Tired of Being Mild

Living Water: part III how i got ovah: new and selected poems by...

Wed, 15 May 2013 12:43:09 +0100

Living Water: part III

how i got ovah: new and selected poems

by Carolyn M. Rodgers

In historic vote, Minnesota Senate approves same-sex marriage bill

Mon, 13 May 2013 23:32:29 +0100

In historic vote, Minnesota Senate approves same-sex marriage bill:

“Today, love wins,”

Sen. Tony Lourey

"while I’m keenly aware that there are those who theologically oppose my person being fully..."

Wed, 01 May 2013 15:39:25 +0100

““while I’m keenly aware that there are those who theologically oppose my person being fully celebrated in the narrative of the Gospel, the undeniable fact remains: I am still here. I don’t know if this makes me ‘better’ in any sense, but it makes me aware that divinely prescribed grace cannot be earned. In that case, I’m back where I started, when I first got on my knees. The best that I can do is start by recognizing that what measure of grace I have received is only repaid by passing that grace onto others. I don’t think being gay has taught me this, but rather, I’ve always wanted to be willing to accept the parts of me that I cannot change and still have the courage to accept grace.””

- Jennifer Knapp

From: Ask Jennifer Knapp

Awwww. 30 more days till I see this face in person!

Wed, 01 May 2013 10:33:00 +0100

Awwww. 30 more days till I see this face in person!

"trusting the people is the indispensable precondition for revolutionary change. A real humanist can..."

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 20:24:52 +0000

““trusting the people is the indispensable precondition for revolutionary change. A real humanist can be identified more by his trust in the people, which engages him in their struggle, than by a thousand actions in their favor without that trust.””

- Pedagogy of the Oppressed

by Paulo Freire

When Food Isn’t the Answer to Hunger

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 20:21:41 +0000

When Food Isn’t the Answer to Hunger:

“But the United States, the largest donor, is still tied to sending sacks of grain and legumes from America. Only 15 percent of American humanitarian food aid can be untied — bought outside the United States.”

This is so frustrating!

Sisters, too cute!

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 15:09:05 +0000

Sisters, too cute!

theprettybaby: Zooey Deschanel wrote this feminist teen...

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 10:05:52 +0000

theprettybaby:

Zooey Deschanel wrote this feminist teen angst-filled letter to vogue age 17,

Ugghhhh, why is she so lovely!

apparently she tweeted “wrote this letter to vogue when I was 17 & someone found it! proud of my feminist teen self.”

"64% of all families receive some kind of benefit. If unemployment benefits are reduced, people may..."

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 11:11:51 +0000

“

64% of all families receive some kind of benefit.

If unemployment benefits are reduced, people may stop claiming – but not necessarily go to work. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has carried out a systematic review of international research on the impact of benefit sanctions. This finds, mainly from US research, that sanctions are successful in getting people off benefits, but this may be because they are dropping out of the system altogether, rather than going into decent work.

European studies show that the use of sanctions is likely to lead to worse employment outcomes (lower pay and more likely to be back on benefits) than if sanctions are not used. This is because the threat or use of sanctions makes people take lower-quality jobs than if they had been allowed to wait for a better opportunity.

Richer countries spend much more (as a proportion of income) on welfare than poor ones – compare Sweden and Somalia. But of course that doesn’t mean spending more on welfare makes a country richer: it mostly reflects the natural tendency of societies, as they become more prosperous, to increase social spending. Some economists argue that large welfare states, which need to be financed by equally large tax revenues, over time inhibit private-sector growth. However, the experience of the Nordic countries does show clearly that there is no necessary inconsistency between economic dynamism and a large and relatively generous welfare state.

Perhaps a better way to think about it is this: it seems likely that having no welfare state would not only make a country a very unpleasant place to live in but would inhibit economic growth, as a consequence of the inevitable social breakdown.

”

- Benefits in Britain: Separating the Facts from the Fiction (via rightsandhumanity)

Rienna and I went hiking yesterday. We headed out from my site...

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 20:54:36 +0000

Rienna and I went hiking yesterday. We headed out from my site to a village about 10k down the road and then 5k into the mountains, it was beautiful, and then we found a back road through the mountains home.

While we were there we met with some women who want to form a women’s cooperative in the town, they want to work with the women’s cooperative in my town to learn about the process and how to be successful. While we were talking the leader turned to me and said, “hand and hand, we can help each other” and it just made my day, it practically made my service.

No More Nice Girls

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 10:38:32 +0000

No More Nice Girls:

“The idea that girls are supposed to stay “pure” is a trap designed to keep you from getting out there and exploring the world—because, you’re told, it will only rough you up, dirty up your soul, sully you, make you less. But learning is not a trap. It means that you’re standing in front of failure and embarrassment and disappointment—and joy, and surprise, and all the good things that come with experience—and you’re ready for them. That you’re not afraid to explore. It means you’re ready to grow up, even when that process scares you. I can’t think of anything braver, stronger, or more badass than that.”

"Love lasts about seven years. That’s how long it takes for the cells of the body to totally replace..."

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 19:55:16 +0000

“Love lasts about seven years. That’s how long it takes for the cells of the body to totally replace themselves.”

- Françoise Sagan (via larmoyante)

"You tried to change didn’t you? closed your mouth more tried to be softer prettier less..."

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 20:02:03 +0000

“You tried to change didn’t you?
closed your mouth more
tried to be softer
prettier
less volatile, less awake
but even when sleeping you could feel
him traveling away from you in his dreams
so what did you want to do love
split his head open?
you can’t make homes out of human beings
someone should have already told you that
and if he wants to leave
then let him leave
you are terrifying
and strange and beautiful
something not everyone knows how to love.”

- Warsan Shire

For Women Who Are ‘Difficult’ to Love

Lines 20-35

Photo

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 19:52:01 +0000

Home

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 11:51:00 +0000

I officially have a plane ticket home! I arrive in Minneapolis at 3:00 pm May 30th.

It feels so strange, I’ve been talking to all my Peace Corps friends about this, it’s unbelievably bitter sweet. I haven’t left Morocco in two years, so I am excited to see my family and friends who I have missed so much. On the other hand, I am absolutely in love with where I live now, and the people who have taken care of me like I was their own daughter.

You can see my conflict.

Currently I’m preparing myself for a trip to target, I plan to buy brown rice sushi, and then cry into it next to the bathrooms, inconsolably.

"On this Earth, some children have access to life-saving medications, and others do not. This unfair..."

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 16:10:24 +0000

“On this Earth, some children have access to life-saving medications, and others do not. This unfair imbalance means lives of equal value are treated unequally. Our MSF action seeks to make a dent in this injustice. It is unfair and tragic that children like Oumere die so early in their lives.”

- MSF doctor Raghu writes about his team’s concerted efforts to help young Oumere survive and reflects on the bigger issues affecting children’s survival in Chad. (via doctorswithoutborders)

nprglobalhealth: Talk Globally, Go Locally: Cellphones Versus...

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 11:09:52 +0000

nprglobalhealth:

Talk Globally, Go Locally: Cellphones Versus Clean Toilets

Mobile phones have become ubiquitous across Africa and Asia, but lowly toilets haven’t.

Right now, 6 billion people around the world have cellphones. But only 4.5 billion people have access to a clean commode, the United Nations said Thursday.

That leaves more than 2.5 billion people without a safe place to use the bathroom and more than a million resorting to going out in the open. Both practices, needless to say, can take a deadly toll on communities by dirtying water supplies and spreading diseases.

“It’s still more risky to go to the bathroom in many countries than any other activity.”Andreas Lindstrom, of the Stockholm International Water Institute, said at a conference in Vina del Mar, Chile, Bloomberg Businessweek reports.

About 1,800 kids die each day from diseases that could be prevented with decent sanitation, The United Nations Children’s Fund, said in a statement Friday.

“If 90 school buses filled with kindergartners were to crash every day, with no survivors, the world would take notice,” Sanjay Wijesekera of UNICEF said in the statement. “But this is precisely what happens every single day because of poor water, sanitation and hygiene.”

Continue reading.

Photo by Raveendran/AFP/Getty Images

"Scholars often locate “third world women” in terms of the underdevelopment, oppressive traditions,..."

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 08:40:31 +0000

“Scholars often locate “third world women” in terms of the underdevelopment, oppressive traditions, high illiteracy, rural and urban poverty, religious fanaticism, and “overpopulation” or particular Asian, African, Middle Eastern, and Latin American countries. Corresponding analyses of “matriarchal” black women on welfare, “illiterate” Chicana farmworkers, and “docile” Asian domestic workers also abound in the context of the U.S. Besides being normed on a white, Western (read progressive/modern) / non-Western (read backward/traditional) hierarchy, these analyses freeze third world women in time, space, and history. For example in analyzing indicators of third world women’s status and roles, Momsen and Townsend (1987) designate the following categories of analysis: life expectancy, sex ratio, nutrition, fertility, income-generating activities, education, and the new international division of labor. Of these, fertility issues and third world women’s incorporation into multinational factory employment are identified as two of the most significant aspects of “women’s worlds” in third world countries. While such descriptive information is useful and necessary, these presumably “objective” indicators by no means exhaust the meaning of women’s day-to-day lives. The everyday, fluid, fundamentally historical and dynamic nature of the lives of third world women is here collapsed into a few frozen “indicators” of their well-being. Momsen and Townsend (1987) state that in fact fertility is the most studied aspect of women’s lives in the third world. This particular fact speaks volumes about the predominant representations of third world women in social-scientific knowledge production.”

- Chandra Mohanty, Third World Women and the Politics of Feminism (via angryasiangirlsunited)

some serious food for thought to start out your week.

(via mhcghana)

"We are sore the length of our bodies We restore water we cry We are nothing if not your..."

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 14:23:00 +0000

“

We are sore the length of our bodies
We restore water we cry
We are nothing if not your granddaughters
We have been nothing but dignified

We, we brave bee stings and all
And we don’t dive, we cannonball
And we splash our eyes full of chemicals
Just so there’s none left for little girls
Just so there’s none left for little girls

”

- Swimming Pools

By: Thao and the Get Down Stay Down

mercycorps: From Feature Shoot: Shot over a period of 18...

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 07:02:40 +0000

mercycorps:

From Feature Shoot:

Shot over a period of 18 months, Italian photographer Gabriele Galimberti’s project Toy Stories compiles photos of children from around the world with their prized possesions—their toys. Galimberti explores the universality of being a kid amidst the diversity of the countless corners of the world; saying, “at their age, they are pretty all much the same; they just want to play.”

See more photos.