A Hero Can Go Anywhere, Challenge Anyone, As Long As Has The Nerve

Vogue Arabia

I can understand not wanting to get pregnant or have kids but y'all do not need to take that out on pregnant people themselves

Humor vs. Religion

 There are paradoxes between such serious topics, as nothing is supposed to be considered funny when we’re talking about religion, but as we progress throughout the modern 21st century, humor and comic strips have been presently active and tolerated, at most. ‘’[1]The normative view is that religion is a serious and profound human concern, deserving respect and generating awe. This normative prescription does not deny that many people, including clergy, display a certain sense of humor about religion. However, treating religious matters with too much frivolity or making religious jokes verging on profanation may lead to rebuke. This form of comedy—printed cartoons from the comic pages of newspapers—provides insights into the intersection of humor and religion. We also attempt to develop some generalizations about the role of religious messages and symbols in cartoons.’’ The discourse of the ‘sacred’ has become the talk of the past two centuries, with many stereotypes coming from it.

For instance, the Simpsons’ character, evangelical Ned Flanders, is a popular icon and stereotype for ‘overzealous religious men/women’. ‘’[2]The Simpsons’ portrayal of religion in America has been used to illustrate everything from the revelation of God’s grace (Dark 2002) to religion’s failure in the face of science (Delaney 2008). While each commentator takes their own particular stance on The Simpson’s depiction of religion, there is frequently a conflation between The Simpsons’ satire and reality. That is, The Simpsons’ depictions of religion matter because they are treated not as frivolous cartoon humor, but as satires which criticize competing moral and civic perspectives of religion’s relevance in the United States.’’

  Religious themes take an interesting turn in comedy, as every good joke starts with the truth as it helps some people cope with life. ‘’[3]Humor is a form of self-expression. The jokes we tell and laugh loudest at giving clues to our central preoccupations, needs, and frustrations. It is, therefore, possible to use humor preferences as an indirect means of assessing personality (Eysenck and Wilson, 1976). If jokes are split into three very broad categories—sexual, aggressive, and nonsensical—people who permissive and high in libido (especially men) laugh most at the sexual jokes, people who are overly aggressive (as measured by hostility questionnaires) are most amused by aggressive humor, while controlled, conventional, or ‘respectable’ people go for the relatively harmless nonsense jokes. The fact that humor functions as a form of ‘release’ has been demonstrated by studies in which the motivational state of the subject is made angry by deliberately cussed behavior on the part of the experimenter’s accomplices, this will selectively enhance the environment of hostile humor.’’

   Of course, some critics don’t exactly like humor, or feel that it has any real basis on religious matter. ‘’[4]Religion, for the most part, has not been kind to humor. The early rabbis condemned jesting and laughter as did the church fathers. Rabbi Akiva said, ‘Jesting and levity accustom a person to lewdness.’ Saint John Chrysostom asked, ‘Christ is crucified and doest thou laugh?’ Those fixated on the world-to-come have little sympathy for the distractions of the world in which we live. In this respect, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint is no different from any other. Salvation is a serious business and the institutions, offices, and practices that ensure salvation merit reverence—not ridicule. But a church is not simply a bundle of beliefs and ritual practices. It is organized for and by people, and those people, whether they like it or not, must work out their salvation in this world. Thus, as examples in this article demonstrate, a bishop, who is supposed to be a wise and effective leader, an inspiration to his ward, can be a fool or philanderer.’’

  In mythology, many characters, including gods, use humor or ‘charm’, which makes the story much more interesting to the reader and the audience. It spins the story along; comedy is a great form of expression, especially when it is used day by day, especially in what is seen in a ‘serious’ society or used for serious topics. ‘’[5]The Nez Perce tribe are a tribe of Indians who in pre-White days inhabited parts of southeastern Washington, northeastern Oregon, and northern Idaho south of the Coeur d’Alene county. At present most of the members of the tribe live in Idaho in Nez Perce, Lewis, Clearwater, and Idaho counties. I [author] have classified the humor in the Nez Perce myth body into six different categories: (1) the humor of the pompous or stupid individual who comes to grief; (2) the trick, including transformations and practical jokes, (3) the obscene, (4) other incorrect or eccentric social behavior, (5) humor following from a lack of knowledge, real or pretended, and (6) sarcasm or irony. In general, humor or language, which Gladys Reichard distinguished from the humor of the situation in the Coeur d’Alene mythology, tends to fall in the fourth category. Humor is undoubtedly the deepest and most vivid element in this mythology.’’ Many mythologies have tricksters, who are basically the president of the humor club, or what people or other characters call, ‘up to mischief’. Not only do they prolong the story, but they also change the society, as it could always be better. Coyote, belonging to the myths seen above, ‘‘has a sufficient compound of vainglory, stupidity, sexuality, and gluttony within his character to make his downfall a humorous element in a story without his actually indulging in any character somewhat like a clown in a circus whose very appearance brings laughter even before he has done anything to merit such a response. This humorous quality which is inherent in Coyote’s character that may well account for his appearance in a large number of stories in which he plays only a minor function. He adds a spice of humor and interest to the story simply by his presence.’’

Humor themes may change because the originally ridiculed objects/behaviors have changed to reflect dominant values and hence are no longer defined as deviant. On the other hand, thematic change may reflect a change in the values themselves; what was once defined as deviant now represents the accepted status quo. In conclusion, religion and humor, once two separate topics created by humanity but were called paradoxes, the ‘sacred and serious’ and the ‘profane and humorous (mischief) are now seen together, hand in hand. Each subject, like science, religion, art, math, all have stereotypes, and we could either dwell on those failures or laugh and learn from them.

First Official Blog...Is being poor dangerous?

For those who feel like they do not have enough money to pay for college, buy decent clothing like certain name brands and makeup, etc.,  or even make enough to buy food from the market, is being poor dangerous? Well, speaking from experience, I can answer that yes, is is highly dangerous, spiritually, emotionally, and physically. People in the U.S mostly live in cities like New York, California, New Orleans, and Malibu to name some, and most of these cities are segregated. Each person, family, friend has a different background, therefore they have a different connection with others unlike themselves. This means different levels of inequalities, especially for those who are not rich. This has all to do with the economic structure between poor, middle class and the wealthy. Segregation is everywhere, and in cities, it is a mix of ethnicity, gender, citizenship, and class, and when they become connected, they create systems of labor, respect and suffering. Everyone is structurally vulnerable, as they participate in a #gray zone. Primo Levi describes it as the knowledge of a corrupt system but trying  to survive within it, whether you are at the top or at the bottom, and when you are at the bottom, the system is designed to make people remain there, especially if you are poor working class, a different race than the majority, and when you are, well, illegally living here, which is unfortunate. So, what do you think? Do you believe that being poor is dangerous? 

Imagine if they turned a black character white there would be riots…But can anyone recall riots over any of this?

i am begging you all to stop treating this site like instagram if you dont want it to be content free by next year

Belly Dancing

NO. 1

The art of belly dancing is a Middle Eastern practice that has, over time, gravitated towards Western white American women. The way American women dance is this is a ‘glamorization’, and more focused on the power of reception, rather than cultivating it and respecting the practice. Originally, belly dancing is based on ancient folk and social dances in North African and Middle Eastern countries, particularly Egypt and Turkey. The dance is characterized by various hip, torso, shoulder, and chest movements. ‘‘The images projected by Westerners in the performance of belly dance and other forms of oriental dance raise the thorny issue of orientalism. The vocabulary of the dance and its position within the framework of the West, especially the United States, as ‘other’ provides an ‘empty’ location, as in ‘not part of my culture’, for the construction of exotic new fantasy identities. At the same time, as a repository of media stereotypes and thus Western fantasies of women, it also provides physical images via the femme fatale which the (generally female) dance emulates in order to play an assertive sexual role in a male-dominated Western society.’’

NO. 2

Of course, here in the West, its meaning has changed, especially in America when gained popularity over 100 years ago when ‘dancing girls’ from different countries showcased in Chicago’s World Fair. ‘‘Because of the movements of body parts, such as the stomach, that were expected to be tightly constrained during the Victorian era, controversy surrounded these performers, and belly dance became associated with burlesque, stripping and prostitution. Despite perceptions of belly dancing being associated with sex work, the dance has a variety of meanings for participants, like spiritual, communal, and feminine qualities. For most dancers in the United States, the dance is a form of leisure. Leisure is a voluntary activity that people pursue with a positive state of mind during their free time. For many dancers, belly dance is an enjoyable form of recreation, rather than a primary source of income. Women in most large and mid-size cities around the country take belly dance classes at studios, gyms, and recreation centers.’’

NO. 3

Belly dancing is a key icon of the Middle East and is a site for performing and interpreting. It is appealing because it expresses ‘imperial feelings’, or the complexity of psychological and political belonging to an empire that is often unspoken, sometimes subconscious, but always present, the ‘habits of heart and mind’ that infuse and accompany structures of difference and domination. We can call on U.S imperialism as an example, as it rests as a multicultural nationalism. Belly dancing has become a ‘‘site for staging a New Age feminism and liberal Orientalist perspective on Arab and Muslim women, illustrating what Edward Said called, ‘new-Orientalism’ of the present moment. Orientalism continues to be a deeply appealing, binary frame for imagining the ‘West’ in opposition to the ‘Orient’, or to the East—a Western style for dominating, restructuring, and having authority over the Orient’, through the production of an 'idea that has a history and tradition of thought, imagery, and vocabulary that has given it a reality and presence in and for the West.’’

How Climate Change is threatening Culture's Worldwide

    NO.1

Mass relocations are a thing that is set to happen thanks to climate change. And as more natural disasters happen that circuits the need for climate change education, more doomsday scenarios appear instead of healthy solutions to help save the planet--with the water rising from melting ice caps, it is destroying island and southern communities, and producing record number droughts in different sides of the planet. Why then does the media frame climate change as something inevitable, and how does that produce apathy, not just in regular people, but in these companies as well?

NO. 2

The research about climate change is all about education; informing the public about counter-options to reduce carbon levels in the air. I know this could benefit one person, if not the whole group, and that is what’s important. So how do we define apathy toward climate change? Well, the definition of apathy first is a lack of feeling or emotion towards something. It is based on a variety of subjects, like race, sex, education, age, food, culture, groups of people, etc. How does apathy relate to other negative concepts like indifference, and how are those emotions dangerous?  ‘’How does apathy come to exist? Through ignorance of a toxic and uncoordinated action. Framing is used as an institution and illustrates how it shapes media framing in a toxic event. Even in systems who are supposed to help the average person, are people seen to have a ‘tendency to behave in accordance with what they see as being in their own interests.’’

NO. 3

From “Climate Change and Planned Relocation in Oceania.” Sicherheit Und Frieden (S+F) / Security and Peace, vol. 34, no. 1, 2016, pp. 60–65: ‘‘The sinking islands have become a symbol of the consequences of manmade global warming. The foreshadowing of climate change-related environments and social developments that will affect other parts of the world sooner rather than later. In the current academic and political discourse, migration figures prominently among the social effects of climate change, and climate change-induced migration-conflict nexus, and research and findings have become ever more complex and sophisticated, trying disentangle the ‘long and uncertain casual chains from climate change to social consequences like conflict.’’

NO. 4

In conclusion, the Guna Yala tribe will not be the last island community to relocate because of the rising sea level, thanks to climate change. In fact, billions of people are going to be fleeing, and forced to relocate because of the threatening climate, and the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change understands (UNFCCC). From Climate Change and Planned Relocation: HOW CLIMATE RESETTLEMENT CAN WORK FOR COMMUNITIES. Danish Institute for International Studies, 2017: Entire cultures and societies will have to cope with the ‘‘ability to foster broader resilience-oriented solutions driven by the livelihood needs and strategies of the communities in question. When relocation is found to be necessary, [like in the Guna Yala tribe’s case], it should be approached as an expansion of existing livelihood strategies and mobility patterns, not an end to them.’’

Eat the rich? What are the Panama Papers, and why they are important.

The Panama Papers were the leaked 115. million documents that the Panamanian-based law firm Mossack Fonseca gathered that revealed secret shell companies and bank accounts that had been established by the most wealthy politicians and celebrities to either avoid taxes, sanctions or illegal business dealings. Either way, the documents details information dating back to 1977, when the firm was founded, and was released back five years ago, in 2015.

NO. 2

The documents were released by an anonymous source through an unauthorized disclosure, and reported that the owners who belonged to several countries including the U.S, Britain, Switzerland, Argentina, Brazil, China, Russia; the offshore companies were registered predominantly in the British Virgin Islands, Panama, the Bahamas, Niue, Samoa, and the Seychelles. The Panama Papers were leaked to the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, and it was analyzed by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists where close to 400 respective journalists, coming from over 100 news organizations from 76 countries, worked for a year to uncover that the offshore investments were associated with close to 140 politicians, or connected to their families including leaders from Russia, Pakistan, Iraq, Ukraine, Iceland, Britain, and prominent officials in China. Both Prime Ministers Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson of Iceland and Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan resigned, in 2016 and 2017. The firm in question, denied any wrongdoings in it’s handlings of the investigations, and claimed that all dealings in it’s shell companies were perfectly legal, but that didn’t stop Panama’s police to raid the firm and arrest it’s founders on chargers on money laundering, where they spent months in jail.

NO. 3

So, what does this mean? It means that the rich have too much power, especially politicians. Amongst millennials, we have this claim to ‘eat the rich’ because we understand that it’s easy to become corrupted by the very things poor people never will have. The privilege to have, buy and afford whatever you desire on a whim. There are no consequences to your actions if the average person doesn’t know what you did, or how you did it, was illegal. These people have the money and the power to fix the world, to end global hunger, to fix homelessness, and to create a better plan to combat climate change, but they decided to keep their money to themselves out of greed and the illusion of power. I, as a young millennial, had not known about the Panama Papers, and this story came out in 2015. But that doesn’t mean that nothing happened to combat it. In late 2018 the U.S Justice Department indicted several people’s associated with the schemes, billions in stolen assets were returned to their citizens, and 82 consecutive countries changed their laws to crack down on the stolen wealth hoarding the papers revealed. And it was all thanks to the journalist who led the investigation: Daphne Caruana Galizia from Malta, who had a personal blog called Running Commentary. She was murdered October 16, 2017, and her work is what laid the groundwork for the Panama Papers, and we all owe a debt of gratitude to her and the other hundreds of journalists who worked to change, and better the world.

You know what's wrong with this? I could totally see this happening. Like, they and all the avengers and Loki reading the books. Except Loki is with the four of them, and laughing maniacally ( EHEHEHEHE) when Steve and Tony look at Thor like this