#there aren’t many construction workers around because again. immigrant workers.

[thatweirdtranny]

amazing that florida has become a fascist petri dish in the span of a couple months and we’re just kind of pretending we don’t see it

[crippleprophet]

hi, just wondering if you'd be willing to break down that quote you liked from biopolitics of disability? I felt like I understood the first half (ish) but I'm not really sure about the second.

Is the idea that research on disabled bodies is profitable, or that disabled people will become nondisabled and join the workforce, or is it arguing that like this research is done out of genuine care and concern for disabled people? I can't quite grasp it. obvs if you don't feel like answering I won't be a dick, just thought since your tags seemed enthusiastic you might have things you might wanna say about it.

absolutely, thank you for asking! it’s a somewhat dense quote that could easily be confusing if you don’t have familiarity with certain texts & concepts. i’ll just take it in sections, but i totally invite other commentary & insight! any emphasis is my own.

Rather than social pariahs, disabled people increasingly represent “research opportunities” in the sense that medical race sociologist Aihwa Ong means when she argues that “treating” ill and disabled Cambodian refugees in the United States increasingly “became the justification for state and local clinics to obtain much-needed funding from the federal government” (96).

historically, the goal of biomedical interventions in disability has been to eliminate non-normative bodies. the concept that all disabilities require medical intervention (often framed as an approach that is in opposition to creating an accessible society) is referred to as the medical model of disability. it argues that our bodies (i use the term broadly, inclusive of minds) need to be fixed and that eradicating disability is a good thing.

this quote expands on that prior scholarship and argues that biomedical research into disability exists not only to bring disabled bodies into the sphere of normalcy but also as a way for clinics to obtain funding—funding which only exists because of the government’s panic that people, especially immigrants, may become recipients of services like SSI and Medicaid due to disability.

Rather than a former era’s economic “burden,” disabled people have become objects of care in which enormous sectors of postcapitalist service economies are invested. In the terms of recent political economy, disability has been transformed into a target of neoliberal intervention strategies—a “hot” ticket item for potential research and policy funding schemes. Disabled people, once thrown out of the labor system on the basis of their lack of normative productivity in a competitive labor market, now find themselves “at hand for [the] purposes of accumulation at a later point in time.

to rephrase this in a very bitter and sarcastic way, disabled people used to be rejected from society because we aren’t as productive as abled people, but under neoliberal capitalism, we can be good little consumers just like everybody else! even initiatives that aim to increase disabled people’s autonomy and independence focus on us as consumers of disability-related services and our right to make financial decisions in a capitalist marketplace (link to a bit more on that here).

i’m not saying financial autonomy isn’t important—for many people, it’s the difference between life and death, and i’ll include a quote below with more perspective on that than i can provide. but under the current system, it results in corporations vying for disabled people’s money and watered-down activism arguing that businesses for which we are “objects of care” shouldn’t abuse us because then we won’t pay them.

in a broad political sense, it’s a reactionary rather than revolutionary mindset; sort of like how modern gay rights organizations in the US & other countries push for threatening politicians that they’ll lose the “gay vote” if they support a dangerous homophobic policy. it gives us a sort of power, but one that we only need because we’re living under a deeply broken system. but again, that’s not to say that financial independence isn’t vital for disabled people in the here and now, it just shouldn’t be the biggest we can dream. my goal for our people is liberation, not increased consumption.

“It is about time for revolution. We, people with disabilities, have to claim the decision making power and the financial means that are set aside by the taxpayer for disability policies. We have to gain control of our own lives, our own physical rehabilitation, our own personal assistance. We are the experts, we have to build up our own expertise and know-how. We don't need medical doctors, bureaucrats and social workers to decide what our needs are. We know what our needs are and how they can be fulfilled. We ask services that respond to our needs. We don't want to be the object, but the subject of these services.” —Huys Jos, “From Object of Care to Subject of Services,” Rethinking Care—From the Perspective of Disabled People (link to source pdf)

Put in the language of contemporary postmodern political theory, we might say that capitalism necessarily and always creates its own ‘other’” (Harvey, Neoliberalism 141). The historical production of others situates bodies in a position tantamount to un(der)explored geographies: they come to be recognized as formerly neglected sites now available for new opportunities of market extraction that fuels so much of the production end of neoliberal capitalism.

essentially, disabled bodies are Antarctica: left alone by the capitalist marketplace for a long time out of a vague fear and repulsion, but now everyone’s eying us, wondering what profit they can extract, and we aren’t protected nearly as much under global treaties. neoliberal capitalism demands constant expansion, constant profit growth, so instead of being rejected from the (literal and proverbial) marketplace, we’re catered to in a flimsy way that risks hiding the true state of discrimination we experience.

think of the recent erupting discussions around pride month merchandising and advertising; incredibly discriminatory, oppressive companies change their logos rainbow because they’ve realized lgbtq+ people are profitable. similarly, entire sectors of the market start salivating when you mention the US’s aging population because of all the assistive technology people will need. it’s not access as a human right, it’s access for a profit.

Such developments arrive, inevitably, with their own contradictions intact, but they also provide opportunities for rethinking disability as not only alternatively social, but also nonnormatively material, subject.

the social model of disability argues that disability is created by an inaccessible society; what is disabling is not, for example, someone’s paralysis which requires them to use a wheelchair but rather the fact that the apartment buildings in their area don’t have elevators, the streets don’t have curb cuts, and the stores don’t have automatic doors. this excerpt argues that not only is disability constructed through these social means, it also has a nonnormative materiality, in the sense of dialectical materialism; disabled people are uniquely affected by socioeconomic interactions in ways that affect the conditions of our lives.

[hauntedbythefanficsofmypast]

Universe Jump

Marinette, Adrien, and Chloe travel to the DC universe and create lives for themselves as a family. A little side info Marinette is a certified genius with an IQ of 187, Adrien has eidetic memory, and Chloe has Hyperthymesia.

Eidetic memory is when you can remember an image with high precision after seeing it once.

Hyperthymesia is where you remember a vast majority of your life with no problems.

A little background first. At 16 and 15, Adrien and Marinette have their final battle with Hawkmoth and Mayura, after they are defeated Chat and Ladybug hurry away from the scene both about to de-transform. When they find a hiding place Chat Noir breaks down finally de-transforming into Adrien. Marinette drops her transformation pulling Adrien into a tight hug. Neither letting go for over half an hour. They slowly make their way back to Marinette's house, Adrien crying on Mari's shoulder the whole way both unaware of the glares being sent at Adrien.

Since it was confirmed that it was Gabriel Agreste, many were speculating that Adrien was in on it. Some just wanted to take their anger out on Gabriel for torturing them by going after his son. Neither noticed the hatefully eyes following them as they entered the bakery. Tom and Sabine automatically hugged Adrien who was crying so hard he couldn't see or speak. After their hugs Marinette led him upstairs and they simply sat on the couch cuddling, not wanting to leave each other's side.

It wasn't until an hour later that the police arrived to question and inform Adrien on what they found in his house. Adrien tells them he had no idea that his father always talked about the heros with high regards whenever he saw them. When the police tell him about Emilie in the underground Garden, Adrien breaks down sobbing into Marinette's shoulder mumbling about how she'd been underneath him dead the entire time.

The police come to the conclusion that Adrien was not a part of it at all. And is grieving the loss of both his parents now, they agree to come back in the morning to talk with Tom and Sabine about where Adrien will be staying. However the morning never comes for Tom and Sabine, a group of people break into the bakery and set it on fire determined to get back at Gabriel by taking his son's life.

Marinette and Adrien only escape with the Miraculous box, Tom and Sabine had already been caught and it was too late for them. That night all four were pronounced dead. Adrien takes Marinette to Le Grand Paris, knowing Chloe would hide them for as long as they needed. They hide at Chloe's for a week while she pulls strings getting Gabriel's, The Dupain-Cheng's and Fu's bank accounts completely emptied and into her own without anyone knowing. During this time the three talk with the Kwamis on what they should do. It's Orikko that suggests the Kwami's move the money into their own dimension and take the three to a different universe. At first they are reluctant but Xuppu points out that they have no real reason to stay and their Kwamis agree. Pollen points out that Chloe's parents still aren't around. While Tikki and Plagg point out that their chosen are considered dead.

It gets Marinette thinking and she quickly goes over the ups and downs.

"Alright so here's what to know about us leaving this universe. It's a completely new start, no one knows who we are and according to Tikki the last time the Miraculous Box was there was when Hippolyta was Ladybug. So only the Amazonians will know of them. We'll be safer than we are here, not having to worry about people coming after us thanks to Gabriel. We'll have plenty of money and I know enough to be able to fake us having a 'parent' and buy a place for us as well as use it to our advantage. However based on where we end up it may be harder for me to get us IDs, and definitely hard to get us faked birth certificates. Not to mention, I'd have to teach myself an insane amount of hacking to successfully make it look like we've had previous education in that universe."

Together they decide that leaving is the best option even if they are slightly afraid. Plagg and Trixx snag all the money from Chloe's account and transfer it to their home dimension. Then together all the Kwami surround their three holders and transport them to an abandoned warehouse in Gotham with all their bags including the extravagant dollhouse Chloe had made for them. Once there the Kwami quickly swarm the house laying down in their respective beds as Adrien gives each one their favorites to eat before sleeping. Marinette explores the warehouse plotting out everything that must be done in construction while also making sure that no one else was there.

Once it's clear she returns to Chole and Adrien and they begin planning their first moves. Tomorrow Adrien and Chloe will go to a cafe that has free wifi with Tikki and Pollen. And using Marinette's USB they'll insert the 'parent' into the world from there they will create a bank account online, have Pollen transfer some money in, and then buy the warehouse. Meanwhile Marinette will be walking the town during the day with Plagg. As he points out places that give off the most sketchy energy, although they all can feel the destruction energy surrounding the city. He'll be able to find where the worse off people are staying. When meeting back up at the warehouse Marinette will confirm that their transaction went through. Then go from place to place with Plagg radiating as much dangerous energy around her as he can until she finds a bar where the bartender has what she needs.

Marinette meets with the bartender and a contractor the next day when the bar is closed. She tells the contractor she wants everything under the table and is willing to pay in cash half up front and half when the work is done.

"I want it done within a timely manner, bring in those you can trust not to squeal and are good workers, ten of them. I don't want any cut corners. If it'll cost more to do something safer, I'll pay it. And if none of you squeal within five months of it being done I'll give each other you an extra seven thousand and five hundred. These are the plans I have drawn up and this is the location. You'll start in two days. Do we have a deal?" 

The Contractor nods promising Marinette the best he has to offer and everything under the table with workers that are capable and wont speak of it. She simply smiles politely nodding and picks up the briefcase sliding it across the table to him. She then tosses a thousand to the bartender telling him to remember her because she'd definitely come back for more and will pay him.

Once back at the warehouse Marinette drops the tough girl persona exhausted from the day. She collapses on one of the three beds Tikki created for them and grins softly. Telling them that construction starts in two days.

When two days pass Marinette is a little surprised at how respectful the workers are and when she questions the contractor, lets call him Doug. Doug tells her that these aren't actually his workers, their friends of his that were contractors as well before they lost their jobs. Told her that he knew they needed the money, and that they wouldn't say anything once they realized they were working for a young girl and not a mob boss.

When Marinette here's that she is much nicer to the men and begins to bond with them Adrien and Chloe join in. Chloe sells a story of their parents being killed in Paris when they were still young and how they were basically sold to slavery. Claiming that they recently escaped after their 'owner' was killed. When asked on how they got the money Chloe immediately turns on Marinette.

"That easy! Mari here is really smart I mean seriously if we hadn't been-well you know- she'd already be in college! She was able to transfer his money into another account and then use one of his fake IDs to get us away!"

Construction lasts for four months and in that time the workers and the teens become closer. The workers even begin helping them with getting furniture, a few of them offering their trucks free of charge and willing to go pick up anything they can't have delivered. Doug even brings in a friend to install a top of the line security system for them. Once construction is over they have a solid bond between them and Marinette promises to call them anytime they need construction done.

At this point the warehouse has been turned into a home for them. With all the necessities and furniture. And in the basement of the warehouse Marinette has a parkour funland put in. They have also had time to research their new city and its heroes. Marinette deems it best that they do not transform or go parkoring in Gotham.

"Something about Batman tells me that if he sees us he won't stop until he knows everything about us. If you feel the need to run transformed or not, go to the basement."

Soon almost every night is spent in the basement for at least an hour and a half. The same time patrol lasted in Paris.

Marinette begins making all of their clothes, bored and missing designing. Soon they have donated all their old clothes and only wear Marinette's designs. It's Chloe that gets the clientele rolling in when a few women ask where she got her shirt. She gives them Marinette's information and soon Marinette is making clothes for others back in her element. She is slowly making a name for herself in Gotham taking up the name MDC.

Marinette also returns to the Bartender asking for help once again. Let's call the Bartender Chasen. She has him get in contact with someone that could fake documents for schooling. She explains to him that while she already has her profession, Adrien loves science and Chloe lives for business. Chasen calls her the next day informing her that he'd found the perfect person.

Chasen-For the right price all of you will be considered legal immigrants in America. He will get you all the paperwork you need within a week's time.

Marinette- And you trust him?

Chasen- Yes, with my life.

Marinette- Very well, what is his price?

Chasen- He wants to know why two 17 year olds and a 16 year old are in need of this paperwork.

Marinette- What is his name?

Chasen- John Constantine.

Marinette-Very well give him my address.

Marinette gives him two thousand dollars before leaving the bar.

A few hours later the trio is relaxing together in the living room. Adrien is excitedly talking about what they could do once they get the paperwork. When a portal opens up in their kitchen, and a blonde man steps out introducing himself.

John- Hello there, I'm John Constantine. Now please tell me why multiple gods have returned to this universe with three teenagers?

The trio is shocked into silence that this man knows they're from another universe. John sighs muttering out a few curses before turning around and opening their fridge pulling out a drink. He sits down at their breakfast table taking a long sip before leveling eye contact with Marinette.

John- Alright pigtails sit down and talk, you're the one Chasen told me to talk to.

Marinette huffs at the name glaring at him before sitting down and telling him their story. Plagg sits on her shoulder facing away from Constantine. Pretending to eat cheese while he is ready to jump to Marinette's defense if needed.

By the end of the night the trio has a foul mouth yet compassionate new friend. John agrees to get them all the documentation that makes it seem like they've lived in the universe since birth.

John- The only people that will be able to tell something is unusual is superheros. My friend is going to tie you all together as siblings with the same father, me. Though you'll all be emancipated and the only time I'll come into play is if one of you gets hurt. Chloe and Adrien will pass as fraternal twins with the same mother, Marinette due to your differing appearance will have a different mother. The only thing that will give you away to heros is my name, they know I do not have kids. Unusually I have enough time to find others to pose as you parents but you're stuck with me.

The trio agrees to the conditions and John smiles gently surprising them. He ruffles Marinette's hair telling them he'll be back periodically before he gets the paperwork. He tells Marinette his phone number and before he leaves Marinette grips his hand tightly.

Marinette- That is really all you wanted? Just our story?

John turns to her squeezing her hand gently before nodding.

John- I'm not one of the best people in the universe, that much your little Gods and Goddesses can tell you. But I would never not help a child or children when I can, and while your eyes are older than they should be you're still children. Now enough of the soft bull, I have a reputation to keep! If you need me, call me!

John leaves the same way he came, not seeing Marinette smiling gently at his back. Chloe and Adrien share a grin behind her teasing each other on who the cuter twin is. Marinette rolls her eyes as Plagg and Pollen start arguing for their chosen. 

A week later they are now the Constantine siblings.

A few weeks later both Chloe and Adrien have taken their SATs and their ACT, skying some of the highest scores in Gotham. Marinette decided not to take the test knowing that it would be suspicious if they discover she is a genius. People will be asking why it wasn't documented in Paris, instead she uses their week of studying to teach herself hacking, much to John's amusement when he visits.

His amusement fled when he made a snarky comment and Marinette turned to him smirking.

Marinette- At least I didn't sleep with a humanoid shark.

John-....ya f*ckin got me there pigtails!

He then turned and disappeared through a portal unable to look any of his self proclaimed kids in the eyes. Once gone Marinette and Plagg start laughing hysterically together causing Tikki to roll her eyes and start complaining about Plagg trying to steal her Chosen. Plagg sticks his tongue out at her before floating over and resting himself in Adrien's hair.

A few weeks later Marinette is dragging John to a car dealership ignoring his whining. She simply signs and tells him that she needs her parental figures help with buying a car.

John sighs before agreeing to help her get a car, in the end he is glad he is there when the dealer attempts to push Marinette into buying a terrible car.

He immediately gets in between them glaring the man down before telling him that he is shopping for a car for his daughter. The man nodded before stuttering out that he'll get the keys for their safest cars, before rushing back inside.

John huffs not looking Marinette in the eye as she smirks at him.

Marinette- Watch out Dad, keep this up and people might think you care about us!

John-Shut it Pigtails, or I'll leave right now.

Marinette- No you won't. 

John doesn't respond because he knows she is right, he got attached to these sassy brats. His only hope is that his enemies don't find out about them. That night he stays for dinner and when the kids fall asleep he places magical sigils on each of their souls. Protecting them from attacks from both Heaven and hell. When confronted by the Kawami he just huffs telling them the brats wormed their way into his heart. Tikki simply smiles patting his cheek before telling him to use the guest room.

The next day John is grumbling sitting at the breakfast bar dressed in only his boxers as Marinette makes breakfast. Adrien sits next to him laughing at the dark look on his face, while Chloe rolls her eyes at both of them sipping her coffee.

He sighs softly thinking about how Bats would kill him for being in his city this long. However when he hears the three burst into laughter together. He can't find it in himself to actually care.

Two months later Chloe and Adrien are attending college classes and Marinette is getting ready to open her own boutique with John's help. They bought a shop in the nice parts of Gotham and with Doug's help they were practically ready to open. They had a large floor room. The right floor of the store was designated for specially designed clothing, a doortalong the wall opened to a fitting room. The left side was for her clothing manufactured in bulk, and the changing areas were located on that side. She also had the walls set for clothing designed by the designers she hired. Above each rack was a whiteboard that each designer was allowed to specially decorate and have their name displayed. Their clothes were being sold under her name in return for only 25 percent while they got the other 75 percent. The back room housed a designing area for Marinette and her designers with extra sewing machines along with racks and shelves for finished clothing. John was helping her set up signs for the day unknown to the both of them they were being spied on.

Bruce Wayne had spotted John Constantine in Gotham over three weeks ago. He didn't confront him because at the time he'd been walking out of Gotham University with two blonds, before getting in a car that a black haired girl with sunglasses was driving. He proceeded to investigate even deeper, finding two new students with the last name Constantine and an upcoming designer sharing the name as well. His first thought was that John had relocated some of his allies into Gotham, which pissed the Bat off greatly. 

However it had been Dick that pointed out to him that the kids we're Tim's age and they didn't have any history beyond what John had created for them. Instead of confronting the man and kicking them out he had the entire family taking turns watching the three.

They saw a family that found itself the three obviously weren't actually siblings but that didn't matter to them. They also saw John get closer and closer to the kids slowly starting to spend more time with them. When Marinette began setting up her shop Bruce and Dick watched John smile gently at the girl when she began to ramble on and on. It was that moment that made Dick turn on Bruce telling him that if he even threatened to kick them out Dick would be upset.

Meanwhile Jason was continuously joking and making comments that Bruce was only mad because John managed to adopt a black hair blue eyed child before he could. Bruce got out of his car walking into the unfinished boutique, his eyes zeroing in on the recently named Marinette Constantine. She greeted him politely telling him the store wasn't open yet and only tenseed slightly when John froze at the sight of him. She played it off and quickly turned to John.

Marinette- Hey Dad can you take those extra racks to the back for me, while I give this nice man our opening dates.

John looked like he wanted to argue but instead he nodded picking up a couple racks and taking them to the back. Marinette's eyes were immediately back on him calculating him in seconds. Which surprised him greatly, the only people able to pick him apart like this were his kids.

Marinette-Bruce Wayne and by Dad's reaction you're either a hero or a villain. It's easy to tell you're not a villain though so that only leaves the hero. In Gotham very few heroes are allowed. Based on your age and when heros first appeared I'm assuming you Batman. This means Richard Grayson was the first Robin, going through assumptions once again. This would place your family as the heroes of Gotham. You're Batman, and I know that you know damn well that John isn't our actual father. Probably suspicious of why he has three kids relocated into your city as well. You have a no meta policy in Gotham and I understand why. However John is not a meta, he is a mage and he is our guardian. I fear that the foul mouthed a**hat got attached to us though so he stays. You want answers, that's why you decided to confront us in public, everyone is wondering what Bruce Wayne is doing here, so we wouldn't dare make a move to run. What you didn't account for was going up against someone who could pick you apart in seconds and learn your weaknesses. For instance you've had your back broken, you've healed incredibly however to the right trained eye you can see that you wear back supports. Not only that you still get pains from the injury, pains that you're experiencing right now as shown by the tension in your back. Pain medication not kicked in yet Brucie?

She finished the polite smile never leaving her face even when both heard John laughing hysterically in the back room.

Bruce- You're good.

Marinette-I would hope so in my universe I was one of the best heros and a certified genius.

Bruce- Your universe?

Marinette- Yes my universe. I think we both know talking about this in public is stupid Brucie. Find the warehouse that belongs to Margie Willkins, and you will find us.

Bruce-Margie Willkins, very well. Will she be there as well.

Marinette- Not likely considering she only exists on the internet. You won't find her anywhere else. Now Brucie it is time for you to go.

Bruce- Don't call me that.

He finally growled out, Marinette's smile didn't waver but he could see the glee light up in her eyes at his annoyance. Reminding him of the gleam his kids would get for the same task.

Marinette-Oh but Brucie, I think it's just the perfect nickname! Show me you deserve my respect Brucie, you maybe Batman but you came in here to intimidate one of my family members. I believe you can understand I am very protective of my family. After all I've already had two murdered and I won't lose anymore. Now turn and leave my store with a smile on your face Bruce, or I'll start crying.

John- She will  the girl had me running around to get her favorite snacks until Chloe pointed out she was faking.

Marinette pouted looking at John behind her stating that Chloe had to ruin her fun. She turned to Bruce staring him down once more. Bruce nodded confirming that he'd be there.

That night the three were relaxing when Batman jumped down into their living room in front of them. Neither teen flinched Chloe scoffed going back to her nails while Adrien threw popcorn at him complaining that he was blocking the tv. Much to his kids amusement over the coms. Marinette simply sighed before flipping herself over the back of the couch. Gesturing him to follow her, she stopped however and looked him dead in the eye.

Marinette- Oh, and you're seven backups are doing a terrible job of hiding. Might as well tell them to just join us.

This left the entire family stunned as Marinette simply turned back walking into the kitchen and sitting down. Soon she was joined by eight members of the Batfamily. She took in their appearance quickly determining who was who with ease. She smirked when she felt Plagg settle into her jacket pocket. Him being there instead of Tikki meant Marinette wasn't representing Ladybug. She could be as sassy or rude as she wanted.

Marinette- So I get to talk to Batman now and not Brucie. Interesting, nice to see you finally drop your mask around me. Now I can see the real person, oops I wasn't supposed to say that was I?

Batman's glare hardened especially as Red Hood and Nightwing began to silently laugh.

Batman-Get to the point of why we're here.

Marinette-So serious maybe you should try getting a spa treatment, it does wonders. But I digress. Do you want the short version or the long version?

Batman simply stared at her causing Marinette to roll her eyes, before telling the trio's story. Shortly after explaining everything Chloe and Adrien joined them with all the Kwami flying in around, Plagg leaving Marinette's pocket heading back to Adrien.

Nightwing immediately gushes about the Kwami being cute cause Marinette to giggle softly. Each sibling begins to check the Kwami out as well as talk to the three fromer heroes. While Bruce was studying Marinette watching her switch from a mischievous and sassy persona to her actual personality. He watched the kids all talking and getting to know each other. At some point the Batfamily save Bruce had taken their masks off.

That's when both he and Tim noticed Marinette pull out a laptop and start typing. Tim decided to approach asking her what she was doing, Marinette rolled her eyes telling him that she is deleting all of tonight's security footage. Stating that he needs to leave her alone because she only recently started learning how to hack and getting into a company known for their security. Tim makes a noise before pulling her computer away and hacking into the company within five minutes. Marinette stared at her computer for a minute before grabbing his hands and getting closer to his face causing everyone to stare.

Marinette-Teach me, and I will make you my famous caffeine death coffee everyday for a month.

Tim blushed at her closeness until the words coffee hit his ears. He raised his eyebrow before questioning how good it was. Marinette simply released his hand and stood up walking over to the coffee machine and making the coffee in under five minutes. Everyone noticed Adrien and Chloe eyeing the coffee like it was poison when Marinette placed it in front of him. Tim stared at it for a while Marinette sighed picking it back up taking a big gulp swallowing it for them all before placing it in front of him again. Tim finally picked it up and took a sip only to freeze then down it in down gulp. He placed the cup down before grabbing both of Marinette's hands while looking her in the eye dead serious.

Tim- Marry me.

Everyone stared at him in shock especially when he didn't laugh saying he was joking.

Marinette blushed brightly, sputtering out a few unrecognizable sentences before taking a deep breath looking away from him.

Marinette- Honestly, I'm not a girl that marries before the first date. We barely even know each other.

Tim- Your right, what are you doing tomorrow night at six?

Marinette- Uh well I was going to be at my shop until five thirty, after that nothing really.

Tim- Perfect, I'll pick you up from your boutique at five thirty. We'll go on our first date and as many dates as it'll take me to convince you to marry me.

Marinette just sputters out a confirmation unable to look Tim in the eye.

Tim is the last of the family to leave before going he grabs Marinette's hand again. Letting a gentle smile cover his face.

Tim-I am not asking you out just because of your coffee skills Marinette. I had the task of researching you and your siblings. I found you rather fascinating, and we also have quite a bit in common. Your amazing coffee was just a plus. I will see you tomorrow at five thirty?

Marinette- Five thirty. I'll be waiting.

Tim-I won't be late.

He kisses her hand before releasing it and grappling away. He was not ready to deal with his family's teasing. Marinette refused to meet Adrien or Chloe's gaze as she walked to her room, her face bright red.

@abrx2002

@chocolateherringtacofan

@blackmagicforever

@mythogaychic

[ahumansvoid]

Construction

Go read The Plan to fully understand this (and the Interviews AU to understand that.)

It’s really just a little ficlet following Obi-wan’s brother Owen and Ronan and the start of the construction on the Clone Village on Stewjon.

Also, I think I’m incapable of writing romance.

Characters:  Owen - OC, Ronan -OC, unnamed OCs

Words:  2360~

Warnings: None I can think of.

Notes: I mentioned in the Plan that the Stewjon Royal family has ruling names (which the twins share). You can probably get them from context, but just to be clear, list!

Ivy & Illia -> Amara

Ronan & Ryszard -> Audric

Owen -> Alai

Story under the cut

Ronan and Owen had figured out a good place for a village of 3 million, and had set out with the royal construction crew to start building.

While there, Ronan and Owen couldn’t do more than stand around and occasionally give orders. Royal Attire was not suited for construction. And neither prince could stip out of any of the layers. That’d be improper. And they’d be indecent. According to Kierce at least.

Also, according to Kierce, if Kierce has to suffer through wearing 100 pounds of clothing, every other royal has to too.

‘He’s such an asshole.’ Owen thought privately. He’d never say it. Not in front of other people at least. Definitely to Kierce’s face in private.

“I’m… going to go see if the Deldri will kidnap me.” Ronan says, walking off towards the forest. Owen, doesn’t really care. He’s pretty sure the two of them were sent off purely so Kierce didn’t have to deal with them. So if Owen doesn’t have to deal with Ronan, well, he’s not about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

“What’re you constructing over here?” Owen turns to face the newcomer, a physically dominating man, who gave off a vibe indicating he wouldn’t hurt a bunny. 

“A new village.” Owen states with the bored monotone any Royal in makeup was supposed to use. He gets not showing emotion. He also thinks it’s stupid. And has said so many times.

“Oh? Why?”

Well, Kierce didn’t say he couldn’t tell anyone. “New immigrants. Three million of them.”

The newcomer whistles, “They all passed the immigrant test?” Owen fought a smile. Immigration to Stewjon was easy, on paper. The test was easy, the qualifications were easy, the only hard part was the physical test people were put through. To see if they’d be on level with Stewjoni people. About 1% passed. If that.

“They’re Mandalorians.” Technically, at least.

“Oh? There are three million Mandalorians out there?” Owen is really glad he’s been trained to not react to the most ridiculous of situations, because he really wants to laugh. It’s not funny, but it is. 

“They’re all identical.”  Now, Owen could get into trouble for telling citizens about taking in the clones. But, Kierce would tell them anyways.

“Really?” The man draws, before walking away.

Owen should probably tell Kierce word would spread about the Clones. Owen hears a low rumble and looks up. Rain. ’A storm’ he realizes. Great.

“A storm is rolling in!” Owen calls to the workers, who all stop and look up to verify his words. Or just on instinct. “You do not have to keep working if you do not wish to.” The workers look to eachother before continuing with their work. The message clear, they were not going to stop working because of a little rain and EM. Fair enough. Owen heads to their transport and grabs an umbrella, opening it up and holding it overhead before returning to his previous position. The makeup wasn’t water-soluble, but most people don’t know that and he’d prefer to not be soaking wet when wearing a hundred pounds of clothing. That’s just impractical. Well. Everything about them was impractical. But getting them wet was doubly so.

The rain was just getting started, a low drizzle, when the man returns. Owen doesn’t greet him, if he wishes to speak he will.

“Your workers need any help?”

“They shouldn’t. But you are welcome to ask them. However, if you assist it will be volunteer work. You will not be paid.” They weren’t given a timeline on how soon the houses would need to be finished, but the Royal Construction Crew should be able to get it done by themselves within eight months, barring any extenuating circumstances that’d make their jobs harder.

The man laughs and slaps Owen on the back, causing him to lurch forward minutely as he hadn’t been expecting it. “Buy me a drink and you can call me Toots.” The man says and moves to talk to the Foreman of the Construction Crew. Leaving Owen very confused.

What. The. Fuck?

The only part of his confusion visible would be his blinking, as he was keeping his face as neutral as possible. Because that. That made no sense.

How does someone get that from Owen telling them to talk to the construction crew and he wouldn’t be paid? 

To reiterate. What the fuck?

Owen was so confused, he didn’t notice Ronan had returned, until he was standing right next to Owen, a Deldri umbrella held above his head.

“How’s construction going?” Ronan asks, sounding bored and monotone. As he should.

“Fine.” Owen might not have been as bored and monotone as he should have been. He was really confused.

Ronan looks over, and down because he just had to be taller than Owen, “Are you okay?” 

Owen didn’t answer until the man left the area, heading back into the nearby village. “No. That man confuses me.”

“He offered to help?” 

“No. Well, he did but that’s not confusing,” that was just typical of Stewjoni people really, “He said ‘Buy me a drink and you can call me Toots,’ after I told him that if he helped he’d be a volunteer and not paid.” Now, having been raised to not react to things, Owen could identify when his family was holding back a reaction. The reaction Ronan was holding back right now? Laughter. The fucker. He wasn’t even doing a good job! His shoulders were shaking and his mouth kept twitching up into a smile. “Cover your mouth if you’re going to fail at keeping your face neutral.” Owen scolds, and Ronan does as he says, covering his mouth.

By the time Ronan has his face under control, the man and a few dozen other people have returned, all going to help the construction crew. “Alai, I believe what you encountered, is flirting.” Ronan put the barest of inflection on ‘flirting’ but he did.

The arsehole. “No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Y- Aren’t you supposed to be the mature one?” Owen really wanted to laugh, Ronan barely managed to make that sound monotone.

“Says who.”

“You’re five years older.”

“Age means nothing.” It really doesn’t. Ace was by far the least mature of them all and he was the second eldest.

“Mm, Amara.” Which was also a good point. Illia was wonderful. Ivy would drop kick someone off the roof without any prompting.

“Yes. Age truly means nothing. And that was not flirting.”

“It was.”

“Flirting is refined.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Audric.”

Ronan gets the message through the Monotone and says something other than ‘no’.“Normal people flirting is not refined. It’s offering someone a drink and calling them toots.”

“If anything, that was a sex invitation.” For some reason, Ronan was trying not to laugh again. He was succeeding far better now, but his shoulders were still shaking slightly.

“Probably. But a,” Ronan clears his throat, “sex invitation is still flirting.”

“No, it’s not.”

“Do you really want to start that again?”

“No.”

“It was flirting. Now you can either go buy him a drink or say no.”

“You cannot honestly think I’d buy him a drink. It goes against everything we’ve been taught. Every protocol.” Owen was keeping his voice as monotone and bored as possible, putting the barest of inflection on certain words. No matter how much he wanted to go for a drink, it was not the way.

Ronan scoffs, barely, before speaking, “Like you’ve never fucked someone in Royal robes.” Owen looked to his brother, looked him up and down, and took a step away.

“You had those dry cleaned after, right?”

Ronan rolls his eyes, and ‘Wow, isn’t he breaking rules today?’Owen thinks blithely. “I did not have sex in the robes. I flirted in them and had sex out of them. There’s no harm in it.”

“There’s a lot of harm in it. And I’m telling Atlas when we get back so he can lecture you on it. Just because dad’s dead doesn’t mean you can escape lectures on propriety.” 

“You’re a terrible brother.”

“Yes.”

The delve into silence for a while, watching their people work as rain poured. Owen turned his attention to the EM rods that kept them safe. They did nothing for their electronics, they didn’t even stop the EM from reaching the people, but they kept the Gravopir from attacking the people in the settlements. And during a storm they looked so pretty. Electricity dancing from one pole to the other. Kierce had tried to explain how they worked to him once, Owen couldn’t really bring himself to care. 

“You could ask him to a drink out of the royal robes.” Ronan suggests, breaking their nice silence.

“Why would I do that?”

“Because you’re still thinking about him.”

“And how would you know that?” Owen wasn’t. He was looking at the EM rods. Which were not anywhere near that man. He was on the ground shirtless working on the bones of a house. Looking stupidly hot and wet and-

Oh.

“Because you are looking as far from him as possible. Despite the EM rods by him giving a far prettier show than the ones you’re looking at.” 

Which. Wasn’t incorrect. The ones by the man were prettier. 

“I don’t even know him.” He doesn’t! He is enamoured purely based on the man’s physique. It’s a wonderful physique but still. That’s not right.

“That’s what the drink is for.”

“I wouldn’t know where he would be for a drink.”

“Velvet Grass on Mirkrow. That’s where almost everyone here hangs out.” That. That gives Owen pause. He slowly turns to look at Ronan.

“How do you know that?”

“... Look I hang out in some places. And I’m not saying anymore until I can run away.”

“Okay.” Owen wouldn’t push. Not now.

“Do we really need to oversee construction? This seems pointless.” Owen agreed. They weren’t really doing anything.

But, “It’s about propriety. Or something. Atlas wants us overseeing.” Owen almost sighed. But he didn’t. Them being here really was pointless. Neither made anymore comments as the Foreman came over.

“I don’t want to disagree with the King, but you two don’t have to stay out here. You’re more likely to get a cold than us, given your clothing.” 

Which, was not how colds work. But it was a nice offer. And before Owen could decline as they were to, Ronan accepted it, “Thank you, Foreman Jenning. We’ll return to the Palace.” 

Fucker. Owen didn’t let his displeasure be known until the Foreman had left and Ronan was half dragging him to their horses. “Atlas-”

“It is wet. We are wearing a ridiculous amount of clothing. I want to get dry and warm.” Which were all fair points, and Ronan was already on his horse. Owen sighs and mounts his own. 

“You’re explaining everything to Atlas.”

“Fine.”

----

Atlas had been moderately unhappy. He was more unhappy they had ridden home in a storm than leaving the construction early.  Then he became annoyed and royally pissed when Owen told him about Ronan flirting and having sex as a public prince. And then Ronan told on Ryszard having sex in the robes which had led to those two being dragged off for a propriety lecture.And Bard calling Ronan a traitor. And Ronan calling Bard an oversharer.

After that, Owen had returned to his own room and pulled off his many layers and gotten half dressed in sleep wear when someone knocked on his door. He glanced through the peephole to see it was Ace, and let him and surprisingly Illia and Ivy into his room.

“Can I help you?”

“Ronan said you were going on a date.” Ivy states, sitting down on his bed.

“I’m not.” And even if he was it didn’t explain the girls being in his room. Ace? Sure, he gets way too involved in everyone’s love lives. Ivy? She doesn’t have a romantic bone in her body. Illia? Romantic, but honestly doesn’t care about their love lives.

“Ronan said a guy asked you out to drinks.” Ace states, going through Owen’s closet. Which was not good.

“He said ‘Buy me a drink and you can call me toots.’” Owen informs, sighing as Illia starts removing his makeup. “Why are you involved in this?”

“Ace asked nicely. And Ivy is going with you.” Which meant Illia got some peace and Owen would be responsible for making sure she didn’t kill anyone. Valid reason for Illia to be helping out.

“Of course.” Owen mutters as Illia finishes up removing the heavy make up. 

“Put these on.” Ace says, thrusting a couple articles of clothing into Owens arms.

“This isn’t a date.” Owen protests, but starts getting dressed. Everyone here had seen him naked, and they invaded his room. If they don’t like it, they could leave. They didn’t.

“It’s drinks. At the very least, you can relax.” Ace states, before shaking his head and going back into Owen’s closet.  He pulls out a new shirt and hands it over, “Switch.” Owen does and hands the old shirt back to Ace who nods. 

Owen looks at himself in the mirror and sighs. He looks so… not himself. He didn’t even know he owned these clothes. Everything he wore was normally so layered. To have something so thin and fitted was, weird. Illia comes up behind him and starts to comb through his hair, slowly turning it brown with every run through. Eventually, his ginger hair was brown, with a reddish tint in some places.

Ivy gets off his bed and stretches, “Alright! To the Velvet Grass Pub on Mirkrow!”

Owen pulls on a pair of boots Ace hands him. Not his royal ones. And follows Ivy out a servant’s entrance that wasn’t actually a servant’s entrance as the servants didn’t have access to it. Owen sighs, this was a bad idea. But he really can’t argue with his older siblings. He’s tried. It fails 100% of the time.

So, awkwardly getting drunk and keeping Ivy from getting into fights it is.

What a fun way to spend the night.

[freehawaii]

TEACHING TOURISTS THE REAL HAWAI`I

New York Times - February 4, 2020

Demonstrators waving Hawaiian flags march outside Iolani Palace, marking the anniversary of the overthrow of Hawaii by the government of the United States.Credit...Marco Garcia for The New York Times

Locals in O`ahu know that the best way to get from Waikiki’s crowded beaches to the cool North Shore is to drive along the island’s eastern coast. The road is framed by mountains, ocean and greenery so lush and beautiful, it’s hard to focus the eye on one place for too long, for fear of missing the next scenic attraction.

On a recent trip along the route, something else stood out: the upside down Hawaiian flags flying at almost every stop.

The flag, which has the union jack in the bottom left corner, instead of the usual top left, hung in storefronts in Waikiki and was printed on T-shirts in Waimanalo, it was stuck on the bumpers of passing cars in Kailua and flying from the backs of trucks in Kahuku and other towns on the North Shore.

The flag has become a symbol of solidarity among Hawaiians who oppose the construction of a large new telescope on Mauna Kea, on the island of Hawai`i. Mauna Kea, at 32,000 feet from seafloor to summit, and with 13,796 feet above sea level, is one of the best places in the northern hemisphere, if not the world, to observe the cosmos, experts say. The telescope’s proponents say that it will bring hundreds of jobs to the island and advance humanity’s study of space.

But it has faced fierce resistance from some native Hawaiians for whom Mauna Kea is sacred ground and a place of roots, and their allies. Opponents of the telescope say they are tired of having their land taken for purposes that benefit others and for the often elusive promise of jobs that fail to deliver in terms of numbers or a living wage.

Kyle Kajihiro, left, and Terrilee Keko'olani, who offer alternative, educational tours of Oahu, outside Iolani Palace.Credit...Marco Garcia for The New York Times

“The struggle at Mauna Kea right now is one of the biggest issues that has realigned many cultural political relationships in Hawai`i,” said Kyle Kajihiro, an activist and lecturer at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. “It’s really quite an amazing emergence of Hawaiian activism of cultural awareness.”

The battle over the telescope has revealed fissures that have long existed in Hawai`i, a place that is all but synonymous with tourism — the most-popular destination for honeymoons in the United States and a bucket-list perennial. The fight has inspired actions around the islands, all relating to how land is used and who benefits from it.

The spirit of protest is most visible in O`ahu, where in Kahuku demonstrators have spent the last several months fighting the construction of eight wind turbines, each standing at 568 feet — taller than the tallest skyscraper in Honolulu. Protesters say the turbines will have adverse long term health effects on the population. The company building them says there is no evidence to support those claims and promises to bring jobs to the area. More than 160 people have been arrested there.

In southeast O`ahu, in September, 28 people were arrested trying to block the building of a park and recreation center in Waimanalo, a largely agricultural town. The developers behind the center say it will bring jobs and create a new community space, but opponents fear it will be a magnet for tourists and will destroy the forest and beach used by locals.

In Honolulu, in May, Hilton employees protested, demanding a better contract and job protections. In July, hotel employees went on strike to protest what they said were low wages and the firing of 45 workers by Diamond Resorts, an operator of multiple properties in the United States and Europe. The company said it would turn one of its hotels into a timeshare resort, which requires fewer workers than a traditional hotel.

“We value our dedicated team members at The Modern Honolulu and we were pleased to reach a contract agreement that includes a significant pay increase,” a spokesman for Diamond said. “We are continuing our planned efforts to convert the property into a world-class vacation ownership resort.”

Most people in Hawai`i, especially in the tourism industry work more than one job to barely get by, said Bryant de Venecia, communications organizer for the workers’ union, Unite Here Local 5, which represents resort workers.

“Mauna Kea has lit a fire for Hawaiians who are tired of watching their land, resources and work be used at the expense of their well-being,” he said.

Hawai`i is the most expensive state to live in, according to the 2018 Annual Average Cost of Living Index by the Council for Community and Economic Research. Groceries, for example, cost more than 60 percent the national average.

“People are tired of being decorative — Hawaiians as well as people who live in Hawai`i,” said Maile Meyer, who owns Nā Mea Hawai’i, a bookstore in Honolulu that sells products from smaller local makers. “You’re seeing a phenomenon of natives gathering again and completely finding our way back to each other as part of the solution.

Demonstrators gather to block a road at the base of Mauna Kea, on the island of Hawa`ii, to protest the construction of a giant telescope.Credit...Caleb Jones/Associated Press

Jobs Aren’t Enough

A common thread between these protests is that they are being led by locals. They say that since Europeans first arrived in the 18th century, Hawaiian land has been taken and misused by non-Hawaiians, and often to the detriment of Hawaiians and their traditions. The endeavors that have sparked these recent protests all promise jobs, just as tourism and defense have in the past.

But perhaps for the first time in recent Hawaiian history, natives and locals are saying the quality of these jobs is not good enough.

“We’re having to move away from quantity to quality,” said Laurien Baird Hokuli`i Helfrich-Nuss, the founder of Conscious Concepts, a company that works with local organizations on sustainable tourism initiatives. “Now that local people are getting more agency, they are learning more, going into a more curious space of saying ‘It’s great that this company is providing jobs, but what kind of jobs are they? Are they good jobs? Are they paying a livable wage?”

Tourism is the biggest driver of Hawai`i’s economy, accounting for 21 percent of jobs. Nearly 10 million people visited the state in 2018 and in 2019, guest arrivals were expected to surpass that number, hitting a record high. And although more people are visiting Hawai`i, they are spending less there.

Locals say that resorts are often owned and run by non-Hawaiians, with Hawaiian people employed in the lower-paying service jobs, and that development often benefits outsiders at the expense of native and local well-being.

“There historically hasn’t been enough consideration for how tourism and tourists can contribute to making life sustainable and really livable for the locals who serve them here,” Mr. de Venecia said.

More Than A “Play Land”

The feeling of escape — of fleeing to a nearby paradise with stunning beaches and luxurious resorts — has long been Hawai`i’s appeal to the traveling public. While the hottest trends in travel now are the search for authenticity and ways to experience local life, many people who visit Hawaii are looking to get away from daily life. They come to sit on the beach and drink a matai without thinking about much else. Their interaction with local culture is often limited to watching a hula show at the hotel luau.

“We realized a lot of folks who would visit us who would normally have more consciousness about history and social justice concerns seem to turn off that part of their brain when they think about Hawai`i,” Mr. Kajihiro, the activist and lecturer, said, adding that people treat the islands as a “play land.”

But this decision to turn off their brains is hurting Hawai`i and Hawaiians, he said. While working for the American Friends Service Committee, the Quaker peace and justice organization, Mr. Kajihiro and his colleague Terrilee Keko`olani studied the environmental and social effects of colonization, militarization and overdevelopment of Hawai`i. They learned that tourism was one of the industries with some of the most damaging effects on O`ahu, he said, citing overcrowding, a higher cost of living and higher prices for goods.

The pair began offering alternative tours of the island, which they call DeTours, in 2004 and have seen increased interest in recent years. Their work was included in the recently published Duke University Press book “DeTours: A Decolonial Guide to Hawai`i,” a collection of essays, interviews and family histories about ethical and contextualized tourism in the islands.

The tours are given to groups of people who want to learn about Hawai`i from the perspective of local Hawaiians. They include a deep history on the ways military life is hidden across the island. During a typical tour, guests go to `Iolani Palace, the Hawaiian royal residence, then to Chinatown and some of the old neighborhoods where new immigrants to Hawai`i traditionally settled. The next stop is usually Fort Shafter, the headquarters of the United States Army Pacific; then Camp Smith, but the main part of the tour is Ke Awalau o Pu`uloa — Pearl Harbor.Continue reading the main sto   

During a DeTours of Pearl Harbor, Mr. Kajihiro pauses in the “Oa`hu court” between the Pearl Harbor galleries and the museum and asks guests to look at the placards in the hallway. At the placard that says, “The Hawaiian Kingdom was overthrown in 1893,” he explains that this one sentence has been controversial with the United States government because it acknowledges the government-backed overthrow of Queen Lili`uokolani, which unsettles American claims to Hawai`i. In the museum’s Attack Gallery, Mr. Kajihiro points to a small image of the Hono`uli`uli internment camp where Japanese people were held during World War II and uses it as a jumping-off point for a conversation about immigration and civil rights.

“People already come here with so many images and ideas about what Hawai`i is that it’s really hard for them to see something different, so that’s why we started calling our work ‘DeTours,” Mr. Kajihiro said. “To swerve off the path that most people are going to see or understand and consume and shake it up by raising some more critical perspectives and introducing a lot of historical facts that are not so pleasant.”

  New Type Of Tourism

The DeTours team is part of a movement looking to change what tourism means in Hawai`i. Ms. Nuss, of Conscious Concepts, is originally from O`ahu and returned in 2009 after working in hospitality in the Caribbean, New York, Miami and other places on the United States mainland. 

“I came home seeing something happening in Hawai`i that I didn’t see when I left,” she said. “My generation was stepping into their leadership roles and doing it differently, reconnecting for a movement back to the land.”

But she quickly realized that what many companies were doing didn’t align with her vision for supporting tourism while ensuring the well-being of overworked Hawaiians.

In 2015, Ms. Nuss created her company to find ways to support Hawaiian businesses function sustainably while also remaining a key part of the most important sector in O`ahu — tourism. Ms. Nuss has worked with farms, artists and nonprofit organizations to change their offerings so they can appeal to tourists, while still benefiting Hawaiians. A farm hoping to attract tourists to volunteer might turn to her to figure out the best ways to reach them. She described her work with as “consciously creating experiences for travelers and opportunities for locals.”

“I had a realization about how our tourism industry is presently run, which is coming from the commodification of culture,” she said. “I realized what was happening in my communities and the value systems that were driving it were contradictory to the form of tourism that I was being a part of.

”Continue reading the main stTo give tourists a more authentic experience of “the real Hawai`i,” the artists Roxy and Matt Ortiz, invite them into their studio in the Kaka`ako district of Honolulu. The couple is known for their elaborate murals of fanciful tree houses, which they create under the name Wooden Wave.

“When people come see us work, it gives them a totally different way to experience Hawai`i,” Ms. Ortiz said. “And it’s a fun way for us to give tourists a different experience than they usually see in those brochures.”

In these studio visits, guests can see the couple’s work in progress, but also learn about ahupua`a, the ancient system of land division, in which the island was separated into slices, each slice running from the top of the local mountain to the shore. During the visit, Mr. Ortiz explains that each ahupua’a included forest area up high and a cultivated area below, and depending on the politics and economy of each ahupua`a, its size was different from another.

Mr. Ortiz said that even the slightest opportunity for tourists to think about how water and land have always worked together and why they hold importance to Hawaiians can encourage them to be more thoughtful when interacting with locals and the land and sea while visiting.

“When people have some of the history and context they can appreciate the art more and they can experience the island in a more meaningful way,” he said.

Visitors can stay at Kahumana Organic Farm to get outside the luxury resort experience.Credit...Marco Garcia for The New York Times

Another way tourists can learn about the land and engage with locals is by visiting a local farm like Kahumana Farm in Waianae on the west side of O`ahu.Continue reading the main stor 

In November, Chloe Anderson, a therapist and teacher in California, visited the farm and stayed for four of her six days on O`ahu. There she shared a room with others, did yoga, learned about the produce grown and cooked on the farm and generally felt like she got a more meaningful experience than she would have at a luxury resort, removed from daily Hawaiian life.

“We had like three or four different activities we would do every day,” she said. “But so many things were based off the farm and at the farm. We still had the experience of being a tourist in Hawai`i and going on hikes and beach excursions, but also of experiencing something more.”

Some business owners are committed to staying in the tourism sector, and are trying to be as environmentally friendly as possible.

Shane Hiroshi Gibler pilots the Royal Hawaiian Catamaran, for a sunset cruise off Honolulu. Credit...Marco Garcia for The New York Times

“I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect that people just won’t work in the main industry there is and I don’t think Hawaiians want to stop tourism altogether, but we are all working to find ways of doing it responsibly and thoughtfully,” said Shane Hiroshi Gibler, who co-owns Royal Hawaiian Catamaran, which is based in Honolulu and offers snorkel tours, sunset cruises and private charters.

On Mr. Gibler’s boat, guests are asked not to bring any plastic and recycling is available aboard. Mr. Gibler educates guests an education about fishing, food and the importance of the ocean and the land to Hawaiians. The Royal Catamaran team regularly gathers people to clean up the shoreline and has been working with the Surfrider Foundation to remove ghost nets — fishing nets that have been lost or left behind by fishing boats — from reefs or the ocean.

The idea, one echoed by Mr. Kajihiro, is to encourage tourists to think about how they can leave their resort, even for one day of their trip, and contribute to the place they are visiting.ontinue reading the main stor 

“The point is to make folks more responsible when they come here and to interrogate this notion that Hawai`i is somehow a place for them,” Mr. Kajihiro said. “If you are thinking about coming here, ask yourself: Who are you in relation to this place? Are you bringing something that will be of value to the host, the people who live here? What will be your impact and your legacy be?”

[jjayolsen]

2020 Census Citizenship Question

Today the Supreme Court begins hearing arguments about reintroducing a question pertaining to individual citizenship on the 2020 Census—and it’s a smooth political move. It sounds okay, the administration is just trying to get better information about the residents of different areas, but its outcomes are more than that. Similar to this same administrations’ rhetoric about sending the recent immigrants legally applying for refugee and asylum status to ‘sanctuary cities’ this citizenship question could lead to an overall inaccurate population count that would lower those areas with higher immigrant population and with the census would lower their federal funding received and their political representation. Sound familiar? Both outcomes that would fall in favor with the administration that is pushing and put this change into action.

The obvious argument is, don’t answer (illegal) or lie (more illegal). While both of these options shouldn’t be preferred by the government and aren’t preferred by the immigrants themselves, it’s important to also understand the specific type of immigrant. Along with the rest of my family my Aunt has lived in the US for close to sixty years but retains her original citizenship and has not obtained US citizenship. Chances are, this Supreme Court case won’t impact her as her age, appearance, location and other demographic factors don’t match the politicized “immigrant image” but there are those who do fit into that image. There are those who are citizens and whose families have resided in the US for generations but are believed to be “illegals” the same as those who are here recently but legally and will become frightened about answering this question wrong. As immigrants continue to be in the headlines, here are 5 things about US immigrants and international relationships that people should consider.

Taxes

While certain requirements and programs block immigrants and other recent newcomers from services[i] current legal residents and undocumented immigrants both pay taxes even if they may never be entitled to benefits such as social security, Medicaid, or other tax credits. [ii],[iii] In fact, according to Forbes, an estimated 11.64 billion is paid by just undocumented immigrants every year in state and local taxes.[iv]

Hard Workers

NYC and other cities have been under some heat from the current administration for being ‘Sanctuary Cities’ and allowing undocumented immigrants to be there. This annoyance has led to ‘threats’ of dropping all refugee and asylum seekers into sanctuary cities, related to the upcoming Supreme Court case about the 2020 Census Citizenship question and is full of misinformation as it is believed all immigrants (as the current administration confuses just not liking immigrants with illegal actions by those trying to migrate) are just stealing jobs or not working. In addition to this being false with the earlier facts about taxation (and now possible without representation), immigrants are already a large, hard-working part of the US workforce with foreign-born workers making up 25% of the construction industry, 23.1% of the agricultural industry, 20.1% of arts and entertainment, 19.7% of the Professional, Scientific, Management, Administrative and waste-management and 19.4% of educational services, healthcare and social assistance.[v] 

For more understanding of the work ethic of all immigrants, please see this video by clicking the link or going to the end of this post:[vi]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7q3ofdJRKc

Leaders and Influencers

As a great reminder, Time Magazine’s 100 came out earlier last week. With many political leaders, tech entrepreneurs, advocates and other females and immigrants both to the US and around the world were highly recognized with some US examples with Sandra Oh (who recently became a US citizen),[vii] Luchita Hurtado and Leana Wen as a pioneer, an artist and a leader.[viii]

Fellow Human-beings

With the treatment of incoming immigrants who are either coming to improve their lives, the lives of their children, or just trying to survive; the treatment in the US has a few looking back at their home countries reevaluating why they came. Fleeing poverty, famine, gang violence and more, some would say “fine”, “go back”, leave this place”; but is that really where we want the bar to be. As reflecting upon immigrant heritage, strength, work ethic, we should also focus on our own. Many values based on religion and the moral compass highlight how you should always look at what you can give and how you can help, similar as many sayings express the ideas that those who suffer most are always the first to give.

NAFTA and food

A big part of countries’ heritage and culture is connected to food, while NY is known as the melting pot, great food and a lot comes from its great diversity, the importing of food impacts all of the US and not just with avocados. While Apples and Oranges are the top fruits overall, that’s mostly from juice. The top actual fruit is Bananas that mostly come from Equador.[ix] 5% of US apples consumed are imported,[x] mostly during non-peak growing season while the rest of apples are grown in 32 different states and exported to Mexico, Canada and other countries.[xi] However, potatoes are also a big staple in the US and while a big production for agriculture, the US is only able to produce 40% of the demand with the balance coming from Mexico and Canada.x Overall, over 25% of US coffee, spices, fish, fresh fruits and juices, sugar, wine and vegetable oils are imported from outside the US[xii] and this is only some of what is imported.

The 2020 Census citizenship isn’t a harmful question in itself. But with the current administration's attack on immigrants, especially on those just trying to become legal residents and citizens, one cannot blame them for being too scared to be truthful. Again, do we want to be the dictators they are fleeing from, do we want them to remove themselves from the country because they are better than how they are being treated--is that our goal? To be just cruel enough to get “our” way-- in that case good to know, I’ll try to get represented elsewhere. 

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[i] The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. The US Department of Health and Human Services Website: Administration for Children and Families. Published November 1st, 1996. Last Accessed: April 23rd, 2019.

[ii] Campbell, A. Trump says undocumented immigrants are an economic burden. They pay billions in taxes. Vox Website. https://www.vox.com/2018/4/13/17229018/undocumented-immigrants-pay-taxes. Published: October 25th, 2018. Last Accessed: April 22nd, 2019.

[iii] Martin, M. Do immigrants pay Taxes? Metro New Website. https://www.metro.us/news/politics/do-immigrants-pay-taxes. Published: June 18th, 2018. Last Accessed: April 22nd, 2019.

[iv] McCarthy, N. How Much Tax Do America's Undocumented Immigrants Actually Pay? [Infographic]. Forbes Website. https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2016/10/06/how-much-tax-do-americas-undocumented-immigrants-actually-pay-infographic/#3a9dd3421de0. Published: October 6th, 2016. Last Accessed: April 22nd, 2019.

[v] State Immigration Data Profiles: United States. Migration Policy Institute Website. https://www.migrationpolicy.org/data/state-profiles/state/workforce/US#. Last Accessed: April 22nd, 2019.

[vi] Few Americans take immigrants' jobs in Alabama. AP Archive Youtube Account. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7q3ofdJRKc. Posted: July 31st, 2015. Last Accessed: April 22nd, 2019.

[vii] Sandra Oh. Monologue. Saturday Night Live Season 44 Episode 16. Aired: March 30th, 2019

[viii] Time 100: The Most Influential People 2019. Time Magazine Website. Accessible at: http://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people-2019/. Last Accessed: April 22nd, 2019.

[ix] The Most Interesting Fruit in the World (Ep. 375). Freakonomics Radio Archive. http://freakonomics.com/archive/. Posted: April 17th, 2019. Last Accessed: April 22nd, 2019.

[x] United States: Fresh Produce-Imports and Exports. Produce Marketing Association Website. https://www.pma.com/~/media/pma-files/research-and-development/usa.pdf?la=en. Last Accessed: April 23rd, 2019.

[xi] Commodity Apples. Agricultural Marketing Resource Center Website. https://www.agmrc.org/commodities-products/fruits/apples/commodity-apples. Last Revised: December 2017. Last Accessed: April 22nd, 2019.

[fathersonholygore]

They Live. 1988. Directed & Written by John Carpenter. Based on the short story “Eight O’Clock in the Morning by Ray Nelson. Starring Rowdy Roddy Piper, Keith David, Meg Foster, George ‘Buck’ Flower, Peter Jason, Raymond St. Jacques, Jason Robards III, Sy Richardson, & Norman Alden. Alive Films/Larry Franco Productions Rated R. 94 minutes. Action/Horror/Sci-Fi-Thriller

★★★★★ John Carpenter is king of genre cinema. His work transcends any type of value judgements people try placing on horror movies or science fiction. He imbues his screenplays with very real, often times prescient social themes and commentary, even in the stories of his you might not expect to find them. In They Live, those themes are painfully apparent, though done in a way Carpenter doesn’t feel like he’s hammering us over the head with sociopolitical imagery. He makes the whole thing tongue-in-cheek, rather than going entirely into a spectacle of horror with his sci-fi madness. He uses a well-known wrestler, the late Rowdy Roddy Piper as his central character, John Nada, whose literal and figurative journey through the Los Angeles urban landscape becomes our own experience with modernity. Using the premise of the short story “Eight O’Clock in the Morning” by Ray Nelson, Carpenter eviscerates American consumerism and materialism, Reaganomics, as well as questions the vast class divide which exists in most American cities. The best part about They Lives is it could genuinely have been made this year and it’d barely need updating. It’s so relevant to the state we’re in today. Given Carpenter made this in 1988, his and Nelson’s respective prescience about American society is downright stunning.

“Our owners, they have us, they control us.”

There’s another world beneath our own— one of class differences, economic divide, racism. It’s not even particularly hidden deep, just below the surface. Carpenter opens the movie with the title, then superimposes it onto a mural of graffiti in Los Angeles. We’re embedded in the city. Moreover, we immediately step into a world of duality. We also see the decay of the urban landscape. Parts of the city are clean, other parts – ones occupied by the homeless, immigrants, various people of colour and economic situations – are in a process of decay. It’s fitting our lead, John Nada, is revealed behind a passing train coming over the tracks into the city. He’s a man without a home. An itinerant worker coming to L.A. so he might find work. He left Denver, which “lost 14 banks in one week,” letting us in on the economic decline of 1980s USA. He later meets Frank (Keith David), another character symbolic of the socioeconomic situation many tradespeople found themselves in during the era, taken advantage of by Ronald Reagan’s terrible policies and a general uptick in capitalist greed across the country. Both men sleep in shelters by night, work on a construction site during the day. Their little bit of time in between work/sleep is taken up wandering the city, or being a part of the homeless community. They’re both part of a transient work economy— separated from themselves, their families, and their homes. However, Frank and Nada are completely in different in terms of race. Whereas John believes everyone’s got “their own hard times these days,” Frank can’t afford to be so understanding as a black man. He tells his friend later: “I‘m walking a white line all the time.” Nada is a white guy, so no matter his circumstances he doesn’t have to worry about his race and what that means socially/economically/politically. In opposition, Frank’s blackness forces him to live under a Panopticon of whiteness. For this reason, he has a harder time letting go of the ideological control in the city later in the movie.

“It really boils down to our ability to accept. We don’t need pessimism. There are no limits.”

Eventually, Nada stumbles onto the truth of the city, discovering an entirely other existence right behind the Los Angeles he and Frank and other lower class citizens know. He finds a pair of glasses allowing him to see through what amounts to the ideology of the upper class: capitalism, consumption, and materialism. The glasses also help Nada see the bourgeois ruling class as they truly are: predatory and decaying aliens. They’re “free enterprisers“— intergalactic capitalists monetising modern planets. Suddenly he sees the city stripped of its advertisements/media, revealing subliminal messages. Such as an ad for a transparent computer, basically selling a lack of privacy + erasure of personal barriers, revealed through the glasses only to read OBEY. Also interesting that the ideological world of media is colourised while, after putting on the glasses and cutting through the state control, the subliminal messages display in basic black and white on top of a grey city background. This is what Kanishka Goonewardena calls “mediation of ideology by urban space,” the adverts and media serving to collectivise “the patterns of consumption,” in turn acting as a measure of social control (Urban Space & Political Consciousness). The movie shows L.A. as built around the rich and powerful— all those ads are mainly aimed at the lower classes, to entice them into becoming agents of consumption and keeping them focused on material culture. The famous fight in They Live is important for more than just getting to see Piper and David duke it out— they famously choreographed it themselves, fighting for real except for the groin stuff. It’s also significant because Frank’s blackness – controlled by the American economy’s whiteness specifically – has forced him into a space of self-preservation, and the ideology of that economy’s imprinted on his mind. Then there’s Nada – his last name = Spanish for ‘nothing’ – who comes into L.A. as a vagrant, though one privileged to be white, so he’s, essentially, a blank slate— a tabula rasa, onto which everything is written, nothing’s been pre-imprinted. He hasn’t been controlled by whiteness in the way Frank has, nor does he have a home like Frank, who hopes to go back one day when financially feasible, so he’s not been indoctrinated in the same way. This means it’s easier for him to wear the sunglasses and let ideology go. Not the case for Frank, which is why Nada has to physically fight him. In The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology, Slavoj Žižek discusses this scene particularly in regards to how it represents the process of leaving ideology behind and that to “step out of ideology, it hurts, it‘s a painful experience.” Eventually, after Nada beats Frank enough, he forces the glasses on him and his friend finally sees the real world without all the ideological influence on the city, erasing the “invisible order” influencing him.

“They are dismantling the sleeping middle class”

Another important part of the movie involves the concept of ideological and repressive state apparatuses (ISA + RSA), best exemplified by how the bourgeois aliens all communicate in a horde through the use of “two–way radios” built into fancy watches. The watches are class symbols, serving a dual function as a way of communication about class: in one sense, the watch tells others the wearer is upper class, and in the other, the watch allows the upper class to communicate amongst themselves, plus those who aren’t wearing them become subject to further state control. At one point, Nada is caught ‘seeing’ through the veil, so an alien calls for backup. Around the corner in an alley he’s confronted with cops, who happen to be bourgeois aliens themselves (even the human cops are turned against human citizens via fear of the dreaded American boogeyman: Communism!). Here, the connection between the ideological state apparatus – a “material force of ideology” (Žižek) represented by the watches – and the repressive state apparatus – law enforcement – is evident, a direct line between ideology controlling the city v. physical force of law and order controlling the city. All brings to mind the numerous idiot white people in America as of late calling the cops on black people for simply existing. Then there’s the idea of the two-way watch, conjuring 2018 issues of Facebook spying on our calls through the smartphone app, Alexa listening to all your conversations even while it’s off, and other similar postmodern tech predicaments. Again, an eerie Carpenter prescience rears its head.

“I believe in America. I follow the rules.”

Several Carpenter movies are on my all-time favourites list. His entire filmography, even the couple lesser entries, is a dream. He’s touched on so many different issues, stories, and themes there’s something for every kind of viewer, so long as you dig genre movies. They Live is Carpenter the Master at the top of his game. Because each time you watch this one, there are different things to take away, and the movie’s power grows stronger all the time. This is a condemnation of America consumerism and materialism, attacking an economy which was a result of Ronald Reagan’s horrible policy decisions. The media, the bourgeois owners of production, the government, and the police are all criticised throughout, more often than not with tongue firmly planted in cheek. We see all the cogs of capitalism and all the destruction its left in its wake across American cities. Carpenter, through Nada, strips advertising and media of all its creative, devious nuance and lays bare its function as a tactic of social control through consumer culture. They Live is decidedly a story of the USA, rather than the Western world as a whole. While there are extremely similar struggles all over the postmodern world, America’s struggle is so glaringly obvious, and painful, due to the fact it’s a country based specifically on a dream. Carpenter dismantles it in many ways. He also warns the American Dream is named as such because it’s an illusion, a method of manipulation by the ruling class. There’s no more American Dream— only in its citizens waking economic/social/political nightmares.

Prayers to a Consumer God: American Decay + Ideological Control in THEY LIVE They Live. 1988. Directed & Written by John Carpenter. Based on the short story "Eight O'Clock in the Morning by Ray Nelson.

[bravagente]

hello dear mod, thank you for everything you do. i have a question i apologise if it's heavier than the tone on this blog. recently a popular italian blogger said that race in italy is racist&was a product of il ventennio. i am french&i understand that we in europe don't like to say the word 'race', but i just want to understand how the construct of racism in italy, especially with all the far right/macerata from an italian persepective. I did read amara lakhous. thanks for everything you do!

Hi! Sorry for the late answer, it’s just such a complex matter to talk about and I’m not entirely sure I have the right perspective to handle it properly both as a white woman and as someone who lives in a city where that’s still relatively not diverse. Plus I study languages so I’m not really in the area - I basically really wanted to do right by this and I hope I will.

Disclaimer: it is true that in Italy the very concept of race, at least the way we know and use it in English is racist and a product of the ventennio. Whichever its etimology and original denotation, the word race (razza) has been very clearly connotated since Fascism: if you say men have razze, you’re implying some men have a pure, superior razza and some don’t. Nowadays in Italian dogs and horses have razze, not people. So, usually, if someone uses ‘race’ in italian as opposed to, say, ethnicity (etnia, colore), you’ll be quite sure they’re racist. It’s not that just because people don’t use the word they can’t be racist, but it does say something about how hard it is for us to cope with the American concept of race and the discourse that follows. The paradox is Americans are rightly very sensitive and careful about what they call race, when from our pov they’re just seeing it all from an inherently racist perspective: there are whites and then there are “people of colour”, all of them. Basically, a white race and then all those other races. Again, all of them. We can’t quite wrap our head around it, especially since we don’t really have a concept of, say, “brown” people. Come over in August, we’ll all be brown. We like a tan. It’s just beyond us.

Moving on to racism. It is possibly the most divisive thing in Italy right now and any conversation about it will escalate quickly because a) no one ever admits to being racist b) not everyone necessarily knows they are, if they are. Like everywhere else, it’s not always glaring. It’s not always a “racist slurs” kind of thing. There are subtle forms of it even here and not just in the alt right: I believe many liberals are actually as racist as one gets, they just don’t show because they never deal with people of colour in the first place. I once interviewed an otherwise pretty decent man who told me immigrants today don’t actually come here willing to work and therefore should be sent back home, another one praised a city he visited because he saw no blacks selling stuff there. I think it speaks volumes on how complex this thing is getting: you can deal with assholes who are 100% assholes. You can ignore them and decide they’re not worth your time and energy. But when they’re half-decent it’s just disheartening and makes you wonder where we’re going. Another reason conversations about racism often won’t end well is they slip into politics and fascism is far from over. Even though more-or-less openly fascist parties didn’t do well at the latest elections, the winners (League and the Five Stars) are firmly anti-immigration, making it about law and order as any Trump of the world would.

Having said this, race as we discussed it might be rooted in Fascism, but is the same true for racism? It is and it isn’t. There’s evidence that sub-saharian Africans were of always discriminated against. We had our own slave markets we don’t learn much of in schools, and while it’d buy and sell people of any race black Africans were definitely amongst them. There’s recently been a lot of discourse about how (in)accurate Still Star-Crossed was, with someone arguing that Alessandro de’ Medici was just an example of a class of black nobles. I’m afraid that’s not true. If I’m referencing to this particular period of time it’s because Renaissance is a personal interest of mine: The Ugly Renaissance will offer information about racism against dark-skinned Africans in 15th-16th century Italy. While light skinned Africans were considered as white as any European, sub-Saharans were thought to be strong and valuable workers, but also “uncivilized simpletons who could never hope to occupy a position of parity with the white majority”. That was a long time ago, sure, but it was bound to remain embedded in people’s mindset. And it did in ways we’d think were behind us by now.

Now, subtle forms of racism aside, there are many racists of the in-your-face, insulting type, more and worse than I ever thought possible growing up. They’ve actually probably always been there, it’s just now they have the Internet so they feel somehow validated and it’s made them unashamed to be openly hateful and ignorant with the support of the right.

However I have to stress that there many, many many more, non-racists. When fascists parade in our streets, anti fascist marches will follow. There’s always a firm reaction, it’s just decency doesn’t make any noise and rarely makes it to the headlines. Anyway I’ll give a few pieces of news  encapsulating the two souls of Italy:  

Refugee drowns in Venice as people film on their phones and do nothing

Teenager saves black child from getting hit by a train in Milan

Mein Kumpf-owning man shoots black immigrants on sight

Italians protest against racism

Refugee killed in Fermo after defending his wife from slurs

1500 in march to commemorate him

Black man shot to death in Florence

Italians join black people in march to commemorate him

So there’s the bright side I guess, we are genuinely engaged and young people who actually read books know we’re a country with very diverse genes, owing much of our language and culture and even food to “others”. This matters deeply to me because I think othering is the root of most, if not all, issues in our societies. This is a cultural problem first and foremost and I actually believe that. We often speak of inclusiveness or tolerance, but these are all patronizing concepts to me. Who the hell do I think I am to include or “tolerate” someone? No, I have to know in my heart of hearts that “others” aren’t to fear.

Anyway, racism is definitely an issue that exists and that’s getting worse. I’ve personally come to conclude racist behaviours in Italy are caused  and fueled by three broader factors that often inform one another.

Ideology is the most glaring: most racists are unapologetic fascists and racism is mounting and growing together with a wave of nostalgia for Mussolini’s party. A lot of fascists obviously never lived under the Duce in the first place, but they have a misguided perception of the ventennio as a time of justice and order where trains would run in time and so on. Something you’ll hear from time to time is that the duce “ha fatto anche cose buone” (also did good things). To these people, the presence of black people or muslims goes hand-in-hand with crimes and chaos: they’ll rape women! They steal and murder! They’re drug dealers! The fact that these things are sometimes true because eventually a rapist or killer or drug dealer will statistically have to be black is irrelevant: if caught off guard they’ll admit to believing every racist stereotype out there.

Xenophobia is more nuanced. The reason I don’t necessarily associate xenophobia with racism is that, until just a few years ago, the most feared foreigners in Italy were the very white Romanians and even Albanians before them. The media are also to blame for the way headlines were worded and they still tend to, often unwillingly, magnify the one crime someone black commits as opposed to those commited by Italians. The Macerata episode was most probably “inspired” by the killing of a young girl cut into pieces by at least one Nigerian immigrant. What do you now, since the news spread every Nigerian person has become a public enemy. Another huge media-related problem is they’ve created an unjustified alarm on the refugee emergency, treating it as if more people than in the past were arriving in our country (they weren’t) and as if the situation was completely out of control (it isn’t, although it’s not easy either). Crime is just one thing, though: people are afraid because our times are scary and dangerous, there are no jobs and the welfare is dying. They are hoping the government will help them and fearing that we’re too many for it to be sustainable. There’s a common misconception for which every immigrant in Italy is being hosted in a hotel and given 30 euros per day while unemployed Italians don’t have any money to buy food: while you can argue that the immigrant will only get 3 of those 30 euros, Italians still live this as if those resources are being spent on foreigners as opposed to themselves because scapegoating is a human, if wrong, thing. Clearly this is turning into a war of the underprivilegeds that will only result in diffidence and hatred, and the staggering misinformation about black people being all but enslaved in some areas of out country isn’t helping.

Conservativism, finally, is a branch of ideology but it’s not necessarily related to actual racism (though it can be). There are some who are entirely cool with people of other ethnicities as long as they “don’t bother” them. They’re too culturally lazy to accept anything different than what they knew as children, they fear Christmas will be cancelled and they don’t want, say, mosques, because they hardly know what they even are. They’re usually the same people who are annoyed by vegans: probably harmless, but they certainly don’t help.

Again I hope this helps. I really tried to be clear and truthful and not offend anybody.

[ericvick]

An artist appears to be at what’s heading on guiding Boston Metropolis Hall’s façade

Frederick Wiseman captures Mayor Walsh & Co. in action

The 4-and-a-50 %-hour-very long documentary film “City Hall,” which has as its target municipal govt as administered in the Town of Boston by Mayor Martin Walsh and his associates, experienced its broadcast premiere previous 7 days on GBH. With his 45th movie, Frederick Wiseman, a indigenous of Boston and an completed artist with many acclaimed documentaries to his credit rating, undertook to clearly show how a town govt touches on pretty much each individual facet of its citizens’ life. 

“Even in a movie of 4 and a fifty percent hours it is not possible to clearly show all the things,” Wiseman explained to the Reporter in an interview. “Some of the sequences clearly show the mayor operating with his cupboard, other people entail meetings on cost-effective housing or homelessness or are illustrations of the perform of the law enforcement or fireplace departments or are examples of group conferences or the function of building inspectors, garbage collectors, general public well being inspectors, or the departments that offer with start, loss of life, marriage, or parking tickets.” 

He extra: “All of these pursuits are meant to suggest the wide wide range of means town federal government influences the existence of the citizens of Boston.”

When he very first commenced pondering of creating a film about a metropolis hall in spring 2018, Boston was a person of various municipalities Wiseman regarded for his aim. 

“I wrote letters to a number of Town Halls,” he said. “Some of them didn’t reply, some of them turned me down. Fortunately for me, Joyce Linehan, chief of policy for the mayor, had seen and knew some of my flicks, and she liked the thought.” 

After Wiseman’s idea was authorised, he set up camp in Town Corridor, sat in on formal conferences on many subject areas, and adopted Walsh on his frequently-frantic general public appearances routine. His filming method for the job, he mentioned, was very similar to that of his other performs.

“I really do not do any investigation before the shooting starts simply because I consider the capturing of the film the study. Given that I do not stage any functions, I like to be organized to shoot, for the reason that if I was not, a little something stunning could be likely on and I may well overlook it,” he stated. 

Frederick Wiseman. John Ewing picture The filming started in the drop of 2018, and carried through wintertime 2019, concluding with the mayor’s Condition of the City tackle in Boston Symphony Corridor. 

By the time he experienced completed capturing, Wiseman experienced gathered 104 hrs of rushes, i.e., unedited, raw visible and seem footage. “It usually takes me six to 9 months to edit all these picked sequences into a usable structure,” he said. “When I have all of the so-referred to as prospect sequences edited in near to last variety, I start the initial assembly of the construction,” he said.  

“When the film is concluded, I go again and look at all the rushes once more to make guaranteed that there is nothing I left out that may be useful given the choices I made. Then the film’s concluded. And to counteract my melancholy I start out to glimpse for one more subject matter.” 

The Regional Angle One particular of the standout scenes in the film facilities on a assembly involving community citizens and the proponents of a proposed professional medical cannabis retail store in Dorchester that is expected by regulation. 

“From my place of look at that’s a quite important sequence since it elevated so quite a few challenges of importance to the local community.’’ claimed Wiseman. “It is an illustration of the intricate issues associated when somebody needs to open up a hashish retail outlet. Some of the challenges elevated are: the requirement of the retail outlet, the influence on the local community, parking problems, promoting hashish shut to a school, the hostility of distinct group groups towards every other, and so on.” 

Town Hall’s Linehan, a lifelong Dorchester resident, stated that Wiseman’s “thing” is that “he reveals the humanity in America’s institutions. It seemed to me that if we have been to open up our doorways to him in the exact ways that other institutions have before us, that that identical factor could possibly appear through. It truly finished up currently being almost everything that I could have hoped for in that it illustrates definitely wonderfully the dignity and nobility of public company,” she instructed the Reporter. 

“I found that the most going sequences had been people that involved some of the frontline workers in Town Corridor,” she included. “It’s positively poetic but it also states a whole lot about how inspite of what might be occurring all over us, the city has to get the job done for the reason that persons rely on us to do that.” 

John Barros, a Dorchester native and the city’s main of Financial Development who seems in the movie a couple periods, claimed he was “impressed” with it, noting a very long sequence in which he talked about immigrant-owned modest businesses and revenue inequality at a local community assembly held at VietAid in Dorchester. 

“I sense that doing work as a public servant and performing for the town, it is all about group engagement,” he explained to the Reporter. “That conference was about carrying out business with the metropolis, about generating sure that persons get their honest share and that we’re providing people today as substantially information and facts as probable about how you can do organization with the town.”

“Also,” he explained, “it’s recognizing that we have heard from men and women that it is tough, it is not uncomplicated, and we’re hoping to deal with that. We want to do organization with far more men and women of shade, gals-owned firms, and we want area folks and businesses— particularly immigrant-owned— to be a portion of how the metropolis spends its income.” 

Barros provided this difference: “If it is complicated for a native speaker to navigate our buyer procedure, then just recognize the supplemental layer of problem for immigrants to do that.” 

A Study in Distinction Just one recurring topic in the film is economical housing. A particularly significant scene, said Wiseman, anxious a conference in which city officers reviewed how an try to enchantment the Truthful Housing Act by the Trump Administration could have an affect on municipalities and threaten civil legal rights. “The workers member who talked about it gave a pretty obvious and eloquent clarification of the effects of the Trump policy,” the filmmaker noted. “It was also an indication of the competence of the employees people today operating on the challenge.”

He added: “The contrast concerning Boston city governing administration and our federal authorities, the Trump presidency, which is thankfully about to be about, is enormous. Mayor Walsh represents almost everything that Trump isn’t – great, honest, skilled governing administration, presenting men and women products and services and attempting to offer with severe complications of housing, starvation, health and all the myriad troubles that the metropolis has to cope with on a each day basis.

“City Hall” captures Mayor Walsh & Co. in motion. Picture courtesy of Zipporah Movies “Obviously, all the issues aren’t fixed. Some are a lot more uncomplicated to take care of than other people but the standard place is that a fantastic-will hard work is becoming designed by workforce of a town govt that cares about its citizenry.”

He continued: “In the Trump Administration, this effort was not built. There was an just about full collapse of the recognized contractual norms involving the federal government and the citizens.”

“City Hall” begins and finishes with sequences exhibiting the city’s 311 call workers answering telephones. The viewer hears every variety of complaint or problem citizens are asking, and will get a sense for the array of emotions the metropolis staff encounter on a every day foundation when answering phone calls that by no means end coming. 

Wiseman claimed he chose to use people scenes to open and near his movie due to the fact they “literally shows that there is a hotline that any one can phone and get tips, or have their grievance listened to, or responded to, and which is an vital element of the company that Town Hall is featuring to the citizens. At a additional summary stage, this implies a large vary of challenges for City Corridor there’s no aspect of human habits that the metropolis doesn’t have to deal with in 1 way or a further.

“I required to display that requires for town expert services are frequent,” he said. “Requests are made for city aid day and evening each working day of the week, month, and 12 months. People have a need to have for town companies. Town govt touches all elements of our life additional than any other government, state or federal.”

Wiseman finishes his commentary with a terse summary of the 270 or so minutes of filming that “City Hall” can take up: “It gives examples of the social contract concerning citizens and their govt. The town is furnishing the products and services the citizens will need and ask for and are having to pay for with their taxes.”

•••

“City Hall” has been screened at film festivals around the world, including the Venice Film Pageant, the Toronto Global Movie Competition, the New York Film Festival, IDFA, and other people. A lot more information and facts about Frederick Wiseman and his movies can be observed at Zipporah Films (zipporah.com).

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[khalix-hyetology]

Space and Cloud

Chapter 1: The Entirety of Life Spent in Resistance

Shogo woke up. His entire head burned like a film in the sun. Overexposure.  “Arghhh!” he screamed as he tried to make sense of the red-spotted cymatic mess that was his vision. The colours seemed washed, as though someone put a bucket of water on them and they were dripping like ruined watercolours.  “Ahhhhh!” The light hurt his eyes, as though they were stabs from a knife. Even thinking too much hurt. He started coughing.  His eyes became watery. Either he was crying or stressing out or both. What was happening?  Where was he? And his memory, dyed in the colours of wheat — the sun — dusk — bathed in oranges and slow traces of red — he didn’t understand why the sun didn’t weep red for him. It was his death day after all? Correct?  He knew he was heavily wounded. Very badly. The truck crash had done it. That it was fate that he couldn’t — couldn’t have moved on — with a Hound like Kougami on his trail.  As he mentioned, he couldn’t think of anyone else to have killed him aside Shinya Kougami. 

The water from his eyes came down on his neck, his bandaged naked chest. He was only wearing three quarter pajama bottoms. And, everything smelled sanitised. Like some care unit or hospital. “Arghhh!” The smell also hurt his nose.

It was like neurons had been leached by something. They felt raw. Waking up with a numbing pain after being inactive for so long.

And, how was so long? 

He tried to get up. He usually had excellent motor coordination. He wasn’t understand the scrambling. Then his vision faded. Or, faded and came back. He got a bit nervous. Yes, he the great Shogo Makishima was a bit frightened. But he didn’t understand why this was happening. It didn’t feel like he was on drugs. Not the kind to build up lethargy and put him on edge like this.

It was like system crash: overload. 

But he was sure he was only using the minimal of his strength.

He remembered the shattering sound of his own skull caving in. The bullet ripping something out. Some consciousness of his that always stayed intact till that point. 

Well as he was criminally asymptomatic most of his consciousness was in some ways intact. By will alone, and perhaps by genes, he was able to do what people used psychosomatic drugs to do.

Keep Clear.

As white as his mane. His Psycho Pass was white as his hair.  He wondered once humorously as a child if his hair let him have the most amount of resistance. 

But it wasn’t the resistance he had wanted. If he is criminally asymptomatic his own body was not what Sybil measured thus he was like a phantom or an aberration in a society with Sybil. And, where would he go too? Japan had become a segregated and isolationist state. It did trade with other countries, import things or easily take in immigrants. 

It didn’t easily let people go out as well.

He had to stay here.

He wanted to stay here.

It was the place he was born into and born in.

Leaving it to his own devices would mean he accepted it as a failure.

He wouldn’t and couldn’t accept that from his Motherland. 

His head hurt again “ARGHHH!” He grabbed it. It was the bullet. He knew now. The bullet hadn’t fully killed him.

Like the gun couldn’t kill Akane Tsunemori.

It was Fate.

And for one of the few times he despised it. 

“Please, calm down.” 

That was the voice of a woman or a younger man. He wasn’t sure.

He weakly looked up. Snarling. Always an animal aware of his stance. 

The colours were hazy. 

They seemed to have red-black hair. 

Something told him this was strange but he decided not to question anything now. 

All he could struggle to fully see was the brown-black nucleus of their eyes. Void-like or Space-like. Comforting or dissolving, or both. 

“Ahh, ehhh, hheeeg.” Shogo panted as the person came forward.

“Please, don’t struggle too much. Your injuries are severe and Kasei told me that you aren’t to move around too much if you awaken.” 

Shogo weakly lashed out with his arm and he must have toppled something made out of glass. 

It could have been a vase.

One of the strongest scents that hurt his brain was the smell of Hibiscus. Both distant and close. 

“Please! Stop it! You are hurting yourself! Neko-man! Neko-tan!”

Shogo bizarrely and annoyedly laughed. Fuck that person calling them Neko-tan. What the fuck did that mean?

Slowly...

Slow...ly...

Slo....

And Shogo fell down on the bed and he was caught by some arms slightly.

This was strange.

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I snicker when I remember what my name means “meaningful.” 

I don’t think I have ever met a more meaningless life form other than myself. Though I know my sentiments could be shared by others.

I don’t know what to make of myself. 

I have never known what to make of myself.

I was the academic girl — my sister hated me for it as she wasn’t necessarily “the bad girl” but she sometimes felt my mother had more aspirations for me. Well, it was because from a young age I had taken to questioning profusely — even at the anger of my father. What, Where, When and Why and How? 

Though, from a young age I also learned to keep my mouth shut.

There were times my father would grab me roughly or even hit me. My Mother too, despite her praise, when I asked her about notions that I wouldn’t understand. 

My sister, ironically, didn’t like seeing me get hurt. She would then quarrel with my parents until either she was told to shut her mouth or hit too.

“She’s only a kid!” My sister would cry out, “It’s natural for her not to understand everything!” 

I didn’t always get it at first.

The constant traveling. The migrations. The way we would change houses in farms, villages or small city blocks.

We were refugees. Or, immigrants. 

We have never really had a country to call our own and perhaps would never be able to do that. 

My father and mother both worked and tended to our houses. My parents seemed happy with each other.

“I may not be rich. He may not be rich.” My Mother would proudly say, “We may live our life as beggars. But your Father helps me a lot. I have heard and seen rich men who believe the chores of their wives are beneath them. But, Your Father never thought so. He always helps me and wherever we are we are a family and we have happiness with each other.”

I knew that was mostly true. 

My Parents were happy with each other. 

But they weren’t happy all of us were refugees.

My oldest sibling, who was my brother, had problems too. He would hate work at times as he felt people were, he was right, emasculating him. They were emasculating my sister as well. She was happy she never had to do “whore’s work” — Well, my brother said the same thing — but she was beaten by rich ladies often in the places we stayed. She didn’t wash a cup right once and a lady even thrashed it across her face. 

My sister had attacked her too and that was one time she felt responsible for ruining a ‘good’ thing for us. We had to leave and migrate again. My Parents weren’t. They felt what she did was right.

We were poor, we have no privileges aside our dignity and respect. We weren’t going to just let anyone walk on all over us.

Then we finally arrive as SEUn. It wasn’t completely what we were expecting. But, it was better than what we had gotten till now. Finally, somewhere — in almost like an exodus that continued forever — we had gotten citizenship. 

A paper that allowed us luxuries and privileges we could not have gotten anywhere else before. I was 13 at that time, my sister 16 and my brother 18. My sister did the first odd jobs she could find. She worked as the sewing assistant and then graduated to a popular dress shop. 

Out of all of us, she was the most successful.

We didn’t always get along well. However, I don’t spite her happiness. 

I was actually happy for her.

As she got into the popular dress shop she could graduate to more levels of trust and responsibility. The Madam in the boutique had no children. Her two daughters died young, killed in the SEAUn’s constant civil wars, and her son was a veteran. He had a horrible leg ever since fighting for the losing side in the war. And, his first wife had passed away as she had been tortured and raped by dissident factions. 

Knowing all of this, her son usually talked less and didn’t interact much with others. He was a year older than my brother. The Madam felt he knew nothing about clothes so he wanted to appoint my sister as her successor.

Then she got older and took ill so my sister became de facto owner. The boutique was well known and close to the city. Clients of all classes, even male and female sex workers, came in to get their bargains and wonderful clothes.

She eventually married a minister whose mother she would help. Though, my sister had the on and off lover — Nicholas Wong. Who was around the same age as her. Wong graduated in positions in the military over the years and my sister kept him around. The Minister she married was a decent enough man so my Mother and Father really disapproved of her having a lover.

But my sister loved some of her infidelity. It reminded her of a power she was denied all these years.

My Brother started work in construction. Didn’t get that far and after an injury, though treatable, decided to become a farmer. We had a piece of land we were given. A sad piece when my family became citizens in SEAUn. Now, it was flourishing through all my parents hard work and my sister’s successes.  It had become larger and wealthier. The land could be managed for prosperity and my brother took handling it as a farmer and raised animals. He would tend to some horses, many chickens and cows. Soon we had a booming dairy business to the list. Though, even if my sister was wealthier by money by brother got the peace and recognition he wanted. 

He had already been married since he was 20 to a girl a bit older than him. She had been a rape survivor and a person of SEAUn. This remnant of Cambodia was her homeland. She was not half-Indonesian and South Asian like us. She was purely their nation’s bred. My sister, my brother, my Mother and myself were all fair in skin tone. We could be mistaken as foreigners easily in many places. My Father was the only one who had a more bronze complexion. My Father fit more in SEAUn than we did initially. He worked with my brother on our land and then he couldn’t anymore.  When I was 20 he passed away. 

So it was just us. My Brother, My Mother and myself. My Sister now lived in her own home. She had her own house in the city with all the modern luxuries and she did share some of them with us. However, her husband wasn’t always too kind and wanted his wife to integrate well into SEAUn and so not always mix with us “immigrants.” Even if we were naturalised the fact that we had mixed ancestry, sometimes looked different and had been really poor before was enough to make a Minister feel he had an image to keep and be cautious around us. Despite the fact we did have Cambodian blood in us as well in our mixed ancestry. 

It was around this time a new city — Shambala Float — was being constructed. There were some nearby universities and I had started going to one on a scholarship. My Mother was real proud. She said before her youth as a woman and before the war that first made her move, her father had been a professor. So, she was happy if I got a job in academia. Though, the university system was a bit rickety. 

I studied psychology, criminology and sociology. I tried to study them as best as I could though I was sometimes too distracted and hyperactive. I always had this problem of a hyperactive imagination. I felt bad though. My Mother and brother lived on our land, our farm. I had felt disoriented in those places at times. In the city, however, I did feel a bit more of myself. 

When I was 22 I was proposed by the Madam’s son. He had always seemed to like me and wanted to marry me. He stated that we could be happy in his own land, which wasn’t doing as well as ours but well enough as the Madam had one or two more businesses. I wanted to be with him. It was not that I did exactly have him as my ideal but he seemed good enough. 

Initially, I was not really myself with him or this decision. I have had a bad experience. I didn’t know how to get over it but I thought I should move on to someone who would respect me. It was a bit difficult. I was told always that I showed patience and caring around him. He was a veteran who couldn’t work well because of his injuries and PTSD but he seemed eager to get some job so that he wanted to support me as his husband.

It was not that I cared for being supported. I would allow to be cared for by someone who would allow me to care for them as well. 

It was just hard for him. No one easily hired him and he had issues in the workplace. Sometimes, he would become verbally abusive at me. He would break things around his house or mine. He was angry that I got educated and would scream that probably I was just trying to be a ritzy whore or something like my sister.

I did try with him. I tried to feed him his medications and take care of him. Work around for him with small jobs. Yet, he seemed moody at times. It was not his illness then. It was just his own frustrations as feeling an inadequate lover for many reasons. He used to call me my Cambodian nickname “Achariya” or “Acha.” My Mother used to call me “Achar” which was Hindi/Bangla for Pickle. It was a good nickname. I am glad, he, Chhay, used it.

Yes, Chhay was his name. 

And, we did have some good moments. We would talk and go out. I have had dates with him. We would sometimes swim in the lakes together, wearing only our underclothes. Kiss under waterfalls. The imagery is consistent with romance. I did love Chhay. He was a good enough young man. And, I know he loved me too. 

Though, he was more, I suppose, in love with his memories. I am not sure. I don’t wish to speak for him.

One day, Chhay had a negative experience at work. I do not believe his first wife was talked about initially. However, someone called me a whore and that my fate was supposed to be as her. There was also insults to his disabilities, injuries, which at times slowed him down. Chhay came over and started screaming and shouting at me and at one point he hit me more than once. Calling me a slut and that perhaps it was wrong of him to love him. 

I didn’t get much hurt. I was always pretty resilient. However, I was saddened by Chhay’s actions. Well, I was not the only one. My Brother, Kusuma, and my Mother, also got extremely angry. Mother went and talked to Madam stating that I was not an orphan. I had her and I had my brother — there was a reason that my sister was not mentioned — and that Chhay had no right to treat me this badly as I have been loyal, patient, loving and understanding with him. 

She wanted the engagement and wedding to be off. Kusuma seconded that position. 

Madam was both deeply enraged and feeling hopeless. She had hoped for me as her daughter-in-law. She had tried every means to make my family change my mind. She even brought up that some people thought I was a strange spoiled girl caught in the ivory tower of being educated well enough. Then she also attempted to queer shame me (my first love had been a girl who had died and was a year older). She had tried very much. She spoke highly of my bond with Chhay and that how Chhay’s happiness is also rooted with me. 

I wanted to ask Chhay what he thought. That despite what happened, I was willing to overlook it and still marry him. But by the second day Chhay had been visiting some sex workers and being verbally abusive to me. I know he was not in his right mind so I didn’t really hate him for his actions even if I was hurt. I wanted Chhay to know that I loved him and that I knew no one was perfect and I was willing to make it work.

He called me a slut and rebuffed me.

So, it was then and there I decided — I wasn’t going to let anyone so near like this again without a good reason. Chhay was sick but he was also acting immature. I was around 24 when Chhay came around and wanted things to be back. Chhay apologised sincerely and stated that he was getting better and that he was also much of his best when he was around me. That he loved me.

I hated to tell him that I had fallen out of love with him. Which was the truth. Perhaps, Chhay’s feelings were always stronger than mine? I couldn’t tell. I know I loved him sincerely and still loved him but as a past lover and as a person I could care about.  Not just the present lover anymore.

Yuliana, my sister, had stopped talking to me for two years due to me not marrying Chhay which had gotten her into arguments with Madam. Madam and Yuliana had ignored our family. It was their behaviour that also helped me fall out of love with Chhay. Including his womanising and verbal insults.  Chhay was at a loss. He didn’t understand. He was better and he asked if there was someone else. I had to tell him the truth: NO.

I just moved on and I didn’t want to meet him anymore in that way.

Chhay had died a year later in a scuffle. He still had that temper. It was after his death that Madam and Yuliana had started associating with us again. Though, my Mother and Kusuma were still sore by their mistreatment and Yuliana had to work  harder to try to win them.

“You were always a bit selfish Yuliana.” My Mother started, “And, ever since your good fortune your selfishness has spiked. I am lucky my other daughter isn’t like you. She took a lot. She had many hardships too. Unlike, you, she hadn’t a good fortune of having a husband and a master to toy around with. She may have not always been able to keep jobs and go through periods of dissociation but she has been kinder to me and even to that bastard Chhay. She may not be as pretty as you conventionally but she has a beauty beyond your reach. And, you, forgot your roots, your history, your origins. You are very selfish Yuliana. Glad my smart girl, isn’t. She will be a professor one day. I have high hopes for her.” 

This did strain my relationship with Yuliana Kiseh Bayu. 

I did feel saddened by it; but I didn’t let it affect me too much. 

Yuliana had also been mean to our Mother and Kusuma-Dada (an honorific for brother). It was only fair that they would be angry at her.

And Kusuma-Dada was getting so good at farming. Instead of calling his middle name, Bagus, people called him Bachus. He was doing fairly well now and had children with his wife. 

Yuliana also had a girl child. Her middle name was Lestari. Which meant “Everlasting.” 

I was chosen as one of the few non-professional individuals to live in Shambala Float when it was finally finished. After a few years, they started that Psycho Pass system.

I did make applications for my Mother and Kusuma-Dada. My Mother’s Psycho Pass was Midnight Blue. It was a tainted colour. She could never be eligible to live in Shambala Float. Kusuma-Dada told me to stay, his Psycho Pass was less clouded, he could probably stay but he and his family decided to stay over in their small paradise in the Land and take care of Mom. 

I felt very alone. 

Yuliana-Deeh (honorific for sister) also lived in Shambala Float as one of the lucky Minister’s wife. Nicholas Wong was a Colonel now. They did still have their on and off relationship. She didn’t visit me much and she knew I have been living a hermit’s life.

That is what I felt I didn’t suit my name’s detonation as “Meaningful,” 

I had become a second order semiological system as Barthes would say. I was like a mythology that had become simulacra. 

Michel Foucault in the Archaeology of Knowledge stated that for the original to appear there has to be a regular. I then only felt that I had no original and I was feeling like a repetition. I have had depressive suits and anxiety issues for as long as I can remember. Or, as soon I hit my middle 20s. I didn’t know what happened but I would freak out and sometimes start crying for no reason. This also scared me.

I mean what if my Psycho Pass got clouded?

I wasn’t that afraid but I wondered if they would directly kill me if my Psycho Pass got clouded.

Surprisingly, it never did. 

There was an embarrassing encounter once. 

My sister and mine was measured by a scanner and I was a clearer hue than her and she looked angry that her sweet light red was not in equal length with my mint green. 

I didn’t mention it again. She wore her scowl and avoided me for some months after that.

Though it got me curious.

Why is my Psycho Pass clear even with my disorders?

I had a strange and wild imagination. I had strange and wild dreams. DId that help?

And then one day, that woman, Kasei. She came over. “Arti Maira Bayu.” She had called out my name, specifying each part, “How would you like a trip?”

Before I knew it, I was in Japan. 

Taxonomy: Mamalia Enigmata Genus: Homo Obscura

I saw the man, who had been looking at me, some time before. With his weak amber eyes. He reminded me of a Persian cat I once had. A stray that came out of nowhere and stayed with me and died in a crossfire between renegades when we were traveling. 

Who was he?

Kasei didn’t tell me his name.

She never fully explained why she brought me over.

She just stated that there was a man who was in a coma. Not so deep as his brainwave showed. He would come out of it. When he did I was to talk to him and keep him company. 

I was pretty disgusted by the other implications of that proposal.

What did that mean? Keep him company? He looked younger than me. Kasei once let slip that he was 28. Oh dear. I was around 31. I would be 32 soon. So I was four years older. 

I didn’t know why but I caught him as he was convulsing a bit.

As I was told, I pushed the red button

The medic drones came and stabilised them

I looked at this handsome, pretty much beautiful, silvery-white haired man. I knew he could be someone important though I don’t know who or why he was important. 

“Neko-tan.” I just managed to say.

I needed a point of reference; I didn’t know his name. Kasei also did not tell me.

I smiled a bit.

He didn’t know my name.

So, he couldn’t laugh at it as it meant “Meaningful.” 

[sambinnie]

Instagram is my sole 21st-century vice these days, keeping me in touch with friends and far-off family. It lacks the wicked humour of Twitter, but it does shield me from Twitter’s apoca-rages of public shaming and vibrating despair at our hurtling handbasket of a world; the strangers I follow on Instagram are generally more calmly constructive about Next Steps (‘here’s how to get in touch with your MP’/‘here are some alternatives to the products that might be v v bad for the environment’ etc). My vice within that vice are lifestyle bloggers, ranging from fashion to interiors, food to fitness, travel to parenting. And while we’re all distracted by the gnarled new shapes current external pressures are forming us into, a couple of things are super noticeable right now. 

1. Boy oh boy, do these guys make me want to never buy anything ever again*. Every new pair of sunglasses, new sofa, new dungarees, new phone cover, new coffee pot and enamel plate and blanket and trainers and paint – I think of the unlikelihood that these products are 100% recycled, or not made by exploited workers somewhere along the production chain, or aren’t costing us clean air, clean water, vital forests, unique habitats. (Spoilers: no, we’re still mostly treating our planet like we can get a new one from TK Maxx once this one’s broken) 

2. The replacement of meaningful, tough – and perhaps flawed – spirituality with that of the god(dess) of Self. Fine, many of us might not believe in a bearded man up in the sky/(insert appropriate variation), but the endless search for self, for improvement of self, for the soothing of self seems not just pointless, but actively bad in these quick-fix forms. On one blogger’s Instagram story today, a company had sent a free product along with some boosting text: “Give yourself permission to say no/make a list of your achievements today/get a full night’s sleep/go outside, move your body/indulge in your sensitive side” and topped it all with a large card bearing the text “Put yourself first and everything else will follow”. Now, for all I know, these cards could have been the final words in a package consisting of 400 pages of campaigning notes for intersectional feminism, workers’ rights and environmental protection, but it does staaaaart to feel like what was once a thoughtful Tumblr hashtag to support people with mental health issues has become 99% of the world behaving as though they’re recovering from a deep PTSD. Which they probably are, fuck it, look at us right now. hashtag literally all recent elections

My point is: there’s a reason major cultural organisations throughout time (aka religions) put humility, charity and selflessness way up there on the Thumbs Up scale. (REMINDER: Donna and Tom celebrated Treat Yo Self Day once a year, guys, not every time they connected to the internet. ONCE A YEAR.) Yes, I need to get good sleep and breathe some fresh air and carve some space out for myself in my busy life. But jesus, do you know what generally makes me feel better than all of that? Helping someone else. 

You’ll meet new people! You’ll gain amazing skills! You’ll actually have specific jobs to do, so can more often than not feel like you’ve made the world slightly better with only a single hour or two from your week! 

Here are some good places to start – if anyone wants to send me any more (supporting immigrant families? mental health? sexuality? wider conservation?) I’d be delighted to add to the list: 

The Samaritans Great training, varied shifts, listen to someone other than the anxious voice in your brain. 

Home Start Full training to support families with young children for a couple of hours a week. 

Age UK Offering visits, phone calls or day service support to older people who may be suffering from loneliness. 

Contact the Elderly Tea parties! Who doesn’t like tea parties! Driving guests to the parties once a month, or hosting in your home. 

Rethink Good training to support people suffering from mental health issues (or their families) across the UK. 

The Woodland Trust Count seeds, guide some tours, speak at schools. I <3 trees. 

Canal & River Trust Hang out with Good People as you litter-pick, de-weed, check boats and welcome visitors around the waterways. 

Guides/Brownies/Scouts/Cubs/whatever I don’t feel like I could actually do this one for all the brownies in the land (PUN INTENDED) because I am frightened of children I can’t legally call Maggots and carry around by their ankles, but every volunteer I’ve met in these fields was just the nicest. We love you, brave people. 

Please send more, if you have any suggestions. Charity shops, community centres, religious centres, even assisting local councillors, if you don’t like what’s happening in your area with schools/hospitals/parks/housing...  

Good luck out there. It can feel pretty sweet. 

*not legally binding

[memsmedic1]

Myanmar! 11/25/2016

Finally I am heading into the country that I came to work in! Here are a few facts about the Republic of the Union of Myanmar:

Myanmar is the second largest country geographically in Southeast Asia after Indonesia and sits between the worlds two most populous countries, China and India. It also touches Bangladesh, Tibet Autonomous Region, Laos, and Thailand as well as the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal.

For another comparison Myanmar is slightly larger than Germany and Italy combined but slightly smaller than the great state of Texas.

Myanmar has a population of just over 51 million people (25th most populated country) which is made up of 135 ethnic groups who all have their own language.

Although incredibly rich in natural resources such as teak, crude oil, opium, rubies, sapphires, pearls, jade, and precious metals, Myanmar is one of the worlds most impoverished countries, with most of the population working as day laborers just to have enough money for food. The income gap in Myanmar is also among the widest in the world.

Over 90% of the country has absolutely no emergency medical response at all. In the areas that do have responders, patients are almost worse off than the rest of the country because responders are working with little or no training and have hardly any supplies, so they tend to use an Alpha Rescue approach to patient care.

With less then 3% of its GDP spent on healthcare, Myanmar has some of the worst hospitals in the world. Hospitals are few and far between, and are relatively expensive so many people can’t afford care at all. Doctors and nurses do their best but have hardly any medicine or supplies to work with. The waiting rooms are always full of patients laying on the floor hoping to be seen.

The same afternoon the nurse and I limped the broken truck to the mechanics shop in MaeSot I met up with a couple of team members from M-E.M.S. who were also getting ready to join the rest of the crew in Myanmar. They have been working on finding solutions to our ambulance start up challenges from the Thai side of the border and now we will see what we can figure out in Myanmar. They were driving one of our very nice customized ambulances (that we aren’t allowed to import) so there was plenty of room for all of us and our gear plus some supplies.

Because it was late in the day we decided to send some supplies over via an alternate route now, spend the night in Thailand, and cross the border in the morning to catch the once daily bus to Yangon.

On our way to the hotel we happened across a bad motor vehicle collision between a truck and a motorbike so we stopped to help even though we didn’t have any ambulance supplies with us. The Thai responders were happy for our assistance and we stayed and talked for several minutes after the pt was taken to the hospital.

The next morning after breakfast we parked the ambulance and took a songtau to the border where we had to go through Thai immigration, walk across the long Thai-Myanmar friendship bridge, and go through Myanmar immigration on the other side.

Unfortunately there was a problem at Thai immigration that put us behind schedule. As soon as we were free to go we hustled our way across the bridge, sweated our way through Immigration again and then made a run for the bus stop several blocks down the road. We were a good 20 minutes late but one of our other teammates had went on ahead and “persuaded” the bus driver to wait for us.

After we were in our seats the bus started on the 10 hour drive to Yangon. That’s right! 10 hours to drive 256 miles!The reason it takes this long to travel such a short distance is the twisty winding nature of the road, and its incredible narrowness; our bus took up its entire width! Whenever two vehicles need to pass each other (as in pass each other coming from opposite directions) one of us has to pull off onto the extremely narrow shoulder so there’s enough room for the other one to make it by. Usually the buses get preference and don’t have to come to a complete stop but they still have to slow way down from an already slow speed to make sure their mirror doesn’t hit the other vehicle’s especially if it’s also a big rig.

Several things are noticeably different between Thailand and Myanmar right off the bat. We are back to driving on the righthand side of the road for one. However, any benefits that this may offer is completely offset by the next observation; Burmese drivers are crazy drivers. As soon as you cross the border the speed of non-bus traffic picks up with drivers swerving, driving on both sides of the road, honking like it’s going out of style, and disregarding all common rules of the road.

For all that though the general pace of the rest of the country is much slower than Thailand, with ox drawn carts, elephants, and manual labor still common and holding their own against encroaching mechanization. For example, all the roads in Myanmar are built completely by hand. Workers can be seen hammering rocks into appropriately sized gravel along the side of the road. At the construction site other workers clear trees, smooth the ground and lay down sand. Then they boil tar in the 55 gallon drums it’s sold in and pour it on top of the sand and gravel to make the asphalt road surface (this could be part of the reason why the road is so narrow lol).

Buddhism is also incredibly central to life in Myanmar, where the peaceful sound of monks chanting in ancient Bali can often be heard playing on loudspeakers along the road in towns and villages and on the bus. There are so many temples and pagodas that it is hard to drive anywhere and not be able to see at least one, leading to Myanmar’s nickname “The Golden Land”.

Once we finally arrived in downtown Yangon we hired a couple taxis and after stowing all of our supplies we proceeded with fantastic speed to our company headquarters where we spent the night.

In Myanmar you have to let the local authorities know where you are staying within 24 hours of arrival, and as a regular tourist you can’t simply stay with a friend or anywhere you want, you have to stay in a government approved guest house. However, our business visas allow us a lot more leeway to be able to sleep in an apartment or building associated with our company (M-E.M.S.)

Well once the landlord of the apartment complex that our company address goes to found out that 2 foreigners were staying in her not-approved-for-tourists building she had a conniption. We explained the law and assured her that everything was fine but we were unable to mollify her. After the second night she had us kicked out and told our team members who live there full time that they would not be able to renew their rent contract once it expires.

So for the next few days we had to stay in a hotel and in addition to meeting with the rest of our team and various officials and other people who may be able to assist us with our ambulance and lodging challenges we also had to look for a new office location. Once we finally found one we then had to move all the boxes and crates of gear and medical supplies down four flights of stairs, across town, and up another 4 sets of stairs!

Something else we were focusing lots of time and energy on was our ambulance problem: Namely, we felt strongly that we needed an ambulance in order to operate an ambulance service!!

After looking around and weighing our options we decided to get a Land Cruiser series 70 and have it modded into an ambulance that would be rugged enough for the mountains we will be operating in. Many hours were spent drawing up plans for how we wanted it to look and how the patient care area would be laid out.

After 5 whirlwind days in Yangon we drove back to the bus station on Thursday, December 1, to make a trip to the northern state capital to meet with a first responder organization who wants us to give them additional training. As we settled into our seats for the 24 hour journey we looked forward to the main perks of bus travel in Myanmar: blaring, terribly made movies whenever the Buddhist chanting is not being played, ice cold AC, and frequent unscheduled stops so the bus crew can pick up bootleg passengers and make some extra money on the side.

Every few hours we had scheduled 30 minute stops at little roadside restaurants where there was also bathrooms and street vendors selling fruits and snacks. These stops were great because they gave us the opportunity to get the blood in our legs moving again and warm back up to a life sustaining temperature before continuing on!

After all day and all night we arrived in town and after going to our guest house and getting settled we walked around and were able to visit a cultural museum and the market to unwind and relax.

The rest of the weekend we had meetings with Rest In Peace Department first responders and other groups. There are many eager young responders here who volunteer to go on calls and take patients to the hospital in one of their three hearses, but they have from zero to two days worth of medical training because until now they have mainly focused on extrication and transportation of bodies. We met with them several times and scheduled an 8 day first responder course for them in January.

Monday morning we were back on the bus headed south, and by the time we arrived back in Yangon on Tuesday we had been on the bus for a total of 52 hours!

Even though we were exhausted from our journey we spent the rest of the day meeting with a Ferno medical equipment importer and distributor representative discussing various options for outfitting our new ambulance and other supplies we would need for our January training. Then we went back to our new office/apartment where we organized all our supplies and packed our backpacks with everything we would need for the next couple weeks in Thailand as well as the upcoming expedition in India. Then we went to bed!

The next evening on the 7th a couple of us took the night bus back to MaeSot where we spent the next day contracting out our ambulance modifications to Thai businesses willing to cross the border to do the work since Thai materials and fabrication are of better quality. Afterwards we picked up our original ambulance and headed south to Kanchanaburi where four other team members had already gone to prepare for India!

[capechicago]

CAPE Network Forum Newsletter: Issue II

Students at New Sullivan Elementary’s CAPE After School program led by Jordan Knecht and Darlene Carothers learned how to “glitch” digital images by tampering with computer codes to create original art pieces.

Welcome to the second edition of the CAPE Network Forum Newsletter. In this edition you will find the voices of teachers, artists and CAPE staff exploring the new reality in which we find ourselves, a reality that places us all in an unknown and undefined relational space. As William Estrada expressed in a recent CAPE Network Forum post, “I am a big supporter of public education and teaching in front of students in their neighborhood schools, so jumping into remote teaching feels so disconnected for me.”

William is not alone in that sentiment but as he aptly points out, this moment also offers a learning opportunity for us all: “I am curious how this experience will shape our thinking about making mistakes, thinking out loud what our artistic and teaching practice is and what we want it to look like with others. These videos are meant to remind us what art can do, and what we can do with art and I am excited to learn more about it with others in these uncertain times.” Additionally, this moment asks us to collectively question how we all relate to one another and how we form a network.

For years, CAPE has explored the concepts and the interactions of space and identity as a network. Through aesthetic and pedagogical explorations, we have examined the ways in which spaces are both physical and how they are also the constructs of our social interactions. In the context of a school building or a neighborhood, CAPE teachers and teaching artists along with their students have re-imagined and redefined spaces, creating new paradigms that flatten hierarchies amongst participants through art making and dialogue. In some cases, this has involved changing the physicality of a space by painting staircases (see full documentation of that project here) or rearranging furniture. In other cases, the spaces are co-constructed by altering the political and power structures within school spaces wherein teachers, artists and students engage in shared inquiry that follows uncharted trajectories, where there is no “expert” in the room, only a group of collaborating thinkers and doers.

Working in digital spaces is not a new concept for many CAPE teachers, artists and students. In 2018, CAPE program staff partnered with researcher partners Dr. Louanne Smolin and Erin Preston to co-write a chapter in the book Negotiating Place and Space through Digital Literacies entitled “Digital Media Explorations: How Space and Identity Become Sources of Learning.” In it, past examples of CAPE school-based projects illustrated how “CAPE teachers and artists co-created curriculum that diverged from the linearity of instruction, conceiving of digital technology as material to produce space and identity creating opportunities for all to better understand the world and themselves.”

However, the lack of person to person physical interactions still raises many questions

about what is possible for the construction of identity in relation to the co-creation of space. How will we as a network navigate this current scenario and maintain upholding the value of shared envisioning of teaching, learning and arts practice? How can we co- create digital spaces in a way that allows for exploration of content and material? And how do we as a network share our insights and learn together in ways that are relevant right now, but also for the future of our shared work?

— Joseph Spilberg

Updates

On April 12, Chicago Public Schools central office issued a prohibition on external guests joining in virtual learning lessons. This would prevent CAPE teaching artists joining live, online instruction happening in students’ homes. This should not prevent sharing pre-recorded artist instructional videos for students, nor should it prevent take-home instructions for students. CAPE program staff is seeking further information and clarifications on this policy. CPS central office has also issued a best practices document to parents on live virtual learning, and provided suggestions as to different platforms for remote and online learning. Individual schools know best which platforms they are using and how they are using it. Artists must consult with their teacher partners as to how students receive pre-recorded videos or take-home instructions.

CPS central office has out a guide for accessing internet from various providers:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ejwEUTt56mDdcNUDQ2oLFlL--qhC3qe- lhlOe5mD4gs/edit

State Superintendent of Education Dr. Ayala’s message for April 13 includes an interactive map for finding drive-up wifi hotspots (http://illinois.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html? id=23e8046edd2940bc8ad3ad1725e47cd0). In addition, she asks schools and other public institutions who may have wifi accessible from their building to fill out this survey: https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/7dabc7cdbd7149d3ab49254568295502

The Artists For Illinois Relief Fund (AIRF) will open for applications again on Monday, May 4. Artists who wish to receive information and email notification when the application reopens should go to https://3arts.org/news/airf-artists/.

CAPE Network Forum Tumblr Highlight:

This week's Tumblr highlight is a video produced by teaching artist Shenequa Brooks and New Sullivan Elementary School teacher Jacquelyn Limon. Here, Brooks and Limon are filming in split screen, a prime example of co-teaching in the digital space. Click to see their channel.

CAPE Network Interview: William Estrada, Interviewed by Jenny Lee

William Estrada was born to immigrant parents and grew up in California, Chicago, and Mexico. His teaching and art making practice focus on exploring inequality, migration, historical passivity, cultural recognition, self-preservation, and media representation in under-represented communities. He documents and engages experiences in public spaces to transform, question, and make connections to established and organic systems through discussion, creation, and amplification of stories already present. He is currently a visual art teacher at Telpochcalli Elementary School and faculty at the School of Arts and Art History at UIC. He has worked as an educator at many organizations, including as an Artist/Researcher with CAPE since 2002.

Your most recent CAPE Network Forum video was on a read-aloud on the book The Table Where Rich People Sit. Why did you choose this book, and how does it resonate with you in general and during this pandemic?

I’m trying to figure out how to have conversations that we’d usually have at Telpochcalli. How do we start reframing what art education looks like and what it can do.

The Table Where Rich People Sit is about thinking about inequality and wages, but it’s also exploring the idea of decolonizing wealth and what we value. Especially when we think about invisible labor, and who is considered essential workers right now and who was considered essential workers four weeks ago. The online videos themselves are meant to be a reflection of conversations that I would have with students anyway. It’s also a way for me, as an adult, as a teacher, as a parent, and as a community member, to amplify voices that are missing in these discussions.

How have you centered play and experimentation in your projects now?

I’m trying to make videos with intention and me playing, both with the technology and the content. I’m specifically thinking about the audience. I primarily teach elementary

students, so I’m trying to figure out how to engage in conversations with younger audiences, but the content isn’t distilled. That’s how I teach anyway, but I’m really trying to figure out how to play around with words and concepts, like being read to. I’m trying to curate the books that I read. How do we use stories to address inequality? Who generates knowledge? Whose stories get to be told? Those are all conversations that I try to have with elementary age students that I teach, but they’re also conversations that I have in studio courses at the college level. It’s about access to culture, power, and resources.

How do you see community support during this time?

I’m specifically thinking of myself as a cis-Latino male. We’re constantly thinking of ourselves as strong, like we’ll get through this. But what does it mean for me to be afraid? And how do we begin to have these discussions about being transparent, vulnerable, and complex. This is what makes us who we are. And this is how we take care of each other. We don’t have all the answers, but the answers that we do have, they can comfort others. And the fears that we have, others can comfort us. This is what it’s like being in a collective. This is what we do everyday, and this is what relationships are. But in this moment in time, it’s allowed us to be more transparent and intentional, and thanking those that make us feel safe and take care of us. This is a moment to remind people that they’re important to us.

Telpochcalli Community Education Project (TCEP) is really coming together as a community to self-organize and help others gather resources that they might not have the connections to, like diapers and formula. TCEP has always done community organizing, but now all these efforts are condensed into one, and these are our immediate needs. It’s been really amazing to see the love and the hard work that’s taking place, but it’s also disheartening because the inequality that existed in the city was present before, but with this pandemic it’s being emphasized tenfold. Who has access to food? Who is able to wash their clothes?

How have you seen collaboration change?

It’s not the same. The meaning for me to teach comes from the relationships that are formed. The relationships are different when we aren’t necessarily in the same room. It obviously makes it more accessible to others, and we can document what we’re teaching. It’s good. But I feel like it’s one-way. I’m not responding to people’s comments or facial expressions. If I’m filming a video, I can sit and talk for three hours. But in a classroom, I would break it down because I would see students and adults wiggling in their seats...

Right now, the projects are very one directional. They’re very “This is what I want!” But when we’re teaching collaboratively, I usually introduce ideas, and I have an idea on what the final project might look like, but we never end up with that project. The students know that they’re collaborators. They’re part of that creative process. It helps to come in with an idea and structure, but you know that idea and structure are going to change based on the responsiveness of the people in front of you, and that’s kind of missing right now. I really enjoy being with others and creating with others. It’s missing -- the conversation that we have with our bodies.

Beginning in the 2000s, CAPE began to see itself as a network. You are part of that network, and you are on the CAPE Board. How do you see the CAPE network in relation to the present crisis?

The CAPE network has been essential in forming and informing the relationships that have been created. One part is the extensive network of artists, teachers, administrators, and schools that has really helped in getting off the ground these remote learning plans. Without these relationships that CAPE has built, it would be so hard to do. The other part is that because CAPE has created professional developments and is in constant communication with all the teachers and artists about needs, about new ways of thinking about our own practice, about how to deliver that practice, it hasn’t been as difficult to reframe what our teaching can look like. Obviously there are still challenges around technologies and accessibility, but I think the underlying threads and foundations that we’ve been dealing with for a really long time: relevancy to the schools we’re teaching, how we’re being responsive to the needs of our particular communities, what resources we’re using....all of this has been so transparent as we’ve been transitioning. It’s CAPE’s model that has been changing, but ongoing, that has alleviated some of the pressure and stress of what we could potentially do because we’ve been doing it all along. The only difference is how it’s being delivered.

As a CAPE board member, as all this was happening and having these conversations about how to support the teaching artists was really heartfelt for me -- being able to make that commitment to support the artists no matter what happens. We’re shaping what art education is, and we’re shaping how other people see art education, not only as an organization but as teachers and artists.

Contemporary Recall:

Written by: Scott Sikkema

In the spring of 2012, Mark Diaz and I planned a session to look at archives/archiving for a group of teaching artists. We looked at the frameworks through which archives are seen, and how the teaching artists can think about archiving in their own practice and how they represent their own work to others.

In order to get at these notions and questions around archiving, Mark and I first met with Karen Kanemoto from the Japanese American Service Committee (JASC). The JASC was formed after World War II to provide support services for Japanese Americans relocated to the Chicago area after having been incarcerated in internment camps during the war. The JASC has extensive holdings of documents, artifacts, photographs, and other material relating to the Japanese American experience prior to coming to the U.S., early years in the U.S., World War II and the internment camps, and post-war life. With Karen, we looked through a portion of the archives, and settled on a selection of materials.

We asked ourselves, how do we look at these powerful materials in such a way as to build the artists’ capacity to look at themselves and what they generate out of their own practice, and, if they archive, how is that archive used and what can it say to others?

This was not an easy task. After much discussion, Mark and I determined that we should ourselves select what we thought were key frameworks for looking at an archive. Following are the frameworks, with the short definitions we provided the artists:

Big Idea (Some archives represent an overarching big idea, such as World War II, internment, diaspora, etc.)

Personal Stories (Within archives there are often potent and compelling stories of individual people.)

Institutional (Within archives there are often legal documents and processes, which, while official, give another sense of how people were living or how conditions were or were not functioning.)

Taxonomy/ways of categorizing (An archive often uses an organizing system, also known as a taxonomy. Taxonomies provide viewers with a variety of ways to approach and begin exploring the materials contained in an archive. Taxonomies are either naturally dictated by the materials, or are constructed by the archivist.)

Site (While some archives are more geared towards the temporal, other archives capture all the different aspects of a site, including the space, people, physicality, objects, relationships, and more.)

Once we settled on these frameworks, our next challenge was how to explore them, in relation to two things: the JASC artifacts, and the artists themselves (their self reflection). This again proved a debate, but it finally settled us into the final format of the workshop we led at the JASC.

Mark, Karen, and I chose artifacts that were varied in a number of ways. They varied in their physicality: some pieces were in journal/scrapbook form, some were photo stock paper, some were thin and fragile newsprint, etc. They varied in the nature of their content: some were official documents, some were personal, some were text, some were images, and some were commercial ephemera. They were also varied in terms of their levels of accessibility, i.e., some artifacts were not easy to decipher, and some had little or no visual appeal.

The artifacts were divided up into 10 tables. The participants were divided up into groups of two. Each pair went to a table. They were given timed intervals to be at a table, and then we would tell them to switch. During their time there, they would examine the artifacts, and discuss and debate them. Mark and I gave them framework analysis worksheets, using the overarching ideas listed above. For each overarching idea, such as “Site” or “Institutional”, they were also provided with a series of questions to understand the artifacts/archive through that framework, and after that questions to transfer that framework over to how they think about their own archive of work.

In education, we (arts organizations or other similar bodies) often ask teachers or students or teaching artists to document their work, to collect samples, and to write short explanations. That documentation often is used by the organization for its own purposes. Sometimes it is used by the teacher and/or teaching artists to tell the story of what they did. Both of those results have their value. But in our own work, or looking at the work of others, how often do we pull back and try to look at an individual piece or fragments of work? How often do we try to look at the work as a collective accumulation, without immediately forcing it into a story, or into a narrative of what we want?How can we build on collective knowledge by collectively examining an archive? How often do we clearly think about the frameworks we inherently almost always bring to looking at artifacts and archives? How often do we ask ourselves, what other frameworks are possible?

Questions like these can allow us to take more time to become more open to what archives, artifacts, and documentation can say to us, and what meanings they might hold beyond the particular meaning we have predetermined. Questions like this can also help us examine closely how we ourselves actually produce artifacts for our own archives, what constitutes an artifact itself for inclusion, and how one artifact relates or does not relate (without value judgments) to another.

Looking back on this workshop, I am also thinking about what might resonate today, about life before and during the pandemic, our relationships, what artifacts we generate or encounter, and how we frame meaning from this.

CAPE Program Staff:

Scott Sikkema, Education Director (scott@capechicago.org) Mark Diaz, Associate Director of Education (mark@capechicago.org) Joseph Spilberg, Associate Director of Education (joseph@capechicago.org) Brandon Phouybanhdyt, Program Coordinator (brandon@capechicago.org) Jenny Lee, Research Program Coordinator (jenny@capechicago.org)

[muabannhadatdananggiare]

Trusting in a business income tax cut alone to come up with innovation and boost productivity may be the thinking about days gone by.

Trusting in a business income tax cut alone to come up with innovation and boost productivity may be the thinking about days gone by.

A business cut that is tax-rate all business assets more valuable, causing a more impressive come back to investment in spite of how it really is utilized. Within our globalized and financialized economy, however, it is as prone to cause stock buybacks as it’s to spur the construction of brand new US factories.

It doesn’t need certainly to work because of this. Supply-side theory—that increased investment benefits workers into the long run—only works if investment really increases. This is exactly why, inside our 2015 taxation plan, Senator Mike Lee of Utah and I also argued that the very best concern of income tax reform should always be capital investment that is encouraging. Which is why i am going to quickly introduce a strategy to grow and work out permanent the provisions that are full-expensing last year’s tax-law work and end the taxation code’s favoritism for businesses that invest their income tax cuts on stock buybacks.

The value of investments that are tied to American labor by allowing businesses to immediately deduct their investment in improving their products and workers, full-expensing better increases. The Heritage Foundation called it the “most important reform for financial development” because “it advantages companies which are earnestly spending and producing jobs into the U.S.”

It is not at all times into the economic interest of nationless corporations to increase their investment in US workers. Changing which will need a stay glued to come with the carrot of full-expensing. At the moment, Wall Street benefits companies for participating in stock buybacks, temporarily increasing their stock rates at the trouble of effective investment. While businesses should really be absolve to purchase their stock that is own should be no income tax benefit for stock buybacks over other designs of money allocation, whilst the deferral of capital-gains taxes presently permits.

Taxing stock buybacks in the exact same rate as dividends would make sure that corporations aren’t reducing their investment simply for income tax purposes. A company that wants to use its tax cuts to build a new factory could deduct the costs of the facility, but a company that wants to use its tax cuts to buy back its own stock wouldn’t get any additional tax benefit for doing so under my proposal.

The main-stream knowledge among business administration and investors today is the fact that buybacks don’t come at the cost of investment, since they get back money to investors to be placed to raised usage somewhere else. This objection misses the purpose. Whenever a firm makes use of its earnings buying back once again stock, it really is earnestly determining that coming back money to investors is an improved task for company than spending within the ongoing company’s product or workforce. The income tax choice for buybacks tilts the scale in this way, making a bias against effective investment.

We have ton’t be astonished that the economy that encourages indefinite financialization over confidently making big wagers on building the long run has yielded a work life this is certainly fractured, unstable, and paying that is low. To reassert the dignity of work, we have to begin to build an economy that invests with its employees therefore the plain things they generate. Making American corporations function just like the motorists of investment they used to be could be a begin.

There was possibly no greater expression that is cultural of we give consideration to dignified work as compared to priorities of our training system. We praise the accomplishment of a four-year-college degree, but look down upon technical-skill certifications. We count absurd classes on pop music tradition as credits toward university levels, although not lumber store. We subsidize high-end universities’ tuitions and endowments, but taxation the paychecks of young employees experience that is gaining the industry.

Advanced schooling went from being an accelerator of opportunity, because it ended up being after World War II, to being a principal motorist of financial and inequality today that is social. The status quo model of degree stifles competition, encourages tuition that is soaring, traps competent prospective workers in unproductive scholastic bureaucracies, and limitations possibilities for nontraditional students, such as for example working moms and dads. Families and students require a method that embraces the latest methods individuals can discover and get abilities and never have to get the standard four-year-college-degree track.

The bigger Education Innovation Act, that we introduced with Democratic Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado, would begin to deal with these challenges.

It proposes an alternate certification system that would allow brand new organizations to generally meet students’ requirements with innovative academic items. Imagine some high-school seniors thinking about becoming aircraft mechanics. Hands-on learning supplemented by low-cost online engineering courses might match them a lot better than a far more costly old-fashioned level built around a core curriculum.

We have to reform figuratively speaking, too. We could increase transparency for borrowers by abandoning the existing interest-based model, which hides the real price of the mortgage and decreases incentives for universities to carry their tuition costs down. If pupils alternatively spend an individual, upfront loan-financing cost, that could be disseminate through the time of the mortgage, they are able to see from the front end what they’d be stepping into, while preventing the trap of ever-growing interest re re payments that delay graduates’ financial power to begin a family and create a life after college.

I’ll readily admit that those entrenched within the higher-education system and the ones who will be reluctant to adjust stand to get rid of from reforms such as for example these. That’s partly the idea. We just cannot manage to waste our cash and young peoples’ future you can try this out work lives in the complex that is four-year-degree-industrial.

The old opinion, which produced a college degree a necessity to achieve your goals, has harmed young Us americans and their dignity, shoving them away from a reputable day’s work and in to the complicated realm of ambiguous abilities and debt that is unambiguous. We have to change it right into a well-trod way to success when it comes to numerous.

A ny conversation associated with dignity of work should mention unions. Hardly any other US companies occupy exactly the same space that is unique work unions, which straddle the line between jobs and community. At their regional levels, unions have actually historically offered as an integrating force for the dignity of work.

It has perhaps not been the instance for big-name arranged work for a while now, and employees understand it. Since 1983, the amount of private-sector union users dropped by about 37 per cent, from about 12 million to 7.6 million. Just 7 per cent associated with the private-sector workforce is unionized. The majority that is overwhelming of Labor’s political activities are dedicated to assisting Democrats, while a growing share of their membership votes Republican. Time and time again, whenever because of the possibility to form a vintage adversarial-model union, employees have actually opted against doing this.

This is actually the unsurprising upshot of a labor-organization model that no further represents the interests of their employees. However the decrease of unions, insofar because they represented essential places for employees and their loved ones to secure the conditions associated with the American dream, just isn’t one thing become celebrated.

Certainly one of my earliest memories that are political of marching the picket line with my dad, a gambling establishment bartender in Las vegas, nevada at that time, in a Culinary Workers Union attack. I did son’t know the dilemmas included then, but We knew my dad plus the employees during the other resorts had been asking to simply be addressed fairly due to their work. This concept—that they created value when it comes to resort and had the right to fairly share in that value—is perhaps perhaps not radical.

To own labor businesses that represent employees’ passions again, we must get back to the fundamentals.

As my dad comprehended then, so when many employees realize today, employees are effective with regards to their companies. They are able to organize to make sure that their payment is commensurate with their value, like my father’s union did for the reason that strike, but in addition to increase their value, like by giving an excellent community that is american my immigrant household, or in building the abilities of young employees.

Labor businesses could nevertheless provide these valuable functions today, if perhaps we’d abandon a vintage type of legislation that does not. The backbone of work legislation continues to be the nationwide work Relations Act of 1935, and lots of of this law’s major conditions have actually remained unchanged since 1947. It enshrines a model of work relations that pits worker against manager, by which federal federal government legislation informs employees whatever they should value and success is described as gaining energy within the other part, irrespective of the worth employees and companies might create together.

Federal work law is reformed to create feasible an even more effective relationship between employees and companies. The Once and Future Worker, this could take the form of new labor “co-ops” in the model of Germany’s sectoral workers’ groups, which negotiate wages and benefits, and provide training and apprenticeships for their workers as Oren Cass proposes in his book.

These voluntary, dues-paying businesses and their connected worker representatives could get federal charters that could permit them to administer advantages such as for instance jobless insurance and worker-training programs. They would be prohibited through the style of institutional organization that is political work is now bogged straight straight down in and might have the flexibleness to negotiate beyond the level of federal labor legislation in a few areas.

Rebuilding the dignity of work means fighting for a work life that suits the requirements of our employees. By acknowledging the genuine value of work businesses and adopting ideas for restoring their value in workers’ everyday lives, we could better align the passions of our economy aided by the dignity of workers.

The twenty-first century provides a real possibility to reconstruct the great middle class that is american. By simply making organizations and employees more effective, assisting students be better prepared, and enhancing the working everyday lives regarding the class that is working we could produce industries and companies that never existed before, offering jobs and jobs that spend decent wages and supply stability to working families.

Bài viết Trusting in a business income tax cut alone to come up with innovation and boost productivity may be the thinking about days gone by. đã xuất hiện đầu tiên vào ngày Nhà Đất Đà Nẵng.

source https://muabannhadat.danang.vn/trusting-in-a-business-income-tax-cut-alone-to-2403.html

[volkmarguidohable]

Dr. Volkmar Guido Hable and Donald Trump team

Dr. Volkmar Guido Hable and Donald Trump team / Steve Bannon advisors clash again on Mexican Wall costs in press conference after  Mar-a-Lago meeting.

Dr. Volkmar Guido Hable says that wall costs are significantly understated in  Donald Trump / Steve Bannon proposals, gives cost break-down and puts the first estimate at 48.7 billion USD.

 It was not the first time that Volkmar Guido Hable and Donald Trump team / Steve Bannon advisors were at odds about the costs of the proposed “great wall” on the USA - Mexican border.  Two weeks ago a panel meeting took place at Ohio State University, where Volkmar Guido Hable and representatives of the Donald Trump team, advisors to Steve Bannon, and engineering consulting firms met to exchange ideas on the feasibility to such an undertaking, they clashed fiercely on the cost estimates.

 This time in a Mar-a-Lago meeting and press conference they discussed again with a group of engineers  and Volkmar Guido Hable the cost issues around the proposed wall.

 Stated Dr. Volkmar Guido Hable: “I have still no clue what exactly Donald’s scientific basis is for assuming a total cost of only 8 billion USD for the proposed wall on the Mexican border. The math doesn’t add up.”

 He said that “There are many more expense items in a construction projects than just the material costs.”

 Dr. Volkmar Guido Hable went on to explain the details of the wall costs:

 · Material costs per meter of a 30 feet concrete wall: 2500 USD

· Backfill, drainage and a good base: 2000 USD per meter

· Support structures for the stability of the wall: 1400 USD per meter

· Labor costs per meter of wall: 2900 USD

· Engineering and planning costs per meter of wall:  450 USD

· Power supply, electric services, Electronic surveillance equipment:  2500 USD per meter

  The total length of the continental border is 3,201 kilometres (1,989 mi). Assuming this will be the total length of the proposed wall the estimated costs just for the expenses directly related to construction will amount to more than 37.62 billion USD.

 In addition there are other cost items like for example:

 · Mobilization costs for construction sites: 4.5 billion USD

· Water supply for construction and workers:  4 billion USD

· Legal Costs, compensation payments to landowners: 2 billion USD

 Just the necessary water supply for construction and for the workers could top 4 billion USD in costs. 

Volkmar Guido Hable: “We safely can assume that workers and engineers in the desert like conditions of the remote constructions sites won’t settle for a bottle of coke per day.”

  Dr. Volkmar Guido Hable further stated: “Just a simple math on generally known typical construction costs yield a total expense of at least 48.7 billion US Dollars. A far cry from the proposed 8 billion.  Of course you can start to discuss the amounts of these individual expense items. But the fact of the matter is that it will not change the magnitude or the order of the various expenses based on generally well known standard construction and engineering costs.”

 He continued: “We are talking about many dozens of billion US-Dollars and not just 8.”

Donald Trump has issued an executive order calling for a 3,201 kilometres  long wall on the US-Mexican border. The order allows for six months to survey all 3,201 kilometres  before the groundbreaking, which in the opinion of Volkmar Guido Hable is totally unrealistic.

Smithsonian magazine consulted Volkmar Hable and a panel of experts  on the logistics of such a wall and came away with the impression that Donald Trump has no idea what this involves, and will end up with an expensive, useless disaster.

In his key note Volkmar Hable noted that the terrain that Donald  Trump wants to cover with his wall includes every imaginable geological difficulty ranging from deep canyons, mountains, unstable underground and bedrock, hydrophilic clay soil (which swells and moves, shattering foundations), sand, and regions where the bedrock is thousands of feet down.

“You're going to encounter hundreds, if not thousands, of different types of soils along [such a lengthy] linear pathway,” says Dr. Volkmar Hable. He further stated that in fact, there are over 1,300 kinds of soil in Texas alone. And many of those soils aren’t going to be the right type to build on top of. At that point, would-be wall-builders have two options: Spend more time and money excavating the existing soils and replacing them with the necessary foundation—or avoid the region altogether. Dr. Volkmar Guido Hable estimates the costs of the necessary ground and base preparation at around  2000 USD per meter. 

He stated: “This is not rocket science. Anyone can do the math. Pull the numbers of standard construction project costs completed in the US. Even resorting to slave labor – with which the Chinese Great Wall was built -  will not bring the cost down to 8 billion.” 

Dr. Volkmar Hable stated further that megastructures like the proposed  3,201 kilometre  Great Wall on the US-Mexican border need constant maintenance and surveillance, and would be a major fixed cost factor with no tangible return on investment. 

He said the yearly maintenance costs will require a staff that mounts to tens of thousands of workers and engineers and will cost billions. 

These are just the first-order difficulties with the wall. China's Great Wall took 2,000 years to build and didn't keep the invaders  out. And there is certainly doubt if such a wall would in fact be the ultimate protection in keeping illegal immigrants out.

Stated Dr. Volkmar Hable “Walls can be climbed over, and crossed under through tunnels or simply bypassed in regions where due to the terrain a wall simply would not be feasible at all.” 

Upkeep of such a lengthy structure is challenging. And even if such a wall can be erected, the size of budget necessary to keep it standing remains unclear.

Further risks like earthquakes and floods would contribute to cost increases. Rivers run along a sizeable portion of the U.S.-Mexico border, which can create a very real danger of flooding and additional cost factors. 

Dr. Volkmar Hable also reminded the audience of just one of many legal issues: A 1970 treaty necessitates that the current border fence be set back from the Rio Grande river, which delineates the Texas-Mexico border. Because of this, the current fence crosscuts Texas landowner’s property and has gaps to allow landowners to pass. 

Said Dr. Volkmar Hable. “I have a hard time to imagine that such a megastructure could be built for 8 billion dollars. The right figure proposed by Donald Trump lacks a zero, we are talking of  a cost closer to 80 billion than to 8 billion dollars.

Or let me put it in other words he said: “it will be a lot cheaper and less difficult to set up a permanent human outpost on Mars than building this wall.”

Dr. Volkmar Guido Hable also disputed in a fierce exchange of words with Steve-Bannon advisors the estimated benefits of 64 billion USD per year.

Fox news reported that the Donald Trump team and Steve Bannon advisors are stating cost estimates of  more than 64 billion USD per year based on the simple fact that a wall would hold back immigrants. 

 Dr. Volkmar Guido Hable: “There is simply no scientific basis whatsoever for this figure. It is a made up number with no homework done, just any number that is thrown at the American public in order to cause confusion.”