Trump Tombstone

Headstone

A renegade artist took to Central Park this weekend to express discontentment with presidential candidate Donald Trump in the form of a fake tombstone dedicated to the oft-lampooned businessman with the epitaph “Make America Hate Again.” The mysterious stone also features Trump’s birth year, 1946, but includes no year of death.

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The equally-critical graveyard project first surfaced on social media on Saturday, but by Sunday night had been removed by the city Parks Department—much to the chagrin of anti-Trump New Yorkers.

A spokesperson for the parks department told NBC that there is currently no information as to who erected the tombstone, but that it was city employees who hauled it away. No word on where, exactly, the artifact was hauled to.

Read more here.

Magic in North America

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A lot of people have been less than pleased with Rowling’s Magic in North America, many of them Indigenous people, as the stereotyping was much as feared, with all Indians dumped into the popular “Native American” category. It’s beyond frustrating when people start a sentence with “Native Americans”, because there’s no such pool of people. There are indigenous peoples, there are tribes, there are nations, all different from one another, with different histories, beliefs, and traditions. Magic in North America has been the focus of much ferocious discussion for some time now, along with plenty of the casual racism one might expect to see. Dr. Adrienne Keene has addressed many of the issues indigenous people have at Native Appropriations.

[Read more…]

Cool Stuff Friday

The Creator’s Project on Instagram. Some fabulous work there, have a browse.

 

Creators

Turning thousands of discarded plastic bottles into art

 

Serge Attukwei Clottey uses his art installations to educate local communities about pollution and waste. Photograph: Serge Attukwei Clottey

Serge Attukwei Clottey uses his art installations to educate local communities about pollution and waste. Photograph: Serge Attukwei Clottey

The brightly coloured plastic jugs once played a vital role transporting water during Ghana’s droughts. Now, they’re creating a new environmental catastrophe of their own.

Seas of discarded yellow, blue and white containers – referred to locally as “Kufuor gallons” after the water crises endured under president John Kufuor in the early 2000s – have become a troubling part of Ghana’s landscape.

No longer used by local communities, vast quantities of jerry cans have built up on city streets, dumps and beaches, contributing to worsening pollution levels. In response to the growing crisis and government inaction, local artist Serge Attukwei Clottey has started using large-scale plastic art installations as a way to draw attention to the issue.

The artist says his aim is to galvanise the local community to combat the large quantities of plastic waste now blocking sewers in cities and endangering wildlife habitats along the coastline.

Clottey, who has been gathering the containers for more than 15 years, cuts them into small tiles and shapes them over an open flame, later moulding sections together and binding them with copper.

The process results in what he refers to as “paint-less paintings” – large plastic tapestries that also incorporate other salvaged waste items, such as discarded electrical goods or wood, bones and shells gathered from the coastal neighbourhood where he lives and works in the capital, Accra.

The full article is here.

GunTV. There just isn’t enough facepalm…

Yes, for real. This just makes me want to despair. The home shopping gun channel is the brain fart of something called The Social Responsibility Network. Social responsibility? Really? Given the sheer amount of gun deaths and injuries every single day in uStates, I don’ think that title applies in the least. It’s days like these that make me feel like uStates has moved beyond parody. I can only imagine how terrifying we are to everyone outside uStates. It’s pretty terrifying living here.

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A man in a gun shop (Pål Joakim Olsen/Flickr)

Article about GTV here. There’s a video from the Social Responsibility Network at the link.

Some more info – naturally, they have matching website:

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https://www.guntv.tv/

According to this source, these are the hosts:

Carly Twissleman, an actress and professional rodeo competitor, comes from a firearms enthusiast ranching family.

Eric Anderson, former USMC field artillery platoon Sergeant, NRA certified firearms instructor, hunter safety instructor in the state of Florida, CMSA men’s level 6 cowboy mounted shooter board member and Top Shot Season 2 contender, also trains individuals in extreme horsemanship, marksmanship and firearms safety.
Denny Chapman, former law enforcement officer, is a professional cowboy mounted shooting competitor and NRA firearms instructor with his own line of signature products for the sport of mounted shooting and equestrian enthusiasts.

Amy Robbins, TV producer and host, model, certified NRA firearms instructor and all-American Texan, brings her passion for her family, faith, fashion and firearms to GunTV.

Anette Wachter, aka 30CalGal, is a member of the US Long Range Rifle Team and the 2015 World Palma Team, professional precision rifle and 3 gun competitor and a writer and blogger with her own line of gun jewelry.

Bree Warner, a veteran actress and auxiliary police officer with a large metropolitan police department, is also the founder of TactigalNYC gun blog, founded to empower women.

KC Kahne has been an avid shooter since his boyhood and with his certification as an NRA firearms instructor, KC has sought out and trained with some of the most respected and elite trainers in the firearms world.

Rydell Danzi, a military veteran with a passion for helping vets and non-vets, has directed and performed in films and is an avid outdoorsman.

Billy Birdzell, an officer in the USMC and a founding member of the Marine Corps Special Operations Command (MARSOC) served two tours in Iraq before
coming home to earn an MBA and join the NRA Office of Advancement, while still finding time to enjoy the great outdoors and become a competitive shooter.

What May Be Worst Anti-LGBT Bill Yet

Rev. Chris Donald calls for the Senate to defeat HB 1523 on March 23.

Rev. Chris Donald calls for the Senate to defeat HB 1523 on March 23.

Mississippi is one vote and one signature away from enacting what may be the strictest anti-LGBT law yet.

The state Senate passed House Bill 1523, the so-called Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act, Wednesday by a vote of 32-17, The Clarion-Ledger of Jackson reports. Thursday morning the Senate took a second vote, sending the bill on to the House for concurrence, as the version passed by the Senate differs slightly from the one adopted by the House in February, reports BuzzFeed. If the House votes to concur, which is expected next week, the bill will go to Gov. Phil Bryant for his signature.

The act states that the government cannot penalize an individual, organization, or business for acting according to the following “sincerely held religious beliefs or moral convictions”: that “marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman”; that “sexual relations are properly reserved to such a marriage”; and that “male (man) or female (woman) refer to an individual’s immutable biological sex as objectively determined by anatomy and genetics at time of birth.”

The bill would therefore allow businesses to turn away customers or prospective employees by citing such beliefs, without repercussions. It would allow employees of county circuit clerks’ offices, which issue marriage licenses in the state, to refuse service to same-sex couples if they object to the marriage on religious grounds, also without repercussions. It could be used to discriminate against single parents and even conceivably allow employers to fire female workers for wearing pants, as it protects employers’ and schools’ right to maintain “sex-specific standards or policies concerning employee or student dress or grooming.”

Sen. Jenifer Branning, a supporter of the bill, argued to her colleagues Wednesday that the measure was designed to protect providers of wedding goods and services who oppose same-sex marriage, and denied that it had broader implications.

There’s more on this monstrosity of a legislation at Buzzfeed.

Be a thorn in Ken Ham’s side

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Answers in Genesis fought to have its funding reinstated — and won.

In 2015, the Courier-Journal reports that the group appealed the board’s decision through a federal lawsuit. Answers in Genesis argued that Ark Encounters’ tax exemptions were denied based on the theme park’s “religious purpose and message.” U.S. District Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove sided with Ham’s organization, writing in his January ruling that the attraction is “neutral, has a secular purpose, and does not grant preferential treatment to anyone based on religion.”

Groups like Tri-State Freethinkers not only disagree with that ruling, they’re also willing to fight it. The Freethinkers have crowdsourced more than $7,200 to campaign against Ark Encounters. If the group raises $10,000 — their next milestone — that will buy “four billboards at the same time or up to 10 locations spread out over the summer.” Should they raise $150 million, however, they plan to build their own park — one that doesn’t discriminate against gays.

Have a dollar or three? Think about floating them over to the Tri-State Freethinkers, who are doing a good job of being  a thorn in Ken Ham’s side.

TDOV

Today is the Transgender Day of Visibility.

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What is the Transgender Day of Visibility?
TDOV is a day to show your support for the trans community. It aims to bring attention to the accomplishments of trans people around the globe while fighting cissexism and transphobia by spreading knowledge of the trans community. Unlike Transgender Day of Remembrance, this is not a day for mourning: this is a day of empowerment and getting the recognition we deserve!

When is TDOV?
TDoV is on March 31st every year!

Where is TDOV?
Everywhere! We encourage you to create panels, talk to friends, and spread knowledge about the trans community no matter where you are! You can also join our Facebook event and use hashtag #tdov on social media. We also have a list of events on our website.

What is this year’s theme?
More Than Visibility (#MoreThanVisibility). This recognizes that while visibility is important, we must take direct action against transphobia around the world. Visibility is not enough alone to bring transgender liberation. Some people experience violence due to their visibility and some others don’t want to be visible. However, we can use visibility as a vital tool for transgender justice.

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‘Trans Pose’ exhibition a study of transgender women and their journeys

“Transgender women are often the subject of prejudice and violence, and (can) lead shorter lives due to suicide and their struggle with employment, housing and acceptance from their families,” said Sarah Chaffee of McGowan Fine Art in her blog atmcgowanfineart.com.

“‘Trans Pose’ is portraits of transgender women exploring their unique experiences.”

“Trans Pose,” an exhibition running through April 22 at McGowan Fine Art, 10 Hills Ave., Concord. Gallery hours are Tuesdays to Fridays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and by appointment. For more information go to mcgowanfineart.com.

Two Bangladeshi Artists Are Giving Transgender Issues a Global Spotlight

In March 2015, on the streets of the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, a blogger was murdered. It was but one killing in a spate of bloody attacks in the country by Islamist radicals on writers who mocked and criticized extremist elements of the religion. Predictably, the combination of brutality and religion attracted the fickle attention of the West. But the story was remarkable for another reason that has been less examined in the media: Two of the three assailants were caught thanks to the actions of Labannya Hijra, a transgender woman who witnessed the killing and retrieved the shirts of the blogger’s fleeing murderers.

In Bangladesh, members of the transgender community—some of whom go by “hijra,” the South Asian word for those born male but who identify as female—are thought to number somewhere between 10,000 and 500,000. They are roundly marginalized, facing poverty and legal and societal discrimination, though they recently won the right to officially identify as a third gender. But, notes British-Bangladeshi writer Tahmima Anam in her sobering op-ed in the New York Times, “it would be premature, to say the least, to pronounce the troubles of the hijras over.”

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Mahbubur Rahman, Transformation (ongoing performance 2004-2014), 2004. Photo by Tayeba Begum Lipi. Courtesy of the artist.