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common-blackbird · 2 years ago

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2, 3, 11, 18 & 20

Alright, this has been sitting for so long, im so sorry.

Here are the answers.

2. top 5 books of all time?

I don't want to repeat myself with things you know i love (like lotr and asoiaf) so im gonna choose the books that i know made me go galaxy brain.

Brothers Karamazov (Dostoevsky) - best book ever, duh. People are always very emotional about the depth of the book and the big questionsTM, which i completely agree with, but my fave part of the book is the humour. The characters are intentionally lame and silly and over the top, and i just love how the unlikeable characters become likeable ;__;

The Powerbook (Jeanette Winterson) - I want to write as intimately and hit the core of things like Jeanette Winterson. Such a beautiful book. She doesn't waste any words, she gives such visual imagination, it hits you in the heart. Every sentence is poetry. Absolutely love it.

Debt: The first 5000 years (David Graeber) - We read this for our book club, and honestly, i think everyone should read at least one chapter of this book. It's about history of debt seen through anthropology. Or in other words: what do we owe, why do we owe, do we even owe? Each chapter deserves a special analysis and i am searching for a physical copy of the book bc i want to, need to buy it but it's impossible to find it ;___;

Croatian Tales of Long Ago (Ivana Brlić Mažuranić) - The underdog of fairy tales in the world. it saddens me that when you’re in school or see museums or other cultural institutions here praise Brlić Mažuranić, it’s usually in the spirit “she’s one of the first croatian female authors”, “She’s Hans Christian Andersen but CroatianTM” and so on. But i’ve never seen anyone seriously dissecting each fairy tale, analyzing, interpreting her style. Or i have been searching in the wrong places.

It took me some 20 years to figure out what is the point of the fairy tale “How Quest Sought the Truth” and, like, if you ever question your place in the world, that’s THE fairy tale for you. I read this book every year and it still surprises me with its richness in short stories, depth, imagination, all while being accessible from youngest to oldest age. Amazing writing.

Also now that i think about it, that’s the book i read the most times.

Returning to Reims (Didier Eribon) - We're reading this book for the book club right now and im half-way through, but already i have been crying my eyes out and been having so many revelations. It's a memoir about estranged gay many returning to his home after his father (whom he hated) dies, and ruminating on nature of social status and class that effects all of us. He voiced out lot of my thoughts and the way he's self aware of privilege and reality of the underprivileged without idolizing them is refreshing to see.

3. what is your favourite genre?

I wish i knew! My go-to answer is fantasy, but honestly, with exception of Left hand of Darkness, it’s been a while since I properly enjoyed a fantasy book.

I’d say i love drama, but most books have drama, i more philosophical books, but sometimes i just love trashy stuff. idk. I love themes of figthting against “leviathan”, anarchism in general, ruminations about social classes, cultures, nature of humans, conflicting ideas...

11. what non-fiction books do you like if any?

Well this is where i come in again with the book club (all hail the book club!) where we read non-fiction books, from publicist to theoretical, and it is usually social and cultural themes, like “why do we read?”, “what is art?”, “what is pop culture?”, “what is economy? “let’s start a revolution?” and so on. So far, the best books were by Graeber and Eribon, Bregmann gets a pass, John Berger is great (you should check him out on yt!).

My other passion is history books, but it’s more that i like the idea of reading them and i’m hoarding them in my room, but can’t find or dedicate time for them :(

18. do you like historical books? which time period?

I have yet to read any good ones... Most historical books that i see through the bookstore windows are some romance in court stuff that i have 0.01% interest in. The only historical book that i’ve started reading is Der Spielmann by Oliver Pötzsch which is supposed to be a retelling of Faustus, but i was so annoyed by the prologue already, i gave up very early on... (especially frustrating bc everybody is praising this author as a great author of historical fiction...)

In general, i think it’s very hard to write a good historical book bc there’s always a trap of wanting to be historically accurate too much so you infodump history that has no relevance to the plot. Sometimes it’s better to sacrifice historical accuracy to gain immersion. But you still have to keep it in the spirit of that time and i don’t often see that being the case :/

As for time period, love late middle age/early modern age, especially 17th century lately!

If you have any recs, i’m all ears!

20. what are things you look for in a book?

Narrative, idea and style. If the book executes one of these three factors well, it’s a solid book and i’ll like it. I mostly enjoy the narrative, how do you get the reader to your idea, the way the story is structured, the parallels, the interference of various outside and inside factors, when you can connect the dots from two different poles... it’s always fun, it makes me go all galaxy brain.

That being said, if the narrative sucks, but the sheer idea is original or universal, it can hit harder than anything else and it stays with you forever. Sometimes, a book is really bad but one quote really hits you bc it’s an idea that resonates with you. Like, i didn’t like the book Pachinko at all, but the core idea “Life is like a pachinko” still pops up in my brain all the time.

And style. I think that is what creates immersions, and what makes us reread endlessly. Like, Karamazovs wouldn’t be half as great (to me) if it wasn’t for the slightly ironic, casual and knowing narrator that breaks “the 4th wall” every now and then. When i want something that hits me emotionally, i search for Winterson’s writing bc of the style more than the plot (which is with her always a mess... sighs). Persistent and endless descriptions of grey sky, rain and snow and black-and-white mountains is what makes me fall in love with Left hand of Darkness even more than the incredibly slow plot.

And if this question is about themes, those would be: fighting against the impossible, invisible enemy, “leviathan”, man against society, of human nature, what is love, what is purpose, what is happiness, deep moral conflicts... just happy stuff to think about x)

Anyways thanks for letting me rant!

Bookish asks game

#asks #on the scale of 1 to 10 how snobish do i sound?#Also every time i start thinking about things i read it seems like i read barely anything ;___;

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whenihaveyouromione · 3 years ago

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When I Have You - Chapter 29

Read on Fanfiction.net or ao3 if you’d prefer!

You can follow this story’s Instagram account at whenihaveyou.romione

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Chapter 29

Hermione emerged from the bathroom with four brochures and two maps in her hands. Her hair was still wet from having just washed it, and they hadn’t had breakfast, but already she was rattling off everything they were supposed to do on their first day in Croatia.

Ron hadn’t known this until they’d checked in — well, Hermione had checked in, because he still wasn’t completely comfortable in dealing with Muggles in unfamiliar settings — but Hermione hadn’t just organised a hotel for their week away together. She had also organised things to do, booked tours, and scheduled in plenty of alone time, including dinners, visits to the beach, and times where nothing in particular was planned.

She’d presented it to him before he’d even had a chance to set his bag down in the room (which, in Ron’s opinion, was very nice), beaming and excited about it all. In fact, she was so excited that Ron didn’t have the heart to tell her that he would have been happy with a whole week staying in the hotel room — so long as it was with her.

“We have breakfast scheduled for seven o’clock every morning,” Hermione said, sitting on the bed with her nose still buried in the brochures. “Today, we’re going for a wander around the shops, then a walk down to the beach. And then — Ron!”

“What?” Ron said, tossing the brochures he’d just taken from her, off the bed and shrugging. “You talk too much.”

Hermione glared at him, but it seemed she could only maintain her anger for a few moments, for a smile played at the corners of her mouth. Ron beckoned her towards him so that he could kiss her. She happily obliged.

“Why don’t we just wing it?” Ron suggested, pulling away from her. “We don’t need to plan everything.”

Hermione opened her mouth to argue, but closed it again and nodded. “But I’ve already organised some stuff. Paid for it and everything…”

“That’s fine,” Ron said, “but everything else we don’t need to plan. We’ll just do… what we feel like. It’s a holiday, we aren’t trying to schedule study time in between classes. Long past those days.”

Hermione grimaced, and Ron chuckled. “That’s going to be hard for you, isn’t it?” He leaned forward and kissed her again. “That’s why you have me.”

“Well, when Mum and Dad took me on holiday, they always planned everything. Down to the finest details. Winging it, as you say… well, I’ve never done that before.”

Ron laughed again. “Of course you haven’t. Have you ever — for anything?”

Hermione flushed.

“Really, I love everything about you,” Ron said. “Including that part of you, but let’s just try to relax while we’re here, okay? I mean, maybe after exploring the city, we just won’t feel like... the beach today.” He picked up the stuff he’d thrown on the floor a moment ago and looked at her day one itinerary. “It’s cold out there.”

Hermione smiled at him. “Are you hungry?”

“When am I not hungry?” Ron said, and he climbed off the bed, making his way towards the bathroom.

Hermione had chosen well with the hotel. It was a modern hotel that had been upgraded recently to fit all of the latest things in it — like a new bathroom, a larger television (which he’d had fun playing around with last night), and new carpet on the floor.

It even had a large balcony that gave them an unobstructed view of the water and also of the many streets below. It truly was a beautiful place, and Ron was glad they had the chance to get away together where there’d be no interruptions and no discussions about their real lives.

He couldn’t believe that this was their first actual holiday together. They were coming up to two years together. It seemed ridiculous that they’d not even escaped for a weekend before, let alone a whole week.

Once he’d showered and dressed, they headed down to the ground floor where breakfast was being served. Ron was immediately impressed by the amount of food that was on offer, and according to Hermione, they could eat as much as they wanted.

“For the whole week?” Ron asked as they were led to a table by the window.

“Yep!” Hermione said brightly. “Every morning we’re here.”

“I thought this was only offered at Hogwarts,” Ron muttered.

“Humans can cook, too,” Hermione replied. She nodded towards the buffets where people were queued up waiting to get their food. “Come on.”

Ron had more fun than he should have, piling on bacon and eggs and toast and anything else he could fit onto his plate. Hermione showed him how to use the commercial toaster after receiving a few funny looks when he’d failed the first time, and soon he was back in his seat, enjoying the view, his food, and Hermione’s company.

“You know,” he said, “I really wouldn’t be disappointed if we just stayed here all day.”

“They don’t serve food all day, Ron,” Hermione said, sounding amused.

“I don’t mean here, I meant the hotel. While you were showering, I was reading some information. They have a swimming pool, some kind of ‘games’ room — is that like the Muggle version of chess or something? — and all this other stuff. Who needs to explore when I have all I want or need back up in the room? I mean, so long as you’re there, of course, because you’re all I want or need.”

Hermione gave him that look where she was trying to be annoyed with him, but seemed to find his words flattering instead. “Wouldn’t that be boring?”

“With you there?” Ron asked. “Never.”

Hermione smiled. “Well, don’t take this the wrong way, but I’d kind of like to get out and explore a little. See a place we haven’t been before. You know, before we have to go back to real life.”

“Yeah, I know,” Ron said, looking out the window. “I am, too. But a hotel room with you would also be nice.”

They took their time with breakfast, both going back for more, and then returned to the hotel room to finish getting ready. By nine-thirty, they were in the streets of the old city, awaiting the walking tour that Hermione had booked them.

The city of Senj was small in comparison to other places Ron had been, but it was populated just enough to not be overwhelming. The main part of the city jutted out on a small bit of land (according to the maps Hermione had collected, anyway), their hotel sitting right by one of the beaches. It was a short walk into the heart of the city, where they now stood in a small crowd of other tourists.

As they waited for the stragglers, the Croatian tour guide saying she needed three more people, Ron took note of who was already there, absently wondering if anyone else were wizards in disguise. He doubted it, for many of them were accompanied by Muggle contraptions such as cameras and video cameras and other things only a Muggle or Muggleborn would know how to use. In fact, Ron felt rather out of place by not having a camera.

“Maybe we should have brought a camera or something,” he whispered to Hermione as the final three people — a middle-aged couple with a teenage son — showed up, apologising for their lateness.

“I did,” Hermione said, and from within the backpack she carried, she pulled out a camera that looked very much like the one Colin Creevey had owned.

“Good thinking!” Ron said, grinning.

“We are being tourists this week,” Hermione said. “In all forms.”

There was no more time for talking, for the tour guide began by introducing herself as Petra and then going on to rattle off all the places or things they’d be seeing on their three hour walking tour.

“Three hours?” Ron said to Hermione as they set off.

“You’ve walked longer,” Hermione said. “Besides, this one will be more enjoyable.”

Ron doubted that, but an hour into it, he had to admit that it was fairly interesting. They stopped at many ancient buildings, where they were told the history or the purpose of it, and even though the tour guide didn’t realise it, Ron could spot the ones used by wizards in a heartbeat. He found those the most interesting — not because they were familiar, but because he enjoyed learning about them from a Muggle’s perspective. He now kind of understood why Hermione had been interested in doing Muggle studies at school.

There were little charms and enchantments to some of them — as old as magic itself, almost — that only he and Hermione noticed. On one occasion, there was even a building that all the Muggles’ eyes brushed over, nor did the tour guide stop to talk about it.

“Huh,” Ron said, nodding toward it, “disguised like St Mungo’s.”

The rest of the walking tour was enjoyable, but there was nothing else obviously magical about it (which was perfectly fine for Ron). They finished it where they’d started, the guide suggesting some nearby cafes that were good for a lunch stop.

“Come on,” Hermione said, offering her hand out for Ron. “Let’s see what else is around. I noticed some little alleys we didn’t go down. Maybe there are some interesting things down there.”

Ron took her hand, and as everyone else began to separate, heading in various directions, Ron and Hermione found themselves down a little street where three cafes were located next to one another. As it was reaching the end of winter, people were sitting outside, taking advantage of the slightly warmer weather.

“All that walking made me hungry,” Ron confessed. “And it’s almost one.”

“I’m a bit hungry, too,” Hermione said, so they entered one of the cafes, where they were greeted by an enthusiastic waiter, happily leading them to a table at the back of the shop.

Before they were even seated, he began rattling off the specials in broken English so quickly that Hermione had to ask him to slow down.

After he’d explained the menu again, Hermione cast a glance to Ron which made him rather nervous. He knew that look, and it was one he rarely saw, because it rarely occurred, but he could tell that for whatever reason, she had a spark of mischief about her.

“Bring us your finest wine!” she told the waiter. “It doesn’t matter how much.”

“Hermione!” Ron admonished, staring at her.

“What?” Hermione asked as the waiter scuttled away. “It’s a holiday, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, but not one where we can afford to be… where we can… splurge.”

Hermione shrugged. “I think just this once, we can treat ourselves. And if we buy the whole bottle, we can take it back to the hotel.”

Ron just stared at her, knowing that he couldn’t change her mind. He supposed growing up with her parents, she’d learnt to be a little less cautious with how she spent her money. But she’d paid for this whole holiday, and now she was…

He sighed. “At least let me buy lunch. Just show me how.”

Hermione beamed. “Okayl!”

It ended up being a rather pleasant lunch. The wine wasn’t great, but he tolerated it for Hermione’s sake. Though, next time he would definitely prefer the goblin-made wine that he was used to. Well, really, he’d prefer a Butterbeer if he had a choice.

The food wasn’t anything fancy, but pleasant, and after they’d finished and paid, they left with Hermione placing the remainder of the wine bottle in her bag.

Ron cast a sideways glance at her, smirking. “Did you just want to get drunk?” he asked.

“What? No!” Hermione said through very flushed cheeks. Half the bottle had been emptied, and Ron had only had a very small glass.

Ron grinned.

“I just thought we could —”

“I’m just teasing,” Ron assured her, and he stopped on a bridge that overlooked a small channel of water. “Besides, you’re quite amusing when you drink too much. Not that you do it too often, but I think it’s cute.”

Hermione also stopped, turning to look up at him. Rather than looking upset or offended, she smiled. “I’m glad you picked me,” she said.

“What?” The abrupt change of topic surprised Ron, but perhaps it was the wine in her that was talking.

“Me,” Hermione said. “I mean… us. I’m glad it’s… us. You and me, together, happy, in love… at least I hope —”

“I’m so in love with you,” Ron said. “But you know that. I’ve told you a million times. You probably just can’t remember because you’re incapacitated right now…”

“I’m not!” Hermione protested, though her cheeks were very red now. “I’m just… I’m glad it’s me you’re in love with. I don’t know what I’d do if you weren’t there to… to pull me in sometimes. You know, remind me that there are other important things out there that don’t involve trying to be the best at something…” She smiled again. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Ron said. “Drunk, or not drunk —”

“Stop!” Hermione said, shoving him playfully in the chest and laughing.

“This has been a good day,” Ron said, and they started walking again.

“And it will be an amazing week,” Hermione added. She turned her head and smiled at him. “You really bring out the best in me, Ron.”

“No, I do —”

“Yes, you do!” Hermione argued. “I mean, work, having a job, it really brought out a bad side of me that I didn’t even know existed. A neglectful side, someone who couldn’t even prioritise a single day with her boyfriend over things that didn’t need to be done immediately. And it took you almost breaking up with me for me to even realise something was wrong.”

“I didn’t almost break up with you,” Ron said, brushing the topic aside. He’d thought they were done talking about this. He didn’t want to talk about it anymore.

“Yes, you did,” Hermione said. “Well, you at least made it sound like you would, and I think that was a good thing, because it made me see a lot of things more clearly.”

“Like?” Ron prompted. He gripped her hand, squeezing it tightly.

“Like how happy you make me, how you make me smile, and laugh, and make me feel loved… everything between us doesn’t feel forced at all. It never has. It’s always just been… things have happened exactly when they were supposed to for us. And you’ve helped me find a balance between all the good things — making sure that I don’t become obsessed with one thing or another. Thank you.”

They walked through the streets in silence, Ron unsure how to respond. What was he supposed to say to her other than ‘you’re welcome’? She’d made the effort herself and he loved her for it. He’d done nothing.

“It’s alright,” he said after a moment. “Let’s not spend this week dwelling on things that don’t matter anymore. That’s in the past. Let’s think about more important things.”

“Like what?” Hermione asked, her tone brightening.

“Like what we’re going to do now,” Ron said, grinning at her.

“Oh, yes, of course —”

Ron stopped walking again, turning to face her for a second time. They had found themselves down a little cobbled street with building that appeared more residential than business. He He took her hands in his. “And I suppose the next one hundred or so years I plan on spending with you.”

She laughed — probably something she wouldn’t have laughed at had she not had wine in her.

“And what do you see the next one hundred years entailing?” she questioned, and he sensed genuine curiosity in her voice. Her brown eyes peered up at him eagerly, waiting for an answer.

Ron didn’t know what possessed him to blurt it out. But she was looking at him with such tenderness, like she already knew… “Everything, I guess. But I do know — I’ve known from the moment you kissed me for that very first time, really — with one hundred and ten percent certainty that we will last. And one day soon, I’m going to ask you to marry me, and I just hope that you say yes when I do.”

His words surprised Hermione, because her eyes widened momentarily, but she disguised it well with a smile. Still holding hands, it was her turn to squeeze back. “That will be my only answer,” she assured him.

Ron grinned. “Good. I’m glad.”

Her smile grew and for a moment, they just stood in the street, holding hands and looking at one another.

He didn’t know what was going through Hermione’s head, but for Ron, all he could now think about was just how far away ‘one day soon’ was going to be.

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onesoulforbalkans · 4 years ago

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Central European Silence About Genocide and Racism in Europe

I wrote this for subject in university and my friends thought that more than my lecturer should read this. So here goes nothing.

To start this essay, I want to look back at a situation where an old lady told me how lucky I am that I live in a time of peace. At the time, I also thought so but knowing what I know now; I realise it was a lie. I had taken on this Central European stance as child, not looking at problems that were in front of me. In this essay, I will look at situations in which Central Europeans kept silent about sufferings happening so close to them.

If we look at Central Europe already historically, they always have wanted to take over other countries, looking at people that lived there as some lower human beings. We could say nothing has changed at all: medieval times, World War II, and then other situations in 20th century where they thought the right thing was to turn a blind eye on it all. In this essay I will concentrate on the Eastern Europeans who suffered from this whole situation. Beginning with World War II, because it was a catalyst for new wave of ignoring Eastern Europeans and we could say selling these countries for peace with Soviet Union. Eastern Europeans are looked at as still “not-quite-white” (Fox, J., 2017). We as Europeans look at USA and are shocked at how widespread their racism is, when we ignore our own. As they say deal with your own problems before you start pointing fingers at others.

As already mentioned before, United Kingdom and United States of America sold out Eastern Europe countries to have peace and help from Soviet Union. While the UK had promised Polish government in exhale that they will get back their independent and democratic country (History.com editors, 04.11.2019.) same went to the rest of the occupied countries. Eastern European countries were left back in the dark ages while other parts of the world moved on. Such state of things was okay with Central of Europe, until in the middle of 1980’s people of Eastern Europe started to move the calm boat in the need of independence. Now they could not turn a blind eye on this situation, they had to react and support people in their quest of becoming independent.

What came with independence was not what people expected at all. Central Europeans straight up were looking at Easterners as lower-class people, people who were far, far behind because they had only just come out of a Communistic political system. This view of Eastern Europeans has not changed at all in last 30 years. We can see it in UK where they say Eastern Europeans are taking away their jobs when these people work in places where British people would not even step in. If you listen to, for example, RTE Radio 2 which is Ireland’s radio station, you will hear about Eastern Europeans being killed, beaten to a pulp or something else happening to them. They try to play it down to fights inside the community but in the end, it always ends up being hate based crimes. We again come back to phrase “not-quite-white”. This phrase shows all the hate they have over Easterners when Eastern Europeans should be the angry ones. They are the ones whose countries were treated like tokens, who were occupied for over 50 years.

Still the situation that hurt Eastern Europeans more than any other was Independence war in Balkan region or to be exact in ex-Yugoslavia territory. It was biggest refugee crisis in Europe since WWII. Stories that came from people that lived through this war showed that this demon of hate is still alive in people. Most noticeable is story of Croatian National Football team defender Dejan Lovren who tells that if German government did not accept his parents papers this time, they would need to go back to Bosnia where the war was still raging on (Herbert, I., 08.02.2017.). To live in constant fear till you are finally booted out of democratic country because you simply do not fit their agenda.

That was not worst people turned blind eye to. We have to talk about darkest dot in history of 1990’s and that is Srebrenica massacre in 1995. Something we all still feel guilty about, but some try to hide, or to wash their hands clean. Srebrenica massacre went on for five days, but the real numbers of this event came out only in 2005. Sudetic Chuck in his research about Srebrenica massacre wrote:

“According to a demographic study issued in 2005 by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, some 97.1 percent of the 7,661 persons recorded as dead or missing as a result of the events at Srebrenica were males from 15 to 69 years of age; 68 were women, including two between the ages of five and nine, four between the ages of 15 and 19, and 11 between the ages of 20 and 24. More than 99 percent of the dead and missing were Muslim.”

Female victims of the genocide are still asking for other facts of massacre to be disclosed. So the whole world can know the truth, this fight is still alive to this day. We still have information that is kept away from the rest of the world. But we sometimes must think twice about the information we have. None of this can give peace to mothers and wives that lost husbands and their own pride. Who will answer why United Nation peace makers that were in Bosnia since 1992 (Peacekeeping in Bosnia, n.d.) put only 500 men in Srebrenica when it was established before that there needed to be 5000 well-armed men in this region? (Chuck, 07.07.2010.). Only some people stepped away when such information finally slipped out. It was like damage control.

In lecture we watched a video from 1972 Munich massacre that happened in the Summer Olympic village. All 12 people who were held hostage got killed because Germany wanted to show that they are not the same country that they were in WWII and this situation can be resolved by peaceful talks. We can pull parallels with Srebrenica massacre because here too, Central European politicians in power ignored the facts that were put in front of them. UN already had forces in Croatia and saw how quickly situations can escalate. It took seven years for the Dutch Government and UN to say they were partially responsible (Chuck, 07.07.2010.). They can say these are mistakes, but these mistakes are human lives that could have been saved.

In conclusion, I want to say Central European historians and authors, who say Europe has not experienced genocide in history after WWII, should open their eyes and start owning up to so called mistakes of their governments because we are all united. As Zygmunt Bauman said we are all in same boat. The sooner we deal with this racism and are honest with ourselves about these situations, we will reach the goals the European Union puts in front of us. Right now, you could feel Europe filling in with more hate, and that is not something we all want to live through again. Let us work on peace, and not hate.

Selected literature

Chuck, S. (07.07.2010.). The Srebrenica Massacre (July 11-16, 1995). Retrieved from https://www.sciencespo.fr/mass-violence-war-massacre-resistance/en/document/srebrenica-massacre-july-11-16-1995.html

Fox, J. (2017). Eastern Europeans, Brexit and Racism. Retrieved from https://www.britsoc.co.uk/about/latest-news/2017/may/eastern-europeans-brexit-and-racism/?fbclid=IwAR2fSgVvhChSS7F3Od4QNcNaypnfeGEX8Rbin0VDAEgEB_6g5_5OgbuiTnM

Herbert, I. (08.02.2017.). Liverpool's Dejan Lovren on being a refugee: 'I know what some families are going through, give them a chance'. Retrieved from https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news/liverpool-s-dejan-lovren-searing-insight-his-childhood-people-think-again-refugees-a7570001.html

History.com Editors. (04.11.2019.). Yalta conference. Retrieved from https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/yalta-conference

Peacekeeping in Bosnia. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.globalization101.org/peacekeeping-in-bosnia/

#essay #my writing #eastern europe #history #europe #you can agree or disagree with me #that is my opinion and how I view it all

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elastigirl72 · 6 years ago

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Day 24 and 25

71km to go

Day 24, 25 and 26: Trikala>Lamia>Thiva

Thiva: 18:43

The sun came out! Three days ago, I gifted my overshoes to Kastoria. Two days, Trikala’s Airbnb owner now has a beautiful pair of threadbare, elasticity long gone Castelli leg warmers, and has no idea of the significance of this gift. This is a cyclist’s version of a striptease...which can also and was performed on the move in the last few days: the jacket, the arm warmers and then a few miles later, the leg warmers.

It was the first morning I left without having consider any layering choices. I felt an awful lot lighter after being charged €8 for two cappuccinos, and I found a bike shop who pumped up my tyres and sent me on my way with a new inner tube after my puncture set bounced off somewhere in the previous day’s ride. Maybe Hades horrors got THAT close. Enjoy, you savages!

Greece has really surprised me, in a multitude of ways. Firstly, it’s people. I know a few Greeks. In fact, Dmitri who is married to Katherine and currently looking after my house and dog, Nyla (how dogs should be) is from Corinthe. He and the other Greek seem lovely. However, here, if I’m totally honest, on the whole, appear to have a serious attitude problem or a chip on their shoulder. You’ll get what you need from them, but blimey, they won’t make it easy! And on the whole, everything they do for you seems to be a massive chore; they tend to look decidedly pissed off! Yet, despite this, I quite like them. It’s like they don’t really give a hoot what anyone else thinks about them. You’ll do things their way or you’ll go without. Is it because of the long and deep Greek tragedies and history that floods its many mountains and plains? I thought that Italians were expressive, which they are. But Greeks don’t want to be expressive but if you push them, you’ll probably see the wrong kind of expressive!

Take for example, the owner of the hotel I’m in right now. The pool is not in use, it’s in the middle of nowhere and whilst it’s clean, so is a travelodge or Premier Inn, but none typically have atmosphere and are extremely functional. Bed, check in, restaurant and bar if you’re lucky. As I rested for the first time by the lovely looking pool on this trip, the owner came over to speak to me declaring his position as if I should congratulate him. And then proceeded to try and get me to cancel my booking.com booking, drive up to the cash point with him in order to pay cash and get a €10 discount for the most expensive and overpriced hotel for the whole 25 days to date. After telling him I’d think it over for while, and the hassle of getting in a car to go to get cash, and concerned that cancelling the booking after the cancellation period had passed with the possibility of double payment and no recourse, I told him it’s not worth it. I’d also be charged a currency fee for the withdrawal (I haven’t mentioned it, but a few days ago, in supposed trusted company, I was set up and pickpocketed. That in itself was genius how it was staged. Luckily they only got away with coins from 8 different countries and my international card. But that has made the cash process a little tricky). Mr owner, who clearly thought very highly of his negotiation skills, stating Booking.com make billions, and me being a seasoned traveller must play the system all the time. Am I missing a trick here? Maybe, but after much insistence after his persistence, he got the message. But this is my experience of Greeks.

Moving to the cycling. I’d been warned by said Greeks that Greek drivers were about the worst you could find. Be careful, I was warned. The roads are very busy and Greeks don’t deal with cyclists at all well. This really set me up to see Greece as a country I needed to get through to get to Athens and the end of my cross-continent adventure. The truth is I have been totally amazed. It has been, day after day, the best cycling I’ve done anywhere in Europe, including Spain and France. Not only are the drivers considerate, stop and wait at intersections for the cyclist to pass, they indicate, pull out, wait, and many toot and wave encouragement. The roads are empty, generally in great condition and all around, the scenery continuously draws you in. The culture is rich, untouched. I saw my first living snake on one road, the same road I saw many geckos between Kastoria and Trikala. The sides of the roads are dressed with millions of poppies, Aloe Vera, cacti, hemp, olive trees. I’m yet to reach Athens but I haven’t once felt unsafe due to traffic. Wild dogs, yes. I’d rather not repeat those.

Both Lamia and Kastoria were gems on an unplanned route. I don’t feel like seeing Thiva as I’m full of hay fever and possibly a cold, so am uninspired. It does have an interesting past though and was an important as a city and in Greek mythology. But I’m very happy here in my apartment away from everywhere: the calm before the storm, returning to relative reality tomorrow.

I don’t know why this area for cyclists seems to be so undiscovered, but I’m so glad I made the decision to come inland. The coast will undoubtedly be much busier than this incredible, mountainous and flat landscape from Albania to Athens. I couldn’t be happier on my bike than I’ve been for the past four days.😊. The balance of vistas for this trip have been perfect: mainland, coast and now mountains. That pretty much covers it! I later hear from Mr Owner as he reluctantly demanded my card payment as he saw me sat on my balcony because he wasn’t there in the morning, that 30 Hungarian cyclists were arriving the next day. For them it’s a short flight away. They’re obviously in on this secret nirvana that is Greece.

The days have rolled by and here I am, one ride away from Athens. I’m still focused, but also excited. 71km till I pack up my bike, having dipped my feet and maybe even swum in the Aegean in the last few miles of my Odyssey...surely that is classed as a transcontinental bike ride? 😃.

Packing away my winter gear, my shorts and t-shirt for the last time, throwing away all the bits and pieces I no longer need, and counting the hours...one more sleep and Athens...

26 days have past

24 days of cycling (excluding the abandoned day after 10 miles)

11 countries

6 currencies

3414km recorded cycling (2133 miles)

27,345m ascent (climbing)

1 backpack and frame bag - weight 4kg

I train ride (not included in mileage) to avoid snow

Two ferries - English Channel and 500m at Montenegro

Crossed the Severn, English Channel, past the Mediterranean And Adriatic Seas...

Days in order of awesomeness:

1 Librazhd>Kastoria

2 Lamia>Thiva

3 Trikala>Lamia

4 Senj>Zadar

5 Shkoder>Librazhd

The four least enjoyable:

1 Como>Garda - weather and traffic

2 Bellinzona>Como - weather and traffic

3 Venice>Trieste - weather

4 Neum>Herceg Novi - traffic

Favourite people by country:

Albanian

Bosnian

Montenegrin

Croatian

Italian

English

French

Greek

Swiss

Best hospitality: Albania then Bosnia

Best meal: Albania then Greece

Best weather: Greece

Biggest surprise country: equal Albania and Greece

Favourite city: Split

Best hotel: Calais and Albania

Least favourite city: Saint Quentin

Hardest day: Venice - abandoning for the day and the following day prospect of another abandoned day

Favourite person: the elderly cafe owner in Albania

Best vista: over Lake Ohrie, Albania

12 May: 0656 - Thiva

The day has arrived, and still, with only 71km to go, I’m not 100% certain I’ll make it to Athens! I guess I will believe it and relax once I walk into the hotel, and ask for my bike box. Having received an overweight charge relating to my box apparently weighing 67kg heavier than the maximum for my shipping cost (which is 27kg and having weighed it before booking, know it’s actually 19kg), I am expecting to find an adult size stowaway inside. So the very first thing I will be doing on receipt is asking a member of staff to hold my phone and video me opening it as evidence to send to UPS, who will otherwise pursue an additional £146 shipping cost. I tell you this as I don’t want you to fall into the same cunning trap.

A fellow cyclist, Steve, currently pedalling through France, shared this lovely insight with me after I’d shared the view of the Aegean Sea af Lamia’s castle. Around 10k from me, I could have by rights, pedalled over, dipped my toe in the water and got aboard the nearest train to Athens. But didn’t! Steve shared this: In Xenophon’s Anabasis when the 10,000 Greek soldiers saw the Mediterranean after there march out of Persia they shouted for joy Thálatta! Thálatta! The sea The Sea! They knew they were home.

I haven’t got that excited yet, but I’ve placed my Sainsbury’s order...Istanbul tomorrow...by plane 😊

The bells have chimed outside, I’ve eaten two cereal bars, a banana and half a pint of milk for breakfast and I will be hauling my knackered, ageing body on to the bike just one more time here, for up to 3 hours...and then it’s done...hopefully! See you in Athens 😃

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ara-la · 7 years ago

Text

What's Wrong with Chris Hedges view that ‘Antifa’ Mirrors the ‘Alt-Right’

What's Wrong with Hedges view that ‘Antifa’ Mirrors the ‘Alt-Right’

I am quoting here most of the recent essay by Hedges on truthdig, interspersed with my own comments in italics explaining why his ideas and definitions are false, incorrect and misguided–MN

‘Antifa’ Mirrors the ‘Alt-Right’

Chris Hedges

Behind the rhetoric of the “alt-right” about white nativism and protecting American traditions, history and Christian values is the lust for violence. Behind the rhetoric of antifa, the Black Bloc and the so-called “alt-left” about capitalism, racism, state repression and corporate power is the same lust for violence.

FALSE. First, nobody calls the antifa the "alt-left" except Trump and the white nationalists, and people who buy into their rhetoric. "Alt-right," not modified by Hedges as "so-called," is a propagandistic self-moniker adopted by the neo-nazis to disguise and sanitize their racism and white nationalism.

Second, the antifa are not motivated by a "lust for violence," but by a desire to defend themselves and others who are targets of racist, sexist violence by fascists, and to disrupt the strategic, intimidating use of violence by fascists.

Third, as Hedges well-knows and has written himself, fascist talk of "white nativism and ...American ...history" is not mere rhetoric, but is in fact directly related to their roots in the use of violence to establish white 'nativism' (an oxymoron) through settler-colonial 'American' history.

The two opposing groups, largely made up of people who have been cast aside by the cruelty of corporate capitalism, have embraced holy war.

FALSE: The bulk of the fascist forces marching in Charlottesville and elsewhere have been, not people thrust aside by capitalism, but quite privileged white males, many collegians or petty bourgeois intent on proving they are not just Internet trolls but IRL fascists. The antifa have in no way embraced 'holy war' but thoughtfully adopted security culture and physical disruption of fascists among many other perfectly non-violent tactics, based on their proven efficacy on other occasions and in other countries in disorienting and defeating fascists.

No antifa caused Dylann Roof to get a gun, go to a Black church in South Carolina, and cold-bloodedly execute 9 unarmed women and men he had just attended a prayer and bible study session with.

Conversely, I defy Hedges to name a single white racist killed or maimed by any antifa or other resisters, even in self-defense, let alone an ambush, assassination or execution.

Their lives, battered by economic misery and social marginalization, have suddenly been filled with meaning. They hold themselves up as the vanguard of the oppressed. They arrogate to themselves the right to use force to silence those they define as the enemy. They sanctify anger. They are infected with the dark, adrenaline-driven urge for confrontation that arises among the disenfranchised when a democracy ceases to function.

They are separated, as Sigmund Freud wrote of those who engage in fratricide, by the “narcissism of minor differences.”

FALSE: For Hedges to say the differences between fascists and antifa are 'minor,' is to equate resistance with oppression. Fascists glorify violence as proof of white supremacy, and uphold genocide, ethnic cleansing and a white ethno-nationalist state. Antifa, whose ranks include people of color, women, Jews, queer and trans people and others targeted by the Nazis, are anti-racist and mostly anti-capitalist. Equating the two is being an apologist for racism, fascism and genocide, and must be denounced. Also, antifa do not see themselves as a “vanguard,” and most oppose vanguardism. Antifa see themselves as practitioners of one strategic or tactical approach to dealing with fascism in public spaces, cyber space and elsewhere, and hope that others whom they defend and whose backs they have, will treat and welcome them as such. They are willing to and capable of working with others who have a non-violent approach (but not “peace police” types who in the name of non-violence turn antifa over to the cops).

They mirror each other, not only ideologically but also physically—armed and dressed in black, the color of fascism and the color of death.

FALSE: Black is beautiful.

It was inevitable that we would reach this point.

FALSE: This is Hedges's constant litany of despair and defeatism, a refusal to examine the political choices, complacency and complicity that have empowered the neo-Nazis

The corporate state has seized and corrupted all democratic institutions, including the two main political parties, to serve the interests of corporate power and maximize global corporate profits. There is no justice in the courts. There is no possibility for reform in the legislative bodies. The executive branch is a dysfunctional mess headed by a narcissistic kleptocrat, con artist and pathological liar. Money has replaced the vote. The consent of the governed is a joke. Our most basic constitutional rights, including the rights to privacy and due process, have been taken from us by judicial fiat. The economically marginalized, now a majority of the country, have been rendered invisible by a corporate media dominated by highly paid courtiers spewing out meaningless political and celebrity gossip and trivia as if it were news. The corporate state, unimpeded, is pillaging and looting the carcass of the country and government, along with the natural world, for the personal gain of the 1 percent. It daily locks away in cages the poor, especially poor people of color, discarding the vulnerable as human refuse.

A government that is paralyzed and unable and unwilling to address the rudimentary needs of its citizens, as I saw in the former Yugoslavia and as history has shown with the Weimar Republic and czarist Russia, eventually empowers violent extremists.

FALSE: The US government is not weak or paralyzed but is in fact, throughout the federal system, an active agent of oppression and repression, and enforcer of exploitation; and this fundamental reality has not changed since the establishment of the European settler colonies here, or their consolidation into a federal empire state.

Also, posing the problem as "extremism," is part of the false equivalence of the left and right and presumes an answer will arise from some mythological center or from restoration of "Constitutional" government.

Economic and social marginalization is the lifeblood of extremist groups. Without it they wither and die. Extremism, as the social critic Christopher Lasch wrote, is “a refuge from the terrors of inner life.”

Germany’s Nazi stormtroopers had their counterparts in that nation’s communist Alliance of Red Front Fighters. The far-right anti-communist death squad Alliance of Argentina had its counterpart in the guerrilla group the People’s Revolutionary Army during the “Dirty War.” The Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) rebels during the war I covered in El Salvador had their counterparts in the right-wing death squads, whose eventual demise seriously impeded the FMLN’s ability to recruit. The Serbian nationalists, or Chetniks, in Yugoslavia had their counterparts in the Croatian nationalists, or Ustaše. The killing by one side justifies the killing by the other. And the killing is always sanctified in the name of each side’s martyrs.

FALSE: The unutterable mendacity of Hedges is unconscionable, equating as he does the Nazi storm-troopers with working-class resistance fighters in Germany, or FMLN guerrillas with the Salvadoran death squads trained and financed by the US. What children of military officers orphaned by having their parents killed and dropped into the sea by helicopters were adopted and raised by Argentine leftists? What genocide or terrorist attacks on unarmed Jewish, Roma, or trade-unionist civilians were ever carried out by Germany's Red Front Fighters? What mass executions of peasants or workers, or assassinations of priests and nuns, were ever carried out by the FMLN? None.

The violence by antifa—short for anti-fascist or anti-fascist action—in Charlottesville, Va., saw a surge in interest and support for the movement, especially after the murder of Heather Heyer. The Black Bloc was applauded by some of the counterprotesters in Boston during an alt-right rally there Aug. 19. In Charlottesville, antifa activists filled the vacuum left by a passive police force, holding off neo-Nazi thugs who threatened Cornel West and clergy who were protesting against the white nationalist event.

FALSE: The state, embodied in law enforcement, is not and has never been passive in these situations. Their refusal to protect anti-fascists, their protective cordons for fascists, and their use of brutality, militarized weaponry and criminalization of protest against the left is long-standing and routine.

This was a propaganda coup for antifa, which seeks to portray its use of violence as legitimate self-defense. Protecting West and the clergy members from physical assault was admirable. But this single act no more legitimizes antifa violence than the turkeys, Christmas gifts and Fourth of July fireworks that John Gotti gave to his neighbors legitimized the violence of the Gambino crime family. Antifa, like the alt-right, is the product of a diseased society.

FALSE: Hedges's use of 'disease' as a descriptor of 'society' is another give-away of the fascistic bent of his own thinking. Antifa are neither diseased nor a product of a 'disease' in society. It is the fascists and the US ruling class who are like the Mafia, not antifa.

The white racists and neo-Nazis may be unsavory, but they too are victims. They too lost jobs and often live in poverty in deindustrialized wastelands. They too often are plagued by debt, foreclosures, bank repossessions and inability to repay student loans. They too often suffer from evictions, opioid addictions, domestic violence and despair. They too sometimes face bankruptcy because of medical bills. They too have seen social services gutted, public education degraded and privatized and the infrastructure around them decay. They too often suffer from police abuse and mass incarceration. They too are often in despair and suffer from hopelessness. And they too have the right to free speech, however repugnant their views.

FALSE: White racists and neo-Nazis are not just 'unsavory,' and it's not a question of taste. This sympathetic treatment of a litany of alleged woes they face reinforces their attempt to cast themselves as injured victims. None of their concerns or demands speak to any of these issues that he alleges they face. They perceive themselves as victims of feminism and race-mixing, a so-called and non-existent 'white genocide.' And their 'speech' is designed to threaten and incite violence against Black people, Mexican@s and other migrants, Jews, Muslims, Asians, women, LGBTQ and disabled people (and Hedges).

Street clashes do not distress the ruling elites. These clashes divide the underclass. They divert activists from threatening the actual structures of power. They give the corporate state the ammunition to impose harsher forms of control and expand the powers of internal security. When antifa assumes the right to curtail free speech it becomes a weapon in the hands of its enemies to take that freedom away from everyone, especially the anti-capitalists.

FALSE: The state needs no excuses to expand the powers of 'internal security.' And such an argument could and has been as easily made, including by the state, against the non-violent disruptive civil disobedience tactics of Black Lives Matter (or for that matter, Martin Luther King, Jr.). In fact, Martin Luther King Sr. (father of the civil rights icon), was the target of surveillance by federal law enforcement and military intelligence operatives before World War II.

The focus on street violence diverts activists from the far less glamorous building of relationships and alternative institutions and community organizing that alone will make effective resistance possible. We will defeat the corporate state only when we take back and empower our communities, as is happening with Cooperation Jackson, a grass-roots cooperative movement in Jackson, Miss. As long as acts of resistance are forms of personal catharsis, the corporate state is secure. Indeed, the corporate state welcomes this violence because violence is a language it can speak with a proficiency and ruthlessness that none of these groups can match.

FALSE: I support Cooperation Jackson. I have been in solidarity with the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement that helped initiate it for decades. They, as I, have always expressly supported armed self-defense against white supremacist violence in the South and elsewhere. They, as I, have long supported the political prisoners of US imperialism, including the freedom-fighters of the Black Liberation Army. They called a demonstration here in Los Angeles in 1992 to protest and shut down a forum called by a Black pseudo-nationalist fronting for a group of neo-Nazis and Hitler apologists. (That Black-led community demonstration was attacked by the LAPD in an incident that helped set the stage for the rebellion later that year, after the acquittal of the cops who beat Rodney King and slap on the wrist for a grocer who killed Black teenager Latasha Harlins.)

Also, antifa are A) not engaged in street fighting because it is any way 'glamorous;' and B) also engaged in the equally unglamorous programs of community gardening, political education and study, community defense, cop-watching, self-defense classes, tenant organizing, etc. etc. (just like Cooperation Jackson and the MXGM).

“Politics isn’t made of individuals,” Sophia Burns writes in “Catharsis Is Counter-Revolutionary.” “It’s made of classes. Political change doesn’t come from feeling individually validated. It comes from collective action and organization within the working class. That means creating new institutions that meet our needs and defend against oppression.”

TRUE, BUT IRRELEVANT: Antifa are not aiming at individual catharsis or self-validation; they are building exactly that sort of class-struggle organization and network.

The protests by the radical left now sweeping America, as Aviva Chomsky points out, are too often little more than self-advertisements for moral purity.

FALSE: Hedges, one of the most sanctimonious and self-righteous of all commentators in what passes for a 'left' in the US, is here simply projecting his own need for self-advertisement and moral purity, conveniently doing so by quoting a woman.

They are products of a social media culture in which each of us is the star of his or her own life movie. They are infected with the American belief in regeneration through violence and the cult of the gun. They represent a clash between the bankruptcy of identity politics, which produced, as Dr. West has said, a president who was “a black mascot for Wall Street,” and the bankruptcy of a white, Christianized fascism that produced Donald Trump, Steve Bannon and Jefferson Beauregard Sessions.

FALSE: Before I call it a day on Hedges and his tedious, tendentious obfuscations that serve to echo right-wing self-justifications and propaganda against resistance, let me point out that 'Identity politics' and 'political correctness' were both slogans that originated within sectors of the (mostly academic) left resistant to self-criticism and to the self-determined liberation struggles of colonized and other oppressed people. The slogans were then taken up by and popularized by George H. W. Bush and a host of right-wing talk radio commentators and then FOX News, while still being persisted in by reactionaries in left clothing like Todd Gitlin and apparently by Hedges, Aviva Chomsky and Noam Chomsky, among others. Corporate liberalism and neo-liberalism are responsible for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton (and therefore, to a great extent, for DJ Chump). Antifa or other radicals are not to blame.

The corporate state seeks to discredit and shut down the anti-capitalist left. Its natural allies are the neo-Nazis and the Christian fascists. The alt-right is bankrolled, after all, by the most retrograde forces in American capitalism. It has huge media platforms. It has placed its ideologues and sympathizers in positions of power, including in law enforcement and the military. And it has carried out acts of domestic terrorism that dwarf anything carried out by the left. White supremacists were responsible for 49 homicides in 26 attacks in the United States from 2006 to 2016, far more than those committed by members of any other extremist group, according to a report issued in May by the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security. There is no moral equivalency between antifa and the alt-right.

TRUE, BUT TOO LITTLE TOO LATE: After spending most of his essay equating antifa and fascists, Hedges gets around to acknowledging that there is no "moral equivalency" between the two. But he undercuts his argument by saying the Nazis' terrorism " dwarf[s] anything carried out by the left," without citing any terrorism carried out by the left; (he can't because there is none).

But by brawling in the streets antifa allows the corporate state, which is terrified of a popular anti-capitalist uprising, to use the false argument of moral equivalency to criminalize the work of all anti-capitalists.

FALSE: Hedges is just using the state as a stalking horse for his own argument for the ‘moral equivalency’ of antifa and fascists. The state has always criminalized any effective resistance, and to the degree that any anti-capitalist work actually threatens the empire, it will be criminalized and/or attacked by fascists.

As the Southern Poverty Law Center states categorically in its pamphlet “Ten Ways to Fight Hate,” “Do not attend a hate rally.”

“Find another outlet for anger and frustration and for people’s desire to do something,” it recommends. “Hold a unity rally or parade to draw media attention away from hate. Hate has a First Amendment right. Courts have routinely upheld the constitutional right of the Ku Klux Klan and other hate groups to hold rallies and say whatever they want. Communities can restrict group movements to avoid conflicts with other citizens, but hate rallies will continue. Your efforts should focus on channeling people away from hate rallies.”

FALSE: The "let them eat sheet-cake" argument satirized by Tina Fey. Ignoring the racist right and giving it unopposed freedom to claim to speak for white people, or to augment their ranks through IRL recruiting as they have been doing in cyber-space is the worst possible response. Also, the SPLC works closely with federal and local law enforcement, who are also sources and practitioners of racialized violence, and, under Hedges's same rubric of "extremism," they lump together Black radicals of various political persuasions with KKK and neo-nazi hate groups, while ignoring terrorist activities that have been carried out by groups like the so-called Jewish Defense League.

The Nazis were as unsavory to the German political and economic elites as Donald Trump is to most Americans who hold power or influence. But the German elites chose to work with the fascists, whom they naively thought they could control, rather than risk a destruction of capitalism. Street brawls, actively sought out by the Nazis, always furthered the interests of the fascists, who promised to restore law and order and protect traditional values. The violence contributed to their mystique and the yearning among the public for a strongman who would impose stability.

FALSE: Fascism in Germany, as here, was built from above and below. Fascism on its path to power was facilitated by big German (and US/UK) capital, and had sympathizers in US, Britain and elsewhere. The Nazis distinguished themselves from others on the right by their willingness to use extra-legal violence to pursue their goals, with an acceptance of this by the existing German state, and inadequate resistance by left and labor forces, who were divided among themselves, and especially demobilized by social-democratic elements willing to participate in parliamentary farces. The precedent for Nazi attacks on the left was set by the earlier use of demobilized World War I veterans against the revolutionary left by the social democrats.

The conflict will not end until the followers of the alt-right and the anti-capitalist left are given a living wage and a voice in how we are governed. Take away a person’s dignity, agency and self-esteem and this is what you get. As political power devolves into a more naked form of corporate totalitarianism, as unemployment and underemployment expand, so will extremist groups. They will attract more sympathy and support as the wider population realizes, correctly, that Americans have been stripped of all ability to influence the decisions that affect their lives, lives that are getting steadily worse.

FALSE: The conflict is not caused by the lack of a living wage. The conflict arises out of the irreconcilable contradictions of capitalism itself, and the implacable enmity that the exploiters and oppressors have for the people they exploit and oppress. Nor will we be "given a voice in how we are governed."

The ecocide by the fossil fuel and animal agriculture industries alone makes revolt a moral imperative. The question is how to make it succeed. Taking to the street to fight fascists ensures our defeat. Antifa violence, as Noam Chomsky has pointed out, is a “major gift to the right, including the militant right.” It fuels the right wing’s paranoid rants about the white race being persecuted and under attack. And it strips anti-capitalists of their moral capital.

FALSE: Revolt is indeed a moral imperative, not least because of ecocide (and genocide) but Hedges here, as everywhere, offers no strategy or even hint as to how revolt, let along revolution, is to begin, be pursued or to triumph. That is because Hedges, blinded by his own privileges, his liberalism and moralistic approach to politics, is incapable of seeing or appreciating the capacities and agency of the exploited and oppressed, from whom the power and wealth of the state and the rulers in fact derive.

Many in the feckless and bankrupt liberal class, deeply complicit in the corporate assault on the country and embracing the dead end of identity politics, will seek to regain credibility by defending the violence by groups such as antifa.

FALSE: The predominant liberal response to antifa efforts has been identical to the pap that Hedges is peddling here -- condemning the antifa while defending the Nazis' supposed "free speech." Also, there is no "liberal class" -- classes are defined by the relationship of sectors of society to ownership or control of land, productive resources, etc., not by (perhaps fleeting) ideologies. This has always been a key part of the obscurantism Hedges promotes, disguising actual class relationships and complicity with imperialism, capitalism and settler colonialism within the US, or how to uproot and overturn it.

Natasha Lennard, for example, in The Nation calls the “video of neo-Nazi Richard Spencer getting punched in the face” an act of “kinetic beauty.” She writes “if we recognize fascism in Trump’s ascendance, our response must be anti-fascist in nature. The history of anti-fascist action is not one of polite protest, nor failed appeals to reasoned debate with racists, but direct, aggressive confrontation.”

This violence-as-beauty rhetoric is at the core of these movements. It saturates the vocabulary of the right-wing corporate oligarchs, including Donald Trump. Talk like this poisons national discourse. It dehumanizes whole segments of the population. It shuts out those who speak with nuance and compassion, especially when they attempt to explain the motives and conditions of opponents. It thrusts the society into a binary and demented universe of them and us.

FALSE: Society is turned into a "binary ... of them and us" by colonialism and capitalism, oppression and exploitation. We can recognize the humanity of exploiters, oppressors, and even fascists, and even seek to rescue individual members of such groups, but we cannot afford to deny that there is an irreconcilable contradiction between the exploiter and the exploited, the oppressor and the oppressed, and that the way to end that contradiction is by ending exploitation and oppression, which will eliminate the exploiters and oppressors AS SUCH. Committing class suicide is the best way for members of the exploiting and oppressing class to save themselves as individuals, because exploitation and oppression are parasitic and necrotic, spreading death to others and to the natural world to maintain the few. Exploiters cannot live without those they exploit and oppress. People being exploited and oppressed, on the other hand can do just fine. thank you, without exploiters or oppressors.

It elevates violence to the highest aesthetic. It eschews self-criticism and self-reflection. It is the prelude to widespread suffering and death. And that, I fear, is where we are headed.

FALSE: Widespread suffering and death is already with us, and has been for at least the half-millennium since Europeans invaded the Western Hemisphere and Oceania. It is caused, not by the 'aesthetic of violence,' but by colonialism and capitalism, land theft, slavery and genocide, all on-going. Despite Hedges and his fears and pessimism, it will be ended by revolutionary, ant-fascist, anti-capitalist, anti-colonial solidarity, resistance and liberation struggle.

If you want an authentic Christian pacifist response to the antifa in Charlottesville, consider this, from one who went to there: “I never felt safer than when I was near antifa. They came to defend people, to put their bodies between these armed white supremacists and those of us who could not or would not fight. They protected a lot of people that day, including groups of clergy. My safety (and safety is relative in these situations) was dependent upon their willingness to commit violence. In effect, I outsourced the sin of my violence to them. I asked them to get their hands dirty so I could keep mine clean. Do you understand? They took that up for me, for the clergy they shielded, for those of us in danger. We cannot claim to be pacifists or nonviolent when our safety requires another to commit violence, and we ask for that safety.” Whole thing here: https://radicaldiscipleship.net/2017/08/23/my-nonviolent-stance-was-met-with-heavily-armed-men/

Different version of this, with a lot less Hedges to wade through, is posted here: http://change-links.org/which-side-are-you-on-why-chris-hedges-is-wrong-to-equate-antifa-with-fascists/

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stars-and-darkness · 4 years ago

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Now that’s interesting!

(honestly, half the time I think America isn’t even real)

I mean ... in Croatia, after you finish elementary school (aged 14-15), it’s time to pick a high school. Obviously not all of them offer art history class. I attend a general gymnasium (which basically serves to make you a Jack of all trades in every sense of the word), where art history is very much compulsory.

Really, the only choice we get to make is whether to take German, French, Italian or Spanish as our second foreign language, and picking between religion class (they offer Catholic and Islamic, I believe) or ethics class.

I hadn’t noticed any mention of different types of high schools in America--are there even any? I mean, just in my hometown (a measly 45k inhabitants) there are eight gymnasiums: general, classical, linguist, mathematical, touristic, private, economical, arts. And that’s not even counting the trade schools, which I don’t even know how many are there of.

And like ... there are far less subjects, as I understand it? Like ... I have Croatian, Maths, English, German, History, Geography, PE, Art History, Cultural Heritage, Philosophy, Religion, Physics, Chemistry, Politics and Economy, Music History, Biology ... and that’s not even counting Informatics, Latin, Sociology, and Psychology, which I don’t have anymore because some of these don’t last the entire four years of high school.

And I am absolutely taking your explanation for why on God’s green Earth they would use the Pietà. It’s far less disturbing this way.

Kαtaangers learn the difference between parental and romantic love-challenge

#anti kataang #atla

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theladyrue · 8 years ago

Note

yes, hello, hi, your not so resident fellow lady fangirl here, asking you to do ALL (or the ones you want to!!) asks from the ice cream asks thing! :)

OMG THIS IS FAIR. so here we go! Enjoy reading!

ice cream asks

chocolate: when was your first kiss?

Omg. Ok I’m still very ashamed of this.I was at a club and I was dancing with this guy and we startedkissing. We never told each other our names. And I left the clubpretty fast after that. My second kiss was a lot better, mostly sinceI knew his name

french vanilla: how old are you?

I will actually be turning 23 on mynext birthday ;)

cotton candy: three places you want to travel to?

Scotland. After watching/ reading the Outlander series I feel as though I want to see the beauty of the Scottish Highlands too

Holland. My cousin went a couple of years ago, and I loved how quaint and homey it looked. It’s just someplace I really wanted to see for myself

Las Vegas. I cannot believe I still haven’t been yet, but I think I’m going to go sometime before the end of 2017

strawberry: a language you wish you could speak?

French. As a Canadian, French is apretty handy to know. However, I also wished I understood Croatian,since my aunts and uncles are all so fluent, but my cousins and Iaren’t.

Coffee: favorite cosmetic brands?

Drug store brand? For nail polish, I doonly buy Essie brand. I think Essie just has the best colours

mint chocolate chip: indoors or outdoors?

Indoors during the winter (Canadianwinters are no joke tbh. I’m freezing here). But defiantly outdoorsin the spring and summer. I always try to open the windows when it’swarm outside or go sit in the sun when it’s hot.

cookie dough: do you play any instruments?

I played a bit of guitar in highschool. They didn’t have a violin class, which is what I actuallywant to learn how to play.

rocky road: favorite songs at the moment?

Moana soundtrack. I’m determined tolearn all the words to all of the songs. I’ve got 3 of them prettymuch down so far

butter pecan: favorite songs for life?

Omg wow. Hmm, maybe I’d say these 3:

Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield

Sagitta Luminos (Arrow of Light) by Yuki Kajiura

Love Me Like You Do by Ellie Goulding -> (I’m so sorry, but this soundtrack was so good, even if the movie was so bad)

cheesecake: what’s your zodiac sign?

Pisces Sun and Aquarius Moon

toasted coconut: the beach or the pool?

I’m going to say beach, since the beachis usually ALWAYS warm-hot heat range.

chocolate chip: what’s your most popular post?

OMG I think it’s from the ask Anon sentme asking how I got into the Kingdom Hearts series, LOL.

Bubblegum: books or movies?

Hmm, the books are usually (not always)are better then the movies, so I’ll say books.

Pistachio: manga or anime?

Anime.

salted caramel: favorite movies?

This question is a trap. I’ll put a fewof my favourites:

The Lion King (AND I’LL ONLY PUT THIS ONE DOWN ONCE, I SWEAR)

Cinderella (live action)

Masterpiece Theatre Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre

birthday cake: favorite books?

Uughh there’s too many to record.

Still reading through the Outlanderseries, so I’ll just say that for now LOL

moose tracks: favorites for manga?

I’m not a big manga reader, but I dohave the Sailor Moon mangas, and some of the Puella Magi MadokaMagica ones.

orange sherbet: favorites for anime?

Magical Girl animes (obviously)

YURI!!! ON ICE

Shokugeki no Soma

peanut butter: favorite academic subject?

Ooh Psychology, English, History, andLaw.

black raspberry: do you have any pets?

No, my sister as a fish though.

Mango: when and why did you start your blog?

I believe I started this blog about 2years ago now, and I wanted a new one away from my first that focusedon magical girls and disney princesses.

Mocha: ideal weather conditions?

HOT. As long as I’m warm I’m so happy.Also driving through snow storms and on icy roads is the worst. Wait,I lied. SLUSH is the worst thing to drive/ walk through.

black cherry: four words that describe you?

Im skipping this one. I never know howto answre this outside of a job interview.

Neapolitan: things that stress you out?

Atthe moment? Job hunting. I’m trying to find a job right now.

raspberry truffle: favorite kind of music?

I’m not a picky music listener. If Ilike the beat or the lyrics I’ll like the song.

chocolate marshmallow: favorite brands of candy?

Is chocolate a brand? I don’t reallylike candy, it gets stuck to your teeth.

Toffee: a card game that you’re good at?

UNO. I am so good at Uno.

lemon custard: do you eat breakfast?

Not really. When I do eat breakfast,it’s usually eggs.

dark chocolate: turn ons?

Justgeneral attentiveness I guess. It makes me so happy when a guy ispaying attention to me, and what im saying. I dont see a lot of that,so it’s always so nice when it does

Fudge: turn offs?

I actually hate it when people ask mefor a date, my number or straight up ask me for sex when they haven’ttold me their names or given theirs -_-. It has happened more thenonce.

Peach: how do you relax?

Bygoing on tumblr or taking a nap. If I need to take my mind off ofsomething, I’ll usually read fanfiction or something.

Praline: a popular book you haven’t read yet?

Alot of popular books. There’s so many books that I haven’t read.

Superman: do you like sweaters?

Lovethem in the winter.

Cherry: do you drink tea or coffee?

Iactually drink both, but I drink coffee more

dulce de leche: an instrument you wish you could play?

TheViolin and the piano. I may take the time to start learning the pianonow, since we have a keyboard in our basement.

Blackberry: have you ever laughed so hard you cried?

Ofcourse.

Ginger: a new feature you wish tumblr could have?

Abetter messenger system, more like the one on facebook. It’s easierto find the gifs I want to send LOL

blueberry lemon: favorite blogs?

Somany actually. Any of the blogs that Ifollow are my favourites, but I do love @lady-suzuka’s blog since weseem to share so many interests. I also enjoy seeing what @let-the-starks-live posts.

Almond: favorite mean girls quote?

“Boo,you whore.” I love saying that to my friends when they say they’retoo busy to hang out.

Butterscotch: what color are your nails right now?

It’san aqua green from Essie called naughty nautical.

Cinnamon: have you ever been confessed to?

Ithink so? I’m just assuming this is a reference to a “real talk”

blue moon: have you ever had a crush on someone?

Ofcourse. I’m hoping to date the guy I have a crush on actually.

cappuccino crunch: do you take naps?

YesI do. Usually when I come home from work, when I was working 2-3jobs.

Mint: the most embarrassing thing you’ve ever done?

I’vedone so many embarrassing things, that I don’t get embarrassedanymore. OH I GOT A GOOD ONE. The other day, I was driving thecar with my friend and we were talking about the Be Our Guestrestaurant at Disney, and how she wanted to take me on a date there,and I squealed so loud, she was cracking up. LOL

brownie batter: do you like sushi?

Yea,love it.

key lime: where do you want to be right now?

Honestly,I kinda want to be with my crush on a coffee date.

red velvet: do you wear prescription glasses?

I do! I usually wear myglasses all the time.

green tea: favorite flavors of ice cream?

Hmm, strawberry, and butterbeer flavour. (I had butterbeer when Iwent to Harry Potter World a few years ago. SO GOOD.

#personal #asks

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canvasclothiers · 7 years ago

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Food and Wine Books 2018

Food & Wine Books for 2018

A few of our favorite books for food & wine lovers.

The Complete Sous Vide Cookbook

Back in the Iron Age, I worked my way up into an executive chef position. I’m not talking prehistory (that would be a feat) but when all food was cooked using the raw power of hot iron grills under massive exhaust hoods. I left the kitchen back in the 90’s, just before a quiet revolution was about to begin.

Actually, it had already started in the 1970’s in France, but it wasn’t until the first years of the 21st century that it started making its way into commercial North American kitchens. The technique, called sous vide cooking, remained virtually unknown outside of the professional chef community, despite how fundamentally it changed cooking.

This is a cookbook that should be on every home cook’s shelf. Chef Chris McDonald has a firm grasp on the technique and has developed a book of straightforward recipes that will introduce the home cook to this innovative and consumer-friendly techniques.

Via Amazon: The Complete Sous Vide Cookbook

Larousse Wine

Many years ago, a student of mine –an aspiring chef and sommelier– cooked dinner for the entire wine school staff. Her sole reference was the classic and erudite Larousse Gastronomique Encylopedia.

You have to be pretty amazing to understand the complex culinary ideas within that hallowed tome. I am a former executive chef, and I have written a bestselling cookbook. Even I wouldn’t have risked preparing an entire 8-course French menu around Larousse.

How did the meal go? It turned into an epic bacchanalia, so I don’t think many attendees remember. And those that do aren’t saying.

My point is: knowing the intentions of a book are key to utilizing a book. Larousse Wine is not a universal encyclopedia of wine. It is not Oxford Guide to Wine, with its British-centric take on wine. No, this is a French guide. And that means France concepts and French wineries take about 75% of all the pages.

Written by David Cobbold and Sebastian Durand-Viel, both sommelier-professors of the L’ACADÉMIE DU VIN DE PARIS. This is very much an academic book, one I use and reference when teaching French wine classes.

Via Amazon: Larousse Wine

The Way of Whisky: A Journey Around Japanese Whisky

There are many great pleasures in my job. One of the greatest is hosting a whiskey class every month. People often find it odd that a winemaker has a deep and abiding affair with the hootch. I don’t have an answer to why that is. Maybe it was all those years racking wines from one barrel to another that instilled a love of oak, the primary flavor component of whiskey.

Any journey into the spirit world is best with a knowledgeable guide. For much of the past decade, David Broom has been my whisky walker. Notice the missing “e” in whisky? That’s because Dave is one of the great writers in the Scotch Whisky world. First as and editor at Whisky Magazine, then at Scotch Whisky Magazine. His columns in Whisky Advocate are worth a read, as are his work in Germany’s Mixology and China’s Drink!

Oh, and his great reference book, The World Atlas of Whisky, is part of the Wine School’s permanent library. And then he wrote this beautiful book. It is hard to explain how Japan took the idea of Scotch and turned it into something so different and beautiful yet retained the very essence of Whisky. If this is an adventure you want, this is the guidebook you need.

Via Amazon: The Way of Whisky: A Journey Around Japanese Whisky

Wine is bottled poetry. (Write Now Journal)

I am a sucker for a good journal. My job is mostly taking notes. I’m always jotting down wine reviews, when I have an idea about a new wine class (how about a Wines of Canada?), and when I am working on a menu for a cooking class. This notebook makes me look a hundred times more classy than I have the right to be. It’s the right size, and sturdy enough. For anyone who needs a place to jot down wine notes, this is a good choice.

Via Amazon: Wine is bottled poetry. (Write Now Journal)

What a Swell Party It Was!

Michael Turback has written thirty books in twenty years. His oeuvre is limited: cocktails and sundaes are core to his ambition. An occasional book on Ithaca or Hot Coco is sprinkled in for good measure. A book or two on New York Wines.

But this guy has a lot of knowledge to impart. He opened the first localvore / farm-to-table / hipster cocktail / local wine scene restaurant in Ithaca, NY. In 1968! Yeah, let that sink in. Michael isn’t famous, but he was far ahead of his time. His books now tend to look far backward into American food and booze history.

What a Swell Party It Was is a history of the food and cocktails of the 1940’s nightclub scene. Post-prohibition was a crazy time in America, and this book captures that spirit in it’s pithy copy and simple recipes. So get ready to brew a Pousse-Cafe and tuck into Chicken Gismonda. It’s party time!

Via Amazon: What a Swell Party It Was!

Palate Passport

Let’s be upfront here. I’m a WASP of a particularly snooty origin: a Boston Brahmin. My adolescence was little more than a purging of that starched history. Angry poetry and playing lead guitar in a punk rock band pretty much cured the worst of it. It has given me a lifelong appreciation for other cultures, especially their foods. It’s a trait I share with many of you.

Neha Khullar has taken that inclination and turned it into a years-long passion. The end result of all that travel was this remarkable cookbook. With a deft eye for the delicious, Ms. Khullar has created a joyful treatise on humble foods from across the world. Avocado shakes from Dubai, Croatian Cevapcici, Bubble and Squeak from England, Pambazos from Mexico City, Israeli Beets. This book spans the world in search of cheap eats and shows you how to make them yourself, easily.

Via Amazon: Palate Passport

Pantry and Palate: Remembering and Rediscovering Acadian Food

What do Louisiana and Canada’s Prince Edward Island have in common? They were both settled by the Acadian peoples, who first arrived in the 17th Century. The foods are similar, too. The influences of rural French and Native American cooking are there. The greatest difference is Cajun cuisine uses spices borrowed from Creole cuisine.

Most of us know and love Creole, but very few have ever sampled the source material. This is a welcome cookbook and one that should be in every cook’s library. The recipes are simple, but the execution isn’t always simple. For instance, a recipe for headcheese calls for only seven ingredients. One of them is the fresh head of a pig. Not sure I can order that on Amazon Fresh.

Despite a few impossible dishes, there are plenty of great easy to make discoveries in this book. Les Dames Patronesses Tourtiere is a richest and lush pork pie you’ll ever eat. Salted green onions will soon become a staple in your larder. Molasses cake is an absolute crowd pleaser. Seaweed pie is far more delicious than the name implies.

One of the more innovative and informative cookbooks I’ve seen in some time.

Via Amazon: Pantry and Palate: Remembering and Rediscovering Acadian Food

The post Food and Wine Books 2018 appeared first on Wine School of Philadelphia.

Source: https://www.vinology.com/food-and-wine-books-2018/