Via @BeaconIn

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Fri, 10 May 2013 06:44:46 -0400

Female Blogger Weight-Shames Cheerleader—Why Are Women So Mean?

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 17:47:08 -0400

Female Blogger Weight-Shames Cheerleader—Why Are Women So Mean?:

A CBS Houston sports blogger is getting some serious backlash after criticizing an NBA cheerleader for her weight.

Hokemeyer adds, “It’s also easy to be mean behind a computer. Blogging is also a one-dimensional experience that doesn’t force a person to deal with the consequences of their behavior because the writer doesn’t look their target in the eye or observe body language or general social cues that may stop them from being mean in real life.”

How Nonprofits Can Build Social Capital & Boost the Economy: May 3 Forum

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 07:09:20 -0400

How Nonprofits Can Build Social Capital & Boost the Economy: May 3 Forum:

davidbcrowley:

Preview of issues to be discussed at May 3 event in Boston.

Photo

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 07:07:04 -0400

istillloveparamore: Boston Police sent out this tweet: #MediaAlert: WARNING - Do Not Compromise...

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 13:52:04 -0400

istillloveparamore:

Boston Police sent out this tweet:

#MediaAlert: WARNING - Do Not Compromise Officer Safety/Tactics by Broadcasting Live Video of Officers While Approaching Search Locations

This means not just video, but all social media : Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram, etc. For the safety of the officers and their tasks, do not post anything about it! It may compromise their investigations.

Focus on keeping yourselves tuned in to reliable news sources.

crisisgroup: An Opportunity in Guatemala: Deciding the Ríos...

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 22:48:25 -0400

crisisgroup:

An Opportunity in Guatemala: Deciding the Ríos Montt Case

By Mary Speck, Senior Analyst, Guatemala (@speckmary)

A historic case is unfolding in a Guatemalan courtroom: the trial of former military president José Efraín Ríos Montt on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity. The case sets a precedent not only in a nation whose justice system has barely begun to investigate abuses committed during the 1960-1996 armed conflict, but also internationally. This is the first time an ex-head of state has faced genocide charges before a national rather than an international court and is a key test of judicial independence for a still fragile democracy.

Crisis Group’s Guatemala Project has been attending the trial. We spoke with Senior Analyst Mary Speck about the case and its significance for Guatemala’s justice system.

Q: What exactly are the charges against Ríos Montt?

Prosecutors accuse General Ríos Montt of ordering counter-insurgency operations that resulted in the deaths of at least 1,771 people from Maya-Ixil communities in the north-western department of Quiché, as well as many rapes and torture and the forced displacement of some 29,000. They argue that Ríos Montt and his military intelligence director, José Mauricio Rodríguez Sánchez, who faces the same charges, targeted indigenous villages for destruction, burning homes and crops and killing and brutalising men, women and children in a scorched-earth campaign against leftist guerrillas.

These massacres not only were crimes against humanity, prosecutors say, they also were genocide, a crime incorporated into Guatemalan law after ratification of the 1948 UN convention. According to the indictment, Ríos Montt is responsible for authorising and implementing military operations that defined the Maya-Ixil population as the “internal enemy” and thus targeted the entire group for elimination. Conviction on the genocide charge alone could mean 30 or more years in prison.

FULL Q&A (Latin America Crime & Politics)

guatepolitics: From the RM genocide trial in Guate: “The...

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 22:46:55 -0400

guatepolitics:

From the RM genocide trial in Guate: “The soldiers ripped out their hearts, piled them into a house, and set it ablaze”

The Spanish version of the testimony video is here

thearcanetheory: androphilia: “Being a woman is not a means to...

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 22:41:41 -0400

thearcanetheory:

androphilia:

“Being a woman is not a means to humiliate and punish anyone”

After a policeman in the Iranian Kurdish town of Marivan paraded an accused criminal in traditional Kurdish women’s clothes in the streets in order to humiliate him, women marched in the city condemning the use of women’s attire as a kind of humiliation.

In support, an internet campaign of Kurdish and other Iranian men has sprung up showing men wearing Kurdish women’s clothes and messages and support. For example, this message says,”wearing Kurdish women’s clothes is not only not an insult, it is instead a great honor for us,” and goes on to describe how women stand side by side with men in every part of society and during wartime.

Support the campaign by liking the page!
زن بودن ابزار تحقیر و تنبیه هیچ کس نیست

(via Ajam Media Collective)

WOW

"What kind of world do we live in when young men are so proud of violating unconscious girls that..."

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 18:29:03 -0400

“

What kind of world do we live in when young men are so proud of violating unconscious girls that they pass proof around to their friends? It’s the same kind of world in which being labeled a slut comes with such torturous social repercussions that suicide is preferable to enduring them. As a woman named Sara Erdmann so aptly tweeted to me, “I will never understand why it is more shameful to be raped than to be a rapist.”

And yet it is: so much so that young men seem to think there’s nothing wrong with—and maybe something hilarious about—sharing pictures of themselves raping young women. And why not? Their friends will defend them, as they did in Steubenville, tweeting that the young woman was “asking for it” and that the boys were being unfairly targeted.

Women and girls are the ones expected to carry the shame of the sexual crimes perpetrated against them. And that shame is a tremendous load to bear, because once you’re labeled a slut, empathy and compassion go out the window. The word is more than a slur—it’s a designation.

”

- “In Rape Tragedies, the Shame Is Ours,” my latest at The Nation (via jessicavalenti)

Holy Fucking ShitBalls: Hitler Baneo Núñez, Peruvian Father, Allegedly Set Fire To Gay, HIV Positive Son

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 18:12:50 -0400

Holy Fucking ShitBalls: Hitler Baneo Núñez, Peruvian Father, Allegedly Set Fire To Gay, HIV Positive Son:

holygoddamnshitballs:

A Peruvian father faces allegations that he doused his son with gasoline and set him on fire after learning the 22-year-old was gay and HIV-positive.

According to the Peruvian daily newspaper La Región, Hitler Baneo Núñez, 49, allegedly tried to burn the victim (identified in reports…

meghan-casey: To Boston from Kabul with love. Pictures shot...

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 18:03:30 -0400

meghan-casey:

To Boston from Kabul with love.

Pictures shot by the amazing people at Principle Pictures. See the original post here.

lostangelofhavik: Everybody do me a favor & #pressplay on...

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 09:06:05 -0400

lostangelofhavik:

Everybody do me a favor & #pressplay on this jam today. Not for me, but in memory of Rehtaeh Parsons, Devin Brown, and the countless others that have been lost due to bullying and violent abuse. #StopTheAbuse http://www.youtube.com/lostangel2k5 #RIP #TeenSuicide #AntiBullying #AntiAbuse #FlightFromNowhere

"Dear Tormentor, Today, you made me cry. You made me feel like the lowest piece of dirt that has..."

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 09:05:45 -0400

“Dear Tormentor,
Today, you made me cry. You made me feel like the lowest piece of dirt that has ever walked this earth. You stole a piece of my heart and soul, and my self-esteem. Just when I had finally managed to convince myself that I wasn’t quite the ugliest or dumbest person alive, you came in and reaffirmed that never-ending playback in my head that insults me even when you’re not around. The same playback that tells me, over and over, life sucks, and it’s never going to get any better no matter what I do, because I don’t deserve anything better. I am nothing, and nothing is all I’ll ever be. Even when I try my very best, like I did today, it’s not good enough to make me human or worth something in the eyes of the world. I don’t need you or anyone else to reaffirm something I already know about myself.
My hurt didn’t show on the outside because I learned a long time ago to make sure you couldn’t take that pleasure, too, that you and the others who think you’re funny or witty or cute, or are too afraid of you to do anything more than follow along, couldn’t see how much pain you’ve caused me. The times in the past when I made the mistake of letting you see my tears, all of you laughed at me over them, and you made it worse. You made me choke on my dignity, and hate that which had been a source of pride for me…until you mocked it.
You have kicked me in my heart, and ravaged what little self-worth I had managed to scrape together.
But that’s okay, because that is what makes me stronger than you and your followers. I don’t have to point out someone else’s flaws. I don’t need to put someone else down or mock someone in order to feel better about myself, or to prove my worth, authority, power, or intelligence. The mere fact that you do proves that we who refrain from such cruelty are a superior species. We are the ones who have evolved beyond simple animal behavior that makes a base creature attack something it doesn’t understand, something that is different or not as strong.
It doesn’t take superior intelligence to tear down someone and/or their hard work. To mock their best effort or a physical trait that can’t be helped. It doesn’t prove that you’re more intelligent or better in any way. A stick of dynamite can level a building, but it can’t build one.
You have made me afraid to go to school. You’ve made me sick to my stomach whenever I think about going to work. You’ve made me afraid in my own home. You have needlessly insulted me in stores, on the phone, or wherever I accidentally stumbled upon you. You have ruined my past, my present, my day, and stolen a part of my soul.
Like the rest of us, you come from all kinds of backgrounds. Some not very happy, and cruelty is all you’ve ever known, so you lash out in an effort to ease your own pain. Others have no excuse whatsoever. Your background is above reproach. Rather, it’s a vicious need inside you that we don’t understand, and it’s why it’s so hard to identify you at times, because you blend in like an undetected poison.
You’ve been my teachers, clergy, my fellow students, coworkers, bosses, principals, sometimes you were a former friend or even family I once trusted.
You’ve taken things I told you in utter confidence, and twisted them into lies to be used against me. Without cause, you have told lies against me. You have refused to see me as a human being. You have kicked me when I was up, and you have kicked me when I was down.
But today, you will kick me no more. I will no longer be your verbal or physical punching bag. Today, I discovered the secret that will never allow you or your friends, who will one day turn on you too, to hurt me again.
Today as I lay broken and bleeding in that dark place I crawl into when I think I can’t take it anymore, I found something extraordinary.
My humanity.
As my soul screamed in bleeding agony and I wanted to die rather than live one more day in a world where you exist, I realized that my tears and ability to feel pain without lashing out to return that hurt to someone else makes me human.
I find my pleasure when someone else smiles over something I’ve said or done. When I make them feel better about themselves or their lives. When I look at an okay drawing and tell the artist that it is a work of art, worthy of hanging in a museum. The smile on their face, the pride that glows in their eyes, that happiness I see inside them makes my heart swell. It gives me a joy you can never understand. Just as I will never understand your need to hurt.
Kindness costs nothing to give, but to the person who receives it, it could be the one thing that saves their life. The one thing that gives them hope in their darkest hour. No act of charity or kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.
In the immortal words of Maya Angelou…people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
Whenever they think of me, I want them to smile and feel good inside… .And I will never allow you to take that from me or from them.
No matter how you taunt or beat me, I will not become you, and pay your cruelty forward. In time, you will be gone from my life, and I will move forward to become even stronger and smarter than I am today. Because I can celebrate with others and applaud their efforts with an open heart capable of love and acceptance, I will evolve to an even greater level of happiness while you stay mired in your petty hatred and bitterness.
More than this, I discovered the best secret of all, I don’t care what you think because I don’t think enough of you to listen. You’re not worth the energy it would cost me to hate you. There is nothing about you that I want to be. I don’t want your clothes. I don’t want your friends. Your job. I don’t want your life, and I definitely don’t want an existence where I have to hurt someone else in order to feel good about myself.
I will not let you steal my humanity. You will not teach me your hatred or intolerance.
Not today. Not ever.
In spite of what you think, you’re not anonymous.
You’re ubiquitous.
No matter where you come from, or the clothes you wear, or the computer screen you hide behind, you are just like all thieves. Rather than work and create something yourself, you prefer to steal from someone else. Even your emotions are stolen.
And while I might not be able to see the future today or any light whatsoever, I know it will come through this darkness and free me from the ugliness you’ve caused. If I hang on with both hands, my strength will save me. My life is a gift and I will not let you take that from me, too. You’re definitely not worth it.
I am here and I am important. Maybe not to you. But to those I make smile, to the ones who see the beauty inside me, the ones who seek me out because of who I am and because of the positive emotions I give to them, I am irreplaceable.
You are not. Should you die tomorrow, no one would weep. I’ve been to your funeral and I’ve seen that truth, too. When you die, there will be another bully, just like you, spewing the same cruel lies and lines that never change, to take your place.
As I said, you are all alike.
But we are not. We are individuals. We do matter, and to those closest to us, we are the entire world. Our loss would cut them to the core of their hearts and they would weep forever. Our death would leave a hole inside them that never closes. We are the fragile flowers that spill our fragrance into the world, and bring beauty whenever we’re spotted by those capable of seeing us in all our glory.
And so I finish my letter with this. Go ahead and laugh at me. Mock me. Insult me. Tear me down. Do your worst. Because through it all, I will do my best in spite of you and your cruelty. From this day forward, I will never hear your ugly words again. I will live my life for me and those few who love me just as I am, the ones who cannot imagine a world without me in it. From now on, I will laugh at you when you start in on me, because I now know the simple truth.
Animals attack what they fear. And you, in spite of all your bluster and bragging, fear little old me. If I truly were insignificant and worthless, you wouldn’t bother tormenting me. So I will continue living my life for me with the happy knowledge that I threaten you.
Meanwhile me and the rest of my real friends won’t bother talking about you. You don’t matter enough to us to take up time better spent on preparing for a future where you don’t exist. Time changes everything and everyone. Today you’re the bully. Tomorrow someone will bully you. And when that happens, unlike you, we will reach out to you in sympathy and love, and try to make you feel better. Because that is who and what we are-
Intelligent and beautiful human beings.
Forever yours,
The Anti-Bully Brigade”

- Brynn from Inferno (Chronicles of Nick), Sherrilyn Kenyon (via bweird)

you can only move in ONE DIRECTION: hate needs to stop

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 09:05:25 -0400

you can only move in ONE DIRECTION: hate needs to stop:

tattedlouis:

I have never been one to post my thoughts on this blog but someone i follow has decided to leave after the amounts of hate she has recieved. this was her goodbye message:

first off, the amount of hate i get is absolutely ridiculous and i don’t understand how someone can sit there and send hate…

BunBun♥BooBoo: The reason for those four posts.

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 09:05:18 -0400

BunBun♥BooBoo: The reason for those four posts.:

stephxbee:

When you tell someone that they should kill themselves; when you tell someone that they’re ugly, fat, useless; when you start hideous rumors about someone, they will remember the things you said for the rest of their lives.

This happened to me THREE years ago. And, I still have all of these….

stuckinasnowbank: Speak up and stop bullying. #pinkday #speakup...

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 10:22:46 -0400

stuckinasnowbank:

Speak up and stop bullying. #pinkday #speakup #antibullying

Conflict Resolution What is a Conflict? A conflict is any...

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 22:09:00 -0400

Conflict Resolution

What is a Conflict?

A conflict is any type of disagreement, battle, or fights; there are two main types of conflict:

-       Interpersonal Conflict- refers to disagreements among groups, people, or countries. Like arguing with someone.

-       Internal/ Intrapersonal Conflict- refers to battles among us, they often involve ambivalent emotions. Like deciding what to wear or making your own decisions.

There are two ways to address a problem: to face it or to ignore it.

Conflict Resolution

Conflict Resolution is a process of ending a problem, by finding solutions that both sides agree on.

Some of the skills needed are:

•       Communication

•       Cooperation

•       Commitment

•       Respect

•       Responsibility

•       Rights

Techniques to Conflict Resolution

Some important techniques that may help us solve of conflicts are:

-       Tolerance- accepting the difference of others without disapproval, it is important to prevent conflicts.

-       Mediation- it is a process in which professional people helps others solve conflicts. It is recommended to consider a neutral place for mediation, absolute confidentiality, hear all sides of the conflict, and reach an agreement.

-       Negotiation- the process in which both sides make compromises in order to reach an agreement; they should talk about alternatives to solve the problem. Remember to have an open mind, be flexible, look for a solution, chose an appropriate place and time to talk about the problem, make an agreement, and take responsibility for your actions.

Fucking Zion Babies: A forthcoming book presents a fresh take on the civil strife that...

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 22:08:42 -0400

Fucking Zion Babies: A forthcoming book presents a fresh take on the civil strife that...:

A forthcoming book presents a fresh take on the civil strife that beset Georgia and Tajikistan in the 1990s.

Traditionally, political scientists have assumed that civil conflict only ends with a dominant victory by one side over another. And since the end of the Cold War, researchers have…

creoledarling: Autism Awareness Month #Day8 #april #autism...

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 20:45:16 -0400

creoledarling:

Autism Awareness Month #Day8 #april #autism #speaks #awareness #antibullying #autisticsibling #bluelightbulbforautism #godslilangelsonearth #isupport #ilovemybrother #equality #equallythesame #accept #understand #love #noh8 #puzzlepieces

20 Photos That Change The Holocaust Narrative

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 20:36:02 -0400

20 Photos That Change The Holocaust Narrative:

americangothgirl:

Holocaust Remembrance Day, the 7th of April, has just passed. As a 3rd Generation Survivor, I’ve been trying to find something informative and unusual to share.

Above is a link to a fascinating collection of photographs that give us a slightly different insight into the only genocide committed and backed by an industrialised nation - a view focused on defiance and life rather than the horror of extermination.