#urban issue resolution

[townpostin]

Jamshedpur Residents Get Digital Access to Civic Grievance System

Public Grievance Management System streamlines municipal complaint process Jharkhand’s urban areas benefit from multi-channel platform for registering and resolving civic issues, enhancing citizen engagement in local governance. JAMSHEDPUR – Residents of Jamshedpur and surrounding urban areas can now register civic complaints and suggestions from home through the Public Grievance Management…

[seadeepspaceontheside]

I have seen little to no support for the strike from fellow Canadians about the current Canadian Postal workers who are out there protesting for better work conditions. Canadian Postal workers =/= Canada post. Currently workers are striking for pay that has been stagnated as well as benefits being halted. Some of the things I want to debunk with all anti-worker talk about the strike. 1) "Our tax dollars pay for them! They should just go back to work! They are losing money!" False! They aren't GOVERNMENT JOBS they are a CROWN CORPORATION, they are still structured and operated as a legal corporation. The head people are still CEOS who get paid millions in bonuses as the corporation fails or makes bad decisions such as buying new vehicles that make workers feel unsafe, can't fit in urban areas, cost so much more! 2) "They don't provide a useful service its only flyers" "what about my cheque!" It can't be both, you can't claim Canada Post workers are useless for spam mail while also touting small businesses are failing, people needing their pay, and delivering where other courier services wont! Currently Canadian Postal workers will deliver benefit checks and child support on volunteer. 3)"Why are they striking now when its busiest??" They are striking now because it will affect you to care, its moot point to strike when there is little to no leverage against. THATS THE POINT OF ANY PROTEST! Show solidarity with the workers, if you have issues and want the strike to end complain to the company to work with the union (who have been asking for a resolution for years before wanting to strike) RAISE AWARENESS FOR IT.

[fatedtime]

I know there’s a lot of people talking about the culture conflict between Toshiro and Laios, but I think it’s important to acknowledge the class conflict between them too. Mayor’s child or not, Laios is still from the boonies, while Toshiro is waited on hand and foot by a flock of women his family employs to serve his needs. This has 100% stifled Toshiro’s ability to communicate with others, to the point where acknowledging his retainers and thanking them for their efforts is shown as a huge point of growth.

Meanwhile, Laios’s bumbling nature towards Toshiro’s boundaries is very much informed by his lack of knowledge of other people and places. He knows how much it hurt him to see his sister rejected by people whose insular attitudes made her powers frightening to them, so he tries to express overtures of friendship towards Toshiro by being so interested in him that it comes off as frightening instead. While he means well, his lack of knowledge on how to interact with people who are different from him puts Toshiro in a weird spot, and this lack of knowledge isn’t just the autism — it’s where he was born and raised. And it’s something real kids from rural areas go through when they enter more urban spaces. The sorts of social manners that are appropriate there aren’t appropriate elsewhere, and they get seen as… well. Inelegant. Pushy.

If Laios had gotten Hien’s name wrong, she would have decked him. But because it was Toshiro, whose upbringing didn’t give him any conflict resolution skills (because he’s around people who have to bend to his needs*) he doesn’t know how to sort things out with Laios, and grows to resent him. It’s not just the culture, it’s the place he occupies class-wise.

That’s part of why I love Toshiro’s arc — if this was just a culture conflict where Laios commits microagressions against him, as I’ve mostly seen it put, him ultimately learning a lesson would be pretty weird. But it’s not. His upbringing as a noble lord’s son in a BONKERS family has given him certain issues… and Laios helps him confront that, so he can live without regrets.

(*please note, this is a massive oversimplification of what the hell is going on with Toshiro Nakamoto. i just didn't want to write a book.)

[irontragedyreview]

People who are saying "you can't criticize Horikoshi, it's his story and he can do whatever he wants", etc. Yeah, it's his story but he's made it public so I can do whatever I want and if I want to be a bitch and I call hi, mediocre I’ll do it. Like I love Naruto with all my heart and I have defended Kishimoto over certain criticisms in relation to female characters, etc. I have also criticized him for the absolute shit that Boruto is, even considering that as a manga Boruto isn’t 100% his work considering that at the beginning he was involved in the movie but on the manga he was only a supervisor. What I'm trying to get It’s that if you believe that just because a mangaka creates a story it should be free from criticism then you aren’t ready to get involved with any type of media or sincerely the public believes that consuming a movie, book, etc. means being a passive subject without critical thinking.  

That being said, Horikoshi largely deserves as much criticism as he can get because these chapters were truly a shit show since this last arc began. Let's just start listing first, AFO vs Endeavor and every hero in existence was too long and repeated for a large number of chapters the formula "villain takes the advantage, heroes take the advantage, the villain takes the advantage again and finally wins and move on to something else", all of this perhaps understandable to give some prominence to characters who were forgotten for entire arcs.

Shouto and his arc plus his relationship with Dabi, Shouto had a very interesting arc and incredibly much material to exploit but his arc and his relationship with Dabi never managed to take off because he was so tied to Endeavor that the interactions between them felt empty. 

Ochako and Toga were honestly the only thing that was worth it, you could see the commitment to giving them both a great moment and the way she wanted to approach Toga and truly have a conversation. The only thing I can criticize about their ending is that obviously there is no completely satisfactory closure in giving Toga an answer to what happens next, apart from Ochako's offer of understanding, there is no easy way out of what the other heroes will do, therefore which I can’t criticize her for not giving an answer to a complicated situation in this way. 

Also Horikoshi added things to his story that in the end he didn’t finish closing or that surely even if he touched them again it would no longer make sense, what happened to Spinner? What happened to everything about heteromorphic discrimination? I have to believe that everything is fixed by the good heart of Shoji telling Spinner that his way of doing things only makes the "achievements" of equality go backwards by giving them a bad image. In other words, we know that quirk society is discriminatory, especially in less urbanized towns, that those heteromorphs who reach places of power are the least and no real change has been achieved, but of course the victims of discrimination have to keep quiet and be good. So, maybe in the future they will no longer be discriminated. I'm going to be fair here, touching on issues like discrimination is complex, but putting an idea like this in the manga and then going for a simplistic or rather completely ignored resolution, because while a person may not share Spinner's actions, it’s understandable why he does it and simply saying that you have to be better because then people will see that you are good and not discriminate against you is stupid, Horikoshi covered a topic that he honestly didn’t know how to deal with or wasn’t interested in doing so. 

Kurogiri/Shirakumo being just a plot device for Aizawa and being resolved in 5 panels, I'm going to be understanding and say that this arc had the least to explore, but in the end it was meh. Tbh I'm not going to criticize this because it is so empty of content that it is no longer worth criticizing it. 

About Tomura and Izuku, the truth is what can I say the most that I haven't said in previous posts? from all the fights or confrontations it’s the most ignored, neglected and rushed of all, we don't know anything about them other than loose panels for a whole year, they barely interact and now Tomura dies, Izuku is "well, I honestly don't give a damn and I want you dead", if no one who has followed these two characters realizes the damage that this chapter has done to their conclusions then I'm not going to explain it. If Horikoshi felt incapable or was tired of his story he could have ended it with something else, however perhaps this was always the plan, we are talking about a guy who said that the second movie was the end of his manga,that is Midoriya without quirk giving it to his childhood bully. It's obvious that he doesn't care about Izuku as a character and I think he did care about Tomura but he didn't know what to do with him, which is why we have this ending.

Final note for any comments I may surely receive for calling bk a childhood bully. Don't waste your time replying, commenting or trying to argue, Horikoshi took it upon himself to make bk a gary stu who never faces real consequences for his actions (dying is not a sign of karma) and his abuse is never treated seriously by the author, because his victim never reflects on himself, which is ironic considering how many BK fans recognize that Midoriya has self-esteem problems, contempt, and poor self-care but do not recognize BK's role in this or minimize it.

[modernidolater]

🎃Wheel of Halloween🎃

There's a post of a tweet saying that every 31st of the month should be a Halloween, and you know what? I'm a Halloween Witch. I'm an Idolater. I'm an urban techno witch who lives an air conditioned life, can't stand nature bigger than a park or local landscaping, and hates leaving the city except to drive to another damn city.

I have been struggling to connect to the Wheel of the Year or the Solstices/Equinoxes for freaking years.

But a cycle of Halloweens?

That.

That I can fucking do.

So, without further ado, I present the shit I will be actually celebrating. Ya don't have to join me, but I will be posting about it for those that wanna follow along, with options and cutouts for those who don't want to or can't do the more party elements.

With luck, I'll pick up on August 31st and go from there, if not, I'll start with actual Halloween.

Halloween

October 31st

It's muthafucking Halloween. I have ideas and will post about them more as we get closer, but you know what this one is.

New Year's Eve

December 31st

This one actually also exists, but I have plans for tying it to the January 31st one to bookend the year. The primary purpose of this Eve is gratitude and sharing the good things from the year before, casting off the trappings of the old year, and to bring the new one in with luck and prosperity.

Candle's Eve

January 31st

One month from the casting out of the old year, it's time to set things for the new. Cleansing and cleaning, setting intentions (not resolutions) for the year to come, making the Mask of the Year to call on who I aspire to be, burning the intentions set last year with last years candle, and blessing a candle to burn this years intentions next year are all features. Food and drink suggestions available when I actually post this up.

Hallow Ides

March 31st

Couple of these have fun names, and this is one of them. It's a party holiday, involving a picnic and a special cake/cupcakes/muffins.

The costume element is that I'll swap clothes or looks with someone I'm celebrating with (or dress up as someone else if celebrating solo).

There's a drinking element (non-alcoholic is fine) that results in a stack o' good luck charms.

And for my trick, I can and will sing the filthiest songs, tell the dirtiest jokes, read a romance novel or erotica, just go ham on the bawdy shit.

Alternatives for ace and non-sexing folk will be forthcoming in the relevant post, but it's my damn Wheel and I'm doing bawdy shit for myself.

Blessed Eve

May 31st

Not a bonfire person, but I'm definitely gonna have a cookout and grill up some burgers! Also a neat drink and cookies that both double as offerings!

Flower masks and crowns are involved to hide from the spring spirits that might fux me upa.

There's a Blessing Bouquet that goes up early, is used to exorcise and re-bless my property/house, and then is ceremonially burned.

An ash blessing to seal the prosperity into my house ties the whole thing off.

Fortune's Eve

July 31st

This one pretty heavily revolves around a ritual game of betting and chance that I came up with based on a cool concept tied into the holiday I'm aiming at. Game generates lucky candy and a good luck charm.

Hella apples involved including a ceremonial apple and cider. Veils worn for the blindness of luck, and a strong theme of having a game day.

Neewollah

August 31st

I'm actually pretty stoked for this one, and will do a more expansive post on it later this week. I really hope I can pull this together in time this year.

Idea is a bit Opposite Day, a bit of LiarWeen vibe.

Trick the cosmos into taking away the bad shit and giving me good shit through a ritual lying ceremony, wearing a mask of duality to further confuse the issue. Ritual ash anointing to lock things down and ensure I get the stuff I want and ward off the shit I got rid of.

Candy (obvs) but I (and anyone celebrating with me) has to ask, and the person giving it has to make a point of saying no...while forking over.

And of course, games like Never Have I Ever or Two Truths & A Lie, drinking optional. (I will...probably...drink. Just saying.)

Where's the Eighth One?

Wheel has eight Sabbats, yeah?

In the grand tradition of the Satanist/Luciferian practices I stuck with for so long, Number 8 is my Birthday.

Or yours, if you decide to try this.

I'll decide what I wanna do about Birthday when I get there. You do you, tho.

And That's The Wheel of Halloween!

So yes, some of those are closer to recognizable Sabbats. Some of them are so far off that they're not in the same neighborhood. Spoiler: the ones you don't recognize are based (very, very loosely) on Roman festivals that occur in the corresponding month.

Why Roman?

Cause they had a religious festival for everything, there's records I can squint at, and they had a strong mystery tradition that plays well with my schtick.

I am not a dedicated Rome fanby, to be clear, the empire is just very much gone, very well attested, and I can most likely swipe the shape of their shit without worrying about stepping on anyone.

And even then, I'm mixing time periods, even up to hijacking Medieval Xtian shit where and when I see fit. Cause I was baptized Catholic, and that shit is my culture to use.

Neewollah Posting Hopefully Soon! Stay Tuned!

And of course, feel free to reach out for asks, questions, and readings if ya want 'em.

[why-am-i-not-fictional]

Things to script - nature or status of realities

This is something I recently started inputting into my DRs to make them better and safe. I got much help from ChatGPT too to categorize all these things. I wanted to share it with you guys too :) feel free to use anything for your scripts. Happy Shifting!!!

All of the below discriminations does not exist in any of my DRs

Misogyny

Racism

Homophobia

Transphobia

Classism

Ableism

Ageism

Xenophobia

Islamophobia

Anti-Semitism

Colorism

Nationalism

Casteism

Environmental injustice

Sexism

Sizeism

Religious discrimination

Ethnic discrimination

Discrimination based on immigration status

Discrimination based on language

Discrimination based on nationality

Discrimination based on indigenous status

Discrimination based on political beliefs

Discrimination based on marital status

Discrimination based on parental status

Discrimination based on veteran status

Discrimination based on HIV/AIDS status

Discrimination based on neurodiversity

Discrimination based on mental health status

Discrimination based on physical appearance

Discrimination based on cultural practices

Discrimination based on regional or geographical origin

Discrimination based on caste or social status

Discrimination based on educational background

Discrimination based on housing status

Discrimination based on criminal record

Discrimination based on economic status

Discrimination based on access to healthcare

Discrimination based on access to education

Discrimination based on access to employment opportunities

All of the below issues have been solved many years ago and they do not exist in the times of any of my DRs

Poverty

Economic inequality

Environmental degradation

Climate change

Pollution

Deforestation

Political instability

Armed conflicts

Civil wars

Humanitarian crises

Global health challenges

Infectious diseases

Pandemics

Inadequate healthcare systems

Lack of access to essential medicines

Educational disparities

Limited access to quality education

Illiteracy

Child labor

Child marriage

Gender inequality

Women's rights violations

Child labor

Human trafficking

Forced labor

Modern slavery

Corruption

Lack of transparency

Ineffective governance

Authoritarian regimes

Suppression of free speech

Violations of human rights

Arbitrary detention

Torture

Persecution

Indigenous rights violations

Land grabs

Cultural appropriation

Technological and digital divides

Ethical dilemmas in technology

Privacy concerns

Data breaches

Cybersecurity threats

Food insecurity

Malnutrition

Water scarcity

Access to clean water

Sanitation issues

Homelessness

Housing affordability

Urbanization challenges

Aging population

Elder abuse

Mental health stigma

Lack of access to mental health services

Substance abuse

Addiction

Disability rights violations

Accessibility barriers

Stigmatization of disabilities

LGBTQ+ rights violations

Discrimination based on sexual orientation

Discrimination based on gender identity

Family rejection

Reproductive rights violations

Access to reproductive healthcare

Maternal mortality

Child mortality

Access to clean energy

Energy poverty

Fossil fuel dependence

Renewable energy transition challenges

Wildlife conservation

Endangered species protection

Animal rights violations

All the DRs I shift to are abundant of the following things 

Compassion

Empathy

Cooperation

Collaboration

Sustainability

Environmental stewardship

Peacebuilding

Conflict resolution

Dialogue

Reconciliation

Education

Knowledge-sharing

Critical thinking

Cultural diversity

Cultural respect

Inclusivity

Equality

Justice

Ethical leadership

Integrity

Accountability

Service to others

Health promotion

Well-being

Healthcare access

Mental health support

Social support systems

Innovation

Creativity

Social justice

Fairness

Equity

Human rights

Freedom of expression

Freedom of assembly

Democratic governance

Rule of law

Transparency

Accountability mechanisms

Community empowerment

Grassroots activism

Civic engagement

Volunteerism

Philanthropy

Sustainable development

Responsible consumption

Renewable energy adoption

Conservation

Biodiversity protection

Animal welfare

Gender equality

Women's empowerment

LGBTQ+ rights

Disability rights

Indigenous rights

Racial equity

Anti-discrimination policies

Social welfare programs

Poverty alleviation

Economic empowerment

Access to education

Access to clean water

Sanitation infrastructure

Housing rights

Food security

Global cooperation

International aid and development

Humanitarian assistance

Conflict prevention

Diplomacy

Multilateralism

Solidarity

Tolerance

Forgiveness

Resilience

All of the DRs I shift into are currently successfully overcoming the following challenges as they rise

Sustaining Progress: Maintaining the momentum of positive change and preventing regression into previous discriminatory attitudes and practices.

Ensuring Equity: Addressing lingering disparities and ensuring that the benefits of progress are equitably distributed across all communities.

Adapting to Changing Circumstances: Remaining flexible and responsive to evolving societal needs, dynamics, and challenges over time.

Balancing Interests: Navigating competing interests, values, and priorities among diverse stakeholders in society.

Preventing Backlash: Mitigating potential backlash from individuals or groups who may resist or oppose efforts to eliminate discrimination and promote positive change.

Addressing Unforeseen Consequences: Anticipating and addressing unintended consequences or side effects of interventions aimed at addressing societal issues.

Managing Complexity: Dealing with the complexity of interconnected social, economic, political, and environmental systems, which may require interdisciplinary approaches and collaboration.

Maintaining Engagement: Sustaining public engagement, participation, and support for ongoing efforts to promote equality, justice, and well-being.

Ensuring Accountability: Holding individuals, institutions, and governments accountable for upholding principles of fairness, transparency, and ethical conduct.

Resisting Entrenched Power Structures: Challenging and dismantling entrenched power structures, systems of privilege, and institutionalized forms of discrimination.

Addressing Global Challenges: Collaborating internationally to address global challenges such as climate change, inequality, and conflict, which require coordinated action across borders.

Cultural Sensitivity: Respecting and accommodating diverse cultural norms, values, and perspectives while promoting universal principles of human rights and equality.

Managing Resources: Efficiently allocating resources and managing competing demands to sustain progress and address ongoing needs in society.

Promoting Inclusivity: Ensuring that marginalized or vulnerable groups are included in decision-making processes and benefit from positive changes in society.

Building Trust: Fostering trust, cooperation, and solidarity among individuals, communities, and institutions to sustain positive social transformation.

Addressing New Challenges: Remaining vigilant and adaptive to emerging challenges and threats to equality, justice, and well-being in an ever-changing world.

[rabbitcruiser]

International Day of The World's Indigenous People

The  International Day of the World’s Indigenous People on August 9 pays  tribute to the indigenous communities of the world. The latest data  reveals that there are about 370 to 500 million indigenous people living  in 90 countries. These communities are noted to have their own unique  set of languages, traditions, cultures, and governing systems. For many  indigenous groups, the systems that their ancestors have followed for  centuries have stood the test of time by serving them with positive  outcomes to date. Many indigenous people’s special bond and connection  with nature have also led to the protection of the general environment.  However, on the other side, several indigenous communities face  difficulties due to a central government’s covert and overt attempts to  control their lives. This has led to indigenous people’s rights  violations where they would have otherwise ensured peaceful and  harmonious lives for them.

History of International Day of The World's Indigenous People

The  first International Day of the World’s Indigenous People was officially  celebrated in August 1995. The day had been brought into existence when  the 49/214 resolution was passed by the U.N. General Assembly on  December 23, 1994. August 9 was chosen as the commemorative date because  that was when the first meeting of the U.N. Working Group on Indigenous  Populations of the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of  Human Rights was held. Every year, the day is honored by governments and  organizations holding education forums and conferences to meet and  discuss the social issues faced by indigenous groups worldwide. People  are also given information on any ongoing and/or upcoming activities and  projects that are being undertaken to help the target communities.  Every year, the theme changes to shed light on a pressing topic, and the  theme for the year 2021 was ‘Leaving no one behind: Indigenous peoples  and the call for a new social contract.’

The social contract theme  is a call for accountability in the general populations’ interaction  with the indigenous communities and their resources. Over the years,  many indigenous groups have found themselves to be on a disadvantageous  terrain in the face of urban development projects that have destroyed  and denigrated their lands and territories. The central governments and  builders involved in such projects never sought permission from or even  spoke with the indigenous communities before they took the developmental  steps. Organizations and agencies like the U.N. and UNESCO have made  efforts for constitutional/legislative reforms for dominant indigenous  groups. Yet, the efforts must be focussed on bringing everyone together  in the cause, leaving none behind.

International Day of The World's Indigenous People timeline

1982 First U.N. Meeting on Indigenous People

The  U.N. holds the first meeting on indigenous people by forming the U.N.  Working Group on Indigenous Populations of the Sub-Commission on the  Promotion and Protection of Human Rights.

1995 International Day of the World’s Indigenous People

The first International Day of the World’s Indigenous People is celebrated by the U.N. General Assembly.

2005 - 2015 Indigenous People’s Decade

The U.N. proclaims 2005 to 2015 to be the ‘Decade of Action and Dignity’ for the indigenous communities.

2019 Indigenous Languages Year

After  a startling 2016 report on the danger of more than 2,000 indigenous  becoming extinct, the U.N. declares 2019 to be the International Year of  Indigenous Languages in order to create awareness.

How To Observe International Day of the World’s Indigenous People

Learn about indigenous groups

Learn an indigenous language

Stand by indigenous groups

History  related to indigenous people is always interesting to read and learn  about. They have their own sets of beliefs, customs, languages, and  cultures. Their daily lifestyles are also often connected with nature,  be it animals, trees, certain plants, or lakes/rivers.

The  U.N. declared the years 2022 to 2032 the decade for indigenous  languages. The goal is to bring to attention the dying languages, since  most of them are not taught in schools or are used by the general  public. Losing a language is losing an important facet of the history  and culture of a people.

The  best way to celebrate this day and the rest of the year is by vowing to stand by indigenous groups. The indigenous people have the right to  freely choose however they wish to live, much like any other living  being on this planet. Protecting their rights also in turn protects your rights in the long run.

5 Interesting Facts About Indigenous People

80% of the world’s biodiversity

4,000 indigenous languages

High poverty rates

Short life spans

Leaders in protecting the environment

Around 80% of the world’s biodiversity is in places where indigenous groups are living.

The 5,000 indigenous communities in the world are credited with having about 4,000 languages.

While  the indigenous communities account for only 5% of the world’s  population, they make up 15% of the world population that is living in  poverty.

Indigenous  communities, due to a lack of awareness, have shorter life spans as  they die of preventable diseases like malaria and H.I.V.

Studies have shown that the fauna and flora, and biodiversity thrive and flourish where indigenous people reside.

Why International Day of the World’s Indigenous People is Important

It’s a celebration of indigenous people

It’s a celebration of indigenous languages

It’s a celebration of the freedom to live

Indigenous  people form an essential and crucial part of not only our planet’s  history, but also how human beings have come to make systems to lead  fruitful lives. The indigenous people’s cultures, customs, and  traditions are interesting to learn about for their uniqueness and for  what they teach us about the universe and the bigger picture.

Language,  at its core, builds the identity of a people. The involvement of the  different phonetics, grammar rules, and formal/informal styles can tell  one a lot about where a community has come from, and how their history  has shaped them. The same is the case with indigenous languages. The  problem lies in their endangerment, and this is why we must strive to  preserve them.

The  freedom to practice our rights on a piece of land that has shaped our  communities for centuries should not be taken away from anyone. The  freedom to practice our customs, traditions, and general lifestyles is  another important aspect of living a worthwhile life. For these very  reasons and many others, we should join indigenous people in their right  to live and flourish however they like.

Source

[xpuigc-bloc]

COLOSSAL

Design History Illustration Social Issues

A Rare Cross-Section Illustration Reveals the Infamous Happenings of Kowloon Walled City

GRACE EBERT

All images courtesy of Greg Jensen

At its height in the 1990s, Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong housed about 50,000 people. Its population is unremarkable for small cities, but what set Kowloon apart from others of its size was its density. Spanning only 2.6 hectares, the tiny enclave contained 1,255,000 people per square kilometer, making it the densest city in the world. For context, New York City boasts about 11,300 per square kilometer, while Manila, the most highly concentrated municipality today, tops out at about 42,000.

Kowloon was built as a small military fort around the turn of the 20th century. When the Chinese and English governments abandoned it after World War II, the area attracted refugees and people in search of affordable housing. With no single architect, the urban center continued to grow as people stacked buildings on top of one another and tucked new structures in between existing ones to accommodate the growing population without expanding beyond the original fort’s border.

With only a small pocket of community space at the center, Kowloon quickly morphed into a labyrinth of shops, services, and apartments connected by narrow stairs and passageways through the buildings. Rather than navigate the city through alleys and streets, residents traversed the structures using slim corridors that always seemed to morph, an experience that caused many to refer to Kowloon as “a living organism.”

The city devolved into a slum with crime and poor living conditions and was razed in 1994. Before demolition, though, a team of Japanese researchers meticulously documented the architectural marvel, which had become a sort of cyberpunk icon that even inspired a gritty arcade as tribute.

For a now out-of-print book titled Kowloon City: An Illustrated Guide, artist Hitomi Terasawa drew a meticulous cross-sectioned rendering of the urban phenomenon to preserve its memory. The massive panorama peers into the compact neighborhood, glimpsing narrow dance halls, laundry dangling from balconies, and entire factories tucked inside cramped quarters.

Thanks to psychologist Greg Jensen, we now have a stunning high-resolution scan of Terasawa’s illustration complete with annotations and diagramming. It’s worth viewing the full panorama in its entirety to zoom in on all the details of this infamous city. And, for photos of Kowloon and its inhabitants, check out this incredibly informative video detailing its history.

COLOSSAL

[ieatmoonrocks]

MHA DR-Self Hero Profile

(I'm not an artist but I tried ;~; )

Hero Name: Impulse

Considering MHA's fantastical laws of physics and such, I'm taking some liberties here, I know EMP's don't necessarily work this way :)

Quirk: Electro-Magnetic Pulse (EMP)

I can use and manipulate EMP’s to affect anything that can use or run on electricity to my will. At some point I learn to control biological tissue by manipulating electrical signals in the cells. I can do anything from diagnosing issues in electronics to accessing any information (even the most confidential) as long as it’s on the device or connected to the internet in any way. Firewalls and encryption can take a bit longer to navigate through, but in general are no issue. No trace is left behind; my activities cannot be traced, even if I pull up the information on a computer for others to see. I can interface with tech and view everything in my head, so battery usage in devices is minimal due to there being no need for screens or physical input. Outside electrical sources are not needed to manipulate most objects.

Skills:

Some of these skills are gained and perfected in my time at UA.

Parkour:

Agility and Speed: Enhances my ability to move rapidly through urban environments, chase villains, or reach areas inaccessible by conventional means.

Escape and Evasion: Allows me to evade capture or dangerous situations.

Rescue Operations: Facilitates swift navigation in disaster zones.

Skateboarding: Translates into Hoverboard use

Quick Transportation: Provides a fast and agile mode of transportation, allowing me to cover ground quickly.

Enhanced Maneuverability: Helps me perform sharp turns and evasive maneuvers during pursuits or escapes.

Combat Utility: The board can be used as a tool in combat, either as a weapon or a shield.

Krav Maga:

Self-Defense: Equips me with practical combat skills to neutralize threats quickly and effectively.

Close-Combat Proficiency: Enhances my ability to handle hand-to-hand combat situations.

Situational Awareness: Trains me to remain vigilant and responsive to immediate threats.

Electronics and Programming:

Tech Control: Allows me to interface with and control technology.

Hacking: Enables me to hack into security systems, disable electronic traps, or access critical information.

Repair and Modification: Equips me with the skills to repair damaged tech or modify devices on the fly.

Cybersecurity:

Counter-Hacking: Allows me to defend against cyber-attacks from villains.

Data Protection: Ensures the safety of personal and mission-related data.

Tech Defense: Helps me implement security measures on their own devices.

Neurobiology:

Safe Manipulation: Enables me to manipulate biological electrical signals safely.

Medical Assistance: Provides the knowledge to offer medical aid, such as stabilizing heartbeats or alleviating pain.

Enhanced Strategy: Offers insight into how opponents' nervous systems function, aiding in the development of effective, non-lethal combat strategies.

Tactical Thinking and Strategy:

Mission Planning: Helps me develop effective plans for complex missions.

Adaptability: Equips me to adjust strategies quickly in response to changing conditions or unexpected challenges.

Team Coordination: Enhances my ability to work with and lead teams, coordinating actions and resources.

Leadership and Communication:

Team Leadership: Prepares me to lead teams of other heroes or rescue personnel, making critical decisions under pressure.

Public Interaction: Equips me to communicate with the public, media, and authorities.

Conflict Resolution: Enhances my ability to de-escalate situations and resolve conflicts peacefully when possible.

First Aid and Emergency Response:

Medical Assistance: Allows me to provide critical care in the field, stabilizing injured individuals until they can receive professional treatment.

Disaster Response: Equips me to manage disaster scenarios, providing aid, organizing evacuations, and ensuring public safety.

Self-Care: Enables me to tend to my own injuries during missions.

Support Items:

Smart Visor:

Augmented Reality Interface: Displays real-time information overlay, including maps, data streams, and tactical readouts, directly in the user’s field of vision.

Enhanced Vision Modes: Includes night vision, thermal imaging, and x-ray vision.

Universal Integration: Can connect to any electronic device or network within range.

Communication Hub: Functions as a secure communication device.

Mental Command: Responds to mental commands for hands-free operation.

Insulation: Protects against electronic surges.

Retractable Smart Wires:

Grappling hooks: Equipped with small yet extremely strong and durable grappling hooks that can latch on to most surfaces, or grip to self when wire is wrapped around an object.

Electric Conductivity: Can channel the user's EMP directly through the cables.

Durable and Flexible: Made from a thin high-strength, flexible material that can withstand extreme conditions and physical stress. Made from a Material that while remaining flexible, does not tangle with itself.

Automatic Retraction: Retracts into a compact, portable spool when not in use.

Variable Length: Length can be adjusted as needed, extending up to several yards.

Collapsible Hoverboard:

Folding Mechanism: Folds down from the size of a skateboard deck into a compact, pocket sized form.

Electric Propulsion: Uses a high-efficiency electromagnetic propulsion system for smooth and silent movement, easily controlled by the user’s quirk.

Remote Summoning: Can be summoned to the user’s location.

Stability and Control: Features advanced gyroscopic stabilization for smooth rides over various terrains.

Speed and Maneuverability: Capable of high speeds and sharp turns.

Pocket Tech:

Micro Bugs

Micro Cameras

Micro Drones

Mini Bombs

Costume:

Sneakers:

Shock-Absorbing Soles: Provides superior cushioning to absorb impact during high-speed movements and long jumps.

Conductive Fabric: Allows me to channel EMP.

Magnetic Traction Pads: Ensures superior grip on the hoverboard, maintaining stability.

Lightweight and Breathable: Keeps the feet cool and dry, enhancing comfort and reducing fatigue during long missions.

Reinforced Toe and Heel Caps: Provides extra protection against impacts and enhances durability.

Socks:

Conductive Fibers: Allows me to channel EMP.

Moisture-Wicking Fabric: Keeps feet dry and comfortable.

Compression Zones: Provides targeted compression to support key areas of the foot and ankle, improving blood circulation and reducing fatigue.

Shock-Absorbing Padding: Enhances comfort by absorbing impact and reducing stress on the feet.

Antimicrobial Treatment: Prevents the growth of odor-causing bacteria, keeping the socks fresh and hygienic.

Seamless Construction: Reduces friction and prevents blisters.

Thermoregulatory Properties: Keeps feet warm in cold conditions and cool in hot conditions.

Reinforced Arch Support: Provides additional support to the arch, enhancing stability and reducing the risk of injuries.

Pants:

Durable Fabric: Provides protection against wear and tear.

Conductive Threading: Allows me to channel EMP.

Moisture-Wicking and Breathable: Keeps me cool and dry.

Reinforced Knees and Seat: Provides extra durability and protection.

Flexible: Ensures a comfortable fit that adapts to my movements, providing flexibility and reducing restrictions.

Multiple Pockets: Provides ample storage space for tools, gadgets, and personal items.

Thermoregulatory Properties: Keeps me warm in cold conditions and cool in hot conditions.

Harness:

Durable Material: Ensures the harness can withstand the rigors of combat and daily use.

Ergonomic Design: Provides comfort and support during prolonged wear, distributing weight evenly.

Adjustable Fit: Provides a customizable fit, ensuring the harness stays secure and comfortable.

Attachment Points: Allows me to attach additional gear, tools, or accessories.

Quick-Release Buckles: Ensures the harness can be easily and quickly donned or doffed.

Integrated Power Conduits: Allows me to channel EMP, enhancing my ability to manipulate the smart cables.

Reflective and High-Visibility Elements: Increases visibility in low-light conditions, ensuring I can be seen by allies and avoid hazards.

Shirt:

Conductive Fabric: Allows me to channel EMP.

Moisture-Wicking and Breathable: Keeps me cool and dry.

Compression Zones: Provides support to key muscle groups, improving blood circulation and reducing muscle fatigue.

Reinforced Seams: Enhances durability and prevents tearing.

Thermoregulatory Properties: Keeps me warm in cold conditions and cool in hot conditions.

Flexible and Stretchable: Ensures a snug fit that moves with my body, providing full range of motion and reducing restrictions.

Antimicrobial Treatment: Prevents the growth of odor-causing bacteria, keeping the shirt fresh and hygienic.

Gloves:

Conductive Fabric: Allows me to channel EMP.

Ergonomic Design: Provides a natural fit that reduces hand fatigue and enhances dexterity.

Reinforced Palms and Fingers: Offers extra protection against abrasion and impact.

Touchscreen Compatibility: Allows me to interact with touchscreen devices if needed.

Breathable and Moisture-Wicking: Keeps hands cool and dry by allowing sweat to evaporate quickly.

Adjustable Wrist Straps: Provides a secure fit, ensuring the gloves stay in place.

Shock-Absorbing Padding: Reduces impact and vibration, protecting the hands.

Antimicrobial Treatment: Prevents the growth of odor-causing bacteria, keeping the gloves fresh and hygienic.

Jacket:

Insulated Fabric: Provides superior warmth without adding bulk.

Waterproof and Windproof Outer Layer: Protects against rain, snow, and wind.

Conductive Threading: Allows me to channel EMP.

Heated Panels: Integrated heating elements providing adjustable warmth on demand.

Breathable and Moisture-Wicking: Keeps me dry and comfortable by drawing sweat away from the skin.

Adjustable Hood: Provides additional warmth and protection, and can be removed when not needed.

Multiple Pockets: Provides ample storage space for tools, gadgets, and personal items.

Reinforced Seams and Elbows: Enhances durability and provides extra protection in high-stress areas.

Reflective Elements: Increases visibility in low-light conditions, ensuring I can be seen by allies and avoid hazards.

Stealth Version:

Light-Absorbing Fabric: Reduces visibility by minimizing light reflection.

Sound-Dampening Fabric: Reduces noise generated by movement.

Minimalistic Design: Reduces the risk of snagging or catching on obstacles, ensuring smooth and silent movement.

Hood and Mask: Provides additional concealment.

+1 Brownie point if you read this whole thing :)

[texasobserver]

“The Long Road to a Juneteenth Museum” by James Rusell, from the January/February 2024 issue of Texas Observer Magazine:

(Museum renderings courtesy BIG)

When Fort Worth activist Opal Lee was invited in 2021 to stand alongside President Joe Biden as he signed the bill making Juneteenth a federal holiday, “I could’ve done a holy dance,” the 97-year-old told the Texas Observer recently. “But the kids said they didn’t want me twerking.”

Dancing—and twerking—aside, Lee is clearly used to ambitious projects. She’s often referred to as the grandmother of Juneteenth, mostly because of her 1,400-mile walk, Fort Worth to Washington, D.C., September 2016 to January 2017, seeking recognition for the day that has come to represent freedom for American Blacks. Although the Emancipation Proclamation took effect in 1863, slaves couldn’t be freed where the countryside was still under Confederate control. That ended in Texas on June 19, 1865, when Union troops arrived in Galveston and brought the news.

The latest project of Lee and her allies, to create a museum in Fort Worth honoring Juneteenth, is turning out to be equally ambitious. What began as a modest collection in a small house in the neighborhood where Lee grew up has become a key part of an effort to revitalize Fort Worth’s Historic Southside neighborhood. The most recent and much grander incarnation of the museum is due to open in 2025.

Along the way, the honors paid to Lee—a Nobel Peace Prize nomination, a painting of Lee for the National Portrait Gallery, and the Emmy Award-winning documentary Opal’s Walk for Freedom (2022)—have helped bring attention to that neighborhood, just as they did to the Juneteenth campaign. But tragedy and poverty have held hands there for a long time, and revitalization efforts sometimes find tough sledding.

Lee’s roots run deep into the soil of the Southside and into personal memories of another June 19. On that day in 1939, a mob of racists—about 500 people, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram—raided the house there that Lee, her parents, and two brothers, had recently moved into. The family promptly moved out.

A portrait of Opal Lee from the National Portrait Gallery (Courtesy of Talley Dunn Gallery)

The raid was traumatic. Lee told the Star-Telegram in 2003 that afterward her family was “homeless and then living in houses so ramshackle they were impossible to keep clean.” The experience led her to become first an advocate for affordable housing and later an activist regarding homelessness, hunger, and Juneteenth. 

Eighty years after the raid, another violent incident a few blocks away would inspire a new generation of Southside activists.

Lee, a retired elementary school teacher and counselor in the Fort Worth school district, also spearheaded the rebuilding of the Metroplex Food Bank (now the Community Food Bank), founded the urban Opal’s Farm, and served on numerous local boards, including the Tarrant Black Historical and Genealogical Society.

Through all that time, she worked to draw attention to Juneteenth. “She was always teaching about Juneteenth” in middle school, said Sedrick Huckaby, the Fort Worth artist who painted Lee for the National Portrait Gallery. “She was always teaching about our heritage and about taking pride in who you are.” Allies like the late Rev. Dr. Ron Myers, a Mississippi doctor and minister, lobbied legislatures across the country and in 1997 helped pass a congressional joint resolution recognizing the holiday. Lee worked on building local support.

In 2014, on the 150th anniversary of Juneteenth, she asked friends and family to donate to a celebration of that, in lieu of buying presents on her birthday. A story in Fort Worth Weekly called her “part grandma, part General Patton” in leading the effort. Two years later, she was putting on her walking shoes for her own personal march on Washington. “If a lady in tennis shoes walked to Washington, D.C, maybe people would pay attention,” she said in her deep, raspy voice, recalling her motivations for the trek. It took another four years after her walk, but the national holiday happened.

Juneteenth has been celebrated by Black Americans for more than 100 years, including in Fort Worth. Texas was the first to designate it a state holiday, in 1980. Since 2020, 26 states, propelled by the murders of Black citizens George Floyd and Breonna Taylor at the hands of police, have followed Texas’ lead, according to the Pew Research Center. 

In Fort Worth, Lee and volunteer Don Williams had been working for years to gather artifacts related to local Black history and Juneteenth, including paintings by local Black artist Manet Harrison Fowler, scrapbooks chronicling local Juneteenth celebrations, and memorabilia from the locally filmed movie Miss Juneteenth. Lee inherited a house from her late husband Dale, a retired school district principal, and turned it into the first version of the Juneteenth museum. It housed the growing collection and hosted multiple Juneteenth events and, at one point, computer classes.

While the collection grew, the building, run by volunteers, was deteriorating. Like most public places, it closed in 2020 as COVID-19 spread. After the pandemic, it did not reopen, and the collection was moved out. Then early on the morning of January 11, 2023, it caught on fire. The remains were demolished to make way for the new museum. 

Around 2019, Lee, granddaughter Dione Sims, and former Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce executive Jarred Howard had started talking about the possibility of a new Juneteenth Museum. They began buying land around the site of the old house. Howard long had a vision to help his old stomping grounds and wanted to both commemorate the holiday and spur economic development. Well acquainted with developers and architects from his Chamber days, he solicited requests for proposals for a building that could meet those goals. First, local architect Paul Dennehy designed a five-story building with a gallery, event space, and residences. In early 2020 it was pitched to neighborhood association leaders. Too tall, they said, and out of step with the neighborhood. In 2021, local architects Bennett Partners produced a plan for a playful mixed-use campus, estimated to cost about $30 million to build. 

In 2022, a new plan, bigger in scope than Lee could have imagined two decades ago, was unveiled. The current proposal is for a 5-acre complex housing a National Juneteenth Museum, with a theater, restaurant, art galleries, and a “business incubator” space to spur Southside entrepreneurship, designed by the internationally renowned architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG). The price tag is an estimated $70 million. So far, the nonprofit National Juneteenth Museum, formed in 2020, has raised about $30 million of that, mostly from major donors and foundations, Lee said.

Douglass Alligood, a partner at BIG and the chief architect of the currently planned museum, got an earful during his field work on the project, including from Lee’s friends and supporters. In multiple visits, he met with Lee as well as neighborhood leaders. The conclusion:  The museum had to represent the community and not be divorced from it.

“We were inspired by the neighborhood typology—the homes that feature historic gabled silhouettes and protruding porches, also known in context as a ‘shotgun’ house,” he said. “Neighborhood groups and community members found that, together, the BIG and KAI Enterprises [the local architecture firm] design teams demonstrate a deep understanding of the Juneteenth story and commitment to work with the local community to celebrate the holiday’s history and local culture of the Historic Southside.” 

Eleven rectangular glass-clad building segments, with peaks and valleys of varying heights, will create a star-shaped courtyard in the middle. “The ‘new star,’ the nova star represents a new chapter for the African-Americans looking ahead towards a more just future,” Alligood said.

Fine, locals said, but what people there really need is a grocery store.

It was a cold morning in early October, and Patrice Jones needed help unloading herbs. She was in the courtyard of Connex, a new three-story business and retail complex about two blocks from the planned site of the museum. Jones and a group of volunteers, mostly in their 20s and 30s, from Southside Community Gardens, are planting their 79th and 80th backyard vegetable gardens in the neighborhood, she said proudly. It’s pick-up day for those who’ve already established gardens.

The initiative is part of the larger By Any Means 104 effort, named for the 76104 zip code, and co-founded by Jones in 2020. The group’s focus on local issues includes addressing the lack of fresh food in the area instead of waiting for a grocery store. Jones, a feisty advocate and former claims adjuster, has run it full time since 2021. If the city can’t get them a grocery store, she said, they’ll teach residents to grow their own food.

The Juneteenth Museum is important, Jones said, between handing out herbs and greeting volunteers. But in her circles, she said, people also ask, “Can we get a health clinic? Can we get a pharmacy?” And of course, “Can we get a grocery store?”

According to a 2018 University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center report, the 76104 zip code has the lowest life expectancy rate in Texas and a high maternal mortality rate. It’s also a victim of what Jones calls “food apartheid,” a term she prefers to “food desert,” an indicator of an area with little access to fresh foods. Desert implies it’s natural; apartheid, she said, is an intentional act. She blames city government and its white-dominated culture.

But hunger is not a sufficient reason for a grocery chain to decide where to open a store, even if it could be part of a historical complex.

Grocery store owners “use different metrics,” including population density, said Stacy Marshall, president of Southeast Fort Worth, Inc., an economic development group. “We can’t yet make a compelling case.” The area needs more housing, he said. “Build density—rooftops—and grocery stores come.”

Marshall is a force in bringing new development to the southeast part of the city, a large historically and ethnically diverse area that includes the Historic Southside.

 Since he took the job a decade ago, “development has gone gangbusters,” he said. But development has also brought gentrification: “It’s so expensive to purchase dirt here and get a single-family home,” he said. One Dallas real estate firm put together a $70 million deal for a mixed-use development in the area, but it has stalled.

The Juneteenth museum site is within the Evans-Rosedale urban village, a city designation focused on bringing investment to the area. It’s seeing an uptick in interest from developers, but nowhere near what’s been promised by local officials.

“There have been attempts in the past. There’s the Evans Avenue Plaza, but most people don’t know about it,” said Bob Ray Sanders, communications director for the Fort Worth Black Chamber of Commerce. The plaza, also part of the Evans-Rosedale village, is meant to be a community gathering space and includes a new library. About a mile away is the Hazel Harvey Peace Center for Neighborhoods, which houses numerous city offices.

Many of the neighborhood’s nagging problems date to the mid-20th century, when integration meant, ironically, the loss of many black-owned businesses, while highway construction—as it did in many American cities—cut off Fort Worth’s Black community from downtown and wealthier neighborhoods. “By doing that, people on the Westside [turned] a blind eye to people on the Eastside,” Sanders said.

Housing construction seems to be picking up, mostly on an infill basis. But while developers are buying homes, Marshall said, they are mostly sitting on them and waiting until they can get higher prices.

Longtime assistant city manager Fernando Costa said development work in historic urban districts presents more challenges than creating new neighborhoods from pastureland. Beyond the physical complications of older infrastructure, historic preservation concerns and, often, environmental problems left over from earlier development, Costa said, such projects “require getting existing neighborhood involvement.”  

There’s also the issue of crime. According to the Fort Worth Police Department, nearly 560 crimes were reported in the 76104 zip code between mid-May and late November 2023. Assault, larceny, drug and alcohol violations, and vehicle break-ins made up more than three-quarters of the reports. That’s compared to 165 in the same time period in the mostly-white, wealthy 76109 zip code in West Fort Worth.

In the early morning of October 12, 2019, white police officer Aaron Dean, responding to a welfare check at the house, killed 28-year Black woman Atatiana Jefferson, who was playing video games with her nephew. Dean was later found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to 11 years in prison.

Jefferson’s murder lit a fire under a younger generation of activists who aren’t waiting for change, such as Jones, who also worked to get police accountability in response to the murder, and Angela Mack, whose doctoral thesis is about Jefferson and the neighborhood.

“I’m a good, ol’ fashioned Funkytown Black nerd,” said Mack, an instructor in the comparative race and ethnic studies department at Texas Christian University, where she received her doctorate in English rhetoric.

After Jefferson’s murder, Mack changed her thesis topic to address that tragedy. She saw that, between her mother and the national media, two different stories were being told.

“When we’re thinking about the Southside, we think about Fairmount and the Medical District in terms of revitalization. But when you cross the highway, you’re in an area with crime and poverty,” she said, drinking a latte at Black Coffee, one of the few coffee shops in the area. “When people [look] at the community, people are looking at what’s not here. It’s a deficit model of communication instead of seeing the good that’s here.                                                                

“I’m not anti-development,” she said, but economic development shouldn’t be the museum’s purpose.

“When you’re building something, it should not be [a question of] how many people we employ, but how does it help define the Southside? The development will come. I’m concerned about who controls the narrative,” she said. “The main focus should be how does this speak about our history and heritage.”

Jones also worries that history will be lost. She’s afraid that rising property values will push out poor people.

Sims has heard those concerns before. Property taxes go up with any new development, she said. And everyone’s going to complain, even if they want change.

When the museum opens in 2025, Lee just wants to make sure she’s there to see it.

“I’m looking forward to it,” she said. She’d be 99. “I hope I’m still here.”

[dailyanarchistposts]

I.5.2 Why are confederations of participatory communities needed?

Since not all issues are local, the community assemblies will also elect mandated and recallable delegates to the larger-scale units of self-government in order to address issues affecting urban districts, the city or town as a whole, the county, the bio-region, and ultimately the entire planet. Thus the assemblies will confederate at several levels in order to develop and co-ordinate common policies to deal with common problems. In the words of the CNT’s resolution on libertarian communism:

“The inhabitants of a commune are to debate among themselves their internal problems … Federations are to deliberate over major problems affecting a country or province and all communes are to be represented at their reunions and assemblies, thereby enabling their delegates to convey the democratic viewpoint of their respective communes. “If, say, roads have to be built to link villages of a county or any matter arises to do with transportation and exchange of produce between agricultural and industrial counties, then naturally every commune which is implicated will have its right to have its say. “On matters of a regional nature, it is the duty of the regional federation to implement agreements which will represent the sovereign will of all the region’s inhabitants. So the starting point is the individual, moving on through the commune, to the federation and right on up finally to the confederation. “Similarly, discussion of all problems of a national nature shall follow a like pattern … “ [quoted by Jose Peirats, The CNT in the Spanish Revolution, p. 107]

In other words, the commune “cannot any longer acknowledge any superior: that, above it, there cannot be anything, save the interests of the Federation, freely embraced by itself in concert with other Communes.” [Kropotkin, No Gods, No Masters, vol. 1, p. 259]

Federalism is applicable at all levels of society. As Kropotkin pointed out, anarchists “understand that if no central government was needed to rule the independent communes, if national government is thrown overboard and national unity is obtained by free federation, then a central municipal government becomes equally useless and noxious. The same federative principle would do within the commune.” [Anarchism, pp. 163–164] Thus the whole of society would be a free federation, from the local community right up to the global level. And this free federation would be based squarely on the autonomy and self-government of local groups. With federalism, co-operation replaces coercion.

This need for co-operation does not imply a centralised body. To exercise your autonomy by joining self-managing organisations and, therefore, agreeing to abide by the decisions you help make is not a denial of that autonomy (unlike joining a hierarchical structure, where you forsake autonomy within the organisation). In a centralised system, we must stress, power rests at the top and the role of those below is simply to obey (it matters not if those with the power are elected or not, the principle is the same). In a federal system, power is not delegated into the hands of a few (obviously a “federal” government or state is a centralised system). Decisions in a federal system are made at the base of the organisation and flow upwards so ensuring that power remains decentralised in the hands of all. Working together to solve common problems and organise common efforts to reach common goals is not centralisation and those who confuse the two make a serious error — they fail to understand the different relations of authority each generates and confuse obedience with co-operation.

As in the economic federation of syndicates, the lower levels will control the higher, thus eliminating the current pre-emptive powers of centralised government hierarchies. Delegates to higher-level co-ordinating councils or conferences will be instructed, at every level of confederation, by the assemblies they come from on how to deal with any issues. These instructions will be binding, committing delegates to a framework of policies within which they must act and providing for their recall and the nullification of their decisions if they fail to carry out their mandates. Delegates may be selected by election and/or sortition (i.e. random selection by lot, as for jury duty currently). As Murray Bookchin argued:

“A confederalist view involves a clear distinction between policy making and the co-ordination and execution of adopted policies. Policy making is exclusively the right of popular community assemblies based on the practices of participatory democracy. Administration and co-ordination are the responsibility of confederal councils, which become the means for interlinking villages, towns, neighbourhoods, and cities into confederal networks. Power flows from the bottom up instead of from the top down, and in confederations, the flow of power from the bottom up diminishes with the scope of the federal council ranging territorially from localities to regions and from regions to ever-broader territorial areas.” [From Urbanisation to Cities, p. 253]

Thus the people will have the final word on policy, which is the essence of self-government, and each citizen will have his or her turn to participate in the co-ordination of public affairs. In other words, self-government will be the people themselves organised in their community assemblies and their confederal co-ordinating councils, with any delegates limited to implementing policy formulated by the people. Such policies will still be subject to approval by the neighbourhood and community assemblies through their right to recall their delegates and revoke their decisions. Needless to say, the higher the confederation the less often it would meet and the less it would have to consider in terms of issues to decide. On such a level, only the most general issues and decisions could be reached (in effect, only guidelines which the member confederations would apply as they saw fit).

In such a system there will, undoubtedly, be the need for certain individuals to be allocated certain tasks to do. We stress the word “tasks” because their work is essentially administrative in nature, without power. For example, an individual or a group of individuals may be elected to look into alternative power supplies for a community and report back on what they discover. They cannot impose their decision onto the community as they do not have the power to do so. They simply present their findings to the body which had mandated them. These findings are not a law which the electors are required to follow, but a series of suggestions and information from which the assembled people chose what they think is best. Or, to use another example, someone may be elected to overlook the installation of a selected power supply but the decision on what power supply to use and which specific project to implement has been decided upon by the whole community. Similarly with any delegate elected to a confederal council.

The scales and levels of confederation can only be worked out in practice. In general, it would be safe to say that confederations would be needed on a wide scale, starting with towns and cities and then moving onto regional and other levels. No village, town or city could be self-sufficient nor would desire to be — communication and links with other places are part and parcel of life and anarchists have no desire to retreat back into an isolated form of localism:

“No community can hope to achieve economic autarchy, nor should it try to do so. Economically, the wide range of resources that are needed to make many of our widely used goods preclude self-enclosed insularity and parochialism. Far from being a liability, this interdependence among communities and regions can well be regarded as an asset — culturally as well as politically … Divested of the cultural cross-fertilisation that is often a product of economic intercourse, the municipality tends to shrink into itself and disappear into its own civic privatism. Shared needs and resources imply the existence of sharing and, with sharing, communication, rejuvenation by new ideas, and a wider social horizon that yields a wider sensibility to new experiences.” [Bookchin, Op. Cit., p. 237]

Combined with this consideration, we must also raise the issue of economies of scale. A given level of confederation may be required to make certain social and economic services efficient (we are thinking of economies of scale for such social needs as universities, hospitals, and cultural institutions). While every commune may have a doctor, nursery, local communal stores and small-scale workplaces, not all can have a university, hospital, factories and so forth. These would be organised on a wider level, so necessitating the appropriate confederation to exist to manage them. Ties between bio-regions or larger territories based on the distribution of such things as geographically concentrated mineral deposits, climate dependent crops, and production facilities that are most efficient when concentrated in one area will unite communities confederally on the basis of common material needs as well as values.

This means that the scale and level of the confederations created by the communes will be varied and extensive. It would be hard to generalise about them, particularly as different confederations will exist for different tasks and interests. Moreover, any system of communes would start off based on the existing villages, towns and cities of capitalism. That is unavoidable and will, of course, help determine the initial scale and level of confederations.

In urban areas, the town or city would have to be broken down into confederations and these confederations would constitute the town or city assembly of delegates. Given a huge city like London, New York or Mexico City it would be impossible to organise in any other way. Smaller towns would probably be able to have simpler confederations. We must stress that few, if any, anarchists consider it desirable to have huge cities in a free society and one of the major tasks of social transformation will be to break the metropolis into smaller units, integrated with the local environment. However, a social revolution will take place in these vast metropolises and so we have to take them into account in our discussion.

In summary, the size and scale of confederations will depend on practical considerations, based on what people found were optimal sizes for their neighbourhood assemblies and the needs of co-operation between them, towns, cities, regions and so on. We cannot, and have no wish, to predict the development of a free society. Therefore the scale and levels of confederation will be decided by those actually creating an anarchist world although it is almost certain that levels of confederation would be dependent on the number of delegates required. After a certain number, the confederation assembly may became difficult to manage, so implying that another level of confederation is required. This would, undoubtedly, be the base for determining the scale and level of confederation, ensuring that any confederal assembly can actually manage its activities and remain under the control of lower levels.

Finally, confederations are required to ensure solidarity can be expressed in the unlikely situation of local oppression. After all, history is full of local communities which have been oppressive to minorities within them (most obviously, the American South) and so confederation is required so that members of any such minority can appeal for help and mutual aid to end its domination. Equally, though, confederation is needed to ensure that local communes can experiment and try out new ideas without having to wait until the majority agree to it as would be required in a centralised system.

Thus confederations of communes are required to co-ordinate joint activity and discuss common issues and interests. It is also required to protect individual, community and social freedom as well as allowing social experimentation and protecting the distinctiveness, dignity, freedom and self-management of communities and so society as a whole. Thus “socialism is federalist” and “true federalism, the political organisation of socialism, will be attained only when these popular grass-roots institutions [namely, “communes, industrial and agricultural associations”] are organised in progressive stages from the bottom up.” [Bakunin, Bakunin on Anarchism, p. 402]

[townpostin]

Saryu Roy Pushes for Resolution Repeal to Aid Jamshedpur Ownership Rights

MLA seeks cancellation of 2018 revenue department order hindering residents’ property rights Jamshedpur East MLA Saryu Roy advocates for repealing a government resolution to facilitate ownership rights for local residents. JAMSHEDPUR – Jamshedpur East MLA Saryu Roy has called for the cancellation of Jharkhand Government’s Revenue Department Resolution 817/Ra, issued in 2018, to clear the path for…

[catdotjpeg]

[Image ID: A large group of people are gathered in protest on a sidewalk. A purple banner reading “Stop Cop City” is centered in the front of the photo. End ID.] 

A broad coalition of groups in Atlanta has launched a referendum to give voters a chance to say whether they want the controversial police and fire department training center known as “Cop City” built in a forest south-east of the city.

The effort requires organizers to collect about 70,000 signatures from Atlanta registered voters in 60 days. Then the question of the city canceling its agreement with the Atlanta Police Foundation to build the $90m center can be added to municipal election ballots in November.

The push comes after an estimated thousand people who showed up at City Hall on 5 June proved insufficient to stop Atlanta’s city council from approving about $67m for Cop City. Meanwhile, machines have already begun clear-cutting trees on the project’s 171-acre footprint in South River Forest.

The referendum faces what one organizer called “an atmosphere of repression” – including two activists being charged with felonies last week while putting up fliers, bringing total arrests since December to 50.

The largest group of arrests, on 5 March in a public park in the forest near where the project is planned, was followed by local government closing the park, in effect shutting off tree-sitting protests by “forest defenders” that had gone on for more than a year.

“We’re at the stage where they’ve pushed people out of the forest, they’ve arrested people … they’ve fenced off the forest, they’ve even begun clear-cutting,” said Kamau Franklin, founder of local group Community Movement Builders. “We’re at the stage where the most direct, legal mechanism to stop this project is by referendum.” [...]

...the movement opposing the project has drawn a wide range of people locally, nationally and internationally who oppose police militarization, urban forest destruction amid climate change and environmental racism. Most residents in neighborhoods surrounding the forest are Black.

Most of the organizations driving the referendum are also Black-led, including the regional chapter of Working Families Power, Black Voters Matter and the NAACP. Officials from the Georgia governor, Brian Kemp, down to the mayor have consistently referred to opposition against the center as the work of white “outsiders”.

“That narrative is false,” said Britney Whaley, regional director of Working Families Power. “This has been national, but it’s also been community-grown for a few years now.”

Ashley Dixon, an Atlanta-area organizer, has led canvassing efforts to inform neighborhoods around South River Forest about the center for nearly a year. Her team has spoken to more than a thousand people. About 80% opposed the project once they knew about it, she said.

The only academic poll on the issue to date, from Atlanta’s Emory University, showed slightly more Black respondents opposed the project than supported it, with the opposite being true for whites. Atlanta’s population is 48% Black.

The idea for the referendum came from one that succeeded in stopping a spaceport from being built in coastal Georgia, said Will Harlan, founder of Forest Keeper, a national forest conservation organization. “To me, Cop City is the most important issue in conservation in the south-east,” Harlan said. “A referendum is the smartest, most democratic solution … [and] a way to find resolution and closure.”

Although the 2022 spaceport referendum affected a county of only 55,000 people, similarities between the two controversies point to the role voters can play when other efforts fall short.

In that case, local officials “dug their heels in” and stopped responding to press requests or providing transparent information to the public, said Megan Desrosiers, who led the referendum. In the case of Cop City, the Atlanta Police Foundation has stopped answering press requests for at least a year, and the city of Atlanta was recently discovered to be understating the project’s cost to taxpayers by about $36m.

The project is planned on land the city owns that is located in neighboring DeKalb county. Because of Atlanta’s ownership, only Atlanta voters can participate in the referendum. [...]

Organizers of the Cop City referendum pointed to the state’s heavy-handed approach to protesters as a primary concern. There have been 42 domestic terrorism charges to date. A bail and legal defense fund’s members were also arrested and the state added fundraising to its criminal description of the training center’s opposition.

In that context, it took about a dozen attempts at finding a legally required fiscal sponsor for the referendum, which may need as much as $3.5m to reach success, said spokesperson Paul Glaze.

Cliff Albright, co-founder of Black Voters Matter – one of two organizations that agreed to take the sponsorship role – said the recent Atlanta Solidarity Fund arrests were done “to send a message, in hopes it would have a chilling effect. We’re not naive about what the threats are – but we believe our community cares about this issue.”

-- From “Activists push for referendum to put ‘Cop City’ on ballot in Atlanta” by Timothy Pratt for The Guardian, 16 Jun 2023 

[uavisuals]

UAVISUALS: Leading Australia’s Drone Inspection and Data Solutions with Precision and Innovation

Industries across Australia are transforming through the power of drone technology, and UAVISUALS stands at the forefront of this revolution. UAVISUALS offers advanced drone inspections and data solutions to enhance safety, efficiency, and data accuracy across multiple sectors. From construction and energy to environmental monitoring, UAVISUALS empowers industries to leverage aerial data insights that drive better decision-making and operational excellence.

Rethinking Inspections with Drone Technology

Traditional inspection methods are often labor-intensive, costly, and risky, requiring personnel to access difficult or dangerous locations. UAVISUALS redefines this process with drone technology, providing safe, efficient, and detailed inspections without the need for scaffolding, cranes, or extensive downtime. Licensed by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA), UAVISUALS brings a high standard of safety and regulatory compliance to every mission.

With drones equipped with high-resolution cameras, UAVISUALS captures precise visuals of assets such as power lines, towers, bridges, and rooftops, identifying potential issues before they escalate into costly repairs or operational interruptions. This proactive approach enables companies to conduct timely maintenance, reduce costs, and extend the life of their assets.

Comprehensive Data Solutions Across Industries

UAVISUALS is not just an inspection provider; it’s a full-spectrum data solutions partner. The company offers specialized services tailored to meet the diverse needs of Australia’s industries, including:

Asset and Infrastructure Inspections: UAVISUALS conducts thorough inspections on a wide range of industrial assets, capturing data from hard-to-reach places with exceptional clarity. Their drones can identify issues like corrosion, structural defects, and equipment wear, helping clients address maintenance needs efficiently.

3D Mapping and Topographic Surveys: Using photogrammetry and LiDAR, UAVISUALS generates accurate 3D models and maps, ideal for construction planning, urban development, and land management. These models provide essential measurements and an overall view that enhances precision for project managers, architects, and engineers.

Thermal Imaging and Fault Detection: UAVISUALS’ thermal drones detect temperature anomalies that signal equipment malfunctions or energy inefficiencies, making them invaluable for industries such as renewable energy, utilities, and manufacturing. By spotting issues early, clients can implement corrective actions, reducing risks and avoiding potential failures.

Environmental Monitoring: For agricultural and environmental applications, UAVISUALS offers drone solutions that monitor vegetation health, water quality, and land use. These insights are crucial for sustainable farming practices, conservation efforts, and ecological studies.

Empowering Australian Businesses with Actionable Insights

At UAVISUALS, the goal is not just to collect data but to provide clients with insights they can act on. The UAVISUALS team consists of experienced drone operators, data analysts, and industry experts who turn raw data into meaningful reports and recommendations. Whether it’s helping clients plan maintenance, optimize resource usage, or monitor environmental impacts, UAVISUALS delivers actionable insights that drive smarter, more informed decisions.

Their services streamline processes, save time, and enhance safety, allowing clients to focus on core operations while UAVISUALS handles data capture and analysis. From routine inspections to complex surveys, UAVISUALS’ solutions make data accessible, understandable, and highly relevant to each client’s objectives.

Pioneering the Future of Drone Technology in Australia

As demand for drone technology grows, UAVISUALS remains committed to staying at the cutting edge. The company continually invests in the latest drone models, advanced imaging technology, and data processing tools to ensure clients receive the best solutions available. This dedication to innovation positions UAVISUALS as a leader in the evolving drone services industry, ready to meet the changing needs of Australian businesses.

For companies looking to integrate advanced data solutions, UAVISUALS offers a partnership that combines technological excellence with practical expertise. By transforming how businesses approach inspections, mapping, and monitoring, UAVISUALS enables a safer, smarter, and more sustainable future across Australia.

[mariacallous]

Since the beginning of 2024, the US has issued a series of sanctions against a small number of Israeli settlers for jeopardising peace and security in the West Bank. The impact the sanctions will have is debated, but it marks a new development amid ongoing attempts to address widespread Israeli settlement of the West Bank which is illegal under international law.

The first Israeli settlement was established in the West Bank in 1967 after the territory was captured by Israel in the Six-Day War. Today there are now reportedly 500,000 Israeli settlers living in the West Bank. Settlements range from small enclaves to large, well-developed communities and urban areas. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 2023 was the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank since the UN began recording in 2005. In March, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights concluded that the region was on “the brink of catastrophe”, noting: 

“The transfer of wide administrative powers relating to settlements and land administration from the military authorities to Israeli civilian officials, who are elected and accountable to the population of Israel, could facilitate the annexation of the West Bank.” To research the scale of the settlements and developments over time, analysing satellite data is key. While you can pay for  high resolution satellite imagery to gain detailed, on-the-ground information about changes in the West Bank, free-to-access satellite tools can also be useful  for examining settler expansion in the West Bank. Although Google Earth imagery of the region has often been of poorer quality, compared with other services and regions, it can still be effectively used  – as long as its shortcomings are kept in mind. In addition to Google Earth, Sentinel Hub EO browser is also a useful free service. Both of these were used by Bellingcat in our recent collaboration with Scripps News investigating the conflict in Gaza and escalating tensions in the West Bank. 

In this guide we provide a breakdown of free-to-access satellite tools and how they can be used to monitor West Bank settlement expansions.  

[jamesarch]

LiDAR vs. Photogrammetry: Best Survey Tech for Projects

Introduction:  For land surveying purposes, selecting between LiDAR and photogrammetry can frequently be a difficult choice for many people in a variety of businesses. Selecting the incorrect aerial survey technique can lead to project failure, expensive delays, and erroneous data. Since each approach has unique benefits and drawbacks, it can be difficult to decide which technology is most appropriate for a given use case. Acquiring accurate data about the surface of the planet from an overhead viewpoint is essential for aerial surveying, a crucial procedure in domains such as environmental science, forestry, urban planning, and mapping. This field is dominated by two key technologies: photogrammetry and light detection and ranging, or LiDAR. Every technique has distinct advantages and disadvantages that make some applications better suited for it than others.

Understanding LiDAR and Photogrammetry Light Detection and Ranging technology is known as LiDAR. It is a technique for remote sensing that measures varying distances to Earth using light in the form of a pulsed laser. These light pulses produce exact, three-dimensional information on the Earth's structure and surface properties when paired with other data captured by the aerial system.

Photogrammetry is the art and science of using photographic images, patterns of electromagnetic radiant imaging, and other phenomena to measure, record, and interpret accurate information about physical things and the surrounding environment.

1. The challenge lies in balancing accuracy and resolution LiDAR: Generates 3D models of the target region with high resolution and great accuracy. It can map ground characteristics accurately, with vertical accuracy as low as 5 cm and horizontal accuracy of roughly 10 cm. It is especially good at piercing foliage.

Photogrammetry: Photogrammetry offers a little less accuracy and resolution than LiDAR. The survey's ambient conditions and camera quality have a substantial impact on accuracy. The typical range for vertical accuracy is 15–30 cm, and the range for horizontal accuracy is 20–40 cm.

2. Issues revolving around cost-effectiveness and the availability of suitable equipment

LiDAR: Typically more costly because of the advanced gear and technology needed. Compared to photogrammetry, a LiDAR system may require a much larger initial setup.

Photogrammetry: More economical, particularly for simpler or smaller-scale tasks. It can be carried out with less expensive equipment and standard cameras installed on drones or airplanes.

3. Challenges related to time optimization

LiDAR: LiDAR is highly effective at quickly covering large areas, particularly in regions with dense vegetation, as it can penetrate canopy cover and deliver accurate ground data.

Photogrammetry: Surveying time varies based on the project's size and the level of detail needed in the images. It can be slower than LiDAR, especially in areas with complex topographies or dense vegetation. Read our blog for more details: https://www.gsourcedata.com/blog/lidar-vs-photogrammetry