Speak.Collaborate.Listen

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2010/may/31/israel-troops-gaza-ships

http://pulsemedia.org/2010/05/31/israel-attacks-freedom-flotilla/

http://mondoweiss.net/2010/05/israeli-ships-bear-down-on-freedom-flotilla-in-the-dark.html

http://witnessgaza.com

http://www.freegaza.org

http://twitter.com/freegazaorg

http://www.livestream.com/insaniyardim

http://www.flickr.com/photos/freegaz

watch al jazeera live:
http://www.livestation.com/channels/43-al_jazeera_arabic http://www.livestation.com/channels/3-al_jazeera_english_english

(via curate: the-semblance:)

“Having public standing as a writer of history has helped me stand my ground, but few women get that boost, and billions of women are out there on this 6-billion-person planet being told that they are not reliable witnesses to their own lives, that the truth is not their property, now or ever. This goes way beyond Men Explaining Things, but it’s part of the same archipelago of arrogance.”

I have some issues with this piece. With just 15% of serious sexual assaults being reported in the UK and then 6% of those reported resulting in a conviction I think Solnit’s recourse to “look how sexist Islamic countries are!” in this article is lazy. Western attitudes to women and their testimonies is effed up enough to keep her occupied for hundreds of thousands of words. Also “every woman knows” grates for obvious reasons.  But I think her “archipelago of arrogance” idea is sound, useful and the piece is witty too.

Shonibare began considering stereotypes and the issue of “authenticity”. His research took him first to the Museum of Mankind and then to Brixton market. He discovered that the exuberant batik that goes by the name of Dutch wax was not, in fact, African; originally, it was Indonesian. Dutch colonialists, hoping to make a profit by selling it, had set out to manufacture the cloth commercially in the Netherlands. When their venture failed, they palmed off the surplus on west African markets, where it somehow became, over time, a kind of national costume for millions of Africans: a statement, in the 20th century, of their post-colonial independence.

The only thing that makes reading this sort of ARSE bearable is reading it by way of the brilliant Africa is a Country which entitled its link to the the op-ed “Kristof promotes the missionary position” and prefaced it with Siddhartha Mitter’s:

“The Great White Savior really outdid himself with this one. A blame-the-poor classic with particularly overt Calvinist moral messaging, even less appreciation than usual for colonial legacy, public finance and global economics, and that condescending Kristof brand of Savior Feminism Lite that verges on misandry.”

otherwise, uuuurrrrrggggghhhhhh*  (* sorry, I know this is meant to be an articulate space)

“Lord Mark Malloch-Brown criticised Conservative plans to impose a cap on the number of immigrants into the UK as “a huge tragedy” for Britain in Africa. Under the Conservative plans, which have remained as part of the coalition document agreed with the Liberal Democrats, there would be an – as yet unnamed – annual limit on the number of economic migrants allowed into Britain from outside the European Union.

“I just don’t myself think it’s reasonable to have a situation where the increased numbers of European Community immigrants are driving out Britain’s historical links,” said Malloch-Brown. Of particular concern is how this might affect policy the number of students and business visitors able to visit Britain.”

- - I think the Eastern Europeans v Africans formulation is unproductive & unnecessary, yo - -

(Source: The Africa Report [dot com])

Violence has flared in parts of the Jamaican capital, Kingston, after the government said they would arrest and extradite alleged druglord Christopher “Dudus” Coke. Residents of Jamaica have been sharing their experiences.

(via abbyjean)

Schumacher Lecture, 2008 

by Andrew Simms

Leeds, UK