Post No. 2,623 - Some interesting reading/viewing [Note: Content Warning - links to reports on bigotry/hate, violence/abuse/war. Reader discretion is advised]

Note: CONTENT WARNING - some of this content is about upsetting, disturbing or triggering events & attitudes. Seek competent help - including professional - if you need it. READER CAUTION IS RECOMMENDED! For anyone distressed by anything in this post, or for any other reason considering seeking support, resources are available in Australia here, here, and here. In other nations, you will have to do an Internet search using terms such as “mental health support - <your nation>” (which, for instance, may lead to this, this, and this, in the USA, or this, this, and this, in France [biased towards English-language - my apologies]), or perhaps try https://www.befrienders.org/. 

Here are some links that might of interest or value:

• my recent posts on my political blog:  
• “One of the challenges of lobbying against reactionaries”;   “Extract from another activism email - transphobia and racism”;   “From the news: on the war in West Asia [Content Warning - links to reports on bigotry/hate, violence/abuse/war, genocide, language. Reader discretion is advised]”;   “From the news: on the war in West Asia [Content Warning - links to reports on bigotry/hate, violence including SA & CSA/abuse/war, genocide, language. Reader discretion is advised]”;   “From the news on: politics”;   “From the news on: human rights [Note: Content Warning - links to reports on bigotry/hate, violence/abuse. Reader discretion is advised]”;   “From the news on: the climate crisis [Note: Content Warning - links to reports on the climate crisis and associated outcomes/issues. Reader discretion is advised]”;   “Some thoughts on journalism [Note: Content Warning - links to reports on bigotry/hate, violence/abuse/war. Reader discretion is advised]”;  
  

• interesting listening this week includes: 

• World Vegan Day - Freedom of Species
  "Come along with us as we explore the history of World Vegan Day around the world and right here in Melbourne. World Vegan Day was founded by the UK Vegan Society in 1994 to mark the 50^th anniversary of the inception of The Vegan Society. Today World Vegan Day (1^st November) is celebrated around the world with a variety of events and activities.  We are joined by our guest Malia Donovan, a long term activist who was on the committee organising the World Vegan Day Melbourne event who now runs her own vegan hospitality business Little Mylkbar. One of our hosts Meg on the show today is a Co Founder of World Vegan Day Melbourne. What is the significance of World Vegan Day (and World Vegan Week and Month)? How did the World Vegan Day Melbourne event change the vegan landscape here in Melbourne?  How will you be celebrating World Vegan Day?  The Vegan Society UK World Vegan Day link https://www.vegansociety.com/news/news/world-vegan-day"
  Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/freedom-of-species/id451682594?i=1000632173687   or at   https://www.3cr.org.au/freedomofspecies/episode/world-vegan-day;  
  
  
• News and Fringe round up - Out of the Pan
  "Voice one week on; Bill Hayden, Fringe and more"
  Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/out-of-the-pan/id312435652?i=1000632159556   or at  https://www.3cr.org.au/outofthepan/episode/news-and-fringe-roundup;  

  
  
• Jail cannot rehabilitate a forest defender. Just tear up the wood supply agreements - Earth Matters
  "Dr. Colette Harmsen, released on Friday 13/10/23 from her three months sentence in Tasmania and prison for having stood up for the protection of our precious native forests. She spoke to Sean O'Shannessy on the day of her release about her reasons for taking the actions that got her locked up, her experience of prison and her intentions for future actions for our environment.  Susie Russel and Dylan Pugh unpick the vested interests in  the Northern NSW native forests logging."
  Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/earth-matters/id262049140?i=1000632149182   or at   https://www.3cr.org.au/earthmatters/episode/jail-cannot-rehabilitate-forest-defender-just-tear-wood-supply-agreements; 

• from YouTube: 

• “Stop Trying to be ‘Normal’ – Are you masking? What’s the best strategy?” - the advice to be flexible and adapt to circumstances is excellent ... for ALL people;   “Autism: How to be normal (and why not to be)” - I can relate to this, particularly the reactions to others’ problematic work behaviours;   “The 10 Common Signs of an Empath Suffering from C-PTSD Due to Narcissists”;   a powerful rebuttal of the loss of animal life for growing plants for vegans trope;   black holes could have a limited life;  
  

• from Medium and similar: 

• “Being Socially Motivated is Not a Disorder. Unpacking body doubling, “executive dysfunction,” and the pathology model of ADHD”;   “Not All Girls Are Expected to Be Feminine. Yet another way that the myth of a singular “female socialization” fails” (rural women etc);  
  

• “Why I love a dreich day in the Scottish Highlands”; 

• on politics: “The Three Fundamental Human Freedoms That Modern Society Lacks. Reflecting upon Graeber & Wengrow’s book Dawn of Everything” - “The three freedoms that most of our ancestors enjoyed, but which most modern humans lack are:   1. The freedom to leave;   2. The freedom to disobey an order;   3. The freedom to create new ways of relating to one another.”;  
  

• “I’m raising my child to live a spiritual life – I want her to inherit my values, not my rocky relationship with mental health”; 

Note: I have decided to alter the presentation of links to the same format as I use on my political blog. My apologies for changing mid-post. 

• “Purpose: Now More Than Ever   These days, company leaders who don’t show a commitment to improving the broader world could be taking a huge risk, says best-selling author Dan Goleman”   https://www.kornferry.com/insights/this-week-in-leadership/purpose-now-more-than-ever   “Recognising the stress and distraction employees feel is critical. “If leaders don’t address this they risk employee disengagement,” says Ashburn. Disengagement is the one thing every organization tries desperately to avoid. Seeing suffering and connecting to a sense of purpose isn’t optional any more. It’s critical to the long-term survival of teams, workplaces, and organizations.”  

•  “Woo-Woo Emotional Gaslighting: Beware of Manipulators Who Use These New-Age Concepts” - https://crappychildhoodfairy.com/2023/10/13/woo-woo-gaslighting/; 

• “A Solar Storm 20 Times More Powerful Than the Carrington Event Hit the Earth 14,000 Years Ago” - https://www.unknowncountry.com/headline-news/a-solar-storm-20-times-more-powerful-than-the-carrington-event-hit-the-earth-14000-years-ago/; 

• “Nanoscopic Structures in the Brain Capable of Stabilizing Quantum States: Consciousness Itself May Be a Quantum Phenomenon”   https://www.unknowncountry.com/headline-news/nanoscopic-structures-in-the-brain-capable-of-stabilizing-quantum-states-consciousness-itself-may-be-a-quantum-phenomenon/   

• “Annual Report on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP / UFO) – Oct. 2023”   https://www.theufochronicles.com/2023/10/annual-report-on-unidentified-anomalous.html?m=1   This was actually interesting, I thought;

• “Intent VS Consequence (Katsina Replicas pt 2)”   https://youtu.be/3BjPOQ9_T8o?si=OFNsT6BRxA6dOD3L   This covers coloniser thinking and related topics very well  

• This is a bunch of links on the gendered rubbish that crops up in “science”, particularly with respect to autism. I’ll start with two key videos, then give some links to research, and an article and a few lists of neurodiverse people who have made the world a better place:   
• “Autism in girls - I was wrong”   https://youtu.be/YAhQJ08bzgs?si=k32vcyWGvtTeLZay   and   “Autistic Girls Are We Gender Stereotyping Autism?”   https://youtu.be/P3ohpP5q3m0?si=7EtZnGBvhzbClwH8   
• https://theconversation.com/au/topics/autism-533   and   https://theconversation.com/au/topics/aspergers-1978    
• “Greta Thunberg is far from the only neurodivergent climate activist – many who see the world differently also want to change it”   https://theconversation.com/greta-thunberg-is-far-from-the-only-neurodivergent-climate-activist-many-who-see-the-world-differently-also-want-to-change-it-210492   
• https://scribe.uccs.edu/5-inspiring-famous-and-historical-neurodivergent-figures/   and   https://www.ayoa.com/ourblog/achievements-founded-by-neurodivergent-individuals/  

• this week’s “afterlife report” by the  Zammits (see here for zoom meeting opportunities). 

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Remember: we generally need to be more human being rather than human doing, to mind our Mӕgan, and to acknowledge that all misgendering is an act of active transphobia/transmisia that puts trans+ lives at risk.