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nightmare-chaser · 4 years

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Living In Interesting Times

Could everything stop happening for a few minutes?

There are riots on the street. They are in the right but they are being attacked and murdered, because in the power’s eyes there are no right riots. The police, those we are told swore to protect us from criminals, have in fact sworn no such thing. They wield power as a weapon against those minorities they cannot stand. They dress in disguises and start violence so they have a reason to attack the peaceful.

I saw a post where a black woman said she no longer allows people to say “They did that because you’re black,” and instead corrects them to “They did that because they’re bigots.” Before I had seen that post, it had not occurred to me the difference in wording, it had not occurred to me how the blame was shifted on the daily. There is something unflinching about the response, and while I am not being attacked, I flinch still. How had I not heard?

We have a facist in the white house, except the facist is too sensitive and thinks “facist” is a strong word. He tells us anti-fascist sentiments are treason, are terrorist ideas, as he puts families in cages and calls them illegal. The cages are filled with disinfectant, flooding the air and causing burns on the people, and somehow the people will not condemn it as gas chambers, because those should have died with Hitler. Those should have died with Hitler, not been dragged into the modern era out of spite for a condemnation of the poor conditions of the victims.

We have only a few months to get the fascist out of office, or else he stays for another four years. The fascist’s name is Donald Trump, and the idea that he would ever be president was so laughable that the simpsons made a gag over how terrible he would be. When he won the presidency, his campaign staff treated it like a funeral, for he did not want the job. Why did we give the job to a fascist who did not want it? We need him out. If we do not get him out, if we must live with him killing us for another four years, then we will have to live with him appointing two more justices to the supreme court, and he will continue to kill us for many, many more.

There is a country that is about to be extinct. It’s name is Yemen and I cannot point it out on a map. My geography, my history classes have failed me. It’s been in a civil war for six years and I did not hear a peep about it. I could not tell you it’s culture or it’s people or it’s language or it’s art, and it’s dying. It’s healthcare collapsed under the strain of the pandemic and the people are starving to death. An entire country is about to die, but I cannot even watch in horror because the news is silent on it.

Can we stop living in interesting times? I heard the Greeks used to wish interesting times on another as a curse, and I understand why. I live in helpless fear as things happen miles from me that I cannot effect. I live in fear as the things nearest to me are ruled by a powerful few. I do not know what tomorrow will bring, but it nearly certainly promises to be worse.

I am white. I am middle-classed. I do not fear for food or money, not right now. I am privileged and I am growing more aware of it by the day, and by the day I grow more ashamed of it. I did not make this system, but I profit from it with my mere existence and I do not know how to change it.

There was a black man shot dead by police in Atlanta, even though he was cooperative and polite. I do not know his name, and that is my own failing and a failing of the system. There was a black nurse shot dead in her own home by police, and her boyfriend is being charged for it. Her name is Breonna Taylor, but I do not know his name. There was a man named George whose last name I cannot spell whose neck was kneeled on by police until he suffocated. There are enough names of murdered black people to fill the back of a shirt in a dense paragraph of words, but I do not know them, and I do not know whether that is my personal failing or another of the system I find myself entangled in.

I learned in sociology class that society is more than the sum of it’s parts. I learned that even though we are all gears in society, society is also it’s own separate living organism. I did not understand it then, not fully. I understand it now, as I watch movements be born and gather members and fight to kill the rotten parts, as I watch things stay nearly the same anyway. Society has become a dragon to be defeated, but our knight is sickly or missing. The teeth are batons, it breathes tear gas, and it roars lies and “fake news” as it eats us alive.

There is a pandemic occurring, but the restrictions on movement and gatherings are being lifted. I wear a face mask to work to protect the customers from myself, hyperaware of how the customers do not care to protect me and will not cover their faces. Recovering from COVID-19 can leave you with conditions that you did not have before, ravaging your lungs and body until they never work quite right again. My grandmother texts me to complain that we should open faster and I’m struggling to explain to her why we cannot. The morgues in New York needed refrigerated trucks to hold the corpses in, and now we’re opening for the second wave. We did not flatten the curve, not enough. We are not prepared to open, but the facist leading us says we are and lies to our faces.

The fascist ordered teargas and swat teams used to remove peaceful protestors from in front of a church so he could have a photograph without them ruining it. He promised us a racist and xenophobic wall built on our border, and instead built it around the white house to protect himself. He removed the qualified specialists from their positions and replaced them with bigots, then worked to make listening to specialists a political opinion instead of common sense.

I am queer. There has been talk of how to remove gay marriage. It died quickly, at least I hope that’s what the silence means, but it existed. Poland is close to electing a leader who will outlaw queer ideaology in public places, as though love is an ideaology and not intrinsic to our being.

Is there any way we can skip this part? I’m tired and I’m scared. I’m ready for it to be tomorrow. The police defunded and public services grown, the pandemic gone and us healed, systematic racism dismantled and fascism erased. I wish I could wake up tomorrow and we’d’ve fixed everything.

That’s too simplistic. The riots have to happen. The protests, the petitions, the struggle. The deaths, the outrage, the fear. We must live through all of this if we wish to see that tomorrow, or else tomorrow is just another day to die in silence.

I am scared, though, and I am tired.

I am not doing anything. I do not know what to do. I do not know where the protests are, or when they are organized, and I do not know how to safely find out. I have no emergency contact I trust enough to tell if I go to a protest, and I am too scared to go without. I do not know how to protest, how to safely engage.

I am in college and I cannot imagine my future. I am told repeatedly that I need to decide, that every day gone is a day wasted. I am told repeatedly that I need to act, to take life by the horns and make something of myself. I am given resources to do so, but how can I? The world is going up in flames and I’m expected to choose a major and a career.

Society does not care for me. I am one more gear in it’s machine. I am one for snack for the dragon to eat. My mother tried to get me to ask for a raise at my job and did not understand that corporations do not value employees. I work minimum wage and I am disposable to the higher ups. The virus gave us extra business and I broke down crying from the stress twice. My coworkers have also cried and it is not a surprise. The corporations use us as gears and use us until we break, then they replace us with a newer model. Unions are still the bad guy in all the gossip. Our nation has a history of union busting that I am forcibly reminded of often.

The world is ending, somehow, someway. I cannot tell if what is dying is a free world, or a cage. I cannot tell if tomorrow will come with the dawn of a new golden age, or if we will all be silenced and in chains. We are living through history, and the generations after us are watching us now, and I do not know what they see. The victor will always write themself as the hero, and I don’t know what hero that distant future sees.

I saw a post by a school counselor. She said the teenagers are depressed. She said young people used to dream big, dream of being astronauts or movie stars or changing the world in a significant way. She said the teenagers of today are hesitant to say they might own a house. They are afraid to set even the lowest bar.

I should be doing more. The world is falling down around our ears, but I do nothing. The people scream in defiance and I whisper. I am afraid and I am helpless. I used to dream of being famous, when I was small. Today, I am scared of the future, and I feel small.

I spread the awareness posts to my few followers. I sign the petitions. I give donations, fives and tens to the various organizations. I play on the internet and try to forget the world outside of my room, just for a bit. The days fall through my hands like water, unused and wasted. It feels like dying.

I survive. I click another link. I watch a world die.

#covid19 #covid #blm #black lives matter #antifa #fascism #queer #fear #donald trump #my writing #interesting times and how i want them to stop

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mybodyliberation · 4 years

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Lindex Review - A Plus Size Sustainable and Ethical Option?

It’s a very first world problem and undoubtedly a privilege to be in the point of my life where I can even consider making conscious and ethical choices. I recognise that there are a multitude of people who can’t even entertain the idea because they have been priced out and don’t have the economic access and so I just want to say that if you’re in that position and this conversation is triggering or frustrating – don’t feel like you need to read on.

I’m grateful that I’m in a place in my life that I cannot just have abstract thoughts on how to live more ethically, but actually put it into practice. Full disclosure I’m definitely not in the position to living entirely ethically and sustainably as I’m just not in that financial position, but I’m putting my foot on the ladder and one of the first things I’m trying to approach with my consciousness is my fashion.

I am guilty as charged for using fast fashion and in some ways this review is still very much that because I have financial constraints during a pandemic, as I’m sure we all do, and so this plus size black woman has been on the hunt!

How do you source ethical and sustainable clothing that goes above a size 14? I’ll tell you how, you trawl the internet and I mean you spend hours and hours and hours searching because as usual there are no shortage of straight sizes, but the rest of us are left twiddling our thumbs.

I started looking at a site called “Good On You” which reviews all of the major brands, high street and online, in regards to their ethical practices. They look at the company’s affect on the planet, people and animals.

Enter in Lindex, coming in with “It’s A Start”, getting pretty average ratings, but one of the only brands that even had an average rating and carried my size! According to Good On You, Lindex is part of the better cotton initiative and a quantitative water target goal, but no gas emissions targets. They’re part of the BSCI (Business Social Compliance Initiative Code) which monitors production and labour abuse risks. Unfortunately they do use some leather, and animal hairs.

So they’re not perfect and I doubt any of these bigger companies are, but they’re at least transparent in some ways, making an effort to do something, carry my size and have items in my price range. If you’re curious about hearing what the brand says themselves on sustainability, here’s the link to that part of their website. https://about.lindex.com/sustainability/

Now let’s get to the clothes.

Finally I hear you say, I know, I know, but its important I give some context and information for those of us who are really trying to be in this, because it’s not about trends and new arrivals.

I was looking to spend less than £100 and I manged to do this. It took about a week for the items to arrive because I opted to do standard delivery. It did arrive in standard plastic packaging which is obviously isn’t very recyclable, so that’s definitely a con to buying online. Though I do know they have stores two stores in London, both in Westfield shopping centres, if you prefer to go in and look once restrictions are further lowered. Though full disclosure I popped into the Stratford Westfield branch last November and really didn’t find anything in my size in store. Speaking of size they go up to a size 26, which isnt super size inclusive but better than a lot of others!

In the video you’ll see I got a white, somewhat cropped, square neckline blouse. This was reduced in the sale to £17.49, is 100% cotton. Woven with a seersucker finish, elastic in the shoulders and at the end of the sleeves and true to size, I feel like its going to be a big staple item for me this summer. Its cool and you can dress it up or down, and I am obsessed with square/milkmaid necklines at the moment. Item Code: 7956532

I really feel like women in their 30s are always rocking cute shirts and now I’m In the 30s club, I wanted to follow suit. So I picked up this pin strip yellow cotton shirt, again in the sale, down from £24.99 to £12.49, ya’ll know I am an OG sales lover. Again true to size, and actually even a little oversized, which I appreciate in a shirt, because fitted shirts are just sweaty pit moments for me. The bottom has a curved hem which is actually really helpful for those of us with booty in the back. On the side of the hems there’s tiny little extenders which I think is important because actually feels like an item designed for a bigger body. I was worried about the arms being too tight, as I have big arms and that’s always a challenge with shirts, but it actually wasn’t too bag. It’s a little snug, but enough to make me uncomfortable. Item Code: 7653126

I only bought one dress, which is rare for me because my favourite item of clothing is the dress. I will wear them all the time and everywhere, but I’m trying to diversify my wardrobe so that’s why I only picked up this beautiful red patterned short sleeved, v-neck dress. There’s something about it that reminds me of a 1940s country girl visiting the city for the first time, and so I’ll try and serve you that aesthetic. The material is made out of something called LENZING ECOVERO which is apparently a much more sustainable material and makes it perfect for summer because it breathes. Again, I was worried about the arms being a little bit tight, but they were actually fine, and you can always customize by getting rid of the ties. Coming in £24.99 I would say you would probably pay the same for a summer dress on the high street that absolutely wasn’t using any kind of sustainable material. Item Code: 7993489

Overall I’m happy with the quality of the items and I am excited to have them in rotation in my summer wardrobe knowing that they are much more sustainable materials and that there was a code of conduct in production of them and a duty of care for the makers that produced them.

Would I buy from them again? Yes because at the moment they’re a practical choice for me and my bank account. I won’t be buying things regularly if I don’t need them because I’m also conscious of the amount of waste the fashion industry is complicit in.

I’ll absolutely be continuing my hunt to find much more sustainable and ethical choices and to support smaller business, especially black businesses, doing this, but for now if you’re looking for somewhere to start, Lindex might be it.

#review #reviews #lindex #sustainable #sustainability #sustainable fashion #ethical #ethical production #plus size #fat girls #ethical fashion

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rivermask · 7 years

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Image: Standing Rock Protest

An open letter from Kurt Dongoske, from the January 27, 2017 Newsletter of The Archaeological Division of the American Anthropological Association: “For most people, the beginning of a new year offers a renewed sense of hope, happiness, and prosperity for the future. For me, as the Zuni Tribal Historic Preservation Officer and an archaeologist working in cultural resource management in the Southwest for 40 years, the dawning of 2017 brings anxiety born out of a feeling of foreboding that our future is in jeopardy. I am referring both to the future of careers in cultural resource management and the future of our environment. Normally, I'm a pretty optimistic fellow, but the results of the recent presidential election left me feeling more than pessimistic. My sense of foreboding is based, in part, on the campaign platform of the President-elect in which he promised to diminish or abolish regulations, underscored by anti-science, anti-climate change, and fact-denying rhetoric. Moreover, his recent appointments for key administrative positions heighten my apprehension. Once the President-elect is in office, I fully expect an executive and legislative branch assault on all environmental and historic preservation legislation and regulation that 'industry' currently views as unnecessary impediments to so-called 'development.' The incoming administration most likely will move quickly to effectively promote and encourage gas, oil, and coal extraction on federal lands and couple this with a move toward seriously reducing compliance with environmental protection legislation and strong-arm tactics to any push back by environmental or professional organizations. Closer to home, I anticipate that the incoming administration will act to fundamentally undermine the preservation community's commitment to protect, preserve, and interpret historical properties and cultural resources. Now more than ever, as the natural resource extraction industry is afforded unique privileges by the federal government, archaeological sites, sacred sites, traditional cultural properties and landscapes may be threatened with destruction without appropriate consideration or treatment. Any effort by the new administration to exempt categories of development projects from Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review—including reform of NEPA and the Section 106 process—will have a deleterious effect on cultural resource management. It is not just archaeological sites, historic properties, places, landscapes and the environment that will be threatened. A highly partisan Congress may entertain bills that seek to restrict the types of research funded under the National Science Foundation (NSF). This will cause negative reverberations throughout the academy. Even more importantly, such a change would damage historically and geographically marginalized communities that rely on the academy to make their voices, concerns, and struggles more public and to hold responsible entities more accountable. While the new Republican-held Congress is anticipated to work toward diminishing environmental and historic preservation regulations, they will concomitantly attempt to curtail federally required Tribal consultation by reversing previous Executive Orders on tribal consultation. Should this occur, it will have a profoundly negative effect on the ability of Tribal Nations to put forth meaningful and effective voices in the protection of their places of sacred and traditional cultural importance. One need only look at the Dakota Access Pipeline, the resistance by the Standing Rock Sioux, and the militarized response by the oil industry as an example of what may be in store for Native peoples. The othering of immigrant Mexicans and Muslims by the President-elect can be anticipated to be extended to Native Americans as a form of delegitimizing and dismissing their claims of primacy-of-association-to-landscape and to natural and cultural resources. If all of this occurs, not only will archaeological sites, traditional cultural properties and landscapes be threatened if not completely disregarded, but also it may result in the violation of basic human rights for Native Americans and their ability to secure the protection of their sacred places, cultural identities and living heritage. As anthropologists and archaeologists, we should be deeply troubled with the President-elect's past and current turgidity toward dismantling or decreasing legislation that provides for the consideration and protection of clean air, clean water, and healthy ecosystems. We have a professional ethical responsibility to work collaboratively and effectively to advocate for and protect archaeological and cultural resources and to speak out and work against any and all efforts that threaten these important places. Moreover, as anthropologists we have a profound ethical responsibility to advocate on behalf of indigenous people when they are being disenfranchised from a regulatory process that has been altered to privilege oil, gas, and coal extraction efforts on their ancestral lands. The American Anthropological Association (AAA), the Society for American Archaeology, and the Register of Professional Archaeologists all have ethical principals or codes of conduct that define our responsibilities to the archaeological record. For example, the Society for American Archaeology's ethical principle No. 1 calls upon all members of the Society to be "both caretakers of and advocates for the archaeological record for the benefit of all people," and "to use the specialized knowledge they gain to promote public understanding and support for its long-term preservation." Recently, the Society for American Archaeology's Board of Directors issued direction to the membership (Our Ethical Principles, Our Actions: Member Responsibilities in a Time of Change) in response to what is viewed as a pending time of change. They added the following directions to the membership regarding ethical principle No. 1: As members, we will therefore oppose any initiatives to weaken the present legal protections of archaeological sites and materials, be these through legislative process, rewriting of agency regulations, or other means. Moreover, our stewardship responsibilities require that we support and defend initiatives aimed at mitigating the impacts on cultural heritage of accelerating climate disruptions. The AAA's code of ethics speaks to our professional responsibilities to support and defend the rights of indigenous peoples and this is important for us, as anthropologists, to never forget and to be compelled to action by embracing this code. The AAA represents all anthropologists and archaeologists working in the United States and our collective economic viability and our ability to secure federal funding for academic research and cultural resource management projects likely will be under assault. It seems to me that every archaeological, anthropological, historic preservation and environmental professional organization has a dog in this fight and must be willing to speak out and lobby against any efforts to abolish or decrease environmental protection and historic preservation legislation. As members of professional organizations, I urge you to encourage and support our organizations to establish strong lobbying coalitions with fellow environmental organizations in order to actively and effectively thwart any legislative or executive efforts to weaken current legal protections for the environment and historic properties, places, and landscapes. As individuals, I encourage each and every one of us to act locally, at the state level and nationally by contacting your congressional representatives and senators and expressing your concerns regarding the movement to rollback regulations, for those regulations not only help to protect our collective cultural heritage and a healthy environment for generations to come, but are the backbone of providing appropriate consideration for and attention to many places that are central to the identity and ongoing traditional practices and benefits of indigenous and traditional communities.” TL;DR: The Trump Administration’s actions to restrict regulations in order to allow the development of energy extraction on federal lands puts at risk both natural and heritage resources, many of them nonrenewable. In cutting off federal funding and curtailing public education, it also threatens the livelihoods and free speech of scientists in many fields. The Trump Administration also presents a threat to the civil rights of Tribal Nations in cases where economic interests ignore Tribal sovereignty over matters within their own lands. It is important that the scientific community, the Tribal community, and their allies stand up to these efforts of the Trump administration (see the final paragraph of the letter for concrete actions).

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ibilenews · 4 years

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Cooped up in small homes and lacking awareness, Jakarta’s urban poor find it tough amid partial lockdown

JAKARTA: Siti Patonah and her third-grader daughter, who live in a slum in South Jakarta, spend most of their time crouching together in front of her handphone these days.

With schools closed since Mar 16 to curb the spread of COVID-19, her daughter’s teachers have been sending videos to the parents for the students to watch.

Homework, usually some written tasks, has to be completed, and photos of the completed sheets are then sent back to the teachers for marking.

“I have to accompany my child every day because I need to explain the lessons and homework to her.

“It is very hard because I am not a teacher. I have to make sure that my child understands, with my own method, that’s the problem,” Patonah, 44, said.

She accesses all the materials on her handphone, and occasionally browses the Internet for additional information.

While network connection is not an issue, she said her usual 3GB monthly plan is simply not enough and she has to fork out money to buy twice as much data so her daughter can continue studying at home.

They do not have broadband connection at home.

The city’s education department has yet to announce when will schools open again. Last Friday (Apr 10), a partial lockdown known as large-scale social restrictions kicked in, further reducing the movement of people in the capital of Indonesia.

Jakarta is the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak in Indonesia, accounting for close to half of the country’s 5,136 COVID-19 cases as of Wednesday.

Patonah’s small family is part of about 1.2 million poor citizens in the megacity of 10 million people, according to data from the Jakarta government.

Her husband Endang Sopian, 45, has been sitting idly at home since Mar 26 after his employer, a restaurant in one of Central Jakarta’s high-end malls, shut down to heed the Indonesian government’s call for people to stay home.

He received his March salary but was unsure if he would still get his paycheck in April. He also stopped working as a part-time e-hailing rider out of fear that he might get infected.

Sopian said he would have to resume working as a rider should they run out of savings.

“I’m just here at home. I sleep a lot. My daughter actually asked me, ‘Why are you always sleeping?’” he said.

Their house is about 40 sq m, enough for the three of them to live in, but there is no balcony or yard.

“So in the morning, I go out of the house to sunbathe to keep my body healthy,” Sopian said.

NINE PEOPLE IN A SMALL HOUSE

Social distancing is a privilege the poor cannot afford, as illustrated in the case of Mila Karmila and Wati, who live together in a rickety house in a small alley in Jakarta.

A foul stench lingered in the air as the sisters opened up about their daily struggles amid the large-scale social restrictions.

They are aware that Jakarta is plagued with a disease and that it has affected their lives, but they have no idea what the restrictions entail.

“The television is broken, how are we supposed to know?” said Wati, 45, who goes by one name.

A total of nine people - including their husbands and children, as well as an older brother - live together in the 20 sq m house, so the sisters prefer to spend their time outside the house for some fresh air.

Wati is a housewife while her husband is an informal parking attendant who earns tips from drivers.

However, after the large-scale social restrictions came into effect, there are almost no cars on the roads and he is staying at home with no income.

Karmila, 40, earns one million rupiah (US$64) per month by washing and ironing clothes for people living nearby.

Her husband is a public minivan driver, who usually earns 100,000 rupiah a day.

Since the pandemic, he only earns about 20,000 rupiah which he has to spend on gas, leaving basically nothing behind for the family’s basic necessities.

“We don’t even have rice to eat,” Karmila said.

As the two were chatting, their older sister Suhana dropped by. The 46-year-old lives in a different sub-district in South Jakarta and came visiting on Tuesday despite the large-scale social restrictions.

“I’m bored at home. I want to meet my sisters,” she said. “But I will go straight home after this.”

“If the police catch me, I will just say I want to visit my family because I don’t have money and I need to borrow money from them. It’s not that I am violating the regulation,” she said.

‘I TRY NOT TO WORRY THAT MUCH’

Just a few metres away, Ila Sanilah, 44, still operates her coconut water stall in front of the shack she shares with her husband and 22-year-old son. Business has been badly hit by the social restrictions.

“Usually we sell about 100 glasses of coconut water per day, but it will now probably take us a week to sell the same.”

“I can’t save with my current income. Nowadays I’m just thankful that we can still eat,” she said, adding that one glass is sold at 5,000 rupiah.

After closing her stall, Sanilah then spends the afternoon taking care of a neighbour’s preschool daughter who likes to play on the street.

Sometimes she is joined by some other housewives on the roadside kerb, as the children play together.

This ritual has not changed even though the large-scale social restrictions regulation has come into force.

Being forced to stay home also meant running out of topics of conversation for many.

Patonah, the housewife who has to guide her daughter to study at home, said she did not know what to talk to her husband about these days.

“Usually he would tell me about his day at work, and I would tell him things I encounter while picking up our daughter from school. Now we got nothing to talk about,” she said.

They used to watch television together, usually the daily COVID-19 press conference by the government. As that can be a source of stress, Sopian now watches movies at night while Patonah prepares study materials for their daughter.

In the meantime, he tries not to worry that much.

“Before the outbreak, we always say, wouldn’t it be nice if we can get some time off work? Sleep a bit more, especially since I only come home at 11 pm most of the time.

“Now I get the chance to sleep and rest. Just try to look on the bright side and let’s pray this soon will be over,” he said.

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olwog · 6 years

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George sent me a note, “We’re walking from Clay Bank to Lordstones” tomorrow, “…are you available?” This is one my favourite walks so he was ‘leaning against an open door’ but they wanted to walk ‘there-and-back’ and I was short of time so with a little bit of deft planning, George had Peter lined up to pick me up at Lordstones so that my car was in the right place when the rest of the group were at the half way point; I love this group!

We travel along the back road to Chop Gate through glorious Raisdale, Chop Gate has nothing to do with chopping but is derived from the Old English ‘ceap’ meaning ‘pedlar’ suggesting that this tiny hamlet was once a centre of trading ie. Pedlars Gate. It’s also known for its pronunciation with a soft ‘g’ and flat vowel i.e. Chop yat.

As car parks go, the one at Clay Bank takes some beating for value, no fee but no facilities either. It does; however, have astonishing views over the Cleveland Plain. On a good day, you can see Roseberry Topping and Captain Cook’s Monument together with various man-made structures across the Tees estuary.

We make our way towards Hasty Bank and onwards to Wainstones but that’s after a serious ascent and it’s different. George observes that the trees have been harvested since our last walk here and it has made a huge difference in both light and perception. We can see what we are about to ascend and at any point on the track we can now see a wider panorama although it could be argued that the trees were preferable. I’m good with what we’ve got and within 10 minutes we’re looking back towards Urra Moor and across the Vale of Mowbray towards Teesport and beyond to the windmill farm off the coast of Redcar.

At the top, we recount a lovely meeting with a mother and daughter who were doing the Wainstones walk last summer. The day was blue-sky and warm and we had our ‘photos taken sitting on a rock overhanging the valley below. Today is a little bit different in as much as the weather is grey and the Pennines in the distance are hazy due to the haar. The oilseed-rape crops stand out though. It’s like the yellow glow has been ‘switched on’ overnight and the soft glow diffused in the mist.

On top of Cold Moor looking over the Broughton Plantation Ridge, the wind is blowing into our faces and we can see the whole of the Vale of Mowbray but disappointingly, in mist. The heather is throwing up green shoots and showing the promise of an astonishing display of colour in another two or three of months and there are pools of vivid blue in the woods below as bluebells announce the arrival of early summer.

We reach Wainstones in just over half-an-hour and enjoy the banter as we find our various routes down through the huge boulders. On a summers day or evening you’d be well advised to walk here and enjoy this wonderful and natural spectacle. Bring your kids; last year, as we passed there was a group of ten being shown climbing techniques by outward-bounds specialists and they were loving it.

As we emerge from our various routes through the rocks a group of Cleveland Way walkers (I think from Hull – if you read this please confirm) who are full of enthusiasm and all smiles. They tell us of extremely restricted visibility on the tops yesterday due to cloud and illustrate it by pointing at a huge rock only a couple of yards away and tell us that it would not have been visible. It’s a stark reminder that weather changes very rapidly up here and being prepared is not just for scouts. They stayed at High Paradise last night, one of our favourite watering holes in the summer, just along from Sutton Bank and looked after by a lady who is slightly eccentric and very easy on the eye. The food is good too, what’s not to like?

A quick photo later and we’re on or way down into Garfit Gap and girding ourselves for the next ascent to the ridge of the aptly named Cold Moor and it’s fair to say, we’ve never been here when it’s been warm and, ironically, each time we’ve reached the top, we’ve never been cold!

We’re out of breath but the view is always worth it. In mountain terms, it’s just a big hill but always a challenge to get up to the top without stopping and we decided long ago that it was better to stop occasionally if only for the views. We’re at about 1300 feet (400 metres) but the multi-coloured Vale of Mowbray, even when it’s misty, is beautiful.

We’re on the flat for a couple of hundred yards then it’s down again, on a zig-zag track for 300 feet (100 metres) into the opening of Raisdale where we pause to remove a layer or two as we survey the track up Crinkle Moor. It’s the steepest so far and also the most picturesque. There has been a huge amount of work to ensure that the Cleveland Way is not eroded and the evidence is the stones that we’re encouraged to walk on. Some of them have words carved into them and may have been gravestones, others are natural and quite rough; however, all of them have been carried to where they now lie and have been carefully set on some kind of foundation as we rarely find any that are lose or unstable. Thank you all you volunteers and rangers who maintain them, we certainly appreciate your efforts and laud your praise whenever we can.

This is the third climb in a little over an hour and requires more than one stop. Each break is accompanied by a drink and, more importantly, a look around. There is some pleasure in reviewing our progress and the track winding into the distance and up the side of Cold Moor is clear evidence of what we’ve done.

There is also the chance to exercise our other senses when we stop. Our eyes are always on the alert but quite often they’re looking for the next footstep or avoiding a hazard so the preoccupation precludes taking in the surrounding beauty.

Our hearing is analogue but can be inhibited by the wind and taking a short break allows us to tilt our head or even cup a hand over the ear to listen to birdsong from the skylarks that are always busy with continuous chatter above us or pheasant and grouse scaring the crap out of us when we step near their roosting or nesting area.

Our ability to smell is never switched off but we have to think about what we’re sensing now and then or it can pass us by without notice. There is the odd fresh pat of cow-shit that steams and invades our nose from time to time and we don’t miss that but a pause at the side of a field of oil-seed-rape (a relative of wallflowers) or a lilac bush can transport me into a memory that’s long since been filed in a dark recess and it’s evoked in an instant by the smell. I don’t know what smell is. Does it have a physical form? Is it fine droplets of liquid or a gas? I’m not sure but I do know that it is so evocative as to be more powerful than all of the other senses and I love to dream.

/* StartWobblyScene

Lilac reminds me of working in Czechoslovakia as Communism was dying when we were given excellent accommodation in a residential block a 20-minute walk from the university. We were glorying in the title of Visiting Professors which was all rather grand but professor is interchangeable with the word ‘teacher’ in Europe so when it came to our CV’s it was ‘Visiting Professor’ that went down and we reveled in the moment – am I shallow/supercilious or what? I’ve learned a lot since then and no longer need a label – I’m happy being me.

We’d got some European money and sought permission from the Americans to take a small network of computers to teach the professors about modern machines and the first day or two was quite stressful as we gauged their level of proficiency. It turned out to be way better than our assumptions. They demolished the 6 seeks work that I intended to leave them when we returned to the UK and they did this on top of the work done in our lectures and hands-on sessions whilst we were there. The star of the show was a gentleman called Premsyl Tichy who linked our system into the university system within hours of us being there. Easily done now (If you have the security privileges) but circa 1990 it was challenging).

The early morning walk through the woods in warm sunshine to the main teaching blocks was both glorious and stress relieving and the thing that triggers this beautiful moment is the smell of lilac and this was generated by a tiny lilac bush growing wild out of the crack of a drystone wall and all but invisible save for the beautiful smell.

EndWobblyScene */

Part way up Cringle we stop and talk. George is drawing attention to the fact that we would stop a half dozen times when we first did this walk and I observed the fact that the height was an issue for me, but not now; exposure is a great desensitiser and we’ve both come a long way over the years.

At the top, the wind is blowing the cloud away from the ridge and the mist is clearing, we’ve even got evidence of blue sky and sunshine as the haar recedes back towards the coast. We can see Chris at the stone lookout towards the far end of the path, he’s been off like a rocket today and good luck to him, he’s worked hard for it.

We take few minutes to enjoy yet more of the cliffs, hills, forests and vale; all now in sunshine but still a bit windy and a few photos later and we’re taking the downward track to Lordstones and a well-earned sausage sandwich.

We use Lordstones regularly and find them welcoming and reasonable, they’ve also been very generous in allowing us to leave a car there when doing a linear walk – it’s much appreciated, thanks Lordstones people.

Enjoy the snaps…G..x

Clay Bank to Lordstones George sent me a note, “We’re walking from Clay Bank to Lordstones” tomorrow, “…are you available?” This is one my favourite walks so he was ‘leaning against an open door’ but they wanted to walk ‘there-and-back’ and I was short of time so with a little bit of deft planning, George had Peter lined up to pick me up at Lordstones so that my car was in the right place when the rest of the group were at the half way point; I love this group!

#Clay Bank #Cleveland Way #Lordstones #North Yorkshire Moors #Wainstones #Yorkshire

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noisycoffeebluebird-blog · 6 years

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13 Reasons To Start Lifting Weights.

A bulk of mayors who have banned burkinis in regarding 30 French coastal resorts are refusing to lift the restrictions regardless of the country's greatest management court ruling that the bans are illegal, leaving the state encountering a problem about ways to respond. All standard acrobatics toppling, including cartwheels, one-armed cartwheels, round-offs as well as back child's plays are necessary to progress to intermediate acrobatics. There have actually been several gyms opening in the vicinity and also the Puleos wish to provide the lowest cost. There is absolutely nothing more crucial than building the behavior of getting in the gym as well as not missing workouts. The health care business, which has 75 health clubs across England and also Scotland, said the figures highlight the expanding value of health and fitness as well as health to the older generation. The Savaria ES-125 likely system handicap lift could be dealt with exterior as well as interior also. 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Edinburgh, St Albans, Sheffield and Glasgow have the greatest numbers of octogenarians health club participants in the UK, while on the whole 74 year-olds in Leicester are one of the most constant health club individuals, averaging 14 gos to monthly. The 3 traditional powerlifting exercises are the squat, the deadlift as well as the bench press, but also for a non-competitive powerlifting training program, you can use various other compound lifts like the power clean, the high pull and the nab. A friend of the Rangers called Perry invented a push-button control motocross drone which went crazy as well as came to be the villanous Motodrone. A few more quits as well as the major entry degree was gotten to, the coming and going of medical professionals, registered nurses and also visitors serving to prevent the climbing once more of any tension. 3 moduses operandi are offered: Power saver, High and well balanced Efficiency. 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The other option is that they convert to shedding another gas, such as biomass, a process which is full at two of the 6 systems at Drax, the UK's biggest power plant, and is nearly finished on a third. The ruling only applied to Ashbourne, but the OFT warned as it would certainly have broader effects for the whole health club market. With actually loads of various kinds as well as designs of lift recliners to choose from, right here are a couple of key points that can aid you select a great suitable for your daddy. Curl your arm towards your upper body and rotate the Powerball in a counterclockwise instructions, utilizing your wrist to drive the revolving movement. The rangers were defeated, as a result of Andros' defective evaluation of just exactly how effective the adversary forces were. 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There is an option currently to pick 6x2 chassis or 6x2 framework with lift-able axles (lifted axles prevent unnecessary tire wear when the weight distribution stays within lawful restrictions). Nevertheless, they left me with a number of small injuries that now have me seeing a chiropractic doctor when a week as well as doing less in the gym compared to I did prior to I started. Sagging cheeks, laxity or skin folds up in the nose to mouth location are reason sufficient to consider having this sort of face lift done. At the very same time we have straighten ourselves with whatever that declares, real Power as well as life sustaining. It's just making cash, and also you can normally have it waived; it's commonly a kickback to the instructor or sales rep." Gyms might be more likely making a manage you at the start of the year with New Year's promos and specials. I wound up liking this a great deal greater than I expected to. For what is fundamentally a very played out idea (the Justice Organization with the serial numbers submitted off but abrasive and also dark as well as quote unquote reasonable), Straczynski truly fingernails the psychological and also ethical intricacies. The Yellow and Red Rangers are still recovering from my last attack, as well as I'm less than a yard far from her. The average health club membership lasts 18 months, claims the Fitness Market Organization, yet there will be lots of people who diminish the stationary bicycle long prior to that. A 132-pound lady needs to clean 90 pounds at an intermediate level and 150 at elite.

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hamrink · 7 years

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Welfare Food Challenge: Day 7 and Post Reflection

Day 7… I couldn’t be happier that this day is here.

My day started off by sleeping in till super late, once I was up I made some eggs and bread. Since I had to finish up on the bread, cause it really makes me bloated I wanted to use it for my meals today.

Lunch or I should say basically dinner I ate some of the left over chicken breast I made a few days ago, with broccoli. This gave me a boost of energy and helped me concentrate on studying and not about my hunger.

Dinner was toast again. I just stop eating the KD and soup, it wasn’t making me feel good, more so bloated and tired. So this was the final day of the food challenge, I really wish there were more markets in Red Deer so I could have a variety of veggies and fruit filled challenge vs full of carbs.

Now time for the reflections.

This challenge really was a CHALLENGE. Living in Alberta $21 is very low for welfare, nutritious food is too expensive to buy under $21. As I was shopping last Sunday, all the junk food (chips, candies, pastas, canned products) were super cheap, if I wanted I could have bought a lot of flavored filled products for $21. But when it comes to real unprocessed foods, I was limited. The two broccoli crowns I purchased were $3.20 approx. That would last me only a few days during a regular week. It just really saddens me that the government thinks that it is affordable lifestyle to live by. I really wish they would try out this challenge and see when how fast they would cheat. This amount of money is what leads individuals and families to have poor food choices leading them to heart disease, high BP, obesity.. the list can go on.

This challenge made me realize how much food can affect my mood and energy levels. Day 1 I was doing okay and surviving, but all the days after that it was down hill, I was grumpy and wanted the day to be over, I had no energy especially for the days I went to the gym and worked. The hardest part was having energy after a long day at school and coming home to study, there was no motivation.

I am use to preparing food on a daily base, I usually meal plan. So planning a few days ahead isn’t hard for me, but for someone on welfare it can be difficult since this is their diet they are tired all the time, have no motivation to eat healthy so choose other options like eating out and getting Mc Donald’s, since its fast and delicious.

Living on a welfare is difficult, since your so restricted to a certain amount of income, being able to socially interact with others is hard. For me it was on Wednesday, most Wednesday I go hang out with my friends at Bp’s or The Brew house for wings. On this challenge I was restricted since I did not have enough money to spend. This can really effect a individuals self esteem, this restriction is made for them, which may cause them to always want to be left alone and not socialize with others.

On Sunday I drove my self to Superstore to buy all the groceries I needed and then on Monday I drove to a Mc Donald’s to participate in their free coffee event, I was able to transport myself there and back to my home. Someone on welfare is limited, even though it is a free event that they would want to participate in they may not have the money to catch a bus or a cab or even pay for enough gas. All these limitations take place for a person on welfare. I was lucky enough to have a stove, microwave, dishes to cook in and eat out of, fridge to keep my food, along with clean water. Someone one welfare may have a few of these things or none of it at all.

This challenge really made me think outside the box, I am so grateful that I was able to take part in this challenge. But living like this on a daily base hurts me that people don’t have the privilege or chance to be more healthy since they are only limited to such little. I really hope the government sees that $21 is not a weekly amount to live by.

Now this post is super long, I’ll post the picture of my food from today!

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