#the country between us

[book51ut]

Review of The Country Between Us by Carolyn Forché

Carolyn Forché was a poetry professor of mine during college and I saw this book of hers at a bookstore and decided to get it. I knew she was a renown poet but i wasn’t super familiar with her work. And wow, how beautiful her work is. I feel almost silly that i took a class with her years ago not appreciating that I was in the classroom of a true artist. it’s also so interesting to see how people change as they age. Her disposition today doesn’t match the disposition of someone who would write these poems. Anyway, the writing is excellent. She writes and the words come alive on the page. They breathe and move in ways i’ve never imagined words could move. Her writing of her time in El Salvador is a wonderful eulogy to many of the people who suffered from violence in the late 1970s. It is also a wake-up call to those sitting and reading from their living rooms. There are things that we will never be able to comprehend, violence that is so far beyond our understanding of human nature. It is a warning to us, to not believe what our news is telling us, because the story is much more human. I’m going to read her memoir at some point but I just bought 10 books and start law school in three weeks so it’ll probably be awhile.

[vela-pulsars]

not enough stonjourner art out there

[aashiqeddiediaz]

you know, after watching day 3 of the democratic national convention, i need to say something, especially to other muslims like me.

most of the muslim communities that i'm a part of have chosen to vote uncommitted, or independent, or sometimes, even trump. they refuse to give their vote to kamala harris and tim walz, because of the way the us has handled the war in gaza, and how they have been careless with acknowledging palestinian lives lost, how it was american bombs and american tax money that went towards funding this genocide. it's fucked up, and it's wrong, and there shouldn't be any debate on that.

and i am 100% in support of that anger. i am 100% in support of forcing america to stop funding this genocide. no one wants to keep seeing palestinian lives suffer. no one is free until we're all free, and i believe that to my very core.

my only concern is that where this anger is being placed, from 1 year to 11 weeks before the presidential election, is so scary. because the reality of the situation is that america has a bipartisan outlook. whoever gets the presidency is either democrat or republican. and every vote that doesn't go towards democracy (i.e. voting for kamala harris) inadvertently goes towards trump's big plan of project 2025, which is basically dictatorship. Even voting uncommitted, even voting independent. we cannot afford to elect trump for a second term, and voting anything other than democrat draws that line way too close, especially in swing states like michigan, pennsylvania, wisconsin, georgia.

yes, there are many issues that we wish joe biden would handle better. there are many ways that the democratic party has fucked up beyond repair. there are many ways the democratic party has refused to acknowledge the pain of people affected by their military people throughout the years, and we've been seeing it for years. this is not a new thing. this did not start on october 7th. we see it during pretty much every administration.

however, voting for your candidate should never be based on a singular issue. no political candidate is ever going to check every single box. and its so unfortunate that we have to always take the "lesser of two evils" approach when nominating our president, but that's the reality of the situation at this very moment. there are many other rights to be considered that are at stake this election, all of which trump is trying to remove. abortion bans, women's rights, healthcare, social security, climate change, to name a few.

(and, somehow, there's a belief that trump will lead to a ceasefire deal where biden-harris didn't? let me tell you that is never going to happen.)

does this mean we just stop protesting or pressuring? absolutely not. you NEVER stop, because if our votes are the ones that put the candidate in their position of power, then we expect results. we expect them to work towards what they promised. and we can't let up on reaching out to our local county offices and our state governors and escalating these issues further until someone takes notice and does something about them. we don't elect them and just leave them to do what they want. we keep them accountable. use that anger i was talking about.

but it also means not having tunnel vision. the election in november could very well mean the end of democracy if kamala harris doesn't win. this post is not me all giggly-happy over the democratic party, because trust me, i have my fair share of issues with them as well. this post isn't to tell you what to do, because i can't force you to vote blue. i can't force the community i'm in to change their minds about toss-up votes. but what i can do is put down plainly what's at stake this election. and that is, very simply, our right to choose everything.

so if you are eligible to vote and haven't registered, please do. if you haven't voted before because "what's the point", please see above what the point is. a handful of votes is enough to flip the outcome of an election, especially with the electoral college.

and if you're still on the fence on whether to vote for kamala or trump, hopefully this post gives a little bit more perspective in the most streamlined way i could manage without bogging you down with statistics and numbers.

the choice is yours.

[chronurgy]

It's the modernization it's the mechanization it's the way the old world has to die for the new world to be born and by killing gortash you've slowed it down but you haven't stopped it because ideas can't be stopped and the industrial world that will destroy your way of life is coming and you can't stop it by killing him any more than the luddites could stop it by smashing up a few factory machines

[ask2ps]

I love 2p japan

CHINA: 日本さえ恋がしたいということ、考えられないことではないねぇ。(It’s not unthinkable that even Japan would want love, right?)

JAPAN: 闭嘴。(Shut up.)

[neighbourhoodtwo]

usamericans please stop putting your "congrats uk!! hope this happens to us in november!!" posts in the uk politics tag please please you have no idea

[oceans-beloved]

Meme dump yayyy🥳✨️

(off to make more now muhahaha >:3)

[hellosweetie99]

Well I guess the US government can see all the yaoi I read now

[mist-the-wannabe-linguist]

Girl help why is a fantasy setting using modern American gender terminology

They could've already bounced off of the existing term aqun-athlok and show the gender culture of the North largely adopting Qunari concepts as part of cultural exchange resulting from the literal hundreds of years of war with the Qun. The only openly transgender characters we know of are from Tevinter anyway! They already wanted to show the Qun in a more positive light in Veilguard, having Thedosian queer culture be primarily influenced by the Qun would be a great way to do exactly that

[one-sexy-fucking-toucan]

I was thinking about it today and there is enough similarity between The King and Siffrin for something. I don't know what but there is something.

[by-izzmizz]

After recruiting Jaheira, the drow comments on the usefulness of the Harpers and whether they have a positive impact on the world by preserving 'the balance' or whether their actions impede world's progress. Anyway, here's recruitment poster for the Harpers.

Thank you @cheeserwinkle for the amazing and inspiring Jaheira photos!!!

[et3rnal-dr3am3r]

sometimes i think that racism in my area isn’t bad, especially given how diverse of a place i’ve always lived in, but then something happens and i think twice about that.

[prettyboysdontlookatexplosions]

“i’m never going to tell latin americans how to feel but why would any bolivians disagree with me?” is a very funny take from someone getting defensive about the possibility of referring to US nationals as something other than americans

[crepegosette]

everyday I wonder to myself If I should make content of that one controversial ship I like, but then I wonder if it'd bring more harm than good, like is it worth it or is it just one of those things that I should enjoy on the back of my head with myself

[meaningfall]

— “For the Stranger” in This Country Between Us by Carolyn Forché