Ah Mer Ah Su – the stage name of Star Amerasu. Her music style has been described as electropop and poptronic. Her music covers subject matter from failed relationships to drug abuse. She released her first full length album “Star” this year and has definitely earned her pop princess title.
Itsbambii – Youtuber and Hiphop/Rap artist. Her first album “Clean & Clear” was released last year and “My LGBT Story” is a must listen.
Kim Petras – This German pop artist has yet to release an album or EP, but has released 3 amazing singles this year. She says she draws inspiration for her music from early 00s pop and 1980s italo disco. She was covered extensively by the media after transitioning at a young age and has said she wants people to focus on her music, not her.
Quay Dash – This hiphop/rap artist has a whole amazing EP titled “Transphobic.” She’s said “I think talking about transgender issues (in her music) is important, but at the same time i’m here to make my music and do what I have to do. Her music is brazen and unapologetic and we all know lady rappers are the best rappers.
Shea Diamond – Pop/Soul singer who began performing at trans music festivals after her incarceration in a mens correctional facility. She released her first EP “Seen it all” this year, and “I am her” is a lovely and empowering track.
Miss Blanks – Australian hiphop/rap artist who’s spoken out about the sexism and double standards in Australia’s rap scene. In her words Miss Blank is “Unapologetic, fierce, and petty.” Her latest single “Good Good D” was released this year.
Sateen – The band name of Exquisite (a trans lesbian woman) and her wife Queen Sateen. The lesbian queer disco duo first got famous as a “het drag couple” in the New York queer scene. They released their self titled EP just last year.
Peppermint – the stage and drag name of Agnes Moore. She creates dance/electronica/house/and homo hop music. She was the first trans woman to ever be out prior to her appearance on Rupaul’s Drag Race. She’s collaborated on a bunch of new singles this year, and released her debut album last year!
She/Her/Hers – The stage name of folk punk artist Emma Grrrl. She just released her first album “Grrrl Angst” this year! “Gender is boring” is very catchy.
SOPHIE – Scottish Synth/“Hyperkinetic” pop artist and producer. Her debut album “Oil of every pearl’s un-insides” was released this year! She uses the Elektron Mononachine to create sounds similar to latex, bubbles, and plastic in her music.
anohni is another very talented trans musician! she’s the second openly trans person to be nominated for an academy award!
In light of the news about the latest horrific white supremacist shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue, as well as the multiple antisemitic acts of violence that have escalated the past couple years, it’s important for those of us who are Christian, or raised Christian, to be in solidarity with Jews.
In that vein I would like to remind my fellow Christians to be mindful of how we talk about and portray Judaism and Jewish people, both in everyday life and when discussing theology. A lot of Christians, when trying to defend Jews, do it by talking about how “Jesus (or Peter, or Paul, or any other Gospel/Epistle Martyr) was Jewish,” and while yes its bad to erase the Jewishness of said figures, it’s an argument that falsely equates the specific nature of historical and modern antisemitic violence with 1st century Christian martyrs.
This is oversimplified at best and dangerously hurtful at worst, considering that much of the centuries of antisemitic violence and ideas that persist today weaponized by bigots of various backgrounds (see blood libel and the weaponized use of the Passion Play and claiming that “the Jews killed Jesus”) has origins directly from the Church, and Christian bigoted fears. Even progressive Christians can end up perpetuating harmful ideas about Judaism (see the “Cruel Old Testament God overcome by Loving Jesus” idea ) Our defense of Jewish people should not be a because of the misleading and patronizing idea that Judaism is an “incomplete” version of Christianity, but because it is a distinct religion, culture, and ethnicity that is very much alive despite the worst people’s efforts to the contrary. We have to confront and resist antisemitism in both its overt and subtle forms within ourselves and our churches.
Some links to support the Tree of Life/L’Simcha Congregation
Pro tip: if an evangelical stranger approaches you asking to pray for you, there’s inevitably something about you that they see and want to change. [Ex: I attend a very conservative, very religious uni and am clearly tomboyish/lesbiany, and thus am constantly attracting evangelical strangers] If you can’t shake them (usually very difficult), then turn the tactic upon them by asking if they mind you leading the prayer bc “I have a few things on my mind.”
Then talk about whatever it is that’s making them uncomfortable. I ask god to protect all the lgbt+ kids that are lost, isolated or homeless. I mention my non-Christian brothers, sisters, and siblings that have to fight for recognition and respect in a monoreligious nation. I pray for the protection of immigrants and refugees, reminding my evangelical friends that their savoir was once one of that number. You can pray for pregnant mothers to find the resources and abortive care that they need, if they need it, if you’re feeling particularly brave.
This achieves two things: 1) there is no response to this, esp if you wrap it up with “amen, thank you guys so much for doing that with me. I hope y’all have a blessed day” and leave them no room to continue the prayer. But more importantly 2) that group will NEVER bother you again and you will show them, using their own method against them, that their prayer isn’t an act of faith, but of power.
Just thought I’d share bc I know that I used to be accosted by evangelical strangers once a week on my uni campus and never had a good response or ‘out’. This is by far the most effective method of shutting that sort of behavior down real quick.
you know what’s wild is that all these crazy standards we hold ourselves to are things that we don’t even value in another person? like i’ve never been like “wow I love that this friend of mine is too proud to ask for help and never complains about their feelings” or “my favorite quality about this friend is that they get straight A’s and never get overwhelmed and has never told me about a problem” or “i love that this friend has never been wrong about anything or slipped up and said something embarrassing once in their life” and yet here we are, pushing ourselves past our limits for and beating ourselves up over slipups of things that our friends probably wouldn’t even rank in the top 50 reasons they like us
“Don’t call Trump supporters nazis, it hurts their feelings.”
Yes, this is real (link to tweet). Yes, Tucker Carlson is literally repeating Nazi propaganda that aided the genocide of the Romani during the Holocaust. Yes, I am furious.
(Also, although there is a large population of Romani in Romania, they aren’t indigenous to Romania. They’re a diasporic group originally from northern India.)
Romani and Jewish have been screaming at the top of their lungs for years about neo-fascism in Europe, and Americans were totally aloof.
Then neo-fascism reared its head in America, but Roma and Jews were left out of the conversation in terms of people being impacted, because our oppression was “over.”
Now Tucker Carlson is on live TV using slurs and Nazi propaganda about Romani people, and I’m 90% most people on the left are just going to ignore it.
“The flag I was carrying is the same one I always hold in all the other protests I’ve attended. My friends make fun of me, saying it is easier to throw rocks without holding a flag in the other hand, but I got used to it.
If I get killed, I want to be wrapped in the same flag. We are demanding our right of return, and protesting for our dignity and the dignity of our future generation.”
Not just making it illegal, but making being gay punishable with death.
This is one of the many reasons why I walk by every single red bucket in the run-up to Christmas. They’re not getting my money, I don’t care how nice the people ringing bells are.
Ever since the time they threatened to close all their soup kitchens in NYC if a law that did something as simple as allow companies to extend spousal benefits to their employee’s same-sex domestic partners I have refused to buy from them or donate to them.
It’s that time of year again! In case people don’t know… the Salvation Army is shitty peoples.
Also, the married women are not paid (and therefore can’t qualify for assistance if they should ever divorce, etc). And worth “of course” less than a man.
“
In the Army’s case, the agreement for compensation is that the officer allowance be paid jointly to the husband—the check is written in his name. Officially, the wife is a “worker without expectation of remuneration,” and her husband receives 40 percent more of an allowance as a married man than he would as a single man.
(&:) Be sure and wish every bell-ringer in your neighborhood a Merry Kiss My Ass this holiday season~! 😀
Be nice to the bell ringers, they most likely have no idea about this. If you really want to do something to the bell ringers, try talking to them about this and ask them if they know.
And shop at Target because they don’t allow the Salvation Army there.
Reblogging for the last comment especially. The Salvation Army is shitty but it’s been an institution for a very long time, and a lot of regular folk have no idea about these things. They just want to help the poor and think this is a good way to do it.
We can fight an institution without being dicks to people who genuinely mean well.
I hadn’t seen any English reports on this but its too good not to share.
So right now there are pretty crazy right-wing nationalist sexists in Japan. They’re dressing up in WWII military outfits, they’re standing outside of Korean schools (in Japan) shouting that Koreans should be killed, and just generally being horrible human beings. For reasons unknown, the Japanese police haven’t done anything to stop them, and when people get physical with the right-wingers and a fight breaks out, it’s not the right-wing people who get punished.
Enter: the Yakuza.
Yakuza, for those who don’t know, is the name for the world of Japanese gangs, commonly known for being covered in tattoos. A few retired yakuza members (most of whom are notoriously and vocally conservative) got tired of this extreme right wing BS. They believe that picking on people who are weaker than you, like the children at the Korean schools or refugees, is embarrassing, and not something to be proud of. They want these right wingers to man up (the group is almost entirely men) and shut up.
These old retired yakuzas start showing up at the right wing protests and intimidate the hell out of these guys. When they feel like it, they’ll use physical force too. The police don’t mess with the yakuza so these right wing protesters become human punching bags. All their talk of killing Koreans or their superiority to just about everyone flies out the window when these gangsters roll up.
It started with only one or two yakuza who were bored and fed up, but more and more started to come. They started training in boxing and street fighting, and wouldn’t you know it…the number of right wing protesters got less and less.
Then, people of other walks of life joined in too. With the yakuza throwing the police off, professors could join by writing about the issues profusely. Suddenly a ton of otakus joined too, using their art and community to protest. They’d show up in droves and stand behind the muscle (yakuza) and make a ton of noise. They literally staged an “otakus against racists” rally.
Slowly, the protests have seen the right wing attendance drop more and more and I am living for these “manly men” being trashed by retired gangsters and fans of Love Live.
In conclusion:
First, I’d like the extreme right wing to gtfo
Second, I’d like a manga, then an anime, about these yakuza who befriended professors and otakus to fight neo-nazis. K? cool.
watch as certain types of manga start being extremely hostile to yakuza and otaku types, and yes i am absolutely thinking of SNK and its ilk
Love the ネオナチくだばれ (NEO NAZIS DROP DEAD) sign
Wow the Japanese mafia is anti Nazi? That’s weird that’s almost like never the case. That’s badass tho.
a lot of Yakuza have Korean ancestry which probably has something to do with this
Mongolians are cool because they’ve merged their traditional and modern ways of life so rather than having poverty due to losing all their important skills they just live in their yurts with their cows and 827474874mbs internet
sure their GDP in dollars is low but when you can survive like your anscestors did it doesn’t mean anything, nothing wrong with adding a motorcycle and wifi into the mix
Everyone should live like their ancestors did 1000 years ago but with the addition of wifi tbh
Adapt. Survive.
Mongolia will be the only functioning society after we descend into the Mad Max Era, they are already ready
Not to rain on everyone’s parade here, but despite how legitimately cool the intersection of modern and traditional life is in Mongolia, there is actually a major societal and economic crisis happening there right now.
The environment, which Mongolia’s largely nomadic population relies on, is being absolutely wrecked by a combination of global warming and overgrazing. Mongolia is currently stuck in a cycle of dry summers and extreme winters called a dzud. The cycle is unique to Mongolia and has happened in the past, but every year since 2015 has had a dzud. The result has been a complete environmental disaster for Mongolia’s nomads. Dry summers mean less food for starving herds and extreme winters mean the weakened herds freeze to death in temperatures reaching -40 degrees Fahrenheit. According to an article from national geographic, over 9.7 million heads of livestock were killed in 2017. 700,000 heads of livestock were killed in the first two months of 2018 alone.
The effect on Mongolia’s nomadic people has been severe. Here are some excerpts from interviews with local residents:
“We used to have four seasons, but now we only have three,” Batjargal told Nicholson. “Before, June, July, and August were warm and with rain. Different types of grass would grow, and the animals would get fat. Now, we have no rain and the wind dries up the grass. It is not what it used to be.”
– from an interview with a local governor by national geographic in 2018
“We are trying so hard to keep them alive,” 50-year-old herder Bayankhand Myagmar says, talking about her dead sheep and goats. “But nothing we do is working.”
Dogoonoo lives with 13 others in three small gers in Uvs Province. The 72-year-old started this winter with 230 livestock but 210 of those have died since January. "Watching the animals die is breaking us apart,“ she said. “But even if I have only one animal left, I will do everything in my power to keep it alive.“
– from a bbc article in 2016
About one fifth of Mongolia’s population has abandoned the nomadic lifestyle and moved to Ulaanbaatar, the capitol, where they live in ger (yurt) districts which make up two-thirds of the city. The districts have no running water and since there is no electrical grid families have to burn coal and wood to stay warm. This has resulted in some of the worst air quality in the world, causing a wide variety of respiratory health issues, especially in children.
So people literally can’t live like their ancestors did 1000 years ago.
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