xo | atash-e sabz

Photo

Wed, 22 May 2013 13:13:26 -0500

Levity. We all need more of...

Wed, 15 May 2013 05:00:11 -0500

Levity. We all need more of it.

jez-burrows:

liezlwashere:

Kurt Braunohler raised $6,000 on Kickstarter to “hire a man in a plane to write stupid things in the sky.”

Perfect.

New frontiers of skywriting right here.

fuckyeahcartography: Hi! I did my thesis in Jewellery &...

Sun, 05 May 2013 09:47:18 -0500

fuckyeahcartography:

Hi! I did my thesis in Jewellery & Metalsmithing on cartography and history.

This collection is a cartographic record on the evolution of jewellery – showing where different styles and movements occurred geographically, and how everything is connected cross-culturally. Amongst scattered cultural groups the same desire for adornment is evident, each group developing its own distinctive style, with occasional cross-fertilization from trade or invasion. Represented here is the aesthetic of maps from 17^th century Europe, the era known as the Age of Exploration, which was a very important time for maps as they evolved from being just informational tools to becoming works of art. The importance of maps is highlighted by the incorporation into the jewellery to reflect value and significance. The body is connected physically and visually to the jewellery by the use of draped chain, and symbolizes more discoveries to come. Alongside traditional jewellery fabrication techniques, I have appropriated some map-making techniques into my process such as etching and the use of ink. I chose to combine the history of maps and the history of jewellery to talk about geographical and cross-cultural connections that occurred through trade, invasion or the spread of trends.

Photo by Nicola Betts

kqedscience: Naki’o is the First ‘Bionic’ Dog Fitted with Four...

Wed, 01 May 2013 13:39:09 -0500

kqedscience:

Naki’o is the First ‘Bionic’ Dog Fitted with Four Prosthetic Limbs

“Naki’o, a mixed breed dog from Nebraska, has become the first dog fitted with four prosthetic limbs. This strange achievement was accomplished by US company Orthopets, which specializes in artificial pet limbs. Naki’o lost his limbs and part of his tail to frostbite when he was abandoned in a cellar as a puppy, but now, thanks to a successful operation, he can run and play freely like other dogs.”

Taking the risk - I assume these ladies are waiting for the men...

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 14:10:50 -0500

Taking the risk - I assume these ladies are waiting for the men to stop wasting time trying to avoid the inevitable: the women are about to trounce them in a match.

footybedsheets:

I got this picture from whitezine,com. It was under the category of “Iran football”.

No more information.

No more story.

To some it screams of women being isolated and excluded from play.

To others it may show players who are waiting for their turn on the pitch

or women who are cheering for/ critiquing their partners, brothers.

It is also simply a photograph; visual capture of a moment in time.

Assume at risk.

farsizaban: Azadi Tower, Tehran, Iran (15 June, 2009)

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 18:22:49 -0500

farsizaban:

Azadi Tower, Tehran, Iran (15 June, 2009)

Yes please.

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 09:04:35 -0500

Yes please.

Oh my.

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 14:40:19 -0500

Oh my.

pol102: The sign reads: “Friends in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan:...

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 15:18:03 -0500

pol102:

The sign reads: “Friends in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan: Thank you for your condolences. Please accept ours.”

(via Obejas: Thank you for your condolences. Please accept ours. | WBEZ 91.5 Chicago)

For @footybedsheets :D the-gulf-is-persian: HAHAHAH

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 15:11:45 -0500

For @footybedsheets :D

the-gulf-is-persian:

HAHAHAH

Public plea - how you can help SAWERA & women's rights defenders

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 08:19:43 -0500

There was an attack on a girls’ school in Bannu, Pakistan early this morning when a bomb went off at 2:30 AM. Later in the day, there was an attack near a presidential candidate’s rally. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the latter. Guess which one is getting media attention.

Meanwhile, our field partner Society for Appraisal & Women Empowerment in Rural Areas (SAWERA) is struggling to rebuild and continue their education and empowerment efforts with local women, as well as assisting refugees and flood victims. They urgently need financial assistance to rebuild and reequip their Peshawar office after a bomb attack early Saturday morning destroyed their equipment and vehicle and caused significant structural damage to the office.

If you can help, please do. If you are able to donate, the Safe World for Women Farida Fund has issued an emergency appeal for SAWERA.

If you cannot donate but still want to help, Safe World will be issuing a press release this morning to give updates on the situation and try to garner western media attention. You can help by sharing news, links, video and pictures and generally demanding media attention. This is the second time SAWERA was targeted; their cofounder Farida Afridi was assassinated on her way to work last year, shot and killed in broad daylight, after receiving threats related to her work as a rights defender. This despite significant local support and SAWERA’s commitment to honoring local customs and traditions in their work.

Just as important is your support - please leave SAWERA a message of solidarity in the comments section here:

It is only as a united voice that we can make a safer world for women.

I'm Just Confused....

Sat, 30 Mar 2013 18:42:32 -0500

historical-nonfiction:

During World War II, bakers in the United States were ordered to stop selling sliced bread for the duration of the war on January 18, 1943. Only whole loaves were made available to the public. It was never explained how this action helped the war effort.

girljanitor: goldenheartedrose: girljanitor: tacticalconscienc...

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 15:17:16 -0500

girljanitor:

goldenheartedrose:

girljanitor:

tacticalconscience:

Even if you don’t think vaccines and autism are related … these are some staggering numbers!

YES THESE NUMBERS ARE STAGGERING I WOULD ALSO POSIT THAT HAVE YOU CONSIDERED THESE IMAGES AND TEXT ALSO

I love you.

Oh my god, those charts are the best.

mucho gracia

but quite literally there is actually MORE correlation in the charts I posted than there is in that bullshit thing OP posted

AND ALL HAVE NOTHING THAT IMPLIES CAUSATION

IT’S FUCKING MADE UP, AND THE GUY WHO MADE IT UP IS NO LONGER ALLOWED TO PRACTICE MEDICINE OR DO RESEARCH

explore-blog: Internet censorship, explained in this wonderful...

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 16:10:00 -0500

explore-blog:

Internet censorship, explained in this wonderful infographic by Hyperakt for the Iran Media Program at my alma mater, the Annenberg School of Communication at Penn.

Complement with cultural icons on censorship.

Photo

Sun, 03 Mar 2013 14:12:09 -0600

"Nobody does that in Harlem"

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 13:56:00 -0600

"Nobody does that in Harlem":

footybedsheets:

What’s so wrong about the Harlem Shake?

Nothing if you like cultural appropriation and bastardization of an art form.

Nothing if you like insulting a place and its’ people.

Nothing if you like to IGNORE the voices from Harlem that are telling you they feel disrespected.

If you want to learn the dance then learn it. Not in a costume. Not in your underwear. Not minimizing the movements as you flail around, arms waving then insisting it is your “interpretation”.

Screw off.

While in line for coffee after I mentioned I wasn’t a fan of these videos. someone said to me “What’s your issue? Harlem Shake memes are a tribute to Black History month!”

At that point I decided, I mean REALLY decided, to stop engaging this person. Otherwise I may have attacked them.

You really like dancing? GREAT.

Make an effort to learn the dance. Understand its’ history. Not your ridiculous interpretation of it.

If you can’t then at least don’t label it “Harlem Shake” when it clearly IS NOT.

It’s not a Gangnam style or a Call Me Maybe meme.

It has roots. It has meaning. Take 5 seconds to read about it.

And listen to when people say “it has been all but stripped of its’ cultural context and meaning”.

I have been called a “party-pooper” for my feelings about this.

But the fact that Youtube is inundated with Harlem Shake videos and it is very difficult to find an original version of the dance is troubling. It has taken over the space and voice of the original.

That is disturbing.

I love dancing. I love music. I don’t blast Don Omar, jump around my kitchen, upload it to YouTube and declare myself an expert in Latin Dance. Well, I do the first two but definitely not the last two.

No. Because not only is that stupid it’s a bold face lie.

Go on then. Enjoy your shake.

lovecraft: i just i don’t -

Sat, 02 Feb 2013 21:16:25 -0600

lovecraft:

i just

i don’t -

footybedsheets: personofcolour: My comic re: tokenization of...

Sat, 02 Feb 2013 21:15:24 -0600

footybedsheets:

personofcolour:

My comic re: tokenization of Muslim women, “Hijab Day”

I had a match last night: on the eve of “Hijab Day”. As usual I was the only WOC on the field and only woman in hijab. And much like my friends, my awesome teammates did the best thing EVER: nothing. Except rely on me as an equal, include me in play and try to win the game of course. Which we did not. Tied 1-1.

My team doesn’t ask to try to wear a hijab. They are smarter and more respectful than that.

But, wearing a scarf while playing may give them COMPLETE INSIGHT into the lives of Half a billion Muslim women. Right? RIGHT?!? *hijabdesk*.

My mates are also acutely aware that if they want to wear a head covering, they can get a scarf - yes, any random scarf- and put it on their head. No pixie dust, no blessing from an Ayatollah, no chanting or incense.

This is the part where I get to be thankful that my teammates don’t want to liberate me. They don’t insult and patronize me inquiring as to how my hijab “makes them feel”. It’s not exotic and interesting. It just is.

They respect me enough to know that how they “feel” about MY decision is bloody well irrelevant.

They don’t pelt the universe with ridiculous commentary such as “Shireen is confident in her decision to choose and to honour her tradition even if media thinks it is negative” or “So glad to see a person of your culture out here playing with that. I am OK with it 100%”

Yes, someone actually said that to me. As if I care or need their percentage of approval.

My teammates, God bless them, pass me the ball. They don’t press, stress or fixate on the issue. They offer me support, encouragement on the pitch and they push me hard and then harder.

They don’t care about my hijab and what it represents to them. They are not that shallow.

Because NEWSFLASH: I am more, way more than my hijab.

They have realized that I am a person whose identity lies, not in a piece of cloth, but in the way I believe, speak, act and play.

This exercise reduces a Muslim woman to one yard of material. It is not an action that one can adequately educate and put another woman in their position. It’s completely disingenuous to think so.

Will having my teammates wear a hijab for a one hour match allow them to understand a lifetime of stares, barriers, “No, sorry you can’t play with that on” decisions, struggles and then my own strength and confidence to embrace it and keep going?

No. No, it won’t.

Just like wearing a hijab for one day will not provide a woman will contextual understanding of challenges and the realities that a woman in hijab may face: misogyny, cultural stresses, financial problems, prejudice, racism and even effects of war.

Does it realistically give people a glimpse of struggles faced by millions? Of a religion that is marred and scarred by stereotypes and assumptions; That is rife with misogynist practices?That has incredibly intrepid people working for the benefit of the world? That has kindness and millions of women who are Muslim who do not wear hijab?

Do we celebrate International Paghra Day with Sikhs? Or International Habit Day with Peruvian Nuns? International “Wear a Wig to Shul” Day with Orthodox Jews? Nope. Because that would be minimizing and politicizing their choice.

This dress-up activity is no more effective than having me wearing a Firefighter outfit. I respect First Responders and love red. Does it give me full insight into their plight, intensity, committment, courage and years of training?

No. No, it doesn’t.

I can appreciate the attempt to provide change by support. But for me to think that I am affecting change by wearing their Firefighter gear is vain and selfish. It’s more curiosity on my part- not bridgebuilding.

I prefer solidarity in forms that aren’t reductive.

My squad sees me as a player, as a teammate.

I sincerely appreciate solidarity and respect of my choice. But these odd and creepy “let me try on your burka to see how it feels!” games are not helpful. To me. And they are not Progressive Feminism nor Islamic Feminism.

Last night a white woman tweeted to me “I once tried on a burka but all I could do was feel sorry for them”. I thanked her for her sympathy. I assured her women would surely appreciate her feeling badly for them. She promptly deleted her tweet.

Maybe these women could try something else: support, conversations, reaching out, opening minds and JUST ACCEPTING and not judging.

That’s works fine too.

Now, only when the rest of the privileged, white female “I-know-best” society will stop insisting that they can “sympathize” and “understand” (note: I DON’T NEED YOUR SYMPATHY OR UNDERSTANDING) with me after trying out a fashionable scarf, we will all be better off.

Just leave me and my hijab alone. Let me win my game.

theatlantic: When Taking Multiple Husbands Makes Sense Indeed,...

Sat, 02 Feb 2013 21:14:18 -0600

theatlantic:

When Taking Multiple Husbands Makes Sense

Indeed, according to Starkweather and Hames, anthropologists have documented social systems for polyandrous unions “among foragers in a wide variety of environments ranging from the Arctic to the tropics, and to the desert.” Recognizing that at least half these groups are hunter-gatherer societies, the authors conclude that, if those groups are similar to our ancestors — as we may reasonably suspect — then “it is probable that polyandry has a deep human history.”

Rather than treating polyandry as a mystery to be explained away, Starkweather and Hames suggest polyandry constitutes a variation on the common, evolutionarily-adaptive phenomenon of pair-bonding — a variation that sometimes emerges in response to environmental conditions.

Read more. [Image: Abrams]

time-for-maps: Comparative Size of Lakes and Islands. Lakes in...

Sat, 02 Feb 2013 20:53:42 -0600

time-for-maps:

Comparative Size of Lakes and Islands. Lakes in the Western Hemisphere. Lakes in the Eastern Hemisphere. Islands in the Western Hemisphere. Islands in the Eastern Hemisphere. Published by J. H. Colton. No. 172 William St. New York. 1865.