#thats like the country of cambodia

[stars-and-soda]

I need everyone here to understand that poc are considered morally bad and less than even as children, even by children of colour. Please look into the Doll Test.

Poc, specifically black children but especially black boys, are denied childhood and the assumption of innocence because of their race starting as young as pre-school:

Poc, even as minors are more likely to be incarnated and have harsher sentences for the same crimes as their white peers:

There's also the Mark of Cain, which has been used and interpreted as if you have dark skin, your ancestors were murderers and you were born with that sin. Several Christian denominations used this as a reason to not allow black members of their church. Before that, they used it as a justification for literal fucking slavery, using the Mark of Cain and the Curse of Ham as proof that God wanted black people to be enslaved and that it was a good thing. In the most literal way, Mormons still believe that if you're black, you can't be an angel. When a black holy person dies, when they go to heaven, they become white. Literally. They use to preach that "through righteousness, dark skin races would become white and delightsome" and only went back on that idea a little in 2013.

Stop framing this as "poor blonde kids" and start thinking about the black children that are shoot by police because they were guilty of being born black.

Also, for everyone tagging this as fandom, this problem doesn't just exist in fandom. While yes, media is influenced by this, it affects people's day to day life in the real world.

I hate you epitome of innocence being represented with blonde hair I hate you lightness representing goodness I hate you "angelic features" automatically being read as blonde hair and blue eyed with pale skin I hate you whiteness as the default for morality I HATE YOU I HATE YOU

[dormiloncito]

some people here (not you my beautiful esteemed mutuals) live in some sort of alternate reality. or perhaps you don't live at all bc what is this 😭😭😭

[karenchasity]

vietnam/ireland (pick one from my ancestry)

VIETNAM OR IRELAND? how am i supposed to choose tbh,,,, FUCK i love ireland sorry i have to

european country! cold. cold and kind of wet. very far from the equator. above the uk, possibly connected to it? im pretty sure theyre the same island.

irish. its. im pretty sure thats the major language. also english is HUGE but thats britains fault

flag is. orange and white i think. im like 99% sure its at least white

cold and wet. i dont know what that climates called but. its cold and wet and not much else to my knowledge

its not really connected to much, so i cant talk much about its geography :(

i know there was. a famine. in. possibly the 17th century. and there was never a witch panic because of the prevalence of folklore (much like scotland around that time). its pretty small also. and also wasnt a major player in either world war, but im pretty sure it participated in both to some degree. im pretty sure it was uninvolved in both the french revolution and the american revolution

thats it im out of thoughts. gingers

(my vietnam knowledge is VERY limited and very american history class. so. its by laos and cambodia, under malaysia i think. hot tropical climate probably. idk the flag, maybe has black)

[hardcoreheterofashbytrang]

8/5/2024: Morning. Most importantly, to prevent future wrinkles or current wrinkles from cutting deepe into my skin, I, Trang, forced myself to shut my trap by being more mute, talk less, talk more like a mime by not yanking my face, learn to sing by not moving my lips much, not smile as much, no longer scream and shout unless it's life and death, not yank my lips up and down when I am sad and angry, laugh in big laughs, smile at people all the time like a scared cat, eat in smaller bites. Before, I used to do all these ugliness of the females untile God (Jesus' father, Allah, Krishna, etc.) bitch slapped me hard to stop me from acting like a stupid female fool to give away my love, warmness, and friendliness so cheap via those immature ways. Now as a crippled, mental who lost 16.2 years to have biological children and her condo, and semi-homeless, and about to defect genocide-gay-Spanish-as-2nd-language American citizenship to return to Vietnam if it's not too gay or else Cambodia, Laos, Nepal, and wanna be hardcore heterosexual Iran to protest to prevent a WWWIII and 2nd American civil war, I am forced to be more mute and move my mouth less and even learn to do sign language but sgian language without moving the mouht much for sign language in America is the ugliness for they move the mouths around like ugly humans, clowns, joker, animals etc. Nasty. Other countries' sign languages so softer and more elegant and more human looking. I am sorry to be mean Americans, but we talk like loud, annoying, and ugly animals and it even shows in our American sign language. Reduce the volume and the dramatic facial expression by 50% or your face will be filled with ugly wrinkles by the time you are 30 years old. Trang's work at 51.25 years old. This is how I will look selling myself as a future professional mother, housewife, and caregiver for elderlies at home--a true role as a hardcore heterosexual female after she's done pursuing her outside roles to earn money, power via via, and gain status so gay people, men, and physical strong females don't kill her off because she chose pink as the color of the female. That's not a sign for pot by the way--thats the sign for zip up my mouth. Oh this is the sign for shut up. Also as a hardcore heterosexual female stylist, I learn to wear my bra and sports bra outside to prevent m breasts from sagging for saggy breasts is one of the reasons females loses her power and males go for younger females with perky breasts. Plus, I am poor as a semi-homeless so I can afford to buy too many ras and sports bra so I wear them outside to prevent them from getting smelly and sweaty so I can wear them for 5 days while changing the T-shirt. My crippledness forced me to lay down parallel to the floor atleast 20 hours a day or I'll crack and threaten to kill people or go to 911 for falling as disabled, so my mental-ness forced me to wear the bra outside becut it irritates me mental-ness more if the stupid bra keeps poking into he skin underneath the breasts. Wearing a T-shirt inside prevents the bra from poking.

[lucidpantone]

thanks for the answer! did you do a europe trip recently or all these all historic? also now I want to know what other counties are on your bucket list :P

I lived in London for many years so did alot of weekend trips to these locations. Sweden I was a researcher for a European based cohort and SKH university decided to host the researchers and thus why I spent 3 weeks in stockholm. I have done most of western Europe now so I just got other places to see. Here a list off the top of my head in no particular order.

Brazil, Argentina, Cambodia, Vietnam, Hungary: Budapest, Poland: Warsaw, Czech: Prague, Egypt Red sea reefs (I'ave been to cairo and it was amazing), Uganda, Rwanda and Congo for the gorilla sanctuary tour, Lagos: Nigeria, Turkey, Morocco, Greece, Australia. Back to china because I only got to see half the country and I was there 3 weeks. Its huge!! Back to Japan because I only got 3 days there and I was so jet lagged I barely got to see anything. South Korea since am in the general area. If the world wasnt in such a mess I would also love to go to Russia and ukraine but sadly I don't think thats possible.

Anyways like I said I have alot of place on my list and life is short so rather go somewhere new then somewhere I'ave already done.

[incorrect-hs-quotes]

Dave: yo how do you think that dude came up with the word "narnia"

Dave: like. "ia". thats a dead ringer for a country ending every country has "ia" at the end of it

Dave: what to put in front of "ia" is the question

Dave: dude in the back drops some shit and goes "darn" just out of earshot

Dave: ...........what did he say? did he say "narn"?

Dave: .......narn.................ia.

Dave: oh my god

Dave: jeffrey. get the fucking printing press

[koinvyokan]

idk if everyone is as interested in geopolitics as i am but look at this globe from the 1930s!!

its incredibly interesting look this was before partition so pakistan didnt exist

theres the USSR (sorry i do not have good lighting for this)

one korea (under japanese rule) was apparently called Chosen? i didn't know that but yeah i think it was after the final korean kingdom called Joseon

yugoslavia hii

no israel bc its pre ww2, very unusual nowadays maps dont show palestine (also united Greek Cyprus i think! crazy)

africa is crazy to look at here, colonialism everywhere it really drives home how recent that era of overt colonialism was for the continent and how long it continued. like most south american countries became independent in the early 1800s (MOST!) but some places you can see here like French West Africa, Belgian Congo, Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Italian Somaliland, didnt become independent until the 60s and 70s, even the 90s! thats insane! colonialism is a disease that takes a long time to recover from (harder to recover from when you have to deal with imperialism too after the fact!!)

finally heres some more imperialist stuff, french indo-china where Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos are. also this was before 1939 so before Thailand changed its name from Siam

[anyonghalimaw]

PLEASE rant about that dragon design. as someone who does dragon creature design stuff it would be appreciated from both a design standpoint AND a culturally sensitive one

OMFG OK SO

first of all to preface, were already hitting massive issues with the fact that disney is mishmashing from several different, highly varied cultures.

The film is set in a fictional fantasy land called Kumandra, inspired by Southeast Asian cultures from Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. To conduct research, the filmmakers and the production team traveled to all of the abovementioned countries, except Myanmar and Malaysia.

thailand cambodia and vietnam have more in common with each other than they do with indonesia, malaysia, and the philippines, and vice versa. the former r all attached to mainland asia while the latter r mostly maritime island nations. the mainland nations generally have much in common with north asia too. 

NOW FOR THE FUCKING DESIGN ITSELF... first of all lemme show tihs fucking tweet

its literaly just elsa. its fucking elsa dragon. obviously we were never gonna get anything thats actually accurate 2 the general creature design conventions/art style of se asia coz its “scary” n not marketable 2 families in the us LMFAO

they were actually kinda on the mark with this little in universe illustration, it actually resembles se asian creatures with those exaggerated tusks and the wide eyes. its still kinda shit coz they gotta make it recognizable with the marketed 3d character design but this one doesnt piss me off as bad

the horns were clearly inspired by either thai depictions of the naga, visayan depictions of the bakunawa, or both, but it DOESNT FUCKING COMMIT TO EITHER COZ DISNEY IS TRYING TO GET THE WIDEST POSSIBLE AUDIENCE APPEAL

(depiction of bakunawa on the hilt of a tenegre from panay)

(depiction of the naga on a temple roof from northern thailand)

it just doesnt fit with the fucking designs of se asia at ALL. look up the barong, the se asian depictions of the garuda, the bakunawa, the kinnara, the chinthe, the babi ngepet. they all look fucking nothing like sisu does.

and finally.. the issue of having a dragon as the central Thing: in southeast asia dragons rnt.. rlly that common AJSDHKJDHSJDHS off my head i can think of the naga from thailand and the bakunawa from here (the philippines). vietnam has a dragon that bears more similarity with the chinese dragon than the other asean nations. dragons arent rlly a fucking universal se asian thing?? in fact we share more monsters than we do dragons! they were clearly aiming 2 make something thatd be General enough to appeal 2 All of southeast asia for maximum profit, but if they rlly wanted 2 aim for all of us they shouldve gone with monsters/spirits coz we have so many shared ones LMFAO (see: manananggal and penanggalan who r definitely related, the tiyanak and pontianak who r probably related) this is a really good thread on the similarities of monsters and spirits in se asia. this place is haunted as SHIT

anyway im mad as shit and this is long enough LKASDLHSDJDHS thanks 4 givig me the opportunity 2 rant <3

[argumentl]

The Freedom of Expression, radio version - Ep 38, June 2016 - Subliminal messages, Japanese comedian takes on Cambodian citizenship to compete in Olympics, The appeal of Japanese women overseas.

Kaoru starts by saying at the time of this broadcast, the band will be mid-tour and will have just finished the show at Namba Hatch. Kaoru's voice sounds kinda husky, as if he has a cold. Joe says he will be dropping by the Tokyo shows, and then comments on the huskyness of Kaoru's voice. Kaoru jokes that he's been shouting too much at Namba Hatch.

Next Kaoru plays another entry in the show's new jingle campaign. He says he likes this one, which quite surprises Joe. Having said he likes it, he still won't give it a sticker. It would be unfair to the previous entrants who tried so hard if this entry were to get a sticker now.

Kaoru's first talking point is about the use of subliminal messaging. Joe points out that inserting subliminal messages is strictly banned in all Japanese public broadcasts, as it is in many countries. Kaoru says that talk of subliminal messaging is heard more often these days, and he asks Joe what he thinks about this. Joe says that secretly inserting subliminal messages into footage is quite a 20th century method. Technology has advanced a lot in the 21st century, so there might be new ways of delving into the subconscious going on right now, that we are not even aware of. Kaoru says he likes this type of thing. He wants to know all about it. Joe says he's not sure if this is the best way to describe it but, for example, with Nazi propaganda in Germany, despite being lies, after it was repeated ten thousand times it began to be believed. If the media is used to repeat something over and over again, it eventually becomes accepted. Now in the age of the internet, online restrictions are few, and there is a risk that hate speech will gain prominence if it is continuously repeated online. In this way, the human subconscious can be infiltrated without necessarily the use of old fashioned style subliminal messaging.

Kaoru says Dir are very aware of making sure they don't attract attention for subliminal messaging with the footage they use in thier MVs. Joe asks him if the band need to be aware of this with thier music too, and brings up the examples of Ozzy Osbourne's 'Sucide Solution', and Judas Priest's 'Better by you, Better than me', both of which were accused of and taken to court for use of subliminal messages resulting in suicide. Joe adds that these cases concern the use of negative subliminal messages, but conversely subliminal messages could also be used to produce positive effects. Kaoru says he has the feeling that Dir might have used reversed lyrics at some point during thier earlier years, due to the original lyrics being a no-go (*Is this refering to egnirys cimredopyh?*) , which he thinks might have a kind of subliminal effect, but they otherwise havn't given much thought to subliminal effects in thier music. They have been much more concerned about thier footage, and are keen to avoid anything resembling the 'Pokemon shock', where strobe lights in a scene of Pokemon caused seizures in some viewers in 1997. Joe asks Kaoru if this also applies to footage used during lives, or only to broadcasted material. Kaoru isn't quite sure about if it would apply to live footage too. He then says there is probably still a lot of dark, difficult to watch material being shown on tv. Joe says there probably is, but he doesnt know because he doesnt own a tv. He adds that as for making creative shows, a certain amount stimulation is needed, while at the same time keeping it safe to watch. Getting the right balance becomes harder and harder in the current era. Kaoru wonders whether new unexpected effects will be produced from all the different new technology that is being created these days. They wonder whether Hiranabe and Kami are using some kind of subliminal messaging in the way they both carry on, and especially with Kami's voice.

Next, they welcome Tasai for the Tokyo Sports corner. Joe mentions how Hiranabe appeared on the previous show, and asks Tasai if he sees Hiranabe a lot in the Tokyo Sports office. Tasai says due to his work schedule he doesn't, but he sometimes accompanies him to the night/entertainment districts. Joe asks Tasai what Hiranabe is like, and Tasai says 'He's an idiot'. He tells the story of how he recently went to a place in Ginza with Hiranabe in relation to work. It was Tasai's first time in this bar, but Hiranabe had been there before. A woman who knew him, kept flirting and calling out to him, 'Nabe-chaan!', and Tasai thought it sounded pretty stupid. He also tells of how Hiranabe got cheated by a woman into ordering a ¥300000 bottle without realising, and only had ¥40000 cash on him. There are so many episodes surrounding Hiranabe, like how he recently got his head smashed in etc, but thats a story for later, says Tasai.

Tasai's first news is that Japanese comedian Neko Hiroshi has taken on Cambodian citizenship in order to represent Cambodia in the men's marathon during the 2016 Rio de Janeiro summer Olympics. This has become quite controversial, with people questioning whether its ok to randomly take on Cambodian nationality just to represent in sport? Joe is pretty impressed that someone could be passionate enough about competing that they would change thier nationality, but he still isn't sure if he approves. He says Neko Hiroshi can do this easily coming from a rich country like Japan, so it seems as if some inequality is showing. Tasai comments that Neko Hiroshi did also try to enter the London Olympics in 2011, but was rejected because at that time he had been a Cambodian citizen for less than one year. He has spent the last four years training in Cambodia, and is considered one of the country's best runners. Kaoru is surprised to hear he is that good. Kaoru says he doesn't really understand why the Neko applied for London, knowing he would be rejected. Publicity? Joe also says it may be difficult for the Cambodian people to show much support for him, knowing he is not originally Cambodian. Tasai says he knows a Cambodian chef who is living in Japan, and he asked his opinion. It seems Neko Hiroshi is not that popular with the Cambodian people, but it will be interesting to see what kind of impact he will have.

Tasai's next story relates to the group Morning Musume. Tasai asks the others if they have heard of this group, and of course they both have, but Joe momentarily questions whether he's thinking of the right group. Tasai continues to say that Morning Musume member, Suzuki Kanon (also known as Zukki) is very popular with overseas fans, despite not having the same level of popularity in Japan. Tasai says that unlike a regular idol, Zukki has a plump figure, and she is apparently popular with Americans due to her cute smile. This prompts Tasai to ask Kaoru whether Dir en grey experience different reactions in Japan and overseas. Kaoru says that they personally don't see much difference, but he thinks Japanese women are viewed a lot differently by people overseas than they are by Japanese men. He mentions the idea of the 'Asian Beauty', and the fact that Americans etc find a woman with a bit of meat on her more sexy than a very thin woman. He then tells a story about how once when Dir were touring overseas with other bands (*Family Values?*), they took some of thier female staff with them, and the members of the other foreign bands were going crazy lusting after these Japanese women, which made Kaoru realise that Japanese women in general are seen as more attractive in some countries.

To finish, Kaoru pleads with listeners to send in more new jingle attempts, he'll feel a bit sad if none get sent in. He then plugs his DVD and new single Utafumi, stating the new single will be played in full for the first time on this show on the 2nd of July, 2016.

Songs - Dir en grey/New Age Culture, The Rasmus/In the Shadows.

[talesofayoungadventress]

The fact I never did a blog about this kills me. Because there was some crazy shit that went down... as always. But here we are, 3 years later post global pandemic and online teaching 💀 Home girl NEEDS this current vacation. Anyways currently sitting here in Vegas with Monica and I needed to get this up for myself than for anyone to read… #memories and whatnot.

Monica and I did a 5 week trip to Spain and Morocco. I HONEST TO GOD thought this trip was going to be normal. We were older, safe and sane, & not out doin’ risky shit like we use to. All was pretty uneventful the first two weeks in Spain. We drank a pitcher or two of sangria a day, ate, napped for siesta... and anyone thats read from while I was in Thailand knows that is Monica’s specialty 😂, went to see some floating Jesus for Monica, and that’s pretty much it. The men are 🔥, the sangria is perfect, and country wide afternoon nap time is good for the soul. 10/10 would recommend Spain.

The words “Damn Monica look at us having a safe and sane vacation like responsible adults” even left my mouth at one point. We were so proud. Mom was proud I wasn’t out doing hood rat stuff. But then came our last day in Spain. I knew it was all too good to be true...

We stayed in a port town called Tarifa. Although we both had big girl jobs at this point, we still kept it cheap and took the ferry to Tangier in Morocco rather than fly. The night at our hotel set the tone for the rest of the trip. The fire alarm went off in the middle of the night. I panicked and jumped out of bed because I wasn’t about to burn, meanwhile this bitch Monica leisurely gets up, walks to the sink, puts her sweatshirt on and starts washing her face. WASHING HER FREAKING FACE!! WTF!? I actually yelled at her and got her butt out. Thank god it was a false alarm. But moral of the story Monica would have let us burn to wash her face 😑

The ferry was mistake #1. I took Dramamine and Monica didn’t want to. You get one guess who spent the entire ferry ride throwing up in a sink.

Now I’ve only ever thought I was about to be snatched once while traveling. It was in Cambodia with Monica and our psycho drugged out tuk tuk driver. I can add our first day in Morocco as the second time.

For whatever reason Morocco doesn’t let you get money before entering the country like other places. You need to get it from ATM’s at the airport upon arrival. But we chose the cheap route (never again and this lesson will come back to haunt me later... 🐫) and came on the ferry. We asked where we could get $ and they said they had lots of ATM machines outside of the building. Well surprise surprise we didn’t see any. We stood there with no money or phone service stranded wondering what we would do.

Then, out of no where, a man came up and asked us if we wanted to get money and told us to follow him. He led us to a row of windowless rape vans like you see on Criminal Minds and told us the ATM and money exchange was inside. Should I have gone in? No. Did I? Yes. Just when I thought I chose the safe and sane life in Spain it all went out the window. As soon as they opened the back doors sure enough there was a little ATM and a man with a table. Still leery I get in and they slam the doors right behind me. At this point I thought “God damn, really! After all that I’ve gotten myself into this is how I’m being taken out!?” But all went well and I got our money.

After the creepy $ situation, we got a random Chefchaouen and it was everything I wanted it to be. It was blue. It was pretty. We were even offered cocaine instead of the crepes we wanted our first night, and Monica made my fat butt hike up a steep hill TWICE in sandals. But that hike up was so worth it watching those sunsets overlooking the city and hearing the call to prayer. Monica 1, Meghan 0.

After Chefchaouen we headed to Marrakech. I wanted all the rugs, all the vases, tiles, baskets, purses. Honestly I was the equivalent to what the grinch looks like as he’s collecting all the Christmas shit from Whoville. Put it in my bag I’ll give you all the $$. We also stayed in the best boutique hotel. Monica wasn’t a fan until we walked in and settled ourselves. Monica 1, Meghan 1.

I straight up threw down those dollars in Marrakech. I didn’t work all those night classes for nothing! I texted a random guy who sold rugs that I found from someone online. Again... another risky choice but I wanted some damn rugs! Monica was pissed I’d text and leave with a random person for rugs but I was determined and dragged her off with me. Jokes on her because he was so nice, gave us mint tea, and let me live all my Moroccan rug dreams. I got 4. Did I need 4? Hell no! BUUUT did I want 4? Yes.

Shout out to my mom for putting up with my crap and letting me ship and store those babies at her house 😏. FYI they look fab in my new house.

Now there wasn’t anything else to report until the very end of our trip. This is when the “cheap route” reared its ugly head again. Monica is no longer allowed to plan excursions. Ever. 🙅🏽‍♀️ You get what you pay for.

We did a desert camping experience and took a random van 15 hours into the Sahara desert. The entire ride was sketch as usual, and they eventually dropped us off at a hotel for the night. The next day we had to give our room up and sat outside in 130° weather until our evening camel ride into the desert. My camel was NOT cooperating and it took me forever to get on. Monica was last to load up because she started crying and didn’t want to get on because “she could tell her camel didn’t want to go.” So she suggested she’d walk there… the entire 2 1/2 hour trip. The guides looked at her like she was crazy and said no and forced her on anyways. I heard her crying for a good 15 minutes before she was fine and wanted a picture.

My camel ride was 🙅🏽‍♀️. The blankets weren’t tied and my saddle was a triangle piece of wood that kept slipping off. Sitting slanted on a triangle piece of wood for almost 3 hours on a camel is the worst.

Once we got to the camp we had to walk through piles of camel poop to eat dinner in the dark. Also, no warning to us before hand, but our camp didn’t have a water bin or bottles so your girl was waterless in the Sahara desert 🥵. The bed sheets also had me shook to the core… not washed, probably ever, as there was a BODY PRINT STAIN you could see!

Despite the nastiness, the stars were pretty, we climbed to the top of the sand dunes, and I watched the sunrise because I refused to lay down on that bed.

At this point I was tired, dehydrated, and just wanted to get back. Monica still didn’t want to ride the camels (she was in her vegan phase this trip) and said she told them we’d pay to take ATVs. I used the last of $ I had left to do so, and we waited for them to arrive while everyone else loaded back up on camels.

This is where things got weird. We were left with two guys that helped run the camp. One started playing drums for us while the other just sat and glared the entire time. He eventually told us he didn’t like America’s, said we shouldn’t take pictures, and then plot twist he wanted to add us on Facebook. Shout out to Sayed for giving us creepy predator vibes.

Once the ATVs came, we got on and went on our way. While Monica took off nice and slow happy as can be, my guy guns it! I literally held on for dear life the entire 30 min ride back. He’d speed up while we’d go down the sand dunes and our ATV would literally hover down! I don’t remember anything, it all went black, and I almost died.

Once we got back to the hotel Monica was crying and told me it was because of how beautiful the sunrise was on our ride back. She asked if I saw it, but Girl NO I DID NOT because I was trying to hold on and make sure me and my backpack weren’t left in the dust.

We took a shower with a single small stream of water and then took another bus 15 hours back into Marrakech. I was next to a kid that threw up the entire time. No food, no water because I was out of money.

Now if you’ve made it this far bless you. This was the end of our trip and I ended it with picking up some bug that had me SIIIIICK the rest of the two days and entire flight home.

Which brings us to today, exactly 3 years later, and 2 canceled trips back to Thailand thanks to COVID. This road trip will be fun though! Here’s to being on home turf, accident free, not taking the cheap way out, and being responsible.

❤️ Love from Vegas 🇺🇸

[jewish-privilege]

On Wednesday May 15, 2019, Alabama’s governor signed into law [the Alabama Human Life Protection Act] a near total-ban on all abortion at any stage of pregnancy. Even women — and children — who conceived through rape or incest would be forced to endure an unwanted pregnancy.

...This law, which imposes fundamentalist Christian values on non-fundamentalist Christian bodies, is offensive enough on its own. But, in their quest to invade our uteruses, Alabama lawmakers went so far as comparing abortion to the Holocaust and other genocides.

...“It is estimated that 6,000,000 Jewish people were murdered in German concentration camps during World War II; 3,000,000 people were executed by Joseph Stalin’s regime in Soviet gulags; 2,500,000 people were murdered during the Chinese ‘Great Leap Forward’ in 1958; 1,500,000 to 3,000,000 people were murdered by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia during the 1970s; and approximately 1,000,000 people were murdered during the Rwandan genocide in 1994. All of these are widely acknowledged to have been crimes against humanity. By comparison, more than 50 million babies have been aborted in the United States since the Roe decision in 1973, more than three times the number who were killed in German death camps, Chinese purges, Stalin’s gulags, Cambodian killing fields, and the Rwandan genocide combined.”

First of all, a fetus isn’t a baby. It’s a fetus.

But I’m not here to argue basic biology. I’m here to point out how it sick is to compare abortion in America to actual genocides, and especially to the Holocaust, where, in concentration camps, abortion often saved lives.

Many pregnant women were directly sent into the gas chambers because they were deemed unable to work in the camps. If they managed to hide their pregnancies from the Nazis, their newborns were often drowned or slaughtered for sport. But there was a third, more horrific possibility: If Josef Mengele discovered you were pregnant, he would perform experiments on you and your child without anesthesia.

When Ruth Elias gave birth to a baby girl in Auschwitz, Mengele bandaged her breasts so she couldn’t feed her newborn. ”He wanted to do research — I don’t know what to call it — on how long a new one can live without food,” she recalled to The Chicago Tribune, noting how she tried to feed her baby bread she had chewed up. One of the doctors told her the child would not survive, but Mengele would stop torturing her if the baby died. He then convinced her to inject her own baby with a lethal dose of morphine.

Mengele was happy to do the infanticide himself. One of those incidents occurred right after a prisoner gave birth. ”When he saw that there was only one baby and not twins, he tore the baby right out of the mother`s uterus, threw it into an oven and walked away,” Vera Alexander, who was a warden in a block where Mengele experimented, added. “We saw this.”

The horror stories go on and on. If Alabama lawmakers were so concerned about the horrors of the Holocaust, they’d know that women were regularly raped in concentration camps and pregnancy was often worse than a death sentence.

With the Alabama Human Life Protection Act in place, doctors who perform covert abortions are deemed criminals who could face up to 99 years of prison. But for descendants of Holocaust survivors like myself, gynecologists who performed these procedures in the camps were real life heroes.

We still celebrate Dr. Gisella Perl, a Romanian doctor who was deported to Auschwitz in 1944. When she was forced to work as a doctor in the camp, Josef Mengele demanded to know which women were pregnant. Soon she discovered he was recruiting these women to experiment and murder them. So, without any medical instruments, Perl performed hundreds of abortions for prisoners.

“Dr. Mengele asked Dr. Perl for the women who were in the early stages,” survivor Leah London Friedler explained to The Jerusalem Post. “He wanted to do experiments with the babies. But Dr. Perl, at the risk of her life, took the pregnant women out in the middle of the night with my mother to perform abortions, so as not to put the mothers in the hands of Dr. Mengele, giving them a chance to survive.”

...Bans on abortions don’t stop them from happening; they stop them from happening in safe conditions. According to the Guttmacher Institute, even in countries that outlaw abortion completely or have extreme bans like the Alabama bill, 37 per 1,000 people still have the procedure. Whether it’s legal or not, abortions are guaranteed — but when it’s illegal, sterile conditions are not. Today, unsafe abortions are the third leading cause of maternal deaths worldwide.

Pro-life politicians are endangering women in some of the very same ways that Nazis did. Yes, I’m comparing them to Nazis, because banning abortion is a violation of human rights, which is defined by international law as being free of torture or cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment. Forcing women to give birth against their will is nothing but cruel, degrading, and inhumane.

To use the Holocaust as a reason to support these extreme abortion bans makes about as much sense as calling a movement that endangers so many people “pro-life.” They aren’t saving lives — abortions are.

[mekatrio]

im glad other southeast asians are feeling wack about raya LMAO like it looks weird as fuck 😭😭 apparently the team behind it went to cambodia laos and 'bali'(lmfao) like ok if its a SEA buddhist inspired setting thats fine(if done sensitively and well researched) but like dont fucking say its based off SEA then?? SEA is made up of ELEVEN countries that are wildly different from each other. literally marketing this as a "SEA inspired film" if its based off specifically buddhist SEA countries is racist as fuck

[karenchasity]

india

GRGRHRGRG INDIA!!!! i .am a geography nerd so i find india actually kind of fascinating geography-wise because its a SUBCONTINENT! snd sri lanka too. but its the indian subcontinent and i think thats so neat

i knwo for a fact it has like. four major languages and then a million smaller languages? theyre all sort of similar and can be sort of cross-translated but not very well and i think theres one thats really separate. dont quote me on that. is one of them hindu. or. another ends with u. uhm fuck i used to know these

the flag..... is? warm toned? red or orange? what the fuck does the flag of india look like. is. no i stand by my warm tone guess but otherwise i dont know :( <- back a few minutes later it has a symbol i think. what is that symbol? no idea. but i know its there

its also a pretty warm country if i remember correctly. cuz its like equator adjacent. warm or hot tropical climate i think

ok more geography bcs thats what im really good at. asian country, connected directly to sri lanka(?) and possibly bhutan? and two others but i cant remember exactly what they are. near the equator, on level with the vietnam/cambodia/laos peninsula as well as the saudi arabia peninsula. below afganistan and that little group of countries. might actually be connected to afgnaistan. i havent quizzed on asia in a few months so my map is fuzzy

every movie ever is lying about what 99% of it looks like i think

thats all i got 😭 ill fact check in a rb

[louisetakesphotos]

Well dear Tumblr community, it’s time to fill you in on quite the misadventure.  Let me tell you a tale. A tale of woe, a tale of heartbreak, a tale of schlemeils and schlimazels. Of a thing known as the Blitz (a string of constant bad luck).The tale begins in Bangkok, with hardly enough sleep my human, known affectionately as Chaim, and I were ready to jump on a bus to Cambodia. With only 2 minutes to spare he decided to get money out at the ATM, alas the ATM had a different idea and his card was swallowed up into the black abyss of another countries banking system, never to be seen again. Because the universe was trying to make it fairly obvious it was playing a joke on us, that was the moment the skies opened and the first rain in several months poured forth. The bus pulled up and knowing my visa was expiring the next day we decided to get on it. Even as my stomach muscles clenched, I kept assuring him, 'I've got you man, I've got you.' 600m up the road we realised the error of our ways and we jumped off the bus, knowing we needed to cancel his card before we spent 12 hours making our way to a new country. Out we jumped into the downpour. This wasn't just an ordinary downpour, this was a downpour in Khoa San Road, the scummiest, filthiest place in all of Thailand. Water was flooding down the street, it was up to our knees and our shoes kept falling off, so eventually we said ‘to hell with it all’ took them off and walked barefoot through the minefield of unknown substances stuck to the ground. As I took my first step on the slippery sidewalk I saw a rat scuttle past, followed by an army of centipedes and cockroaches. With all my worldly possessions getting soaked on my back we finally made it back to our guesthouse. I turned to Chaim and assured him yet again ‘it’s ok, I have a card. I’ve got you till you can order another one.’So away we went the next day, with blue skies the universe shined it’s agreement down on us ‘Yes Louise and Chaim, you made the right decision, this was a small upset in an otherwise beautiful adventure to a new country. Everything will be fine. Fine I say!' The universe desperately assured us, trying and succeeding to lull us into a false sense of security. We arrived at the border to discover what a filthy liar our fair universe was and realised we were currently halfway through a scam. Pay them to organise a Cambodian visa, or get left behind and have to organise our own way to Siem Reap. We'd forgotten what it was like in developing world countries, so we begrudgingly agreed to just pay the extra money and be done with it.'We'll be in Cambodia soon, then our luck will turn, won't it?' We asked each other hopefully. ALAS, it was not to be. Alas the universe, the simulation, the author of whatever strange novel we're apparently characters in decided that no, the plot would be better if our luck stayed down, and so I walked over to a nearby ATM machine to get money out. Telling Chaim over and over, it’s ok, it’s ok, I’ve got you, I’ve got you. We’re going to have a great time, god I can’t wait to get into Cambodia. Our cambodian 'friend' who was organising our visas, who’d assured us he had our best interests at heart came up and agreed and agreed, oh yes thats a good amount to get out, oh yes you should exchange your money here, oh yes cambodia is good, oh yes oh yes. And suddenly a beeping sound interrupted this hectic tirade of useless information and I realised I did not in fact have Chaims back because my ATM card had just been swallowed. NOOOOOOOO. It was the last day of my visa, what do we do, what do we do. We're at the border, where do we go? How do we deal with this? Oh, for the first time in my life I was semi organised before I left the country, and I have a second card. It’s ok, it’s ok. It’s all going to be ok. It has $0 on it, but it's all going to work out for the best.We cross the border, we wait in this shed over here. We walk through this line over there. We double back, we walk in circles, screeching hawkers, pounding heat, the knowledge that the last two times, in the last two days we’ve used ATM’s our cards have been swallowed. Having been assured that ATMs in Cambodia are even less reliable my stomach knotted up, and I thought of all the things I’ll do if I’m stuck in a crazy country with no access to money. We made it back to the bus, knowing we’d been scammed, knowing we were down to my travel card which had $0 on it, feeling the knots tightening in my stomach. But we had our bags, we had our passports and our cambodian visas. We had our sanity and everything was going to be alright. We laughed at ourselves ‘well we needed a good reminder, Cambodia is different, we’re well and truly back in the developing world and they don’t have the same rules, our bad luck will turn around.’ We reached the point in the story where it seems as if the main characters life is back on track, that everything is ok, but anyone reading the book or watching the movie knows that this is the false promise before the bleakest point in the heroes story. And so away we went, gallivanting through temples, through back streets, playing with children, spying on monks, eating street food, riding our bicycles in the street. Taking the best photos of my trip so far and getting more and more excited about the next month of photography ahead, thinking of the stories I would write with them to try and send to magazines, thinking 'ah yes this is the life for me. Oh how happy photography makes me.' And as it always does in the best stories, everything came crashing down around us. One sleepy Saturday night, after a hearty dinner, after a day looking at all the photos we'd taken through the temples of Angkor wat, getting excited to go back the next day, everything changed. My social media addiction led me to look for my phone but it wasn't where I left it. I searched through my belongings but something was different. I looked at my camera bag and something didn't quite add up. Where my beloved baby Mandy the Mark iii had been, alongside 3 expensive professional lenses, was a large gaping hole. The hole seemed to expand in front of me, it was no longer the bright blue of the inside of my bag, but had turned black, it was a black hole and it was expanding, sucking everything in with it. Every good memory, every future photograph, the entire month of travel in front of me. I stared, still unable to comprehend I had just been robbed. That $8000 worth of camera equipment, along with my new mobile phone was no longer mine, but instead in the hands of some backstabbing thief at the guesthouse I was staying in. "Hey wait a minute, my camera's gone too?" Chaim said. Without a doubt we knew it was the hotel staff, or someone working with them, the door was locked, the windows barred, and we'd only been gone for 20 minutes. The invasion of privacy, the loss of my livelihood, the knowledge that the trust i'd had was gone and all the niceties of the homely place we'd decided to make our abode for the past week crumbled into a vile mess around us.What happened next could be the plot of an entire movie, yet I'll try and sum it up in a short paragraph. Three entire days in a sweltering, post colonial police station, arguing with shirtless police officers with the reek of last nights alcohol on them, all for the sake of a simple piece of paper, a copy of the police report, so I could try and leave this shemozzle behind me and get my gear back.We were intimidated, accused of lying and attempting insurance fraud, and asked to completely change our story because they had no intention of investigating a hotel in a place who's only income is tourism. Constantly being asked "What do you want the police to do about it?" It took yelling, sweet talking, persistence, a refusal to leave and becoming a massive pain in their side and finally the insinuation of a possible 'kindness' (also known as a bribe) I had the piece of paper in my hand. The knots that had been tightening in my stomach finally relaxed and a laugh burst out as we walked out of station, and were free to leave Cambodia and try and get my belongings back. After telling you of the horrific luck we dealt with, I have to finish with a note about Cambodia. I still love that beautiful, wonderful country, and ironically, although I dealt with some aggravating officers and thieves, the people in general are some of the loveliest people I've met on my travels.After losing my most important possessions and feeling like the world around me had come crashing down and everything was bitter and horrible, the thing that pulled me rather quickly from my self pity party, was looking around at the country I was lucky enough to be in, at the poverty that led to a city with a higher theft rate, and a country where police need bribes because they don't earn a high enough wage to support their families. A country that is still reeling from genocide, from severe mistreatment, and whose magic comes from the under-developed nature of the place. A country I'll most definitely be returning to, with a new camera.

[perambulatelove]

Mood 2018

I just turned 24 (yes Boss Lady, thank you perfect timing with this Leo moon; we Aquarius’ are on fire), and I must say being 24 and having:

I have traveled to: -All 50 states.  -Every 10 motherland provinces (Canada, eh!) -Multiple cities around Mexico  -Cuba -Jamaca -Bahamas -Bermuda Just in the Western Hemisphere.  I spent some time in Malaysia studying under the best pastry chefs in all of Asia doing some of the most advanced chocolate and sugar showpieces, intricate desserts and such well prepared dishes that infuse the taste buds with the most beautiful melody of dancing that you've ever witnessed in your life.  During this time I saved some of my money up and spent 3 months backpacking around Korea, Japan and China. I finally lived a dream I had made a pact with my high school friends that we would hike Jeju, and it was MORE than the glorious experience that I ever imagined.  And if you even for a second get me stared on watching cherry blossoms fall as the snow comes down from inside a ramen shop with the warms and love of my neighbors and community around me, though strangers, you would know why I love anime so much and why I could write poetry - and why the Japanese and Korean DO write poetry - about SUCH beautiful sights and experiences. 

But that could not compare to seeing Cambodia. Or how Agent Orange is STILL affecting the Vietnamese.

But seeing a week old elephant born on Thai soil whose mother had been rescued from the Myanmar ivory trade playing around with his keeper, looking for bananas, knowing full well that elephants think humans are cute in the way we think puppies or kitties are cute just always could draw me to find a smile while experiencing these third world countries.

Theres also Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Lombok Indonesia where I was kidnapped with my family and chased by the police at gunpoint

And I could not even begin to explain to you how that is still just even a portion of this world. Theres still this beautiful, completely vast and unexplored underwater world we have yet to barely experience as humans. I’ve been blessed to see turtles and swim with a shark once. The clownfish are always fun but mostly I like to sit just right on the very bottom of the sand and just look up for a little bit of time. Ive been diving in 3 different countries so far and the water is the most beautiful blue that could ever be described to a human being. Its purity over there. Untouched. Unexplained. It just so beautiful when it shines, its unlike anything i had seen in Hawaii, Jamaica, Bahamas, anywhere over on the Western side. 

And thats just being shallow, I know. Ive worked my fucking ASS off to get where I am. Working as a chef in a kitchen is hard profession that few can endure. I have not just one degree, but two degrees in that shit, because I’m that talented;  And yet that still wasn't ENOUGH for me. I needed more. And years of reading about different religions and cultures and histories of countries eventually developed into this thirst for something beyond most human’s capable understanding. Physics. 

But not just Physics. As Keating once said, “We are not just simply laying brick here”.  We are talking about quantum mechanics. And anti-mater the most beautiful cosmic experience of this life.  Now I know some of you might ask how I became the intellectual giant you see before you, well that comes from years of depression, anxiety, doing MDMA, coke, meth, Ketamine, Bars, LSD, having an abortion, losing my best friend, loosing so many others who took their lives. I took myself around this world. I survived so much bullshit from my past and I have already seen so much and accomplished so much while doing so. 

I am 24, I am a goddess, and you're going to be so empty without me in your life. Watch what I’m STILL going to do with this life. 

[pinkorangewafflesandhotmilk]

Yeah i love to surprise people with the fact that i too am Cambodian by heritage. Sure, i enjoy my roti canai with half boiled eggs and teh tarik with a lot buih just so i can poke it with my finger tip. Totally normal, like the rest of Malaysian. But i also love my pebour moaan (chicken porridge) with a lot of shredded boiled chicken, thai basil and a little bit of lime juice and tek trei accompanied with chakuai or deep fried devils (as the Chinese would have it) on the side.I know, too much information but thats how you know i am Malaysian as hell, and a true Khmer by heart. Both are my favorite things to start the day off or just really at any time of day to enjoy. And no, i didnt just started to admit im khmer recently, though i did have a fair share of confusion as a child. Am i khmer or malay. Is this completely normal? Why is it in my friend's household they only speak one language?

'Pa! Tell me everything' i'd asked him. In standard 2 primary school, i learned about how my parents fled from the war-torn country which was Cambodia. I didnt understand it fully, but i understood that it made us the khmer we are today. And it never tires me to politely correct people when they all thought i am malay. Sure enough with eyebrows perked up they asked in curiosity, 'uhhh but you look hella malay? You wear tudung? Speak in impeccable malay accent? Date four malay men, and left them all, uhh u sure u not malay?' Again too much information lmao but no people. No i am not. I am khmer banana with a disgustingly minimal understanding of the language but I am vehemently Malaysian by nationality-- hey very much like asian american if you like, only i am khmer malaysian.

There are times when people would ask me what is kampuchea or cambodia, and what the people are like. Now, i dont know much about geography at this point (still dont know now but having google maps around helps lol😂😂), so id just tell them what my dad used to say. Cambodia is sandwiched between Vietnam and Thailand. The people are hella kind, and they all extremely savvy in business and they are infinitely independent. That's how i know my people.

Khmai or khmer people is the most kind, hospitable and humble bunch of people i know, and most definitely resilient despite their painful past. A tough breed of debilitating civil war, who is consistently advancing and propelling towards what it should have been if not for Pol Pot's evil hands that had brought Cambodia to its knee. A little more than four decades ago, more than a million people who were sisters, doctors, lovers, professor and parents and grandparents to their families were reduced to a mere killing field. Skulls upon skulls and heap of bones are the representation of delusional agrarian utopia dream of Pol Pot, alongside building ruins and broken hopes and shattered dreams. It was beyond devastating. Fucking backstabbers and cowards who would kill their own bunch, my grandparents used to say angrily.

My parents too had siblings and relatives who were lost in the run and annihilated mercilessly in that gruesome 1975. As someone who grew up listening to my parent's war tale, i am extremely grateful to learn that i don't have to know what it meant when the sirens were fast approaching, or when disembodied gun fires sounded a little too loud to be considered far from their little camps in the forest on their 3 months journey trudging on empty stomach trying to flee across the border.

I always curled up in ball, with hands on my knees when they recounted me their experiences, it was traumatizing for me to hear, so i could only imagine what it must have felt like for them. They were just 6 and 9 years old then. When i was 9 i only had to fight cartoon time turn with my siblings, yeah they were little savages ugh i always had to relent in the end, as my parents would glare at me--- yeah partly bcs im older, partly also because i watched my favorite 2 shows consecutively before theirs. Anyways, their stories will always serve as something to ponder on when life gets a little difficult for me.

This second trip to Cambodia is not just a work trip but it is indefinitely a trip to retrace my root, that i am most proud of. That I too am a Khmer.