason, we have the interest and responsibility to protect and reinforce it. It is something that the Queen and I have been able to see and value even more throughout this decade of reign. It is the responsibility of all institutions, of all Public Administrations, to ensure that this notion of the common good continues to be clearly reflected in any discourse or any political decision. Consensus on what is essential, not only as a result, but also as a constant practice, must always guide the public sphere. Not to avoid the diversity of opinions, which is legitimate and necessary in democracy, but to prevent this diversity from leading to the denial of the existence of a shared space.

It is from this agreement on what is essential that we must address the issues that concern us and that affect us in ways that are different from our collective life. The growing international instability, the climate in which our public debate often takes place, the difficulties in accessing housing or the management of immigration are issues, among others, that deserve our attention and that I also want to address tonight.

Immigration is a complex phenomenon of great social sensitivity that responds to diverse causes. Without population movements throughout history, the societies of today could not be explained; they are open and interconnected societies. Migration, therefore, is an everyday reality and can lead – without proper management – ​​to tensions that erode social cohesion.

The effort to integrate, which is everyone's responsibility, respect – also by everyone – for the laws and basic rules of coexistence and civility, and recognition of the dignity that every human being deserves, are the pillars that must guide us when dealing with immigration. Without ever forgetting the firmness required to fight against the networks and mafias that traffic people. The way in which we are able to deal with immigration – which also requires good coordination with our European partners, as well as with the countries of origin and transit – will say a lot in the future about our principles and the quality of our democracy.

Another issue that worries, especially the youngest, is the difficulty in accessing housing. Cities, especially large cities, act as growth poles and generate a demand that supply cannot satisfy. It is important, once again, that all the actors involved reflect, listen to each other, examine the different options and that this dialogue leads to solutions that facilitate access to housing in acceptable conditions, especially for the youngest and most unprotected, because this is the basis for security, the well-being of so many life projects. And we really can do it.

Our lives are also affected by an increasingly complex and changing – and even turbulent – ​​external scenario. We see how international law is too often questioned, violence is resorted to, the universality of human rights is denied or multilateralism is called into question to face the global challenges of our time, such as climate and environmental crises, pandemics, energy transition or trade and the scarcity of natural resources. We also see how the very validity of democracy as a system of government is questioned.

In this context, Spain and the other member states of the European Union must continue to defend with conviction and firmness, together with our international partners, the foundations of liberal democracy, the defence of human rights and the achievements in social welfare on which our great political project is based. Because Europe - the idea of ​​Europe - is an essential part of our shared identity, of the legacy that we owe to future generations. In a world in need of strong and cohesive actors, but above all of behaviour inspired by principles and values, Europe remains our most valuable reference.

And if we look inward, our great reference in Spain is the Constitution of 1978, its letter and its spirit. Agreement on the essentials was the fundamental principle that inspired it. Working for the common good is precisely preserving the great pact of coexistence where our democracy is affirmed and our rights and freedoms are enshrined, pillars of our Social and Democratic State of Law. Despite the time that has passed, the harmony that was the fruit of it continues to be our great foundation. Cultivating this spirit of consensus is necessary to strengthen our institutions and to maintain the trust of the whole society in them.

A pact of coexistence is protected by dialogue; this dialogue, with dignity and generosity, must always nourish the definition of the common will and the action of the State. That is why it is necessary that the political conflict, legitimate, but sometimes thunderous, does not prevent us from hearing an even more clamorous demand: a demand for serenity. Serenity in the public sphere and in daily life, to face collective or individual and family projects, to prosper, to care for and protect those who need it most. The recent reform of article 49 of the Constitution, referring to people with disabilities, is a good example of what we can achieve together. And we cannot allow discord to become a constant background noise that prevents us from hearing the true pulse of the citizenry.

You have heard me say it many times and I would like to repeat it again: Spain is a great country. A nation with a prodigious history, despite its dark chapters, and a model for democratic development in recent decades, even defeating the terrorist harassment that caused so many victims. A country with a present that, despite the much we still have to do, for example, in terms of poverty and social exclusion, is promising when observing the performance of our economy – in terms of, among others, growth, employment or exports – and the general level of our social well-being. And looking to the future, I sincerely believe that we Spaniards have enormous potential that should give us hope, both at the national level and on the international scene.

This future lies mainly in our youth, the same one that has made our name shine in the Olympic and Paralympic Games and in the last European Championship, the one that undertakes despite the difficulties and the one that is at the forefront of our science; The youth who respect our elders and their valuable experience, the youth who most insistently demand progress in terms of equality, the youth who prepare themselves in our schools, institutes, universities, vocational training centres, to enter the labour market with energy despite the youth unemployment figures; the youth, in short, who seek opportunities and overcome obstacles based on merit and effort. But above all, the youth who have filled us with pride by turning out in droves to give their best in the streets of the towns affected by the DANA.

With this spirit of work and commitment to what belongs to everyone, to the common good, I end my words and return to the beginning. I return to all the municipalities and regions affected by the floods, in many of which there is still so much to do, where the need of the neighbours is so great that it makes all efforts seem small, even without losing hope.

May the solidarity that has united us in the most difficult moments continue to be present in every gesture, in every action, in every decision. May aid reach all those who need it, so that they can rebuild the future for which they have fought so hard, facing with courage and dignity the challenges of a sometimes implacable present. The sooner we achieve this, the more we will strengthen our sense of community, our feeling of country. Because the memory of the path taken, confidence in the present and hope for the future are an unavoidable part, perhaps the most valuable, but also the most delicate, of our common good.

May the spirit of these days of meeting and coexistence remain in the new year and may you have - I wish you, together with the Queen and our daughters, Princess Leonor and Infanta Sofia - a very Merry Christmas.

Eguberri On, Bon Nadal, Happy Holidays.

[thinkingimages]

Taysir Batniji, Disruptions. Loose Joints (publisher) February, 2024 

Between 2015 and 2017, Palestinian artist Taysir Batniji lived in Europe and communicated via video calls with his relatives remaining in Gaza. In a series of “glitched” photographs, he captured the degradation of images due to the Internet connection.

At the time of these calls, the serie exposed the limits of digital communication in order to maintaining family ties and related the heartbreak of seeing his homeland only through altered images. Published by Loose Joints in February 2024, it takes on a new dimension. The artist produced images anticipating the destruction of Gaza City, the cutting off of communications, and the tragic loss of loved ones. Beyond the artist’s intimate family sphere, the images today evoke a loss of collective vision.

Announced on the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Loose Joints is releasing “Disruptions” with profit going to the NGO Medical Aid for Palestinians.

With an essay in French, Arabic and English by Taous R. Dahmani Softcover 15.5 × 21.6 cm

[probablyasocialecologist]

The "Israel" X account tweeted on Tuesday night what it said was evidence of PIJ culpability in the attack, saying that “from the analysis of the operational systems of the IDF, an enemy rocket barrage was carried out towards Israel, which passed through the vicinity of the hospital when it was hit”. However, the original version of the post included a video of rockets fired from the vicinity of Gaza City. The video was later deleted by the account, while analysts noted that the first public mentions of the bombing were at 7.20pm local time, whereas the video shared by Israel as evidence was time-stamped at between 7.59 and 8pm local time. That same account shared audio on Wednesday from the Israeli army claiming to be a conversation between Hamas operatives, in which they discuss the destruction of the hospital and pin it on PIJ. But Muhammad Shehada, a Gaza-based civil rights activist who has reported on Hamas for a decade, posted that the quote had been mistranslated from "they're saying" to "we're saying". "He's describing a rumour, not evidence," Shehada wrote, before going on to list other reasons for believing the audio was part of a campaign of misinformation. Alex Thomson, a correspondent for Channel 4 News, said "several experts" had told him the "audio tape of 'Hamas' operatives talking about the missile malfunction is a fake. They say the tone, syntax, accent and idiom are absurd." "They shot it from the cemetary behind the hospital," one of them can be heard saying. Francesco Sebregondi, an architect and researcher currently with the investigative NGO Index, told Middle East Eye that Israel was keen to provide material quickly for analysts to pin their conclusions on. "By quickly providing a number of poorly substantiated 'evidence' in the form of, for example, drone footage of the site, the Israeli army may also be counting on the eagerness of some Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) actors to use any image/material/data to quickly publish new content, or 'analysis' and thereby more or less directly support its version of the events," he said.

[pebblysand]

okay, i'm just gonna say this because i'm seeing these popping up on my dash a lot and i'm sick of holding my tongue:

the gaza fundraisers are scams. like: at best, they're scams exploiting your well-meaning sentiments for money. as worst - for some of the ones i've investigated (and i remind you, internet safety is my day job, so i know what i'm talking about) - they're exploiting the images of children affiliated to child pornography. yes, trust me, i'm sure.

aside from the source images, i will additionally point out that they are systematically set up by third parties on behalf of someone else. strangely, if you google the names of these third parties, they never exist (and, really, who has no internet footprint, these days?). if these were real activists/relations to people on the ground, you would find: facebook profiles, profile pages on NGO websites, twitter accounts - literally any signs of life. but of course, because they're not real people, they don't exist. (these are not even elaborate scammers, ffs.)

lastly, i will add that they're all saying they're "verified" but if you click the links, it's either just verified by another tumblr post saying "yeah, i'm from gaza and i know them" (no shit sherlock), or because they're "verified" on gofundme. now, i'm not going to go into massive details on this because it's boring but just know that generally speaking, internet "verification" typically simply means the creator of the fundraiser has provided a real passport (often stolen on the dark web) or a real bank account that match. it doesn't mean the story is true.

it is actually very very very unlikely that gofundme would ever truly verify the story behind one of their fundraiser because this would automatically prevent them from availing of platform immunity. in broad terms, platform immunity means that as long as they only host the content that is on their platform without interfering with it, they can't be held responsible/liable for said content. any attempt at genuine verification would mean interfering with the content and being treated as its publisher, and the end of their platform immunity. trust me, they don't want that to happen and be liable for any fundraiser published there.

i know the idea of donating to individual "real" people is appealing because you feel like your money is actually going somewhere useful. you don't want to be paying for the red cross's functioning costs - i get it. but you know what comes with the red cross, MSF, save the children, and all actual reputable organisations? public scrutiny. like, simply put: their fucking books are audited. we know where the money goes. and i'd rather pay the salary of a staff member of an organisation that is actually doing something, albeit all its flaws, than donating to ... child-exploitative scammers.

so: let's put it in simple terms.

the war in gaza is a genocide.

donate to genuine, reputable organisations, thank you.