I sat next to the protest today.

I wrote fan-fiction about two gay jewish dads raising children to the play list of the chant- "No peace on stolen land!" on an American college campus. It isn't a name brand one either, nor does it have any legitimate ties to Israel. The anger is just there- it has rotten these future doctors, nurses, teachers, and members of society.

I don't even know what to call their demonstration- it was a tizzy of a Jew hatred affair. At points, there were empathetic statements about Gazans and their suffering. Then outright support of Hamas and violent resistance against all colonizers. Then this bizarre fixation on antisemitism while explaining the globalists are behind everything.

"Antisemitism doesn't exist. Not in the modern day," A professor gloated over a microphone in front of the library. "It's a weaponized concept, that's prevents us from getting actual places- ignore anyone who tells you otherwise."

"How can we be antisemitic?" A pasty white girl wearing a red Jordanian keffiyeh gloats five minutes later. "Palestinians are the actual semites."

"there is only one solution!" The crowd of over 50 students and faculty cried, over and over.

"Been there, done that," I thought, then added a reference to a mezuza in the fourth paragraph.

Two other Jewish students passed where I was parked out, hunching and trying to be as innocuous as possible. We laughed together at my predicament, where I am willingly hearing this bullshit and feeling so amused by this.

"Am I crazy? For sitting here?" I asked them. My friends shook their heads.

"We did the same last week- it's an amazing experience, isn't it?”

We all cackled hysterically again. They left to study for finals. Two minutes later, I learned from the current speaker that “Zionism” is behind everything bad in this world.

Forty-five minutes in, a boy I recognized joined me on my lonely bench. He came from a very secular Jewish family and had joined Hillel recently to learn more about his culture. His first Seder was two nights ago.

He sat next to me, heavy like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. There was just this despondent look on his face. I couldn’t describe it anyone else, but just sheer hopelessness personified.

“They hate us. I can’t believe how much they hate us.” He said in greeting.

And for the first time all day, I had no snarky response or glib. All I could do was stare out into the crowd, and sigh.

I would like it on the record that not all (and certainly not all, as far as who I know) supporters of a free Palestine are antisemitic.

I would also like it on the record that supporting a free Palestine does not make you antisemitic. The two do not negate each other. They can coexist, and for most of us, they do.

Whether or not a certain type of people are using this revolution to preach anti semitiam, I do not know for sure. I would hope not but I am sure they do, because bad people will use any excuse to preach their hate.

What I will not tolerate, however, is to see someone turn the absolute revolution that is currently happening on college campuses around the world into an antisemitic or even hateful thing. The protests currently happening are about obtaining peace. That is their purpose.

If your view is too subjective or narrowminded to realize that what is happening currently goes way beyond what happened on october 7th i will urge you to visit the UN official website, which will suppply you with all the information you need.

I am sick and tired. Sick and tired of being told I am against jews because I am against zionismn. I am sick of tired of being told I am anti semitic because I am against the war crimes Israel is currently committing against the citizens of Palestine.

Zionismn is extremist religious beliefs. I do not believe in or support any type of extremist religious beliefs because why on earth would I? If you have the audacity to tell me that your god is the only one that exists in the year of 2024 where we are suffering around the globe then first of all, you should be fucking ashamed of your god, and second of all, you should be ashamed of yourself for claiming him.

I believe in the right to religious freedom. I believe in the right to political freedom. I don't believe in religion but I will fight for other people to retain the right to believe in theirs.

Please stop making the active fight against genocide into something it isn't. I cannot speak for everyone in the world, but I can speak for the movement i support, and what we want is a free Palestine. We want freedom and equality for all people, Palestinians and israelis alike. We want state parties to take accountability. We want to end genocide.

We want a world where Palestinians and israelis can coexist peacefully. We want there to be space and freedom for every nation and religion.

I try really hard to educate people patiently when I can, so please take this in that spirit - because this response of yours is kind of the Platonic ideal of a specific genre of post that keeps getting lobbed at Jews from people who seem to think it's totally reasonable without ever stopping to consider how it sounds to us. I somehow doubt you'd say these same things to another persecuted minority, and if you did, I'd expect you'd get called out for it. Unfortunately, the left has decided that antisemitism is praxis, so the only way I think I can get through that particular haze is to rewrite this as if it were talking about another minority whose oppression you choose to see.

Hopefully you will take this as a moment to reflect on your privilege and work on yourself. However even if you don't, you've at least provided me with the perfect example to help those who will listen.

I am going to address this line by line:

Do you like how that sounds? Forget about the specifics and just imagine yourself telling a woman talking about the sexism she experienced from a particular political group that Not All Men are sexist. Would you say that? Really? Even if you thought that, would you actually type those words out, or would you expect blowback? Be honest.

How does that sound to your ear? Raise some red flags? Would you feel comfortable writing this statement in response to someone talking about the racism they experienced from that political group? Or would it sound patronizing and/or like apologia?

Would you feel comfortable making this statement to a trans person talking about the transphobia they experienced from this "revolution"?

Do you see how your framing here inherently delegitimizes the oppression being discussed, as if it itself is not actually a real type of hatred? Do you see how you're framing anyone raising the idea that there are legitimate issues with this "absolute revolution" that need to be checked as being inherently opposed to peace and progress? Do you understand why that's fucked up, when it's aimed at someone besides Jews?

Would you seriously direct this at anyone else? Would you snidely tell this to any other marginalized group - hell, even just any single small ethnic group, marginalized or not - that their concern for their family, friends, and/or community members makes their views "subjective" or "narrowminded"? Even if the issues are bigger than the issues of one side (which is true in any conflict ever) you understand how that's enormously pompous, condescending, callous, and unproductive, right? Right??

This one speaks for itself, I think.

This one does too, actually.

Would you seriously feel comfortable directing this ignorant screed against, say, members of the Baha'i faith? Zoroastrians? Sikhs? Kurds? Literally any other indigenous ethnoreligion? Or just Jews? Why do you assume you know what we believe and what our religion is about? In any event, it's painfully obvious from this post that you don't know the first thing about Judaism.

Okay, and?? That allows you to say fucked up things about a marginalized group and their beliefs? Did you even read your previous paragraph after typing it?

I stripped this down as much as I did, because there are a lot of specifics here that are factual disputes and right now I'm not arguing the questions of fact but rather focusing on the question of how you are treating us in this discourse. There are real discussions that can be had (and are happening with trustworthy people, actually) but you have to actually approach us as human beings and back up the fact that you give a shit about us with more than just "I'm not [__]ist, but," - a thing leftists seem to know about other marginalized groups but not Jews. And the reason is because the Western left has made antisemitism literally part of its praxis.

I'd include your last paragraph, but honestly it's just more of the same platitudes. Your intent matters, but it's not a magic cure-all. It doesn't automatically fix the harm you caused, nor does it absolve you of the need to be accountable to the people you hurt and learn to do better next time. This is something I'm sure you know about other marginalized groups, when you or your comrades misstep, intentionally or not.

What makes Jews different from all other marginalized groups in your mind? Why are we a stumbling block for you? These are the questions you should be asking yourself and working to correct if you do, in all sincerity, care about not spreading anti-Jewish bigotry. If you choose not to do this work though, your true intent is clear as day.

Source: @bdylanhollis -tik tok

You can't hide this in the tags man

(ie this is how to make sure neighbors you won't vibe with don't talk to you.)

after patrolling, unwinding in a diner somewhere ...

throw the man a bone batman geez

Remember this when you go vote.

This isn't Trump Derangment Syndrome. This is Trump saying in his own incoherent words what he intends to do.

To summarize: 'He plans to use the military to round up, put in camps, and deport more than 11 million people. He is willing to permit Republican-dominated states to monitor pregnancies and prosecute people who violate abortion bans. He will shape the laws by refusing to release funds appropriated by Congress (as he did in 2019 to try to get Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky to smear Hunter Biden). He would like to bring the Department of Justice under his own control, pardoning those convicted of attacking the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, and ending the U.S. system of an independent judiciary. In a second Trump presidency, the U.S. might not come to the aid of a European or Asian ally that Trump thinks isn’t paying enough for its own defense.' -Heather Cox Richardson

Marijke van Welzen creates wearable art using techniques she developed over the years. Not afraid of experimentation or a challenge, Marijke produces unique art garments that explore a theme or tell a story. She has a BA in Textile Art and in English. She has worked as a middle school teacher for 40 years.

Full offense and pun fully intended, but I genuinely think the very existence of "dead dove, do not eat" was a fucking canary in the mines, and no one really paid attention.

Because the tag itself was created as a response to a fandom-wide tendency to disregard warnings and assume tagging was exaggerated. And then the same fucking idiots reading those tags describing things they found upsetting or disturbing or just not to their taste would STILL click into the stories and give the writer's grief about it.

And as a response writers began using the tag to signal "no, really, I MEAN the tags!"

But like.

If you really think about it, that's a solution to a different problem. The solution to "I know you tagged your story appropriately but I chose to disregard the tags and warnings by reading it anyway, even though I knew it would upset me, so now I'm upset and making it your problem" is frankly a block, a ban and wide-spread blacklisting. But fandom as a whole is fucking awful at handling bad faith, insidious arguments that appeal to community inclusion and weaponize the fact most people participating in fandom want to share the space with others, as opposed to hurting people.

So instead of upfront ridiculing this kind of maladaptive attempt to foster one's own emotional self-regulation onto random strangers on the internet, fandom compromised and came up with a redundant tag in a good faith attempt to address an imaginary nuance.

There is no nuance to this.

A writer's job is to tag their work correctly. It's not to tag it exhaustively. It's not even to tag it extensively. A writer's sole obligation, as far as AO3 and arguably fandom spaces are concerned, is to make damn sure that the tags they put on their story actually match whatever is going on in that story.

That's it.

That's all.

"But what if I don't want to read X?" Well, you don't read fic that's tagged X.

"But what if I read something that wasn't tagged X?" Well, that's very unfortunate for you, but if it is genuinely that upsetting, you have a responsibility to yourself to only browse things explicitly tagged to not include X.

"But that's not a lot of fic!" Hi, you must be new here, yes, welcome to fandom. Most of our spaces are built explicitly as a reaction to There's Not Enough Of The Thing I Want, both in canon and fandom.

"But there are things on the internet that I don't like!" Yeah, and they are also out there, offline. And, here's the thing, things existing even though we personally dislike or even hate or even flat out find offensive/gross/immoral/unspeakable existing is the price we pay to secure our right to exist as individuals and creators, regardless of who finds US personally unpleasant, hateful or flat out offensive/gross/immoral/unspeakable.

"But what about [illegal thing]?!" So the thing itself is illegal, because the thing itself has been deemed harmful. But your goddamn cop-poisoned authoritarian little heart needs to learn that sometimes things are illegal that aren't harmful, and defaulting to "but illegal!" is a surefire way to end up on the wrong side of the fascism pop quiz. You're not a figure of authority and the more you demand to control and exercise authority by command, rather than leadership, the less impressive you seem. You know how you make actual, genuine change in a community? You center harm and argue in good faith to find accommodations and spread awareness of real, actual problems.

But let's play your game. Let's pretend we're all brainwashed cop-abiding little cogs that do not own a single working brain cell to exercise critical thinking with. 99% of the time, when you cry about any given thing "being illegal!!!" you're correct only so far as the THING itself being illegal. The act or object is illegal. Depiction of it is not. You know why, dipshit? Because if depiction of the thing were illegal, you wouldn't be able to talk about it. You wouldn't be able to educate about it. You wouldn't be able to reexamine and discuss and understand the thing, how and why and where it happens and how to prevent it. And yeah, depiction being legal opens the door for people to make depictions that are in bad taste or probably not appropriate. Sure. But that's the price we pay, creating tools to demystify some of the most horrific things in the world and support the people who've survived them. The net good of those tools existing outweighs the harm of people misusing them.

"You're defending the indefensible!" No, you're clumsily stumbling into a conversation that's been going on for centuries, with your elementary school understanding of morality and your bone-deep police state rot filtering your perception of reality, and insisting you figured it out and everyone else at the table is an idiot for not agreeing with you. Shut the fuck up, sit the fuck down and read a goddamn book.

relevant everywhere tbh

this minute long clip from make some noise made me feel more emotions than any oscar bait drama i've ever seen or ever will see

Within the world of Leverage there are many, many people who've heard whisperings of Leverage International. But it's not like you can just google them and send an email query when you have a problem that needs solving. That wouldn't be prudent, given that the bad guys are aware of them, too.

One method that has been extremely successful at catching their attention, however, has been fanfiction. Now, instead of daydreaming about being saved, folks are writing up little stories on AO3 about how they've been wronged by the rich and powerful, unable to get justice by traditional means, and how Leverage swooped in to save the day.

Without fail, someone has been in touch with them within a couple of days with both a plan and a promise to make things right.

Of course, this is because Hardison has the "Leverage" fandom tag favorited and checks in on it hourly.

Please learn more than just a Phrase.

I don't expect people to be subject matter experts on issues of global politics.

But false equivalency is rampant in online discourse regarding three major conflicts in the world today. I am using the word conflict in this post, however, when applicable, i will use other words to describe specifics. (Nuance folks... it's a thing)

So i start off with an assumption that most people don't understand the basics of most international events. As an american, i only know some of the stuff that is happening within my own nation. This is not an insult to you, dear reader. Rather, it is a position we all must realize we are in. You do not understand most world issues.

You just don't.

you aren't there. it isn't your life. you don't have the academic background.

I saw a post recently calling for "freedom for Palestine, Sudan, and Congo."

And it bothered me. Not because i am opposed to peace, (how is asking for ceasefire a bad thing?) but rather because i believe simplifying the conflicts with this wording showcases the ignorance of the differences.

Not all conflicts are the same.

In palestine, we have a convoluted mess where two groups claim a territory as home. getting into the in-depth story of this conflict takes time. Foundational elements of it take place thousands of years ago, but the conflict itself is only about 75 years old. So it is a long and short story. Currently, the sovereign state of Israel is engaging in a genocide in Gaza. Asking for freedom for palestinians makes sense. they live in an apartheid state and would like a state of their own. they wish to be free of occupation. you can argue with the details, be pro-israel, or whatever, but that is the basic ask of palestinians. (if you want to get into anti-semetic regional sentiment or the desire of certain groups to eradicate the israeli jewish population or Israel as a nation that's a different topic, not the point of what i'm talking about.)

In the Congo and Sudan, it is a different story.

Let's start with the Congo. First of all, Which Congo?

Let's please understand that there is the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Republic of the Congo is a former french colony. Then there is Democratic Republic of the Congo. Some of us might remember this country as Zaire.

the DRC is the congo we are talking about in the news. This was a former belgian colony and the atrocities committed by the belgians there rival any genocide in human history. i've seen estimates between 5 million and 20 million deaths. some estimates state the population of native congolese were cut in HALF. since the turbulent start of the country after their independence in 1960, the country knew relative peace until the 1990s. Then a mixture of a weak central government and the Rwandan Civil war (which had it's own genocide you may have heard about) spilled over into what was then Zaire. Zaire dissolved, and the DRC took it's place, But the wars have been raging off an on since then. earlier this year, more civil war violence erupted AGAIN. This displaced millions, AGAIN. while the DRC is a bit of an autocratic and repressive regime, the rebel groups are groups with ties with the Rwandan government and the other group with ties to Isis. It's awful all the way down.

Sudan has had an ongoing civil war for over 20 years. I remember this because i helped lead some anti-genocide protests regarding Darfur when i was in college 20 years ago. I've been following this conflict for nearly my entire adult life. you may have heard about this with regards to the Save Darfur coalition regarding the genocide in Darfur. Well, that genocide has continued (albeit with less intensity) for 20 years. the civil war lasted until 2021, but restarted in a different form in late 2023. the conflict is now between two different sides of the military government fighting each other.

It is an awful conflict full of awful leaders. Sudan's government suffered a revolution in 2019 from a dictator, only to have that government overthrown in a coup by the current dictator. The Sudanese military is supported by folks like Russia and North Korea. you will see a bunch of communist countries support it, and you might think "hey, maybe al-Burhan is a leftist".

no... no he is not.

He is a military despot. He has no ties to any real ideology. He just runs sudan as a military dictator.

So who is opposing him?

The Rapid Support Forces. and you may be thinking "ok, so they are the good guys? trying to overthrow the dictator?"

No... They are the ones that instigated the Genocide in Darfur.

This is a situation is "no matter who wins, the people of Sudan lose."

So when folks claim these are all the same. Or wonder why folks talk about one and not the other.

there are reasons. These are very different conflicts. Please learn about them. It matters more than spouting some 4 word slogan calling for "freedom."

Find out what the people of these areas actually need. Learn more about what is happening. My description above is incomplete. I may even get some things wrong. I am trying to keep informed, but I am not an expert, nor do i live there. Raise voices from the region and find out if there are ways to help.

New comic! (link)

This week I am very happy to present a collaboration comic with my friend Chrissie, who has been generous in sharing with me her experiences of gender dynamics in a technical field, and then helping me craft them into a comic narrative.

Whenever I see Chrissie’s work I’m always impressed at the cool, creative things she does. When we were discussing this comic, she told me: “I find men persistently try to direct me lots now too, which is probably the biggest problem I consistently run into”, and my feelings around that fact are a terrible and familiar blend of frustration, sadness, and lack of surprise.

When we talk about the differences in how men and women are treated professionally, especially in technical fields, we are often dismissed with ‘everyone has to deal with that’, or ‘women need to demonstrate more confidence with their skills’, or ‘they’re just trying to be helpful’, or ‘it’s all in your head’.

It’s frustrating when we know something like this is happening, but we spend so much of our time actually trying to get people to believe that it’s a real phenomenon. I find narratives like Chrissie’s validating in that she has a comparative set of experiences and is like ‘oh yeah, people totally think I’m less competent at my job now. it’s totally a thing’.  So, can guys just believe us already and get on helping it not happen?

"The woman, carved in pale stone, wears a peaked headdress, circular earrings and the wide hip belt and kneepads of an ancient Mesoamerican athlete. Her expression is fierce, her pose triumphant. In her right hand, she grips the severed head of a sacrificial victim by the hair.

The sculpture is the first life-size representation of a ritual ballplayer found to date in the Huasteca, a tropical region spanning parts of several states along the Gulf Coast of Mexico.

Like virtually every other Mesoamerican society, the inhabitants of the Huasteca played what is simply known today as “the ballgame,” in the time before the Spanish conquest. Despite its name and ties to modern soccer, this game was more sacred rite than sport.

For the players, who bounce a solid, dangerously heavy rubber ball off their hips, it was a means of communing with the gods, one that sometimes culminated in human sacrifice.

The ballplayer will be among the most important artifacts in an exhibit, “Ancient Huasteca Women: Goddesses, Warriors and Governors,” at the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago, opening Friday. This is the first time the piece, which was discovered by landowners about 50 years ago near Álamo, Veracruz, has been on public display.

“It is a totally atypical sculpture,” said David Antonio Morales, an archaeologist with the National Institute of Anthropology and History in Veracruz, who stumbled upon it last November when he was visiting private collections.

He contacted María Eugenia Maldonado, one of the few archaeologists specializing in the pre-Columbian past of the Huasteca. At first, she didn’t think the figure could be real. It would be the first stone sculpture of a ballplayer found in the region, the first female ballplayer and the first at this scale holding a decapitated head.

Things Biden and the Democrats did, this week #15

April 19-26 2024

Over The Waves by Setsuko Matsushima

art quilt

omg

This has been in my queue for months.

I missed it last year and I vowed that would NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN.