#to distinguish their place within a community from their place as individuals

[bluegekk0]

does hallownest have pride parades?

Oh that is a pretty interesting question, I'd love to ramble about this. I'm going to say that no, they don't, but not because their society would be against it. Quite the opposite, actually.

The way I imagine it, their culture is far more animal-like than ours in many aspects. They do have morals, obviously, and more complicated social structures and views that distinguish between those who break the law and those who follow it. That being said, it's far from what you see in our society - they don't have an elaborate justice system, so for example, a murderer will simply be executed for their crime without an extended trial, and killing someone in a fair duel doesn't raise any eyebrows. Death is a part of their life and it's not as big of a deal as it is for us, humans. Though things like murder and other serious crimes are frowned upon. The laws are in place to maintain order and peace between different species that coexist, and embrace progress, even if many of their values do not overlap with ours (for example, in some cultures, eating other sapient bugs isn't even considered a crime, though naturally that wouldn't fly in most places).

I mention this, because those kind of animal-like views also contribute to how they see concepts like gender or sexuality. While reproduction and having offspring is an essential part of an animal's life, individuals that engage in behaviors outside of the norm aren't ostracized, discrimination simply isn't really a thing. And I think this aspect would carry over to those living in Hallownest and many other lands in their world. Relationships between different species are generally widely accepted (as for how that even works when it comes to producing young, I won't get into the biology. "It just works" as Todd Howard would say) And similarly, a same-sex couple or someone who explores their gender in ways that go against their biological sex would not be frowned upon, it would simply not be a big deal for most.

I say most, cause I do imagine there are some species/cultures where such behaviors would be questionable at best and treated with hostility at worst. Perhaps some of them put great value in relationships that result in offspring, maybe their mating rituals are so essential in their culture that couples that can't perform them the way it's intended are seen as outcasts and shunned. As an example, I actually have lore that touches on similar concepts with my Lurien interpretation - his species is extremely rare, encouraging relationships only within its kind that can produce children, and its quite unique wedding traditions put a massive emphasis on their sexual dimorphism, which unfortunately leads to discrimination against those who don't fit those norms.

But those would be a minority, and I think most of the communities living in Hallownest would have a much more accepting view on same sex couples and so on, in many ways thanks to FPK's accepting and open nature. Ever since he became the king, he encouraged peace between different communities and believed in a united society, where bugs reject their brutal beastly instincts and instead live as one big community (though unfortunately that part backfired, leading to hostility towards those deemed as "beasts", propagated among the upper class of the City). A naïve view, perhaps, but the bugs still followed the ways of their king.. While he himself struggled with his own sexuality for many years, primarily due to his lack of experience with relationships, he's always been supportive of those who openly embrace their identities.

And because their society has never dealt with substantial discrimination, there was also no need for events such as pride parades - to them, love is love no matter what, so there is no need for specific holidays. If there is a day dedicated to love, then love of any kind is celebrated.

I hope this makes sense. I think their society being so much more accepting than ours despite its animalistic ways is quite interesting. Not to mention, there's a lot of comfort to be found when exploring a world that simply welcomes queer identities as part of life. You might get stabbed and robbed by a bandit in the City if you're alone at night, but at least you can hold hands with your partner and not get called a slur. Love wins ♡

#ask stuff #feral pk au #au worldbuilding #save

[howtomuslim]

Unveiling the Splendor of Education in Islam

Education stands as a radiant cornerstone in the profound mosaic of Islamic teachings. Rooted deeply within the faith’s tenets, it transcends boundaries, inviting all to bask in its luminance and witness its transformative prowess.

The Quranic Beacon: “Read in the Name of Your Lord” In the heart of Islamic scripture lies an illuminating verse, “Read in the name of your Lord who created.” This divine injunction (Quran 96:1) ignites a fervent pursuit of knowledge. It symbolizes the intrinsic value Islam places upon education, urging every soul to seek enlightenment.

The Dawn of Islamic Learning: Maktab and Literacy 

History heralds Islam as a torchbearer of literacy. Early Muslims established ‘maktab’ systems, pioneering widespread education. The commitment to learning and literacy took root, distinguishing Islam as the harbinger of accessible knowledge.

Interwoven Communities: Toledo and Knowledge Exchange 

The intermingling of Muslim and Christian cultures in cities like Toledo, a city half of whose population was comprised of Christians, showcased the magnetic allure of Islamic knowledge. European scholars flocked to these centers, drawn by the brilliance of Muslim education. This fusion birthed an era of cultural exchange, enriching both civilisations as while the Muslims were living in peace and enrichment, the Europeans were living in the dark ages. The benefits of this age transcend far beyond Muslim Spain, influencing our lives today far more than we may be aware.

The Flourishing Oases: Cordoba’s Universities and Madrasas 

Cordoba, the jewel of Muslim Spain, birthed illustrious universities and madrasas. Despite being a minority, Muslims cultivated an intellectual renaissance. Their dedication to education and vibrant propagation of Islamic values captivated the masses, leading to widespread conversion over time.

The Timeless Legacy: Beautifying Islam through Knowledge 

The allure of education within Islam continues to cast its spell, transcending time and place. Its radiant legacy perpetuates a beautiful narrative of enlightenment, beckoning individuals from all walks of life to embrace its brilliance.

Education within Islam, illuminated by Quranic verses and enriched by historical precedents, stands as a testament to the faith’s commitment to enlightenment. Its beauty and transformative power serve as a beacon, drawing hearts and minds into the embrace of knowledge and understanding.

To learn more about Islam visit: Howtomuslim.org

#islam #islamicreminders #muslim #islamdaily #islamic #allah #new article #quran #new blog

[thesquidwizard]

As an indigenous radfem, what do you think of third genders, like two spirit? I notice many poc cultures have third genders. How are third genders different from trans ideology?

*disclaimer i'm just me and do not speak for any larger demographic*

anyway 2Spirit isnt anything. its not even a 3rd gender its a word invented 30 years ago during a gay& Lesbian international gathering

It was never meant to even describe a "third gender" it was more intended as like a uniforming word to distinguish NDN gays and lesbians and their unique experiences as its own community within the lgbt and give them a word that wasnt insulting or degrading. (this isnt even a secret this is all googlable and you can verify it like 9times over)

What do i think of third genders. I think for the most part they were a way for various societies to maintain their own status quo. the main purposes they fulfilled were

1. a lesser role to force upon gay men

2. a way to have working women without giving the majority of women this option

You can find a few historical stories where a woman may have pretended to be a man for various reasons usually escape male abuse or dream of something more so not at all different from figures like Margaret Ann Bulkey.

If you pick any 3rd gender ndn or otherwise ask yourself

any evidence the individual made this choice and their people just accepted this? or is it society driven

why?? is there a place or role that can only be handled by these people. is it a punishment or incentive to avoid something else.

do we have any info on how the people labeled with that gender felt about it.

are they all male and their role just seems to be "youthful pretty" ...

its not gonna take you very long to realize you just can not compare whats happening today to anything from the past.

And i am intentionally focusing on the past. because yes some of these roles still exist today but it is highly altered influenced by todays culture and world access ( and mostly still just men who feel feminine)

any 3rd gender today seems to just follow trans rules its a individual feelings thing that serves no purpose and greatly relys on gender roles to establish themselves.

#neither of this other gender forms should exist because its just evil bullshit either way isnt it #i apologize for my grasp of written english blame it on the menthol illnus #did i even answer the questions. i opened this at 5am #third gender #gender critical #terf safe #terf friendly

[a-frog-in-a-bog]

do you rlly think queer is a slur? why? and if you don't use queer why use other words that are also consideree slurs now or in the past like gay, lebian, trans, homo...

sorry for taking a while to respond. i think queer is a slur because...well... it is. the wiki page on the history of the word is pretty interesting, but tldr:

originally meaning strange, it gained popularity as a derogatory way of referring to gay men in the late 1800s (at the trial of oscar wilde, the father of his lover called him a snob queer). in the early 1900s, it was used alongside fairy, faggot, and invert as slurs for gay men. in gay male subculture, queer referred to stereotypically masculine men "who were repelled by the style of the fairy and his loss of manly status, and almost all were careful to distinguish themselves from such men". outside of gay circles, however, it was still being used as a slur.

by the mid-1900s, many gay men were choosing to call themselves gay, "as a means of asserting their normative status and rejecting any associations with effeminacy" (interesting, considering that within early gay culture queer referred to masculine gays who rejected effeminacy). it's worth noting that in the UK, queer was regularly used as a self-identifier through the mid 1900s, although unlike america it had retained its original meaning and in pop culture still meant odd, strange, mentally ill, or someone who uses counterfeit money (yeah idk why either).

wide reclamation of the slur didn't start happening until the late 1980s, but those who chose to reclaim were still respectful of the individual's choice to reclaim or not, as a flyer at a 1990 pride parade said: "Ah, do we really have to use that word? It's trouble. Every gay person has his or her own take on it. For some it means strange and eccentric and kind of mysterious […] And for others "queer" conjures up those awful memories of adolescent suffering […] Well, yes, "gay" is great. It has its place. But when a lot of lesbians and gay men wake up in the morning we feel angry and disgusted, not gay. So we've chosen to call ourselves queer. Using "queer" is a way of reminding us how we are perceived by the rest of the world".

homosexual, lesbian, and bisexual were scientific terms, not slurs. many people adopted these terms because of their factual and unbiased definition (the definition was unbiased. medical professionals and most cishets who used them were not).

queer, dyke, faggot, fairy, etc were applied to gay people for the purpose of dehumanizing and hurting us. if metaphors help, here's an example: "fat" is not a slur. it's an unbiased adjective. just because some people use it in a derogatory way to hurt and bully others doesn't change that. some people have no problem calling themselves fat, but some people associate it with trauma they've faced and choose not to call themselves fat. the same is true for homosexual, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual, transgender, and gay. calling someone a whale or cow, however, is only used with the intention to hurt and imply that being fat is bad. the same is true with queer, dyke, faggot, and fairy.

the purpose of reclaiming slurs is to take power away from oppressors, but it is a personal choice. not everyone wants to call themselves the same thing that bullies and cops called them before beating the shit out of them or trying to kill them. and since it's a personal choice, a slur can't be reclaimed by the entire community, because we are not a monolith. so if you want to call yourself queer, or a dyke, or a faggot, go ahead, but don't call other people slurs unless they have also reclaimed it. and if someone explicitly asks that you don't call them a slur, respect them. that goes for all identifiers, as some people have more trauma associated with the word gay.

personally, i chose not to reclaim queer, given its history and the fact that it hasn't been used against me, so i feel it's not my place. if someone identifies as queer, i have no problem with it. i just hope they made an informed decision and reclaimed it because it's a slur, not because they think it's somehow more inclusive and progressive than gay or LGBT, because it's not.

#oops this turned out longer than i meant #but i wanted to be thorough #lgbt #q slur #d slur #f slur #slur discourse #queer #queer history

[grandhotelabyss]

—Geoff Shullenberger, "The Crisis of Therapeutic 'Decolonization'"

Shullenberger identifies the double paradox of the contemporary university at work in its trainees' now notorious endorsement of the slaughter of noncombatants: the desublimation of intellectual contest back into physical conflict first equates language to violence and then legitimates violence itself, since violence, on this theory, was already tantamount to language in the first place. The former allows for the rise of the therapeutic bureaucracy to manage and police academic speech given its potential for purely discursive terror, while the latter allows that same bureaucracy to cheer on literal and material terror as an authentic means of advancing an argument with which they already agree.

Bringing the world into the text undoes the text's imaginative ability to alter the terms of the world; textualizing the world, meanwhile, becomes a license to redact persons, places, and things as easily as you'd redact a written document.

The hostility of late-20th-century literary theorists to 19th-century novelists is illustrative here. With a faith not so much that beauty but that dialogue would save the world, those novelists were among the first to accomplish the sublimation of violence into argument the later theorists wished to undo in the name of a more urgent justice.

Nancy Armstrong, for instance, complained in Desire and Domestic Fiction that Jane Austen transforms what would in earlier centuries have been an open political conflict between aristocrat and bourgeois into an erotic quarrel of wits establishing the quiescent non-revolutionary ideological poles of liberal and conservative in the middle class:

In Emma, more so perhaps than in Pride and Prejudice, the struggle between male and female modes of representation is clearly not a struggle between two social classes. Of all the characters in this novel, Mr. Knightley and Emma are the most closely affiliated. And because they belong to the two oldest and best-propertied families in Highbury, their disagreement seems to be more a matter of personal differences—age, sex, and disposition—than one of politics. At the same time, they disagree about how individuals should find their appropriate place within the community, and their disagreement involves everyone in that community. Theirs is, in other words, precisely the issue distinguishing Tory from Whig during the eighteenth century. But when contained within a domestic framework and subjected to the outcome of courtship procedures, this political difference, as Austen imagines it, becomes one between the nineteenth century liberal and conservative positions. No longer does the sexual contract constitute the terms for a conflict of classes so much as it identifies the poles of opinion within only one—literate—class.

Closer to Fanon's own conflicted territory, and to our own, Edward Said in Culture and Imperialism famously lamented that Austen did not explicitly bring her moral scruples to bear upon the slave trade her fictional ambit not-quite-silently encompasses.

I have tried to show that the morality in fact is not separable from its social· basis: right up to the last sentence, Austen affirms and repeats the geographical process of expansion involving trade, production, and consumption that predates, underlies, and guarantees the morality. And expansion, as Gallagher reminds us, whether "through colonial rule was liked or disliked, [its] desirability through one mode or another was generally accepted. So in the event there were few domestic constraints upon expansion." Most critics have tended to forget or overlook that process, which has seemed less important to critics than Austen herself seemed to think. But interpreting Jane Austen depends on who does the interpreting, when it is done, and no less important, from where it is done. If with feminists, with great cultural critics sensitive to history and class like Williams, with cultural and stylistic interpreters, we have been sensitized to the issues their interests raise, we should now proceed to regard the geographical division of the world—after all significant to Mansfield Park—as not neutral (any more than class and gender are neutral) but as politically charged, beseeching the attention and elucidation its considerable proportions require. The question is thus not only how to understand and with what to connect Austen's morality and its social basis, but also what to read of it.

Take once again the casual references to Antigua, the ease with which Sir Thomas's needs in England are met by a Caribbean sojourn, the uninflected, unreflective citations of Antigua (or the Mediterranean, or India, which is where Lady Bertram, in a fit of distracted impatience, requires that William should go "'that I may have a shawl. I think I will have two shawls.'") They stand for a significance "out there" that frames the genuinely important action here, but not for a great significance. Yet these signs of "abroad" include, even as they repress, a rich and complex history, which has since achieved a status that the Bertrams, the Prices, and Austen herself would not, could not recognize. To call this "the Third World" begins to deal with the realities but by no means exhausts the political or cultural history.

While tastefully defending Austen against a crude "rhetoric of blame" that would dismiss her consummate artistry as "white, privileged, insensitive, complicit," Said nevertheless surmised that her almost-silence on empire, or else the casualness of her reference to it, implies her consent. The counter-position—that her scant allusion might count as a subtle judgment, meant to send her humane ethic rippling out across the Atlantic and into the Caribbean waters—was equally available. Such a redemptive argument, however, would leave the artist's authority intact, in the very seat of cultural command the critic wished to appropriate—and which, we now know, would finally be occupied not even by the critic but by the administrator.

Not beauty, not dialogue, and not even critique will save the world, but only ideological management. That this ideological management now displaces its own colonization of artistic and intellectual life onto a rhetoric of "decolonial" atrocity only crowns the irony.

The rival possibility—formalized however inchoately, however initially compromised by class and national allegiance, in Jane Austen's novels or in the Bildungsroman at large—is the possibility of an art that subsumes social division by providing an alternative to violence in and as the process of subject-formation. Such an art alone justifies the corps of critics and administrators who batten on art, to include the universities themselves. This possibility—that, after a manner of speaking, beauty really will save the world, at least in the long run—seems not to have occurred to anyone in a long time. Which is a terrible thing, because if all we're here for is to hang garlands on torturers and executioners, any torturers and executioners, then we might as well be mercenaries—might as well not even encumber the earth at all.

#geoff shullenberger #frantz fanon #nancy armstrong #edward said #jane austen #literary theory

[ejenvs3000w24]

Final Post: How My Personal Ethics Will Guide Me Moving Forward

Looking back at my earlier blog posts about my own experiences in nature has really shown me how quickly perspectives can change in a matter of months. I came into this class having just completed my program in Landscape Architecture, which revolved around developing concepts and programs within a landscape that enhance experiences for both humans and nature; designing environments that function with purpose and are consciously connected to the ecological processes of its surrounding community. One thing I struggled with when creating concepts or themes, was estimating how people would interpret what I’ve created; whether they see and use my concept for its intended purpose or walk right past it without a thought. 

As the semester comes to an end and I look back at how my personal ethics have guided my development into becoming a more mindful nature interpreter, I realize where I fell short when developing themes in my program. I was too focused on what the theme might teach people and how they could learn from it, and didn’t put enough thought into how the theme would make the visitors feel at that moment, and why they should even care about it in the first place. Sam Ham, a Professor at University of Idaho made me realize this. Furthermore, (Ham, 2013) reiterates the importance that a theme's sole purpose is to stimulate thinking…a theme is a platform for individual discovery of one's own desires and interests. Meaning a theme should invoke something within a person, to want to engage and learn more; to broaden their horizons (Beck & Cable, 2011). 

I am so fortunate and privileged to be educated, and because of this, I think one of my responsibilities is inspiring people to become more consciously self-aware of the interconnected processes of their environment. To show them that what they think they know, is actually part of a larger network of factors that allows for life to flourish. In this way, I think we can learn to reconnect with nature on a deeper level. David Suzuki is a prominent believer in this approach, as he states, in order for one to reconnect with nature, they must acknowledge the “interconnectedness of everything…to show that whatever we do has consequences” that affect another thing (Suzuki & Louv, 2012). 

This is the approach I feel most responsible to highlight and educate people about. Taking inspiration from Silene, 2021, I believe, when in nature, you must feel before you think. Consciously stop the part of your brain that goes “oh look over there!”, and simply just breathe and take in your surroundings. I practice a lot of breathing exercises to deal with anxiety, which is on the opposite spectrum of emotions that one would think about when being in nature. However, just as breathing can help with anxiety, it can also help ground you in an exact moment in time. One of the main ethics I have developed as a nature interpreter is appreciating the power of feeling your surroundings, then thinking when in nature (Silene, 2021); to create a pause in time where certain factors of your environment start to become more apparent. Being able to create this moment in time for others, to allow them to pause and absorb, or as Freeman Tilden describes as “judicious silence”, is what I think distinguishes a novice environmental educator to a mindful nature interpreter (Tilden, 1957; Beck et al., 2018). 

If I were talking about random things and wasn't paying attention to my surroundings, I would've never heard this lake trout splashes their way to their spawning grounds. A prime example of using "judicious silence in nature:)

I've realized I enjoy educating others, but not in the way of spitting facts in their face about interesting facts. What I strive for is to spark some type of curiosity within a visitor, to allude to certain ecological processes and then have the visitor connect the dots to understand (Beck & Cable, 2011). Seeing that “light bulb” moment when everything finally clicks and they understand how something works, is such a rewarding feeling. If you couple that ambition to my current profession, I think the two tie very well together, and can allow me to explore new ways of educating and interpreting the wonders of nature without explicitly saying what one should be looking for. 

Canadian Yorke Edwards, a pioneer of interpretation, describes the main goal of interpretation as “opening the minds of people so they can receive…the interesting signals that the world is constantly sending out…and when those signals are added up, paint a picture of what the world is all about” (Beck et al., 2018). I really like this definition and think it describes how I want to approach interpreting nature for others. My take on what Edwards is trying to convey is that you won’t fully understand how something works until you understand what its purpose is meant for. Let's say you are unaware that trees and fungi have a symbiotic relationship that transfer nutrients for each to thrive. Just because you are unaware of this process, doesn’t mean this process never existed, it just never existed within your current capacity of consciousness. I think my responsibility as a growing nature interpreter is to invoke and inspire this new consciousness within people, to start seeing the world in a new lens where everything starts to make a little more sense. 

What I love about my profession is that it is multifaceted and can be approached in many different ways. Keeping in theme of my personal ethics and the importance of mindfulness in nature, I really like how Rodenburg (2019) emphasizes the importance of creating nature-rich communities for children, to “experience the joy of discovering the…complexity and diversity of life. Being self-aware means having the ability to make mistakes, and learn from them. I am a huge believer that play and risk are vital components of early childhood development. If kids do not grow up in an environment where they could twist an ankle running, get a splinter climbing a tree, or acquire many, many scars from falling, they will not understand how their body works, what their capabilities are, and how they can push themselves further than they thought. 

This is a really great documentary that shows the importance of risk and play for children!

I always used to say growing up and still to this day, scars are memories, and memories are lessons. At one point in your life, I’m sure someone has asked you “where’d you get that scar”, and what follows is typically a story from childhood (not always of course), of a time you were playing around and got hurt. I’m sure in the moment it wasn’t the best experience, but I am also just as sure afterwards, you made multiple conscious efforts to not repeat that experience and get hurt again. That right there is the essence of learning and developing a deeper awareness of your body to mind connection. Having that inner voice inside of you say “woah hold up, last time we did this we got hurt…what other options are available for me”. Being this self-aware of your thoughts and actions brings you one step closer to being able to cast your ego aside, to forget about what you think you know, and just experience an experience for what it is. 

My personal ethics towards nature revolves around the idea of conscious self awareness of where you are in the present moment, how certain factors make you feel in the moment, and overall simply feeling before thinking. This is how I will approach interpreting nature for others as I grow and learn more about the amazing wonders that life offers us. 

References: 

Beck, L., Cable, T. T., & Knudson, D. M. (2018). Interpreting cultural and natural heritage: For A Better World. Sagamore Publishing.

Beck, L., & Cable, T. (2011). The gifts of interpretation: Fifteen guiding principles for in-terpreting nature and culture (3rded.). Urbana, IL: Sagamore.

Rodenburg, J. (2019). Why Environmental Educators Shouldn't Give up Hope. Environmental Literacy. ClearingMagazine.org.

Silene, A. (2021, February 20). Spiritual values of protected areas of Europe: Workshop proceedings. [pages 129-132] https://www.silene.ong/en/documentation-centre/spiritual-values-of-protected-areas-of-europe-workshop-proceedings#Proceedings_Spiritual%20Values_PAs_Europe.pd

Suzuki , D., & Louv, R. (2012, July 20). David Suzuki and Richard Louv @AGO. YouTube. https://youtu.be/F5DI1Ffdl6Y

Tilden, F. (1957). Interpreting our heritage. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Caro-lina Press.

#nature interpretation #landscape architect #nature #Youtube

[piscesseer]

Full Moon in Aquarius 🌕🍶August 1, 2023

Release anything that is holding you back.

Be more flexible, open-minded and willing to embrace individuality.

Spread kindness & knowledge.

Celebrate how far you have come!

The Aquarius Full Moon raises important questions and makes us consider our place in life. This can be an intense Full Moon. We will feel inspired to distinguish our personal views from the views of the collective. Our brains will be thinking outside the box. We’re encouraged to embrace our quirks and unconventional traits and celebrate what makes us stand out. Instead of conforming to social expectations, explore our individual passions, interests, and talents. We are empowering ourselves to be genuine by doing this.

Since the Full Moon is in Aquarius, the sun is in the opposing sign of Leo. This creates interplay between our desire for personal recognition and an urge to serve the collective. It challenges us to strike a balance in our individuality and the greater good. We’re asked to embrace our authenticity and recognize that our unique qualities can be harnessed to benefit others. Connect with your higher self and use your unique gifts. If you're ready to step into your power and to make a difference in the world, the Full Moon in Aquarius is the perfect time to do it.

Aquarius is the sign of community, so reaching out to friends and family and letting them know how much you appreciate them can be important. This can be the spark to understand the needs or more than ourselves. Collaborating with others can lead to exciting breakthroughs.

For many of us, the Full Moon in Aquarius is a time for change, reflection and release. It's a time to let go of anything that's no longer serving us, and to step into our true power. Reflect on goals and dreams. Connect with your intuition and to listen to your inner voice.

This Full Moon is squaring with unpredictable planet Uranus, meaning that there could be some unexpected twists and turns that come up. It could further fuel the desire to make changes, whether those be collective or within ourselves is up to the individual.

Remember Full Moons are a time to enjoy the fruits of our labors. Life is beautiful. Let there be some difficulties, and know they are temporary. The Sun in Leo makes us feel happy. This space is filled with light and it's easier to breathe. Conflicts are not excluded, but we may find them easier to deal with, especially when we open our minds. Aquarius will inspire us to be open to ourselves and others.

#full moon #current astrology #full moon in aquarius

[learnasl]

Does American Sign Language Really Have Accents?

American Sign Language (ASL) records its ancestry back in the 19th century in France. And also like any spoken or signed language, ASL has evolved as time passes to represent users’ cultural and regional distinctions.

American Sign Language isn't really a rendition of English. Actually, it’s a specialized language that has its very own pronunciation, word formations, grammar, sentence structures, and idioms. Like various other natural languages, ASL has evolved spontaneously in humans through long use and repetition devoid of conscious planning. It’s the primary sign language utilized by Deaf and Hard of Hearing people in the United States Of America and the most of English-speaking Canada. ASL is really a complete, methodized visual language with both non-manual and manual features.

Public speakers of American Sign Language also have their accents or communication patterns. And similar to every various other languages, ASL is characterized by regional variants and alterations in tone. In sign language, an accent or style is observable in exactly how words are signed differently. It is a lexical distinction, similar to how certain US citizens say “pop” while other people say “soda” when mentioning a soft drink.

Regional and Cultural Variations of American Sign Language

Individuals who use spoken languages have got different accents or variations in how they converse based upon where they are coming from. Additionally, even within one country, people’s accents change from region to region. For example, in the United States, people from New York have New York accents, and those coming from the South have Southern accents. In the same way, accents, also called styles, occur in ASL.

An individual’s ASL accent or style is determined by their behaviors, expressions, gestures, phrases, speed of execution, and hand movements. ASL accents, as a whole, are expressed by users’ physical condition, age level, culture, place of birth, and use of idioms and slang. An excellent ASL user can often distinguish exactly what region or culture an individual is coming from depending on how they sign.

Black American Sign Language (BASL)

This language developed due to the fact that US schools for the Deaf within the late 19th century didn't acknowledge Black students. So, BASL emerged from the Black culture to meet the students’ necessities. It includes Black idioms and slang in conjunction with standard ASL components.

Regional ASL Styles or Accents

On the level of word meaning, the exact same signed gesture in ASL can denote various things in different parts of the United States. As an example, within the western states, particularly California, the B hand shape, with the palm facing outward and shaken vertically, signifies the city of Berkeley. In contrast, this particular sign usually signifies the city of Boston in the eastern states.

Northeastern ASL Accents/Styles

New York - Much like their Hearing counterparts, Deaf/HoH ASL users from New York City sign rather quickly. ASL users from New York sign a lot quicker and employ several body language and facial expressions than those from different regions of the US. Additionally, they use New York slang and are also inclined to use more profanity!

Philadelphia - The Philadelphia area features some unconventional signs because of the city’s long reputation of teaching Deaf/HoH individuals to communicate through speech and lip-reading. This has created a number of home-grown signs that have become a part of that region’s ASL accent or style.

Southern ASL Accent/Style

Southern ASL users express their signs to imitate the well-known Southern drawl. Southerners even touch their chests as well as the lower part of their faces more frequently when signing, and these expressions have become a part of the South’s ASL accent or style.

Midwestern ASL Accent/Style

While signers from the Northeast are generally quick with regards to their signing and Southerners are slower and meticulous, Midwesterners lie somewhere in the middle. For instance, American Sign Language users from Ohio are generally calm and relaxed with their signing, not very fast or too slow.

The Impact of ASL Accents/Styles on Communication

Accents mirror people’s unique backgrounds, and a lot of them take pride in their style and accents. Even so, as with spoken English, possessing a distinctive ASL accent could potentially cause difficulties in communicating with other native users in work, educational, and social settings.

Because of this, a number of ASL users learn how to modify or eliminate their accents to enhance signed communication skills. Another way in dealing with this problem is through standardization of ASL to help users communicate better.

#American sign language #asl #learn american sign language #learn asl #learn sign language #sign language #deaf #deaf community #ASL class #ASL courses #Youtube

[zebee-nyx]

CalmWriMo Day 20

[11/20/2023]

Update!

It is Monday once again and once again I wish it were any other day lol. Aside from that, wow it's already day 20! This month feels like it is flying by at this point. ('^.^) Not sure how I feel about that... Anyways, could only really write the blurb today. Not feeling horribly ill, but not well either today. (~^~) Is unfortunately enough to be hampering my ability to do the things. Hoping whatever it is has pasted by the morning.

Progress:

2 Hour Writing Goal: ✅

Blurb: [see below]

Self Care:

Food: ✅

Hydration: ✅

Sleep: ✅

Reading: ✅

Blurb: The Junkyards / Junkers / Junk Races

The "Junkyards", often referred to simply as "the yards", are the landfills that wrap around the city. These stretches of land are absolutely covered in tall mounds of trash. From the uppercity and midcity trash is carried here on garbage collection trucks and airborne barges. From the undercity trash just slowly filters outwards as people occasionally push it over to neighboring areas, typically closer to the edge of the city. Either way, eventually all of the city's waste either ends up here... or in the lake.

Common sights include black plastic garbage bags, rusty beat up cars, murky ponds of maybe-water, discarded chemical waste, unused building materials, the occasional corpse, small garbage fires, among other delightless attractions. Naturally the smell in this place is sickening and quite possibly toxic.

While inherently a rather unpleasant place to exist there is a niche local community of "junkers" that call this hellscape home. Small hamlets with tin sheet roofs and plastic walls dot the yards. Most who live here are scavengers, exiles from the city, outdated and trashed androids, or simply had the misfortune to born here. Surprisingly enough though these communities are fairly close knit and any sort of wrongdoings between individuals within these communities is quite rare.

One of the more intresting features that have appeared here is complex race tracks. These centers of junker entertainment are in a near constant state of flux as the trash heaps shift and fresh wrecks are added to the tracks. The dangerous races held here can be more described as a demolition derbies on linear paths with a very "anything goes" approach. Vehicles are slapped together with scavenged parts and reinforced with whatever trash can pass as armor. Racers often are armed or otherwise find creative weapons to install on their vehicles. The winner of such races is determined either being the first past the finish post or simply the last one standing... Most of the time it is the latter. Streams of these races have gained some popularity within the city proper as another way to feed the insatiable hunger for entertainment. Locally, these events have become a perceived ride out of the yards and into a comfortable lap of luxury should a racer distinguish themselves (in a survivable way).

Bonus character fun fact: Nat is from the yards, where she spent most of her childhood. She was a scavenger/mechanic and racer before <event redacted> which led her moving into the undercity to work with Doc.

[Not many notes on the yards yet, hasn't been at the center of my attention since most of stories planned out/considered happen in the uppercity or undercity. So! Will probably have more to say about the yards as I have more ideas. (^^) Anyways and always, hope you had a lovely day, peace (^.^)v]

#writeblr #writing #worldbuilding #writing community #cyberpunk #digitally dead #calmwrimo #nanowrimo

[fantasyfactorxx]

The Impact of Fake News on Crowdsourced Information

#MDA20009 #week8

Introduction

In today's digital age, the proliferation of fake news has become a concerning issue. This deceptive information can have a profound impact on crowdsourced data and the communities that rely on it. This blog explores the implications of fake news on crowdsourced information, shedding light on the challenges it poses and offering real-world examples (Dhiman 2023).

Crowdsourcing: The Backbone of Information

Crowdsourcing involves harnessing the collective knowledge and contributions of the public to gather, curate, and share information. It's a powerful tool for everything from Wikipedia to open-source projects. Crowdsourced data has revolutionized the way we access information and has become a valuable resource in a variety of fields. The power of crowdsourcing lies in its ability to tap into the collective wisdom of diverse individuals, leading to richer, more comprehensive information (Hargrave 2022).

The Rise of Fake News

The internet has given fake news an unprecedented platform to spread. False or misleading information, often disguised as legitimate news, can quickly go viral, causing confusion and distrust among online communities. Fake news can take various forms, from fabricated stories to manipulated images and misleading headlines. The ease of sharing information online, coupled with the increasing polarization of digital communities, has made fake news a persistent problem (Aimeur, Amri & Brassard 2023).

Impact on Crowdsourced Information

Challenge in Verification

One of the most significant challenges posed by fake news is the difficulty in verifying the accuracy of information on crowdsourced platforms. When fake news infiltrates these platforms, it becomes challenging to separate fact from fiction. Take, for example, a crowdsourced map of disaster areas. If it contains information derived from fake news reports, it could lead to misallocation of resources and even put lives at risk (Ludvik 2020).

Disrupt and Polarization

Fake news doesn't just cloud the accuracy of crowdsourced data; it also erodes trust within communities. When information becomes tainted by false narratives, it can lead to division and polarization among users. For instance, a heated discussion on a platform like Reddit or Stack Exchange can escalate when fake news is introduced, undermining the collaborative nature of these platforms (Dizikes 2021).

Real-World Examples

Wikipedia Editing Wars

Wikipedia is a prime example of crowdsourced information. It relies on the contributions of volunteers to maintain an extensive and continuously evolving encyclopaedia. Fake news can disrupt this delicate balance, leading to what are known as "editing wars." These wars occur when contributors with conflicting beliefs and biases edit articles on controversial topics to reflect their viewpoints. For instance, articles on climate change have been battlegrounds for editing wars due to the influence of fake news and misinformation (Haviland 2018).

OpenStreetMap and Misplaced Crowdsourced Data

OpenStreetMap, a collaborative project to create a free and open map of the world, relies on contributors to provide accurate geographic data. Fake news can mislead contributors into adding inaccurate or misleading information. In one instance, fake news regarding the location of a prominent landmark led contributors to place it in the wrong place on the map, causing confusion for users and travellers (Novack, Vorbeck & Zipf 2021).

Combining the Impact

Media Literacy

Educating individuals about media literacy is crucial in combating the effects of fake news on crowdsourced data. Encouraging critical thinking and teaching individuals how to fact-check information can help users distinguish between credible and false information. Promoting media literacy not only empowers individuals to discern the accuracy of information but also contributes to a more informed and discerning online community (Lord & Vogt 2021).

Platform Policies

Crowdsourced platforms can play a vital role in mitigating the impact of fake news. They can implement stricter content policies and fact-checking measures to prevent the spread of false information within their communities. By setting clear guidelines and enforcing them rigorously, these platforms can help maintain the quality and credibility of crowdsourced information (Ng, Tang & Lee 2022).

User Vigilance

Empowering users to report suspicious content can be an effective means of maintaining the quality of crowdsourced information. Many platforms rely on vigilant users to help identify and address fake news. By encouraging users to flag misleading or false content, platforms can more effectively address the problem and maintain the trust of their communities (Zewe 2022).

Collaborative Fact-Checking

Promoting a culture of fact-checking among contributors can be a proactive approach to mitigate the impact of fake news on crowdsourced data. Crowdsourced platforms can encourage users to verify information before contributing it. This can help prevent the spread of false information, improve the accuracy of data, and enhance the overall quality of the shared knowledge (LI & Chang 2023).

Conclusion

In an era filled with fake news, the effects on crowdsourced information are significant and complex. The examples provided highlight the challenges that communities face when trying to maintain the accuracy and integrity of their shared knowledge. However, by fostering media literacy, enforcing platform policies, promoting user vigilance, and encouraging collaborative fact-checking, we can collectively combat the negative impact of fake news and ensure that crowdsourced information remains a reliable resource in the digital age. Crowdsourcing has the potential to be a powerful force for good, and by addressing the challenges posed by fake news, we can harness its full potential in building a more informed and connected world.

List of References

Aimeur, E, Amri, S & Brassard, G 2023, 'Fake news, disinformation and misinformation in social media: a review', Soc Netw Anal Min, vol. 13, no. 1, viewed 1 November 2023, <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9910783/>.

Dhiman, B 2023,, 'The rise and impact of misinformation and fake news on digital youth: A critical review', University of Science and Technology, YMCA, 1 May, viewed 1 November 2023, <https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4438362>.

Dizikes, P 2021, 'Study: Crowds can wise up to fake news', MIT News, 1 September, viewed 1 November 2023, <https://news.mit.edu/2021/crowd-source-fact-checking-0901>.

Hargrave, M 2022, Crowdsourcing: Definition, how it works, types, and examples, Investopedia, viewed 1 November 2023, <https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/crowdsourcing.asp#:~:text=Crowdsourcing%20is%20the%20collection%20of%20information%2C%20opinions%2C%20or,skills%20or%20thoughts%20from%20all%20over%20the%20world.>.

Havilland, E 2018, 'Competing with or against crowds', Digital Innovation and Transformation, 19 March, viewed 1 November 2023, <https://d3.harvard.edu/platform-digit/submission/wikipedia-the-ultimate-crowdsourced-knowledge-tool/>.

Li, J & Chang, X 2023, 'Combatting misinformation by sharing the truth: a study on the spread of fact checks on social media', Information Systems Frontiers, 11 June, viewed 1 November 2023, <https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10796-022-10296-z>.

Lord, KM & Vogt, K 2021, 'Strengthen media literacy to win the fight against misinformation', Stanford Social Innovation Review, 18 March, viewed 1 November 2023, <https://ssir.org/articles/entry/strengthen_media_literacy_to_win_the_fight_against_misinformation#>.

Ludvik, E 2020, The impact and role of crowdsourcing in the information age, Crowdsourcing Week, viewed 1 November 2023, <https://crowdsourcingweek.com/blog/the-impact-and-roles-of-crowdsourcing-in-the-information-age/>.

Ng, KC, Tang, J & Lee, D 2022, 'The effect of platform intervention policies on fake news discrimination and survival on empirical examination', Journal of Management Information Systems, vol. 38, no. 4, viewed 1 November 2023, <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07421222.2021.1990612>.

Novack, T, Vorbeck, L & Zipf, A 2021, 'An investigation of the temporality of OpenStreetMap data contribution activities', Geo-spatial Information Science, 7 October, viewed 1 November 2023, <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10095020.2022.2124127>.

Zewe, A 2022, 'Empowering social media users to assess content helps fight misinformation', Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 16 November, viewed 1 November 2023, <https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/11/221116150648.htm>.

#MDA20009 #Week8 #FakeNews #Crowdsourcing #FactChecking

[arianaofimladris]

I see a lot of posts dragging up the diversity aspect, usually along with the hater or racist flag. But could we for a moment talk about introducing diversity in a way that would make in-universe sense?

If there is an ethnical group living in a closed society, the individuals won’t vary much within this group. Diversity comes from mixing of several groups, it’s usually a result of several issues happening over a long span of time (war, colonialism, migrations, pick a reason you know from history). It doesn’t just exist from start. I know nowadays many places are diverse, but even now, in XXI century, you can find people who lived for centuries in their closed communities and still create ethnically unified societies.

Now in RoP universe ( I refuse to call it Tolkien universe) the way diversity was implemented makes little sense to me. For example - we get a clearly secluded group of Harfoots. It is underlined several times that they keep to themselves and exist within their group. So how is it so that Nori looks so much different from this elderly guy? The kids are much fairer than him. Why not make the whole group ethnically similar? Yes, make them of color, why not – but be consistent about it.

Or another question – why was Arondir (so far) the only black elf we could see? I mean – I assume this is a character with his own sub-plot, so the scriptwirters wanted him distinguishable, I get it. But what is the in-universe reason he alone looks different? Why didn’t we get a glimpse of other elves like him? Not at the outpost, not among Gil-galad’s court nor Galadriel’s company.

I live in a non-diverse society, so these are the questions that came to my mind. I can buy Khazad dum having a diverse society – it is a huge centre of the dwarves, so I can expect various groups of dwarves have mixed there. But I’m not really buying the Harfoots.

I’m open for civilised discussion.

#Rings of Power #diversity #just a few thoughts #it bugs me #and I'm genuinely curious

[brightgnosis]

The Hidden Dangers of "Seed Bombs"

Items that have become known as "Seed Bombs" have become popular in the last decade. These are generally made from biodegradable or natural materials, and contain seeds (and sometimes organic fertilizers)- typically with an emphasis on food crops, flowering plants, and / or herbs; the point of them is to provide a quick-start plant growth kit that one can essentially throw into a field and just walk away from.

Predominantly they're used for an action known as “Guerrilla Gardening”, an eco-politically driven form of activism; as activism, Guerilla Gardening is a direct action against Land Neglect, "Lawn Culture" (which is itself often poorly defined by individuals with no actual understanding of what constituted a real lawn- and with little actual distinguishment between the individual concept of Lawns, and the Lawn Culture which actually causes the issues), and other interrelated issues --- most of which concerns what is considered "wasted land" that could otherwise by put to good use, ecologically, communally, or otherwise.

As the Valhalla Movement once states about one particular company (whose name and information I've since removed due to their political affiliations):

Seed bombs began as a fun and friendly tactic for greening abandoned lots in urban spaces. “Guerrilla gardeners” throw balls of seeds and fertilizer into fenced-off spaces that are otherwise neglected, such as brownfields or land in zoning limbo.

Now, a California company is using seed bombs as a strategy to fight the disappearance of bees. [Founders] started [Company] with the aim of spreading bee-friendly wildflowers in neighborhoods around the country.

Overall, the idea is a novel one that, admittedly, had the potential to do a lot of good. This can be true especially with the problems our pollinators face ... There are more than a few issues with it, however.

Firstly is that, despite its positive potential, Guerrilla Gardening itself is most often illegal. Not that anyone actually cares about that, however (and frankly neither do I); intentional land hoarding and land neglect is, it's safe to say, a noble enough cause to say "fuck the law" on, I think. However, that doesn't ignore the facts.

More important than the legal issues one can get into by far, though? Is that Seed Bombs aren't actually as “fun and friendly” as they're typically marketed as being ... In fact, they have a chance to be incredibly damaging to the ecosystems they’re introduced to- something which is the exact opposite of its claimed intent.

To understand how, though, you have to understand that no plant is created equal. Regardless of where you are in the world, each region; each state; each local area … Every ounce of land existing on this planet, really, has three important classifications of plants which exist within it: Native, Nativized (or Naturalized), and Invasive.

⭢ Native indicates that a plant evolved within that region on its own in some form and grows there naturally. Because of this, Native Flora often has an often incomparable and unique ecological relationship with the native Fauna; they're important food sources for local insects and animals (and sometimes the only food source at all for particular species). And because they're already a part of that specific environment in the first place, they have the lowest negative ecological impact on the ecosystem of that area- although this isn't always the case, as seen by the Eastern Red Cedar situation here in Oklahoma.

⭢ Nativized or Naturalized, on the other hand, indicates that a plant does not naturally grow in an area and was actively introduced to it. Unlike Invasive plants, however? Naturalized plants fit within the existing ecological structure instead of competing against, disrupting, overtaking, or destroying it. And like with Native plants, sometimes Naturalized species also become important sources for local fauna as well without outcompeting other sources. This means that, for all intents and purposes, these can be considered beneficial- or at least neutral- inclusions to the environment.

⭢ Invasive, however, means that the plant was introduced to an environment and has had an actively negative and detrimental impact on the ecosystem after said introduction- typically by outcompeting, taking over, and ultimately destroying the Naturalized and Native plants within the area. See: Kudzu in the American South.

So what does this have to do with Seed Bombs? Well, it concerns the seeds which are found in them, and whether or not they're actually even the right seeds for the environment in which they're being planted --- and in whether or not the people planting them are actually going to come back and pay attention to any specific management needs they may have if not ... And unfortunately? Not only is the entire act of Guerilla Gardening completely counter to active management practices that are required for non-naturalized (and even actively invasive) species, should they be introduced? There is almost no emphasis placed on Seed Bombs being safe for local environments during the manufacturing process.

While some larger manufacturers of Seed Bombs may occasionally list the plants they contain seeds for (with or without their appropriate Latin names), and will produce packages which are supposedly tailored to certain regions? Not all manufacturers do this even on the large scale manufacturing level. And even when they do, I've personally found through intense scrutiny that, even then, many of them are not actually formulated correctly for the specific environments which they claim to encompass.

Take the company Seedle, for instance. While they do provide regionally specific seed packages, my own state of Oklahoma is incorrectly listed regionally; according to their company, Oklahoma is included in the "Southwest" regional designation- which is entirely inaccurate. Oklahoma is a Southern (not Southwestern or even Midwestern) Transition State ... But the major problem, however, is that Oklahoma is also the most environmentally diverse state in the entire United States- containing more unique ecosystems per square mile than any other state in the nation (including Texas and California). It's only the western portion of our state (roughly the vertical strip of land West of Enid) which actually shares related fauna with the generic "Southwestern" region.

If I wanted to be properly accurate? I would need to buy either the Midwestern of Southeastern package for my area. Likely both. Because Oklahoma as a whole, being a Great Plains state, shares the majority of it’s native flora and fauna with Kansas, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas- not states like Arizona and New Mexico.

This problem doesn’t only present itself with larger manufacturers, however. Smaller manufacturers (such as shops on Etsy) may not always list the plants, either. And with the increased emphasis on Seed Bomb DIY, even fewer of those guides place any emphasis at all on making sure to include only native or naturalized plants- and being careful not to include any invasive ones. In fact, many of the recommended herbs and flowers in many lists are outright invasive in most areas of the United States!

But the only reason I personally actually know all of this? Is because I personally spent half a decade working as a Civilian Conservationist, actively working with real professionals in these fields ... If you didn't have my background or an equivalent, you'd have no idea- and that's the rub: The average person doing these things, even in activist circles, is a regular ole' Joe kind of civilian --- and the average civilian is simply not often well enough educated on actual scientific and ecological matters. Especially not the need to be incredibly careful about what we plant and the reasons why. Worse, they often don’t know there's even a need to be educated about this kind of thing in the first place.

And when you do educate them? In my direct and very personal experience over the last decade, there's frequently a lot of hostile pushback because their idea of ecological activism is often ingrained in their minds as "more important" and "more valid"; there's a very big "do what I want, how I want to do it" energy- even from people who claim to actually want to "help the Environment". And this often extends outright to big name organizations behind these movements, too.

While that lack of education is certainly no fault of their own in many an individual's case (though companies themselves can no longer be excused in my eyes)? This knowledge is still incredibly important. And that's what makes this kind of ignorance so dangerous.

Invasive plants, specifically, can very easily destroy entire ecosystems wholesale; the environmental problems they can cause can rang from a dwindle in local plant populations, to the complete and total ecological loss of entire local species. And if the plants go? Then the fauna that relies on them go with them- damaging entire ecosystems which're interconnected and interdependent on these different facets; even smaller invasions in one neighborhood can cause problems across an entire area.

Thus comes the potential for a destructive nature, though: If a Seed Bomb contains plants which are known to be invasive to an area, and those are introduced via well-meaning Seed Bomb scattering by uneducated civilians? It can wreak havoc on a local ecosystem. That havoc could be small and easily manageable, or it could be disastrous depending several factors- and it’s incredibly hard to know which direction it could go unless you have the education to know or control impact (and the time and ability to do so).

Yet not all plants are invasive to every region; a plant’s status can change from one region to the next one- and hardly any plant will have the same status or impact in different environments. This is why it's important to be educated, and to know where to look for this information (or who to ask).

Ensuring that our Seed Bombs contain safe plants is not the only thing, though. Another is the issue of Commercial Plant Stock vs Native Plant Stock in general. And your standard Commercial plant stock? Just isn't going to actually cut it if you want real ecological impact; commercial plant stock has a much smaller ecological impact compared to those wild plants that are genuinely native to the area and evolved alongside the local fauna- even if those plants are considered naturalized to your area, not invasive, and are cheaper for you to obtain.

More than that, is microfocusing and which areas of our ecosystems we are microfocusing on; taking the Bee-specific seed bombs we spoke about earlier, and using it as an example: Commercial products and guides tend to microfocus on the Honeybee, but they are only a small cog in a greater machine- and they're not even the ones actually endangered or at risk. In fact, there are 20,000 known species of Bee- not all of which are found in every area, and not all of which pollinate the same plants- and microfocusing on the Honeybee happens to be further endangering every last one of them.

Knowing what species of Bees are in your area, and what native plants they often pollinate, helps greatly when choosing or creating Seed Bombs … But even this isn't including the thousands of other insects that are just as important as pollinators; though roughly the most important, Bees are not the only pollinators with importance. Some of these additional pollinators have very specific plants that they pollinate, or use for food or reproduction- such as the Beetles which are necessary to pollinate Magnolia Trees, the Monarch which requires Milkweed, or the Swallowtail which requires plants from the Apiaceae family (Parsley, Carrots, and related plants).

Not all plants are created equal. It is absolutely imperative that if we want Seed Bombs to truly be “fun and friendly”, we take great care to tailor them to our individual microlocations instead of opting for Seed Bombs with unknown or generalized content- or relying on highly commercialized product stock. We also have to consider other animals, as well- such as those that feed on certain insects, those herbivores and omnivores which eat certain plants, and more. This is especially true if we want to garner the greatest ecological impact with such actions.

Doing that, however, requires us to have a much broader line of sight than just basic feel-good activism; it's important that we look beyond the relatively small minded, single point activism of Seed Bombing itself, and into the larger and more broad action of Civilian Conservationism: Learning about, getting hands on with, and studying our local environments as a whole in order to figure out how to best benefit it as a whole– as opposed to risking the potential loss of such ecosystems through microfocusing on specific species, general carelessness, and an overall lack of education (even if we meant well).

That's not something everyone can achieve, and that's okay ... Everyone is obligated to do work to build a brighter future- and there is work for everyone to do ... But we must also acknowledge that not everyone is obligated to do all work; that it's ok, actually, to take a back seat to some forms of activism- particularly those that are out of your reach, because you can't do them correctly ... And proper ecologically based change actions is certainly one of those things we must get right, or become comfortable with not doing when we can't. The risk is too great otherwise.

This is from my own notes during independent study both before and after my formal Master Gardener Training. If you found this helpful or interesting, please consider Tipping or Leaving a Ko-Fi (being Disabled, even $1 helps); you can see my other "Original Content" here.

#Old Blog Reposts #2016 #Original Content #Original Herbal Content #Master Gardener #Master Gardeners #Community Gardening #Lawns Aren't Bad Lawn Culture Is #Green Witch #Green Witchcraft #Witchy Gardening #Gardening #Gardenblr #Plantblr #Natural Connections #Prairie Magic & Medicine #Oklahoma #Casual Reminder That Oklahoma Is NOT A Midwestern OR Southwestern State

[orszemgyorgy]

Unveiling the Dynamics of Explaining Away Disrespectful Behavior

Why is it that when we encounter behavior that appears to disregard common decency, we often assume that the individuals responsible might not fully comprehend the wrongness of their actions? Is this presumption rooted in a belief that they lack the life experience to discern right from wrong? Curiously, we often find ourselves compelled to meticulously detail their behavior, almost as if we are stepping into the role of an instructor.

But let's explore the deeper layers of this inclination. Could it be that by taking on this explanatory role, we are subtly assigning blame to ourselves? Is there a hidden narrative within us that insinuates we somehow bear the responsibility for making them aware? This repetitive cycle leads us to perceive their actions as stemming from a place of obliviousness, fostering within us the notion that what they require is a patient breakdown of their actions.

Inevitably, this perspective drives us to set up scenarios where we feel the need to sit them down and engage in a candid conversation, with the expectation that if they truly grasp the impact of their actions on us, they will inherently alter their behavior. It's as if we believe we possess the power to mold them into the ideal image of what we deem appropriate. This notion becomes even more intricate when we start to believe that our own endurance of suffering could act as the catalyst for their transformation.

However, let's pause for a moment and reflect on this viewpoint. Is it reasonable to assume that a grown adult is genuinely incapable of distinguishing right from wrong? Is this assumption not, in itself, a glaring red flag? Does it not suggest that a relationship built on fundamental values of love, care, trust, and respect is implausible with this particular individual?

Furthermore, if we find ourselves in the position of needing to educate someone about the rudimentary aspects of human interaction and ethical conduct, are we not inadvertently adopting the role of a caregiver or even a parent? Does this not hint at a power imbalance within the relationship, where one party is positioned as the knowledgeable authority, while the other is relegated to a more ignorant, submissive stance?

What's truly fascinating is that attributing their questionable actions to ignorance serves as a form of self-inflicted gaslighting. In a way, we manipulate ourselves into accepting that their lack of understanding absolves them of accountability. This perspective, however, fails to acknowledge the gravity of the behavior or what it signifies about their character, as well as the dynamics of the relationship or situation.

In essence, the way we respond to such situations becomes a reflection of the kind of relationship we aspire to have. By tolerating disrespect or by explaining away shady behavior, we indirectly communicate our willingness to compromise our own values. Consequently, addressing the root issue of disrespect becomes pivotal. It entails recognizing that such behavior is neither justified nor a result of ignorance; rather, it's a conscious choice. By acknowledging this truth, we empower ourselves to cultivate relationships that are built on genuine understanding, mutual respect, and shared values.

#empath #soul #spirituality #alchemy of souls #healing #energy #ego #healing journey #spiritualgrowth

[vietnamtmtlawyersin]

Real estate dispute lawyers in Vietnam discuss land disputes

Real estate dispute lawyers in Vietnam discuss land disputes

In Vietnam, land disputes, real estate disputes, and property disputes are among the most complicated disputes that frequently arise in everyday life. Settling these sorts of debates could take time and the land question legal counselor in Vietnam could assist with distinguishing the underlying drivers and propose reasonable methodology for mollification and settlement.

Real estate dispute law firms in Vietnam discuss land disputes

What types of land disputes in Vietnam?

Land, real estate, and property disputes typically involve high stakes and a wide range of topics, including disputes over land use rights, ownership of property tied to land use rights, rights to land use rights derived from inheritance, property division disputes during divorce, disputes over transfer and transformation transactions, leasing, subleasing, and mortgages tied to property or land use rights.

What are land disputes in Vietnam?

A land use right dispute is a disagreement between two or more parties in a land use right relationship regarding the rights and responsibilities of land users.

What should the parties do to resolve a dispute over land? There are two ways in which a land dispute can be resolved: in court or through settlement procedures at state administrative agencies.

Firstly, for some sort of land questions, placation strategy at commune-level People’s Committee of the locality a where the contested land is found is obligatory condition and method.

Specifically, on the off chance that placation by parties can't be accomplished, the gatherings might send a request for pacification to he commune-level People’s Committee of the locality where the contested land is found.

When a petition for resolving a land dispute is received by the commune-level People's Committees, the conciliation process must be completed within 45 days. Only when all of the disputing parties are present can the conciliation take place. On the off chance that any of the questioning gatherings is missing for the subsequent time, the appeasement will be viewed as ineffective.

The following two cases will be used to settle the land dispute in the event that conciliation at a commune-level People's Committee fails:

-The land, first and foremost, debate in which the party has an endorsement or any of the papers recommended in Article 100 of Land regulation and the disagreement regarding resources connected to land will be settled by People’s Court.

Second, in the case of a land dispute in which neither party possesses the aforementioned documents, the parties have a choice between the following two approaches to settlement: recording a composed solicitation for question settlement with a competent People’s Committee or documenting a claim with a competent People’s Court in accordance with the law on civil procedures.

In the second case, the chairperson of the competent People’s Committee is in charge of resolving disputes between households, individuals, and communities when the party chooses to settle at a competent People's Committee. In accordance with the law governing administrative procedures, the parties can either file a claim with the chairperson of the provincial-level People's Committee or sue in a People's Court if they are dissatisfied with the settlement decision.

In the event that one party is an association, a strict establishment, an abroad Vietnamese or an unfamiliar contributed undertaking, the executive of the common level People’s Committee is liable for the settlement. In accordance with the law governing administrative procedures, the parties have the right to file a claim with the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment or a lawsuit with a People's Court if they are dissatisfied with the settlement decision.

It ought to be noticed that the lawfully compelling choice on question settlement should be completely maintained the gatherings. Assuming the gatherings neglect to go along, the choice will be authorized.

The following grounds shall be the basis for the settlement of land disputes in which the disputing parties do not possess a certificate or any of the documents required by the Land Law or the Decree detailing a number of articles of the Land Law:

-The disputing parties' evidence regarding the land's origin and use process;

-Actual land areas that are currently occupied by the parties in addition to the land area that is in dispute and the average land area that is shared by each household in the area;

-Conformity of the disputed land's current use status with land use plans that have been approved by competent state agencies;

-Particular treatment arrangements toward people with worthy administrations to the State; Land use rights recognition, lease, and allocation regulations.

How real estate dispute lawyers in Vietnam could help?

The people of Vietnam do not own  land. Land use rights can only be purchased and sold. As previously stated, the complexity of Vietnam's land law and related regulations, as well as the country's long-standing culture of land use, could complicate disputes involving real estate, land, and property.

A mandatory condition and procedure for some kinds of land disputes is that they must be resolved at the commune-level People's Committee of the locality where the disputed land is located. The parties to other kinds of property and real estate disputes could immediately file a claim with the court. It might be difficult to differentiate between dispute resolution methods. In order to avoid or resolve a dispute, it is recommended to consult a real estate dispute lawyer in Vietnam for early guidance and representation.

#land dispute in Vietnam #Real estate dispute law firm in Vietnam

[disputeattorneysinhanoi]

Real estate dispute lawyers in Vietnam discuss land disputes

Real estate dispute lawyers in Vietnam discuss land disputes

In Vietnam, land disputes, real estate disputes, and property disputes are among the most complicated disputes that frequently arise in everyday life. Settling these sorts of debates could take time and the land question legal counselor in Vietnam could assist with distinguishing the underlying drivers and propose reasonable methodology for mollification and settlement.

Real estate dispute law firms in Vietnam discuss land disputes

What types of land disputes in Vietnam?

Land, real estate, and property disputes typically involve high stakes and a wide range of topics, including disputes over land use rights, ownership of property tied to land use rights, rights to land use rights derived from inheritance, property division disputes during divorce, disputes over transfer and transformation transactions, leasing, subleasing, and mortgages tied to property or land use rights.

What are land disputes in Vietnam?

A land use right dispute is a disagreement between two or more parties in a land use right relationship regarding the rights and responsibilities of land users.

What should the parties do to resolve a dispute over land? There are two ways in which a land dispute can be resolved: in court or through settlement procedures at state administrative agencies.

Firstly, for some sort of land questions, placation strategy at commune-level People’s Committee of the locality a where the contested land is found is obligatory condition and method.

Specifically, on the off chance that placation by parties can't be accomplished, the gatherings might send a request for pacification to he commune-level People’s Committee of the locality where the contested land is found.

When a petition for resolving a land dispute is received by the commune-level People's Committees, the conciliation process must be completed within 45 days. Only when all of the disputing parties are present can the conciliation take place. On the off chance that any of the questioning gatherings is missing for the subsequent time, the appeasement will be viewed as ineffective.

The following two cases will be used to settle the land dispute in the event that conciliation at a commune-level People's Committee fails:

-The land, first and foremost, debate in which the party has an endorsement or any of the papers recommended in Article 100 of Land regulation and the disagreement regarding resources connected to land will be settled by People’s Court.

Second, in the case of a land dispute in which neither party possesses the aforementioned documents, the parties have a choice between the following two approaches to settlement: recording a composed solicitation for question settlement with a competent People’s Committee or documenting a claim with a competent People’s Court in accordance with the law on civil procedures.

In the second case, the chairperson of the competent People’s Committee is in charge of resolving disputes between households, individuals, and communities when the party chooses to settle at a competent People's Committee. In accordance with the law governing administrative procedures, the parties can either file a claim with the chairperson of the provincial-level People's Committee or sue in a People's Court if they are dissatisfied with the settlement decision.

In the event that one party is an association, a strict establishment, an abroad Vietnamese or an unfamiliar contributed undertaking, the executive of the common level People’s Committee is liable for the settlement. In accordance with the law governing administrative procedures, the parties have the right to file a claim with the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment or a lawsuit with a People's Court if they are dissatisfied with the settlement decision.

It ought to be noticed that the lawfully compelling choice on question settlement should be completely maintained the gatherings. Assuming the gatherings neglect to go along, the choice will be authorized.

The following grounds shall be the basis for the settlement of land disputes in which the disputing parties do not possess a certificate or any of the documents required by the Land Law or the Decree detailing a number of articles of the Land Law:

-The disputing parties' evidence regarding the land's origin and use process;

-Actual land areas that are currently occupied by the parties in addition to the land area that is in dispute and the average land area that is shared by each household in the area;

-Conformity of the disputed land's current use status with land use plans that have been approved by competent state agencies;

-Particular treatment arrangements toward people with worthy administrations to the State; Land use rights recognition, lease, and allocation regulations.

How real estate dispute lawyers in Vietnam could help?

The people of Vietnam do not own  land. Land use rights can only be purchased and sold. As previously stated, the complexity of Vietnam's land law and related regulations, as well as the country's long-standing culture of land use, could complicate disputes involving real estate, land, and property.

A mandatory condition and procedure for some kinds of land disputes is that they must be resolved at the commune-level People's Committee of the locality where the disputed land is located. The parties to other kinds of property and real estate disputes could immediately file a claim with the court. It might be difficult to differentiate between dispute resolution methods. In order to avoid or resolve a dispute, it is recommended to consult a real estate dispute lawyer in Vietnam for early guidance and representation.

#land dispute in Vietnam #Real estate dispute law firm in Vietnam

[technologylawyersinvietnam]

Real estate dispute lawyers in Vietnam discuss land disputes

Real estate dispute lawyers in Vietnam discuss land disputes

In Vietnam, land disputes, real estate disputes, and property disputes are among the most complicated disputes that frequently arise in everyday life. Settling these sorts of debates could take time and the land question legal counselor in Vietnam could assist with distinguishing the underlying drivers and propose reasonable methodology for mollification and settlement.

Real estate dispute lawyer in Vietnam discuss land disputes

What types of land disputes in Vietnam?

Land, real estate, and property disputes typically involve high stakes and a wide range of topics, including disputes over land use rights, ownership of property tied to land use rights, rights to land use rights derived from inheritance, property division disputes during divorce, disputes over transfer and transformation transactions, leasing, subleasing, and mortgages tied to property or land use rights.

What are land disputes in Vietnam?

A land use right dispute is a disagreement between two or more parties in a land use right relationship regarding the rights and responsibilities of land users.

What should the parties do to resolve a dispute over land? There are two ways in which a land dispute can be resolved: in court or through settlement procedures at state administrative agencies.

Firstly, for some sort of land questions, placation strategy at commune-level People’s Committee of the locality a where the contested land is found is obligatory condition and method.

Specifically, on the off chance that placation by parties can't be accomplished, the gatherings might send a request for pacification to he commune-level People’s Committee of the locality where the contested land is found.

When a petition for resolving a land dispute is received by the commune-level People's Committees, the conciliation process must be completed within 45 days. Only when all of the disputing parties are present can the conciliation take place. On the off chance that any of the questioning gatherings is missing for the subsequent time, the appeasement will be viewed as ineffective.

The following two cases will be used to settle the land dispute in the event that conciliation at a commune-level People's Committee fails:

-The land, first and foremost, debate in which the party has an endorsement or any of the papers recommended in Article 100 of Land regulation and the disagreement regarding resources connected to land will be settled by People’s Court.

Second, in the case of a land dispute in which neither party possesses the aforementioned documents, the parties have a choice between the following two approaches to settlement: recording a composed solicitation for question settlement with a competent People’s Committee or documenting a claim with a competent People’s Court in accordance with the law on civil procedures.

In the second case, the chairperson of the competent People’s Committee is in charge of resolving disputes between households, individuals, and communities when the party chooses to settle at a competent People's Committee. In accordance with the law governing administrative procedures, the parties can either file a claim with the chairperson of the provincial-level People's Committee or sue in a People's Court if they are dissatisfied with the settlement decision.

In the event that one party is an association, a strict establishment, an abroad Vietnamese or an unfamiliar contributed undertaking, the executive of the common level People’s Committee is liable for the settlement. In accordance with the law governing administrative procedures, the parties have the right to file a claim with the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment or a lawsuit with a People's Court if they are dissatisfied with the settlement decision.

It ought to be noticed that the lawfully compelling choice on question settlement should be completely maintained the gatherings. Assuming the gatherings neglect to go along, the choice will be authorized.

The following grounds shall be the basis for the settlement of land disputes in which the disputing parties do not possess a certificate or any of the documents required by the Land Law or the Decree detailing a number of articles of the Land Law:

-The disputing parties' evidence regarding the land's origin and use process;

-Actual land areas that are currently occupied by the parties in addition to the land area that is in dispute and the average land area that is shared by each household in the area;

-Conformity of the disputed land's current use status with land use plans that have been approved by competent state agencies;

-Particular treatment arrangements toward people with worthy administrations to the State; Land use rights recognition, lease, and allocation regulations.

How real estate dispute lawyers in Vietnam could help?

The people of Vietnam do not own  land. Land use rights can only be purchased and sold. As previously stated, the complexity of Vietnam's land law and related regulations, as well as the country's long-standing culture of land use, could complicate disputes involving real estate, land, and property.

A mandatory condition and procedure for some kinds of land disputes is that they must be resolved at the commune-level People's Committee of the locality where the disputed land is located. The parties to other kinds of property and real estate disputes could immediately file a claim with the court. It might be difficult to differentiate between dispute resolution methods. In order to avoid or resolve a dispute, it is recommended to consult a real estate dispute lawyer in Vietnam for early guidance and representation.

#land dispute in Vietnam #Real estate dispute law firm in Vietnam