Michelle Colomer

historical-nonfiction: Because the Pentagon was built during a...

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 17:50:00 -0400

Because the Pentagon was built during a segregation, it has twice as many bathrooms as is necessary for a building its size.

Interesting! I wonder how many more buildings were built that way that still stand today.

ralvacast: a-random-chomp: accras: Consoler-in-ChiefPresident...

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 17:49:06 -0400

ralvacast:

a-random-chomp:

accras:

Consoler-in-Chief
President Obama consoles Donovan Frazier, 5, whose egg ran off course during the the Easter Egg Race, April 1, 2013.

LOOK AT THIS

Bush would’ve jelly fished that boy after the first photo.

usnatarchives: The first Eisenhower Easter Egg Roll will be...

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 15:41:44 -0400

usnatarchives:

The first Eisenhower Easter Egg Roll will be held Saturday, March 30, from 1 to 4 p.m. on the grounds of the Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home.

This event is free and open to the public and will feature games, crafts, face painting, an Easter egg hunt and more. The egg hunt will begin promptly at 1 p.m. so don’t be late! Admission to the Museum and Boyhood Home will be free all day.

Image: In 1958 Bunny, Hazel, Fred (Skippy), and Darlene Johansen attend the Eisenhowers’ White House Easter Egg Roll. (Eisenhower Library)

Happy Easter everyone!

defendwomensrights: “Since the Europeans came here, Native...

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 15:38:07 -0400

defendwomensrights:

“Since the Europeans came here, Native women have lost their historic positions under the matriarchy as leaders and decision makers, all due to the brutal and genocidal influx of the European colonial ideas of patriarchy and racism. Still today, Native women suffer disproportionately from alcoholism, drug abuse, and sexual and domestic violence. That is why the struggle for women’s rights must include the fight against colonialism, racism and imperialism. All of us need to unite to fight back and win.”

- WORD organizer Bethany Woody at the International Women’s Day rally to Stop Violence Against Women Everywhere! in Albuquerque, NM.

Homosexuality or Gay Culture?

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 15:36:14 -0400

READ: Those of you following the Supreme Court hearing about same-sex marriage, you may want to stop and think about what the issue at hand is. In American politics, issues debated judicially are never about the core problem, they are always a fabrication of what religious groups claim the problem seems to be.

In this case, the problem with same-sex marriage is about whether not it is or is not unconstitutional for two people of the same sex to engage in a civil union that is legally recognized by the federal government. THE ISSUE NOT ABOUT HOMOSEXUALITY. The evolution of homosexuality in American society has transcended from it being a sex problem, to that of the emergence of a new gay culture.

Hence, for those of you that like to associate homosexuality with promiscuity, this is not what the issue is about. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions surely, but make sure to make the distinction when formulating a political opinion.

"If history has shown us anything, it is this: if you want those in power to respond swiftly to..."

Thu, 27 Dec 2012 23:33:46 -0500

“If history has shown us anything, it is this: if you want those in power to respond swiftly to Indigenous peoples’ political efforts, start by placing Native bodies (with a few logs and tires thrown in for good measure) between settlers and their money, which in colonial contexts is generated by the ongoing theft and exploitation of our land and resource base.”

- In December 24, 2012 article “#IdleNoMore in Historical Context” by University of British Columbia professor Glen Coulthard (via luvlaila)

farhanist: Something you would not have seen in the media: Two...

Sun, 16 Dec 2012 11:36:47 -0500

farhanist:

Something you would not have seen in the media: Two Belgian UN ‘peacekeepers’ cheerfully “roast” a Somali boy over a fire, during a ‘humanitarian mission’ in Somalia in 1993

Kurt Coelus and Claude Baert were part of the Unified Task Force (UNITAF), which was a United States-led, United Nations-sanctioned multinational force and operated in Somalia between 5 December 1992 to 4 May 1993, in charge of carrying out United Nations Security Council Resolution 794: “to create a protected environment for conducting humanitarian operations in the southern half of Somalia.”

The two men were acquitted by a Brussels military court because of “insufficient evidence” and ruled that the incident was “a form of playing without violence.”

The incident received minimal coverage in the U.S. media, and the Belgian newspaper that originally published the photos received a bomb threat, which turned out to be made by a man who owns a local bar frequented by military personnel, including ‘peacekeepers’.

socialuprooting: Antonio Damasio, Self Comes to Mind:...

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 01:24:51 -0400

socialuprooting:

Antonio Damasio, Self Comes to Mind: Constructing the Conscious Brain

Well said.

"The idea that intelligence is linked to English pronunciation is a legacy from colonial thinking."

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 01:11:16 -0400

““The idea that intelligence is linked to English pronunciation is a legacy from colonial thinking.””

- Delalorm Semabia, 25, a Ghanaian blogger (via sister-bell)

"People who resist the natural human tendency to follow, venerate and obey prevailing authority..."

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 01:10:09 -0400

“People who resist the natural human tendency to follow, venerate and obey prevailing authority typically have a much different view about how oppressive a society is than those who submit to those impulses. The most valuable experiences for determining how free a society is are the experiences of society’s most threatening dissidents, not its content and compliant citizens.”

- Glenn Greenwald
A modern Locke!

fyeah-history: Black cat auditions, Hollywood, 1961

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 01:07:05 -0400

fyeah-history:

Black cat auditions, Hollywood, 1961

Photo

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 01:00:00 -0400

Extreme Home Makeover: Chávez Edition

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 12:37:15 -0400

Extreme Home Makeover: Chávez Edition:

Will they properly compensate those constructing these sites? Is maintenance a factor in these proposals? I wonder if those supporters who are rewarded with giveaways acknowledge that there is much more involved (monetarily) than simply handing out estates in return for political support. After all, for every input, there is an output, and unfortunately, his aid is at the expense of underpaid laborers, those of which are being compensated by state funds, not by Chavez himself.

Hugo Chávez, who is running for re-election, presents new dwellings to down-on-their-luck Venezuelans.

Voting and Racial History

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 10:12:55 -0400

Voting and Racial History:

An Alabama case shows why federal enforcement of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is still needed today.

New Weapons Push Syrian Crisis Toward Civil War

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 10:08:04 -0400

New Weapons Push Syrian Crisis Toward Civil War:

With evidence that powerful new weapons are flowing to both the Syrian government and opposition fighters, the uprising has thrust the Obama administration into a difficult position.

Could this catalyze an oriental third world war? Russia, Breat Britain, Syria, and the United States are meddling in fragile affairs. Moreover, international relations with Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Israel are tentative for the United States and that could put all these countries in an overall uncompromising situation.

The Shame of Nations: A New Record is Set for Spending on War

Tue, 05 Jun 2012 13:28:03 -0400

The Shame of Nations: A New Record is Set for Spending on War:

This is an interesting take on military spending that lies outside of party politics.

Clinton Poses with Porn Stars Bill “Scandalous”...

Thu, 31 May 2012 18:41:00 -0400

Clinton Poses with Porn Stars

Bill “Scandalous” Clinton. Still a ladies’ man I see!

House Rejects Ban on Abortion based on sex of fetus

Thu, 31 May 2012 18:32:00 -0400

“In the House, 246 representatives backed the bill while 168 voted against it, leaving the proposal short of the two-thirds total necessary for passage. Most Republicans supported the measure; the majority of Democrats opposed it.” -CNN Politics

Surprise, surprise. Sometimes it seems as though the Republican agenda is comprised of just one objective: raise the tally of opposition groups!

octobones:androphilia: Trnopolje Concentration Camp, Northern...

Sat, 19 May 2012 15:03:43 -0400

octobones:androphilia:

Trnopolje Concentration Camp, Northern Bosnia And Herzegovina, August 1992

These images of emaciated Bosniak and Bosnian Croat civilian detainees at the Serbian-run Trnopolje concentration camp, near the city of Prijedor, are from a photographic essay, entitled “Blood And Honey: A Balkan War Journal”, on the war and disintegration of the former Yugoslavia, by the award-winning photojournalist and co-founder of the VII Photo Agency Ron Haviv.

You can find out more about the Trnopolje camp, the other Serbian-run concentration camps and the Bosnian Genocide here:
- Poison in the well of history | The Guardian
- High stakes in battle over Serbian guilt | The Guardian
- Atrocity, memory, photography: imaging the concentration camps of Bosnia - the case of ITN versus Living Marxism, by David Campbell - Part 1 [PDF] and Part 2 [PDF]
- Dretelj camp | Wikipedia
- Gabela camp | Wikipedia
- Heliodrom camp | Wikipedia
- Keraterm camp | Wikipedia
- Manjača camp | Wikipedia
- Omarska camp | Wikipedia
- Uzamnica camp | Wikipedia
- Vilina Vlas | Wikipedia
- Vojno camp | Wikipedia
- Bosnian Genocide | Wikipedia
- Serbian war crimes in the Yugoslav Wars | Wikipedia
- Bosnia and Herzegovina | Human Rights Watch
- Genocide in Bosnia
- We Remember the Bosnian Genocide, 1992-95. Mi se Sjećamo Genocida u Bosni, 1992-95.
- Srebrenica Genocide Blog
- Bosnia-Herzegovina | Gendercide Watch
- Genocide in Bosnia | Holocaust Museum Houston
- Bosnian Genocide | World Without Genocide
- Genocide-Bosnia | Peace Pledge Union
- Former Yugoslavia | Yale University (Genocide Studies Program)
- Surviving the Bosnian Genocide: The Women of Srebrenica Speak, book by Selma Leydesdorff [Listen to a podcast with the author and read an excerpt from the book on PBS’s website]
- International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY)

"It is astounding how significantly one idea can shape a society and its policies. Consider this..."

Thu, 17 May 2012 15:25:11 -0400

“

It is astounding how significantly one idea can shape a society and its policies. Consider this one.

If taxes on the rich go up, job creation will go down.

This idea is an article of faith for Republicans and seldom challenged by Democrats and has shaped much of today’s economic landscape.

But sometimes the ideas that we know to be true are dead wrong. For thousands of years people were sure that earth was at the center of the universe. It’s not, and an astronomer who still believed that it was, would do some lousy astronomy.

In the same way, a policy maker who believed that the rich and businesses are “job creators” and therefore should not be taxed, would make equally bad policy.

I have started or helped start, dozens of businesses and initially hired lots of people. But if no one could have afforded to buy what we had to sell, my businesses would all have failed and all those jobs would have evaporated.

That’s why I can say with confidence that rich people don’t create jobs, nor do businesses, large or small. What does lead to more employment is a “circle of life” like feedback loop between customers and businesses. And only consumers can set in motion this virtuous cycle of increasing demand and hiring. In this sense, an ordinary middle-class consumer is far more of a job creator than a capitalist like me.

”

- Nick Hanauer, a venture capitalist whose TED talk about inequality was deemed “too political controversial” to publish. (via theatlantic)