A new city can be a daunting and overwhelming experience, with so many sites to see and people to meet it can be easy to be paralyzed due to the wealth of options available to you. Follow these helpful tips for an easier and hopefully, more rewarding city experience.

Number 1. Find a park and people watch

Parks are a great place to start in any big city, whether it’s Mexico City, New York or Berlin, a park will show you the locals at their most relaxed and the city at its most tranquil. Large urban parks often include museums, water features and the meeting points for free walking tours, always a great idea! Don’t forget to tip your guides.

Number 2. Pick a person a see where they lead you.

Now hear me out here Judgy Johnathon, I’m not suggesting serial stalking or anything, just a light follow of a local to see where they go, where they eat and what spots they hang out in. After all, no one knows the city like the locals and there’s no better guide then the one who’s unaware that they are in fact a guide.

Number 3. Ask your waiter where they go after work.

When your target has taken you to their favourite dinner spot, ask your waiter to recommend a bar that they like to go to after their shift. This place will be sure to cater to a more local audience and take you well off the tourist trail. Then if you like, have your waiter send over some free drinks to your target as a thank you for showing you around the city. Be sure to film this to capture their thrilled reaction and don’t forget your cap and dark glasses to maintain the mystery.

Number 4. Follow them home.

Now I can hear you at it again Judgy Johnathan, “why are you following this stranger home in dark glasses and a cap at night” god you’re starting to sound like my therapist BITCH. Sorry.

Now if you hear me out Johnathan judgerson (that’s your last name), you’re following them home to find the real spots in a city, the places where real people and more specifically, this real person lives. In order to truly experience a city, you need to get into the suburbs and what better way to do so then 20–30 paces behind a local who is starting to look suspicious.

Number 5. Shit are they calling the cops?

Ok hide NOW, fuck, shit I can feel my heart in my throat, how many buttons did they press? I only saw three but it may have been more. Fuck I knew I was getting too close SHUT UP JOHNATHON IM TRYING TO THINK.

Number 6. Stay in this bush until the heat dies down

When I’m in a new place I like to really immerse myself in the local nature and what better way to do it then whilst waiting for your target to go inside and dismiss the night’s events as a bizarre coincidence. Oh good they live on the ground floor.

Number 7. Break in and watch them sleep.

When I’m in a new apartment and the owners don’t know I’m there I like to stand quietly by their bedside and listen to them breathe and what better way to do it then whilst wearing a mask of human skin.

There’s really no better way of seeing a new apartment then through the eyeholes of your very own skin mask whilst your target sleeps peaceful… shit they’re waking up, get the pillow and hold it, hold it, hold it, SHUT UP JOHNATHON. Ok they’ve stopped moving, fuck fuck fuck what do we do, what do we do, what do we do!?

Don’t forget to tip!

June 3rd, 2018

Written-June 4th 2018

Antigua Guatemala- Reactions to the volcanic ash falling from the sky were initially blasé. An expat couple sitting across from me politely mused about the many other times that this had happened here and the annoyance of having to clean ash off their cars again. At no point was the loss of life even considered a possibility. After all, you don’t live next to one of the most active Volcanoes in the world and get worried by a little ash.

Walking back through the typically bustling town of around 45,000 people, the skies remained an eerie grey and sounds of sirens filled the air. This was when something unsettling became clear. All of the sirens were heading in the same direction

Typically vibrant and lively, Antigua city centre was suddenly drab and sombre from the new coating of grey soot that had suddenly descended upon the town. The Guatemalan religious tradition of setting off small improvised fireworks on a Sunday suddenly came to a halt. Presumably because those in the churches and observant homes had realised that this was no longer a day for celebration.

The signs of panic began to become obvious, people spoke Spanish and local Mayan dialects into their phones in hushed tones as they walked with a haste that is atypical of the region. Street vendors packed up and went home early, leaving the town centre almost entirely populated by confused holidaymakers. Standing and wondering if this was just part of living in this part of the world.

It was not.

Situated on Antigua’s second avenue, Santa Clara Bakery serves as a social hub to the local working community in this thriving Guatemalan town. With a large cafe/restaurant to its rear, the atmosphere within is usually light-hearted and communal. But by mid-Sunday afternoon, all of the tables were full of concerned locals staring at the raised television screens on the high walls.

Whilst footage and information disseminated out of the affected zones and the true scale of the devastation grew steadily clearer, the atmosphere grew cold.

Returning to my hostel, the feeling of shock endured as travelers connected to the Wifi to see the latest and call home to reassure concerned relatives. Hiking Volcán de Fuego’s neighboring dormant volcano, Acatenango, is the quintessential nature experience for the backpackers of Antigua. I and almost all of my friends here have hiked the volcano during our time here.

Minds in the hostel quickly turned to the danger faced by those that had embarked upon the hike the night before. When those that had scaled the volcano the previous day returned, there was a palpable sense of relief. Fortunately, the eruption occurred at around 1 PM and took place several hours after tour groups had begun their descent.

Almost every major hostel and all tour operators here offer guided hikes every day of the week for between 40–60 pounds per person. The implications of suddenly having that source of income run dry are clear for those involved in the towns’ tourism trade.

Reports of destroyed campsites owned by tour companies here, paint dire pictures for those with significant investments in the sustainability of Antigua’s tourism boom. At this point it is unclear exactly what form the recovery process will take, but if reports are to be believed, the damage done is extensive, the reconstruction needed will be massive and the death toll is sure to rise.

The new Hamas and why Israel is only making things worse

I find something deeply disturbing about the fact that 61 people were killed during the Gaza ‘border’ clashes of May 15th 2018 and it’s not just because of the objective horror of 61 unarmed people being shot.

I think I can’t move past the number 61 because if May 15th was a serious military operation by a genuine tactical threat, hundreds would have died, on both sides of the ‘border’.

Hamas attacks markets, town squares, synagogues, bakeries, football matches, schools, hospitals…but not border fences. If May 15th was a Hamas operation, then it is a very different Hamas then what we are used to.

May 15th 2018 was not the day of an attempted invasion of Israel.

May 15th 2018 was a day of substantial civil unrest that followed an established pattern. A pattern of violent but non-lethal disobedience by the Gazan people that was met with lethal force from the IDF.

The fact remains that the IDF knew when these protests would occur, they knew they would most likely be met with non-lethal force and yet they still killed 61 people.

If the number of dead was substantially lower, then the usual Israeli line of crowd control gone wrong and mistaking a rock for a gun might have held more water in the press. The number 61 however is irreconcilable with the usual Israeli justifications for dead Palestinians.

Same Shit, Different Deities

Many have been correct to point out that a large body count was what Hamas was trying to achieve.

That Hamas had been encouraging and agitating these unarmed demonstrations in order to provoke Israel.

This. Is. True.

Hamas offered financial compensation to the families of those killed in the protests and local Hamas clerics were encouraging their congregations to attend and agitate the demonstrations.

However, does that not make Israel’s response worse?

If we accept the fact that May 15th was at least in part, a ploy by Hamas, then the events of that day were not only a humanitarian disaster but also a tactical failure of the Israeli military.

Shooting unarmed protesters in front of TV cameras is not how you win a messaging war. If we are serious about combating the rise of Radical Islam then we should have absolutely zero tolerance for Israel writing Hamas’s propaganda for them.

With the Trump administration falling in step with the Israeli government, it makes a very sad sort of sense that Israel no longer fears any repercussions from the US and as such, has changed the way they deal with unrest in Gaza.

The question we must consider is whether Israel actually wants peace with Gaza or is what we’re now seeing the result of Israel’s military establishment choosing to deal with Gaza with unrestrained aggression?

I can understand why it may seem to some that peace is impossible between Israel and Gaza… and i’m not saying that it even necessarily is.

However, a good place to start in a peace process would be to stop shooting people.

If Israel wants peace, they’re going about it in a weird way.

Nasser Atta on Twitter

Unarmed , no stones , no aggressive move , but still he was shot by an #Israeli army sniper in #Gaza today . #GreatReturnMarch https://t.co/gGnxlzyCHA

Hamas’s Scrap of Land

To properly discuss the conflict between Hamas and Israel, one thing must be understood. Hamas is not a state. Hamas is a terrorist organisation with a scrap of land. To call Gaza a country would be grossly inaccurate.

As a rule of thumb, actual countries are free to join international unions, can import goods freely and they get to enter the Eurovision Song Contest.

(No one let Gaza know that Israel won this year either, that’ll just make this whole thing worse.)

Hamas does not have a well-trained and well-funded military like Israel (Ranked 15th strongest globally). What Hamas does have is an indoctrinated and desperate population that they’ve used repeatedly to further their own aims.

Hence Hamas’s suicide bombings, hence them encouraging Gazans to suicide rush a ‘border’ fence, and hence their lack of a Eurovision entry. #HamasEurovision2019

Every country with a border to Israel could muster an effort that would have resulted in at least some threat to Israeli life. Whilst fortified, the Israeli-Gaza fence is not impenetrable and a serious military such as the forces tangled up in the Syrian quagmire, the Egyptian military state, the Lebanese national army or even the Iranian funded Hezbollah could hypothetically, inflict serious damage upon the border that Israel currently has with Gaza.

But Hamas does not have a serious military hidden away in Gaza. Hamas knows this, Israel knows this and we in The West need to acknowledge this simple fact.

Hamas can launch rockets from within Gaza and they can execute deadly suicide attacks within Israel. What they can not do is storm the border fence.

This alone should be enough to make the case that the March for Return protests were not entirely the work of Hamas. It’s just not their MO. Hamas saw the social pressure and media attention being garnered by the March for Return and co-opted the protests, encouraging violent disobedience by unarmed protesters in order to agitate the Israeli military into responding with lethal force.

Hamas is inextricably intertwined into every aspect of Gaza, a movement like The March for Return could never have happened without them sticking their noses into it. It is not the organisers fault that they share their homes with terrorists.

Israel does not get to decide what form opposition to their oppression takes, they do however… get to decide how they respond to it.

Encouraging brainwashed children to run at Israeli snipers is just the latest example of the depraved and desperate lengths that Hamas will go to hurt Israel.

However, I am of the belief that the cowardice exhibited by the leadership of Hamas is the result of what happens when you push human beings to their limits, threaten their very existence and show no signs of stopping.

Hamas is what happens when you back man into a corner.

Gaza is that corner.

‘67 Syndrome

The current collective psyche within Gaza must be similar to that of the 19 year old state of Israel when they were told in 1967 that Egypt’s General Nasser intended to “drive the Jews into the sea” with his coalition of Arab nations.

Israel supporters will point to the 1967 ‘Six Day War’ (google it) as an example of Arab belligerence and they will be quick to draw parallels between the rhetoric of 1967 and the rhetoric of bodies like Hamas, whose stated goal is the complete destruction of the state of Israel.

The obvious distinction being that Nasser was much more capable of destroying Israel in 1967 then Hamas is capable of destroying Israel in 2018.

Hamas is belligerent, dangerous and lacking any traits that deserve praise, they are also not a serious military threat to the state of Israel. This is not to say that Hamas is not capable of killing Israelis, just that they lack the means to actually destroy Israel itself.

The threat that Hamas poses is a psychological one. Terror tactics have long been a mainstay of groups like Hamas because they allow small operations to cast large shadows and sow fear into their enemies minds.

Israel has the right to defend itself from Hamas attacks but you do not defend from an enemy like Hamas by air striking towns and shooting civilians in front of journalists.

The damage done by Hamas to the peace process can never be undone and their actions will remain as yet another ugly chapter in a horrifying book.

However when it comes to death and destruction within the region of Palestine, nobody’s better at it than Israel. Nobody in the region has a bigger arsenal, better funding, better intelligence and stronger allies than Israel.

A common line in the defence of Israel is that it has a ‘right to exist’, this rhetoric is a result of the incredibly short amount of time that the state of Israel has formally existed. However, what we must ask ourselves now is whether Israel is seriously in a position where it may some day not exist.

We need to stop allowing Israel to pretend that it’s geo-political position is as tenuous as it was in 1967. Israel is not on the verge of destruction and with the Trump administration slashing and burning it’s way through decades of foreign policy conventions, it’s only going to get stronger.

Israel has a right to exist and there’s fuck all I could do about it, even if I believed they did not.

Conclusion

Whilst it is true that Hamas is deliberately using peaceful protests as a way of manipulating the outside world, an open field in the middle of the day has never been how Hamas has challenged Israel.

Hamas attacks Israel when they’re not expecting it, they create sudden spasms of violence that have left permanent scars upon Israel’s national psyche.

Hamas attacks markets, town squares, synagogues, bakeries, soccer matches, schools, hospitals…but not border fences. If May 15th was a Hamas operation then it is a very different Hamas then what we are used to.

As Netanyahu himself once mused in one of the leaked memos from the 2011 Wikileaks data dump “We don’t do Ghandi well”. This candid admission makes clear what we should all know about Israel by now.

It has no idea how to deal with peaceful opposition.

We need to oppose these Israeli massacres not just because they are horrific and deserve condemnation but also because they are tactical errors in combatting religious extremism in Palestine. If Israel is serious about fighting Hamas then they need to stop doing exactly what Hamas wants them to do.

Israel’s allies need to stop regurgitating their talking points and take them to task on the sheer stupidity that is currently on display in Gaza.

However, Donald Trump is the president of the United States so there’s not exactly a large chance that stupidity will be challenged anywhere.Under Trump, people like Sheldon Adelson, John Bolton, Mike Pompeo, David Friedman and Jared fucking Kushner are crafting US policy on Israel, so in all likely hood this will get worse before it gets better.

Having this staff crafting policy for the Israel Palestine conflict would be like if Hamas had David Irving writing their press reports. (Google it)

With this clown car driving US decision making within Palestine, it is almost a certainty that nothing will change in how Israel deals with unrest in Gaza. Meaning more people will die, the blockade will continue and more than a million children will drink dirty water every day.

Fuck it all.

Gaza is an issue that possesses only marginally above vague recognition within today’s politically inclined collective consciousness, it’s an issue that has faded from our societal discourse like Tibet, Darfur and whatever the fuck a Libor rate is. It’s hard to care about an issue that hasn’t changed for the better in such a long time, but it’s outrageous to imply that we should just accept the status quo, especially when the country at fault is an ally and involved in the international community.

Israel is not a rogue State, Israel is a highly integrated, highly western dependant, nuclear power that the West has a tremendous amount of economic and political influence over. The only reason why Israel has enjoyed such a privileged position for so long is because they helped us to defeat the commies and they keep a level head in the place where we get all our oil from.

But now, with the region in worse turmoil than ever and oil becoming increasingly unimportant, times are changing for Israel’s geopolitical position. As such, it is no longer acceptable to tolerate the injustices and massacres perpetrated by the State of Israel in the name of ensuring geopolitical stability.

A thousand essays could be written about the injustices suffered by Palestine and ten thousand more could be written for the injustices suffered by the Jews. The important distinction between the injustices suffered by either side is that the injustices the Jews have suffered did not happen last Monday. By conflating the long and tortured history of the Jews with their current regional actions, Israel seeks to distract us from the matters of the day by throwing the injustices of the past in our faces. With the new shift to naked and fervent support by the United States, this tactic can no longer be tolerated.

A Note on the Term “Border”

A subtle distortion within the discussion of Gaza is the use of the term “border” by most of the Media. The State of Israel would rather us use the term “border” because it implies free movement back and forth across the fortifications. This is not the case, the Gaza border is a military blockade of Gaza aimed at limiting freedom of movement, the importation of supplies and the exiting of Gazans. Gaza is not a state with a border, it is a prison with a fence.

Inadequate quantities of humanitarian aid and incredibly limited movement of people does not constitute a free and open border.

Gaza

For those unfamiliar, Gaza is a small strip of land located between Israel’s southern border and Egypt’s northern coast line. The current shape of, and conflict within Gaza is the result of the 1967 “Six Day War” war between a younger Israel and its surrounding neighbours. After a devastating victory for the Israeli military, Israel seized various territories from its neighbours including Gaza from Egypt and the West Bank from Jordan. Ever since, Gaza has been a major point of contention in the Israel Palestine conflict.

Since the unilateral disengagement treaty of 2005, Israel has officially withdrawn from the territory of Gaza. However, since that date the State of Israel has enforced a land blockade of Gaza’s borders and strict control of it’s coastal territory.

Gaza Today

In 2011 a UN report estimated that Gaza would be unliveable by 2020, in a revised report issued in 2017 the same investigative body revised its findings to state that Gaza is already on the verge of becoming un-liveable. The reports finding make for tough reading and will help to give you a sense for why Gazans are attempting what is essentially suicide when they tried to breach the Israeli-Gaza fence.

According to the 2017 UN report “Access to safe drinking water in Gaza through the public water network plummeted from 98.3% in 2000 to a mere 10.5% in 2014”. The same UN report forecasts “that by 2020 Gaza’s coastal aquifer will be irreversibly damaged” due to the high reliance of Gazans upon the aquifer that has been caused by the blockade.

This is of course a major crisis but the grim reality in Gaza is made even worse when we consider the fact that 51% of Gaza’s population are children. This means that over 1 million children are drinking water unsuitable for human consumption every day… next to one of the richest countries on the planet. A country that receives over 40 billion dollars in US aid every day and uses that money to buy weapons to kill Gazans with rather than aid to help dying children.

Hamas

After the disengagement of Israeli military forces in 2005 Gaza has become governed by Hamas, an organisation that kills civilians, uses radical Islam to promote violence across the world and is recognised as terrorist group by the international community.

Hamas through the many years of conflict with the state of Israel has used terror tactics in an attempt to achieve their goals of a free Gaza and the destruction of the State of Israel. However, with repeated defeats both domestically and internationally, Hamas strategy has shifted to endorsing peaceful protest. They have not done this as a moral action, they have done this to expose the Israeli military to the international community as an entity that shoots to kill regardless of context.

I am in no way suggesting that Hamas is a de facto ally when we oppose Israel or that they have acted with the best interests of Gaza in mind. What I am saying is that Hamas has outmanoeuvred Israel by adopting a peaceful strategy in the knowledge that the IDF would respond with lethal force, regardless of their actions.

The March to Return

The March to return demonstrations are the protests that have been the focal point for this latest and largest outburst of violence in the I/P conflict since the Intifadas of the 90’s and early 2000’s. The concept behind the “March to Return” is for Gazans to attempt to return to the land that became Israel in 1948. However, with the heavy fortifications on the border the protests are more about the symbolism of amassing along the border and expressing their desperation.

These marches have been organised by 20 sons and daughters of refugees that were forced to leave their lands on the day known to Palestinians as “Nakba” (Disaster), the day when the State of Israel was officially formed and the conflict we now know began. The organisers have repeatedly denounced the actions of Hamas and insist there is no official affiliation between the two organisations, Israel has claimed otherwise.

Hamas has claimed no responsibility for the marches but has officially endorsed their non violent means.

The Conflict of May 14th 2018

An ally of objectivity within contemporary analysis is that there now exists a larger bank of information than ever before with which, the international community can use to come to an objective conclusion.

These sources of course have their own limitations and problems, especially in the case of a topic like Israel Palestine, but the internet’s de-monopolisation of information flow can enable us to establish concrete facts, upon which we may build a timeline of events for days like May 14th.

In total 61 Palestinians were killed on Monday the 14th of May including an 8 month year old child, a man in a wheel chair and two paramedics. In the same conflict, 0 Israeli forces were killed or injured. That is a statistical discrepancy of casualties of approximately infinity.

This is not the data you expect to find from an armed conflict.

During the entire series of The March For Return protests, 112 protestors have been killed by the IDF. 13 were aged 18 or younger, 93 were aged between 18–39 and the remaining 6 were 40–59 years old.

The wounds suffered by the dead are as follows: 44 shot in the head or neck, 26 shot in the chest or back and the remaining 40 or so casualties were a result of minor gun shot wounds to their extremities and further medical complications.

It is also worth noting that deaths from a variety of causes such as respiratory problems from the inhalation of tear gas and other “non-lethal” crowd dispersal methods are included in the account above.

Topography of the Gaza Border

The Gazan “border” is a heavily fortified military encampment which is comprised of double layered 15 foot high border fences topped with razor wire, regularly marked by watchtowers.

Surrounding the Gaza “border” fence is a 150–500 metre “buffer zone” where Gazans are not allowed past. This zone is regularly enforced by warning fire of both light and heavy munitions.

From military bases along the Gazan border fence, the IDF can launch drones, mortar strikes and has numerous fortified positions to house high calibre sniper rifles. These high calibre sniper rifles have been the IDF’s weapon of choice for dealing with the rock throwing protesters.

The fact that no one on the Israeli side of the border was killed is all the information you need to make an accurate assessment of the necessity of Israel’s brutality against the March to Return protestors. There was none.

Ideology, history and Hamas affiliation aside, the data speaks for itself.

This was not a conflict between two militaries or even a military and a militia. This was a highly funded and well equipped massacre of peaceful protestors. Throwing a rock is not justification for shooting to kill with a high powered rifle from a fortified position and the details we have from Gaza’s hospitals show that the IDF were not shooting to disable or wound.

IDF soldiers are well trained, well equipped and good shots. The dead and dying that poured into Gaza hospitals on May 14th were not dying as a result of some tragic crowd control accident, the wounds inflicted upon them were done so deliberately, repeatedly and without mercy.

Clashes such as this should not result in dozens of dead, Israel has every means available to quell protests without killing large amounts of people. The ludicrously high body count is the result of a deliberate policy shift in how Israel deals with Gaza protests. Shoot to kill, regardless of threat level.

Twitter

Walking towards the border, soldiers wont take the risk letting him go towards them armed or not armed, it'll make the other 30000 go to them as they did and then ran away when he got shot, the border is not the original one, its set in Israel territory.

Warning *Graphic Content*- IDF snipers shoot unarmed protester at Gaza Border

Conclusion

The problem with a bilateral conflict is that it creates a discussion that has two sides and when something has two sides there is an implicit assertion that both sides are equal in their validity. This is simply not the case in Gaza today. When 61 people are murdered in cold blood with American weapons, we should be capable of having a more declarative discussion than simply saying that there is wrong on both sides.

Hamas is a bad group comprised of bad people but they have deliberately adopted a strategy of avoiding conflict with Israel because they have finally begun to understand that the optics is where they can beat the IDF. Their deliberate peaceful strategy is a pivot away from their more violent past because after 20 years of violent struggle, things have only gotten worse for the people of Gaza. The March for Return is an effort to show unequivocally to the international community that Israel will commit acts of atrocious violence, even when met with peaceful protests.

By slaughtering protestors Israel is now playing directly into the hands of Hamas, creating a political situation which requires us to appose the State of Israel in order to appose Hamas. The killing must stop, as much to stop further radicalisation which will swell the ranks of Hamas and to spare more innocent lives in the Gaza Strip.

The discussion regarding Gaza has moved into a new era within the public consciousness after the actions of the past six weeks. We must not allow the usual diversion tactics to distract us from the simple facts of the atrocities committed by the State of Israel.

It is not anti-Semitic to oppose killing of innocents

It is not denying Israel’s right to exist to demand justice for Gaza

Egypt did not kill 61 people in one day

Hamas did not shoot two paramedics trying to save lives

Iran did not let an 8 month old child die from tear gas inhalation

Israel has been able to shirk its responsibility for the suffering in Gaza by relying on societies inability to discuss Israel properly. Israeli public relation strategy has been built upon the conflation of genuine opposition to barbarism and the very real problem of anti-Semitism. With this strategy Israel has had tremendous success at not facing justice for their crimes. Only through focussing on the objective wrongs such as the massacre of 112 Gazans, will the State of Israel ever face consequences for their actions.

Without action by the international community the future of Gaza looks bleak, with less than 3% percent of the clean water required for it’s 1.85 million inhabitants it is simply no longer acceptable to tolerate the conditions that have been manufactured within Gaza by the State of Israel. Gaza represents the greatest challenge ever faced by the international community, if being a member of the UN, a nuclear power and an ally of the West means anything, then the actions taken by Israel must be apposed on every level by the international community. The sad thing is that they won’t be.

The genocide in Gaza will continue so long as Netanyahu controls the Knesset and the truth of Gaza is hidden from the people of Israel. The massacres of the past weeks were not accidents or unfortunate side effects of situations beyond control, they were the result of a deliberate policy of mass extermination adopted by the State of Israel.

“When 2.5 million people lived in a closed-off Gaza it’s going to be a human catastrophe. Those people will become even bigger animals than they are today. With the aid of an insane fundamentalist Islam, the pressure at the border will be awful. It’s going to be a terrible war, so if we want to remain alive we will have to kill and kill and kill, all day every day.”

Arnon Soffer- Senior lecturer at Israeli Defence Force National Defence College 2004

Sources

http://normanfinkelstein.com/2018/05/21/gaza-detailed-statistics-of-martyrs/

https://theintercept.com/2018/03/30/israel-gaza-march-killed-protest/

https://unsco.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/gaza_10_years_later_-_11_july_2017.pdf

http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=721265

https://theintercept.com/2018/05/16/war-crimes-and-collective-punishment-senator-ron-wyden-on-gina-haspel-and-the-cia-and-norman-finkelstein-on-gaza/?campaign=homepage-podcast-intercepted

Gaza crisis: a closer look at Israeli strikes on UNRWA schools

The Palestinian plight of being poor

This week the Trump administration gave itself a standing ovation whilst simultaneously the Israeli military fired live ammunition at protesters climbing the Gaza fence, killing 61 people and injuring over 2000. Not only has the US government refused to condemn this atrocity, they caused it.

We do not care about the deaths of Palestinians because their blood is cheap, our leadership are cowards and most importantly… their murderers are our friends.

Trump’s skeleton crew of a foreign policy team has adopted a visionary new tactic for tackling tense global politics, pick the side with more money. It used to be that geo-politics was an infuriatingly slow and complex game, a game where patience and thoughtfulness were only sometimes rewarded and factors outside of anyone’s control doomed policies that were years in the making. Jared Kushner and his team of crack investors, former CEO’s and lobbyists have transformed the process to something much more simple to understand, business.

From their perspective, Israel is the start-up to invest in and the US is their venture capitalist. So why would they not invest in their future and keep them happy by moving the US embassy to Jerusalem? It just makes good business sense. What could go wrong?

Layla Ghandour was an 8 month old child born in Gaza last year, she had bright green eyes, a life ahead of her, a story yet to be told and last week the state of Israel murdered her.

Benjamin Netanyahu is a 68 year old hard-line Israeli conservative and the Prime Minister of Israel, he has made a career by appeasing religious fanatics, lying about countries having nuclear weapons and ordering his military to murder his nations neighbours. This year, his government will receive over 40 billion dollars in US aid.

This is what lies at the heart of the Israel Palestine conflict. One side is rich, powerful, and allied with the western powers. The other side are a faceless rabble, not allowed to organise, confided to open air prisons and denied the human rights we supposedly care so much about. No one will face justice for the murder or Layla Ghandour and the state of Israel will face no justice for the crimes committed against Palestine

The ultimate problem that the Palestinians face is that we in the west have been corrupted by propaganda, fatigued by the relentless misery of their plight and distracted by scandals and sensationalism.

Israel has won this conflict, not with bullets or walls and not by having god on their side. They have won this conflict by biding their time and making their alliance indispensable by being rich, speaking good English and not being Muslim.

The problem that Palestinians face is not an ideological one, it is a psychological one. Our media in the West have more or less given up on trying to explain the situation from both sides and frankly just wishes they’d shut up so we can get back to Megan Markle’s haircut and Donald Trumps’ scrotum.

The ultimate horror of Palestine is not the dying groans from Gaza or the wails of their families in the West Bank, the truly horrific sounds from this conflict is the deafening silence from the west.

I hope this most recent and egregious massacre will change things for Palestine but the cards have been dealt, the roles have been established and the war has no end in sight. Palestinians will never know justice for what has been done to them, because to achieve justice would require Palestine to up-end international consensus, persuade the west to care about Muslims and make money stop mattering. The world chose Israel a long time ago, it is only now we’ve stopped pretending we didn’t.

Parts of Israeli society have always believed that they alone, own all of Palestine. Now those parts of society control the Israeli government and have decided that the lives of those to their East and South mean less than the fulfilment of this goal. The latest tragedy in Gaza is the result of our leadership agreeing with the Israeli government.

We do not care about the deaths of Palestinians because their blood is cheap, our leadership are cowards and most importantly…their murderers are our friends. Israel has won because we sign their checks, condone their atrocities and ignore the dead bodies piling up on their borders. The question that hangs over the 61 fresh graves in Gaza is, what happens now?

The answer? Nothing good.

Hotel Divina’s ornate, Thai inspired front door is indicative of the overall aesthetic, attention to detail and quality you will find inside this expansive and luxurious hotel condo complex. Giving way to a pleasant and welcoming reception area, staffed 24 hours a day by professional and fluent English speaking staff, Hotel Divina succeeds where many hotels do not, in successfully putting your mind at ease within the first few seconds of your stay.

After being shown to your room, you’ll find an interior that is reflective of the initial impression made outside. The rooms are spacious, well lit, and ornately decorated with bronze, bamboo and wicker furnishings which complement the overall Thai Buddhist design of the property. Small touches embellish each room and add to the sense of care and quality that is apparent in every aspect of Divina’s design. Rarely do you find a hotel for this price that provides so much. With a generously furnished kitchenette featuring a Nespresso coffee maker, 4 hob electric stove, blender, toaster and drip coffee maker, it’s entirely possible to never leave your room…and when you lie down on your king bed, you just might not.

If you do ever decide that it’s time to see the sights of Playa Del Carmen, you’ll quickly realise that you could not have picked a better spot. Situated just a stone’s throw from Playa Del Carmen’s main beach and just minutes away from the town’s central shopping strip, The Divina Hotel serves as an idyllic base to explore this wonderful town.

With the beach so close by you might assume that you’ll be packing your bags and heading down there at the crack of dawn to secure the best spot for your day of relaxing. But with a room at The Divina, there’s really no point. Situated on the second floor, is the complex’s pool area that is sure to knock you off your feet and into a sun lounger for the remainder of the day. The pool has everything for all ages, shallow areas for the kids to play, a submerged bar for the parents to grab a drink at and good WIFI for the teenagers. The pool itself is enormous, easily twice the size of an average hotel pool with various depths for all levels of swimmers and enough space for placid relaxed swimmers and rowdy kids to co-exist.

The Divina Hotel in Playa Del Carmen accommodates for all types of trips and travellers. Whether your holidays consist of itineraries and long days of activities or if all you want is a fantastic pool to sit and drink cocktails by, all types of trip will find an ideal base at The Divina Hotel. No matter if you’re part of a family with kids, a couple or a solo traveller, what you will find when you visit is a fantastically well run hotel, with exemplary rooms and a divine energy you’ll feel from the moment you step through the front door.

You’d be hard pressed to find a more considerate, professional and caring establishment than Yoga Shala in Tulum Playa. Situated on the Playa’s main road which is home to many of Tulum’s finest hotels, Yoga Shala stands head and shoulders above the competition.

It should go without saying, if you’re a practitioner of Yoga there simply is no other place in Tulum for you. With several professional Yoga classes each day for all ages and skill levels, the convenience and quality of the yoga offered at Yoga Shala, can’t be beaten. Combine this with guided mediation sessions and an incredibly healthy menu in their on site restaurant and you’ll almost certainly leave Yoga Shala happier and healthier than when you arrived.

Whether you’re sitting in soothing social space with a book, eating Thai food in the outstanding Canopia restaurant, or dozing in the incredible swing beds that feature in many of the rooms, it would be easy to spend all day within the gorgeous walls of Yoga Shala. (Seriously, it’s worth staying at Yoga Shala just for the beds).With all that being said, if you are able to venture outside, you’ll find a Caribbean paradise, begging to be explored.

Not only is Tulum Playa a little slice of heaven, it’s an incredibly well furnished bit of heaven. On this amazing strip of land you are spoiled for choice when it comes to fine dining, dancing and serendipitous moments of natural tranquillity. Whether you want to be waited on hand or foot with a cocktail in hand at one of the many easily accessible beach clubs or simply walk in the warm ocean water, it’s hard to imagine a better place for it than Tulum Playa and harder still, to imagine a better place to call home, than Yoga Shala.

Hotels can feel impersonal, temporary and insincere. Yoga Shala is not one of these hotels. Within these walls you will find an establishment full to the brim with a sincere desire to show you exactly why they’ve made this their home. The staff of Yoga Shala have made this their home because they care about Tulum, care about the local ecosystem and in turn, care about you.

From Yoga and guided meditation to a conservationist ethos, positivity abounds at this truly special hotel. If you’re lucky enough to stay here, you’ll find a hotel that uses ocean water for it’s showers, only stocks bio-degradable materials and works with, instead of through, the local ecosystem. Thank god that they are doing because if you’ve travelled through the Yucatan Peninsula, to places such as Cancun and Playa Del Carmen, then you’ve seen the damaging impacts businesses can have on the natural beauty that first made this region so famous. It’s a wonderful feeling to support a business that cares deeply about their country and it’s natural beauty as much as Yoga Shala, clearly does.

In short, if you want to reconnect with the earth and support an eco-conscious business that’s endeavouring to make a difference, come to Yoga Shala. You will not regret it.

Part time Eagles of Death Metal front man, former public figure and full time ass-hole, Jesse Hughes, made headlines this week by saying it’s idiotic to think the surrendering of firearms will lead to fewer gun deaths. Equating the idea to asking men to dismember their genitals to prevent rape. Brushing over the fact that this would actually work as a policy for stopping sex crimes, but fuck it.

I’m not even going to get into policies surrounding gun surrender and how it has actually worked in the past, because this current debate isn’t actually about that, despite what the pro-gun side would like you to think. The debate surrounding guns in America has been pushed so far to the right that it’s pointless to even consider such policies. Go and read the Parkland Manifesto published in the Guardian this week. Does it mention gun recall?

No. No it does not.

Read it here if you don’t believe me.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/commentisfree/2018/mar/23/parkland-students-manifesto-americas-gun-laws

What the Parkland survivors have suggested in their incredibly well thought through manifesto, is a series of commonplace, common sense compromises, that have long existed within the discussion on gun control. They suggest the suspension of civilian sales of assault weapons , a federal database for background checks, and for congress to allow the CDC to treat gun violence as public health issue.

To say the Parkland survivors are suggesting gun recall is a pathetic attempt to spread disinformation and deliberately misrepresent your opponent because you can’t debate their actual arguments. What the Parkland survivors have suggested are reasonable, practical, compromises that scare people like you because they might just do it this time.

Hughes went on to lament, in a late night Instagram tirade, (the only platform for serious discussions) that…

“As the survivor of a mass shooting, I can tell you from first-hand experience that all of you protesting and taking days off from school insult the memory of those who were killed and abuse and insult me and every other lover of liberty by your very action,”

Yes Hughes, good point mate. I’m sure as Nicholas Dworet lay bleeding out on the floor of his math classroom, watching his friends and teachers being lain waste to. I’m sure what went through his mind was, “I hope my friends don’t miss any school because of this”.

I get it, you have a perspective on gun violence you’re just itching to use like a big fucking emotional baseball bat, to beat people over the head with.

Unfortunately, the memory of those killed that night, will forever be attached to your name and image. However, you do not speak for the dead. You do not speak for anyone but yourself and to suggest otherwise, is disgusting.

You are not an icon, an activist or a policy maker. You are a bitter old man who was on a stage during a terrorist attack. These Parkland kids have lost their friends, their role models and their sense of security in school. What you share in common with these kids is that your life was forever changed by a coward with a gun. What you do not have in common, is a sense of decency, a desire to change the world or any fucking tact at all. The tragedy you were involved in, is not an argument, it was an event. An event you’ve shamelessly exploited to spread baseless conspiracy theories about Muslims and the Bataclan staff on social media. So excuse me if I don’t take your opinion seriously.

In what could be seen as biting satirical irony if only it wasn’t made by a completely sincere idiot, Hughes opined

“May everyone (sic) of these disgusting vile abusers of the dead live as long as possible so they can have the maximum amount of time to endure their shame.”

Yes Hughes. Say this again, but slower… whilst looking in a mirror please.

If leading a national movement is disgusting, if mobilising over a million people is disgusting and if pissing people like you off, is disgusting…then where do I sign up for Team Disgusting?

The current debate surrounding guns has been sparked by a mass shooting but is not solely about mass shootings. As is often the case, an event has galvanised a base of support around a singular event, place and faces. This issue is now broader, deeper and more toxic then is often discussed.

The current gun debate is bigger than Parkland, bigger than the NRA and definitely bigger than Jesse fucking Hughes. If any progress is to be made in this conversation then what we need to do is listen to the next generation, not the waning cries of sad old men.

Hughes embodies what a debate in the Trump era looks like. One side makes a five page manifesto about possible gun control measures that could be implemented. Then the other side tweets about their genitals and shares doctored images of teenage activists ripping apart the constitution. It would be great if we could just ignore these people and for the most part, I think we should. But from time to time we need to pop our head round and remind them to just fuck, the fuck off.

Links for the broken hyperlink feature of Medium.

Emma Gonzales doctored images.
http://time.com/5215433/emma-gonzalez-march-for-our-lives-fake-photo/

Hughes spreading conspiracy theories.

Bataclan bars Eagles of Death Metal from reopening show over 'conspiracy theories'

Mexico thrives in the Jungle. Mexico lives in the Jungle.

It’s safe to say that I’ve never stayed anywhere quite like Kin Balam Cabanas before. Never partied in the jungle quite like I have here and never felt quite so detached from what doesn’t matter and connected to what does. If you’re looking for the jungle lifestyle but with the comforts of a town, along with a well-developed, safe, social space for backpackers from around the world. Look no further than Kin Balam Cabanas.

Kin Balam is young but rich in three important ways, space, time and sun. Before I arrived at Kin Balam, all I wanted to do was sit by a pool and do nothing. This is exactly what I did …and I enjoyed it immensely. Mexico, and more specifically, this gorgeous pocket of Mexico, is about sitting back and appreciating the world around you. If this is the kind of experience you want, then come to Kin Balam Cabanas.

Other local businesses do not compete with Kin Balam Cabanas, they support it, add to it and make this whole gorgeous community, a pleasure to explore. The nearby town of Palenque is just a short drive (about 70 pesos in a taxi or 20 in a collectivo) and provides plenty of modern amenities to keep you from falling completely off the grid. However, the real reason to visit Palenque, lies just outside of town. In a place where the beer is cheaper, the music is louder and the night goes on longer, a place called Kin Balam Cabanas.

If you’ve never got lost in a jungle. Do it. You haven’t seen Mexico until you’ve seen it’s jungles. The vibrant, creative, entrepreneurial spirit of Mexico, shines bright in it’s jungles and nowhere does it shine brighter, then at Kin Balam.

Kin Balam Cabanas is huge, both in geography and in potential. A vast plot of land defined by a river flowing through its centre, has been transformed into a jungle paradise for you to enjoy at your leisure. Starting from just 200 pesos a night for a dorm and extending to around 800 for a private room. One of Kin Balam’s biggest strengths and most promising signs for it’s future, is that it has made this vast and beautiful property, available to the budget traveller. Whilst also offering plenty for those who want some more privacy and a few more luxuries. A fantastically priced restaurant features an authentic Mexican/International infusion menu and hosts live music most nights. A personal highlight is the pool which you just can’t help but sit and fall asleep by. All things considered, Kin Balam Cabanas is a steal.

Ask anyone who’s travelled Mexico and they will tell you what impossibly good value it is. Having been here for two months, I absolutely agree. What is mentioned less by these people is the equally impossible quality that you receive for your money. Nowhere that I have been to, embodies this value for money, more than Kin Balam Cabanas.

Author’s note
This is not a piece of academic writing, despite looking like one. An obvious criticism of this article is that it’s light on evidence to support my assertions but I’ve had bad WIFI and a lot of drugs so this has mostly been a writing exercise. It just happens that the academic format is something I’m comfortable using.

Introduction

There’s a debate happening at the moment. A debate regarding diversity in fields such as television, government and academia. A debate which concerns how to go about increasing diversity or whether we need to do it at all. Whether the status quo will gradually correct itself, is fine already, or should be actively changed through policies such as affirmative action. Predictably, like any issue in 2018, this has more or less been split between the left and right positions. Lily livered liberals want to fill every senior position with a black Jewish Muslim woman and callous neo fascist conservatives, want to ensure the purity of each corporations’ bloodline. But this is one issue that deserves more than partisan bickering. This is an issue, of more profound significance than is often acknowledged.

Diversity is not just important because it’s nice to include people. Diversity is essential in every facet of organic life. We as humans, are no exception. It is my belief you can draw convincing comparisons between the development models of less complex life, the role which diversity plays in those organism’s development and how a lack or boon in diversity, benefitted or adversely affected those species. From groups of bacteria to complex ‘civilised’ life, diversity is a measurably necessary trend in the development of all forms of organic life.

Species become susceptible to disease and prone to genetic defects when the gene pool shrinks, ecosystems become fragile when they lack sufficient bacterial diversity and dense jungle habitats become decimated when they lose one essential link in the food chain. If we think of modern, corporate or governmental culture as an ecosystem, we can see it is startlingly lacking in diversity and the results of this are equally clear. If we accept this model and apply it to a 21st century society, the comparisons and implications for our present, are clear. Even if you don’t accept it, fuck you, my article.

Life, whether it be on a macro or a micro level, develops and behaves in remarkably similar ways. If we think of xenophobia, global warming and the breakdown of democratic institutions. Not just as human problems but as biological flaws taken to the Nth degree, then we can see similarities… and perhaps more significantly, solutions.

The relationship between power, violence and the present day.

Up until very recently, society has developed through one simple paradigm, power. Often acquired through, stemming from, or related to, violence. Power has been acquired and horded by those who have been on the winning side of history, by those who have won and are currently winning in man’s grand history of violence. Violence is at the foundation of every institution that has ever been built by man. From inter-personal to inter societal conflict, society has developed in such a way so as to be reflective of the interests of those adept at violence. In the present day, a minority of those who’ve inherited the spoils of societies grand conflict, continue to maintain a system which drastically benefits themselves over others. A minority that has always been led by men and in the last few centuries, white, European men.

This is not an attempt to morally condemn the sins of the white man, but an attempt to reflect upon how we got to where we are today in regards to diversity and more significantly, what options we have today that we once did not. This is also not an attempt to say that all men have always won all of the time, or that women have only ever lost.

What I am saying is this. So long as society has existed there has always been a ruling class and at the head of those ruling classes, men. My analysis contains no moral judgements or incredulities, simply anthropological observations. Men are stronger then women when viewed as a collective and as such, are better at being violent. It is not my point that men are morally evil, only that violence as a means of control and coercion, works. Violence works to make a society in your own image, violence works to keep people subdued, violence works to acquire sex.

Modern society, Zero sum conflict and 360 degree human development

Violence is relevant to the discussion concerning diversity because violence and the ability or inclination to be violent, shifts the power in any given situation, away from the smart, the reasonable and the patient and hands it to the largest bully willing to inflict violence. As such, society has been built for the needs of and in the image of, the violent.

Modern society is the result of millennia of violence and as we develop further into the modern era, systems and institutions have developed that have helped shift the balance of power away from the violent. Institutions and entities such as the justice system, a free press and social media, embolden those less capable of, or inclined towards violence. Giving the dispossessed, not just a voice, but a weapon. Violence is currently less important than it has ever been in human history, which is still very, very important but just less than it was in Ancient Greece.

With humanities greater capacity for good comes our greater capacity for evil. When we grow as people we do not only develop our positive attributes. Our capability in all fields increases over time with consistent practice. Human beings and societies alike can become adept at anything. Violence is something that we as a society, have had a lot of practice in and a by-product of the zero sum nature of our reality. If someone else has something, we do not have it. Acts of violence are a way of winning in our zero sum games. Violence has been a tool in the developed organism’s arsenal ever since some ape smashed some other apes head in with a rock and everyone did what he said afterwards. Violence is as much a threat as it is an action. The capability of inflicting violence is present in the consideration before most zero sum power dynamic. When considering conflicts concerning land, political influence or money, it’s wise to consider the other sides capability for violence.

Conclusion

Violence, when viewed on a grand scale, is human beings worst instincts: rage, irrationality, herd mentality, xenophobia. If we view society through the lens of a single man, then we can view humanities flaws, not as an abstract concept… but as a reflection of ourselves. Our bad habits become solidified over time, our flawed gait, that slight lisp, our propensity for casual racism. The same observations can be made for how we grow and act as a collective of people. Because as much as we like to pretend it isn’t, society is, has always been… and always will be, full of people just like us. People just as shallow, just as self-aggrandising, just as reflexive and immoral. Have always existed. They just didn’t use to have Twitter. Society is the sum total of humanities decisions’, a reflection of ourselves, a reflection we can change.

Violence’s role in the building of and the maintaining of a society.

The human capacity for malice has been a consistent feature of recorded history. Think of any period of significant historical note, does it feature violence? Violence is the base line of any threat made in the real world. “Do X or else”. ‘Else’ is always some form of violence. The threat of violence is universal, underpinning how almost all power dynamics function. If you want someone to do something and they refuse, then the last recourse is violence. The legal system only functions because of the threat of legally sanctioned violence, plus a bit more paperwork. An indictment is only respected because if it isn’t, someone will come and make you show up (at least in theory). The police are only powerful because they can legally carry out acts of violence, forcibly restrain, invade homes, kill if necessary. Violence is both necessary and corrosive, a fact of life so universal it defies moral analysis, a static component of society to be accepted and worked around rather than condemned. If you think of violence as more than just the act of hitting somebody… then you can see it everywhere.

As we have grown as a species we have refined violence, not just to an art but to an industry. War is violence placed on a grand scale and as such war is a part of us as a species; an integral component of our history. War went through the renaissance too, war went through the industrial revolution, war changed in 1945… and then we changed. War is as much a part of us as we are, a part of it. War changes the rules of a society because society ends at the borders of a war and most significantly of all, wars build societies.

Name a society that doesn’t have its roots in bloodshed. Every developed nation and especially the current superpower dominated era is maintained and developed through a system where indiscriminate industrial violence is the bedrock of law an order. The Holy Russian Empire was built with heads on pikes and fields of fire, the French revolution’s defining accomplishment was the beheading of a monarch . Afghanistan and Iraq were preached peace and democracy, from a pile of rubble.

Conclusion

It is within this climate of bloodshed when society is in it’s nascent stages. When rules are established, power is distributed and the ruling classes are put in place. We possess a lot of romanticism in the west in regards to democratic values and practices but what we should not allow ourselves to forget, is the role that violence has played in the development of these institutions.

Society is man’s greatest achievement: systems, ideals, economies, institutions, education and infrastructure have all allowed for us, the most intelligent known organisms to have ever existed, to achieve astounding things. Violence just happens to be the most used tool in their creation. The hammer that built the world.

Systems were built, and are now currently maintained by, violent men. This was not a conscious decision, not some shadowy patriarchal cabal. It was and currently still is, a by-product of being more proficient in violence then women. As such, even in the upper echelons of a developed, modern state, where capability in violence should be irrelevant. A social structure created and subconsciously dictated by violence, is still present. Impeding access for qualified and capable people, starving society of a diverse ecosystem of ideas, compounding fragility.

The important distinction to make between now and any other time in human history however, is that those less adept at violence have new modes of recourse in altering these static seeming power dynamics. Modern technology, unimaginable by our forbearers, has provided the ultimate tool, the ultimate weapon.

The Internet and diversity.

Introduction

It’s really hard to overstate the internet’s significance, but I’ll give it a go, suffice it to say, it’s kind of a big deal. Just imagine if you were alive 500 years ago, fuck it, 50 years ago. Imagine what instant communication, instant, global communication, would enable you to do. Imagine what inserting the internet into any significant time in history would do. The Titanic would have been avoided using GPS, the Irish Potato Famine would’ve been curtailed through a grass routes social media movement and the French Revolution, dismissed as fake news.

The internet is humanities mirror. Answering the question ‘what would we do if we could instantly share information around the globe?’. The answer, unsurprisingly, is that we’d fill it with crap, troll each other and masturbate. But more surprisingly, we’d also start social movements in the Middle East, share resistance media under oppressive regimes and get Donald Trump elected as the 45th president of the United States.

My point is that, just look at what the internet has done in terms of attacking the status quo in mere seconds, when we view this era relative to all of human history. Change used to happen much, much slower, then it does now. Generations would pass with only the most meagre of social changes within them. Land or voting reform, another layer on the pyramid. Maybe you get lucky enough to see something significant like a civil war or a plague but probably not. Today, there’s a cultural revolution every 6 second. The difference? The quality of information and the quantity of people that can, so easily access it.

Disruption

The internet has enabled us to… to borrow a phrase from silicon valley, ‘disrupt’ the social order. Silicon Valley may have birthed the internet, but my generation grew up with it, infused with it. Know how to use it better than any other generation before us and certainly worse than the next.

The internet is substantively different from any other major invention in human history by virtue of its accessibility, constantly changing nature and egalitarian ethos.

The internet, even with all of the current corporate influence and the gloomy future of net neutrality, was designed as, and still fundamentally is, an equal opportunity platform. The internet enables relevant voices to be amplified to deafening levels but also unfortunately raises the volume on the less desirable aspects of our societal discourse.

The Parkland shooting survivors offer an exemplary case study in exactly how a social movement can be born, take root and be attacked, all on the internet. Corporations are bowing to public pressure and stopping NRA discounts, gun reform is back on the national docket and Marco Rubio is being humiliated on national television by children. In a matter of weeks, the Parkland survivors have dealt a substantial blow to what looked like an immovable object in the world of politics, the NRA. What the Parkland Gun movement has demonstrated, is what a 21st century, unstoppable force in politics looks like. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it looks like a bunch of pissed off teenagers with Twitter accounts.

The internet, diversity and social movements

In past eras you had to own a printing press to reach thousands of people, now anyone can reach millions with little to no effort on their part. Someone can film you doing something: picking your nose, dancing when you think no one’s watching or shooting an unarmed black teenager 8 times in the back. Then they can post it online and you can be known around the world before you go to sleep that night.

One can achieve fame or notoriety in a matter of minutes and this has profound implications for the task of diversifying important fields.

#MeToo is the latest in a long list of social movements facilitated by the internet. A movement that has allowed those less capable or inclined towards violence, attack the status quo.

Harvey Weinstein perhaps best encapsulates the power dynamics built by violence more than any other contemporary figure.

The impact, implications and potential fallout of the movement remain to be seen, but what we do know is that the ability to share information with other victims is central to the movements inception, execution and eventualities.

What #MeToo shows and why #MeToo makes a lot of people scared is that achieving diversity and inclusivity is not about asking nicely, is not about awaiting some long promised but seldom delivered social change. Diversifying modern society is about smashing social convention, pissing people off and ruining rapists’ lives.

(update: as of March 19th 2018, the Weinstein company files for Bankruptcy)

Unfortunately, the internet is too loud, especially for infrequent users. The blistering pace, the information fatigue we all feel, act as a barrier to those less adept in modern technology. But within the internet are serene, quiet, safe spaces, where people can talk directly and ideas can percolate. Admittedly the internet also includes less quiet safe spaces for Neo Nazi’s and ISIS to share ideas but you take the good with the bad when it comes to the internet. It’s less so about the big developments with the internet. The internet is more a the millions of people that now have a voice that once did not. Admittedly some of those voices are Rajesh who sent you a friend request in 2007, 8 and 9. But many are women in Wahhabist Saudi Arabia, child soldiers in Sierra Leone, refugees fleeing Syria, North Korea, Rohingya… and you.

It’s easy to see the internet as this deafening, dazzling, cacophony of sound and images. It is. That’s why all the biggest websites are data aggregates. The point of Twitter, Facebook and Reddit isn’t to allow you to speak your mind. The point of these sites is to compile data you might like into one place, track your interests and then sell that data to advertisers and give the CIA access to it when they ask nicely. Data aggregates such as the main social media hubs are significant in regards to diversity because it provides a means of personal communication between groups that those in power, don’t want communicating.

Conclusion

At the forefront of social movements from Parkland to #MeToo is young people. Young people that are capable of, inclined towards and adept in; organisation and mobilisation using the internet . Sharing information is all we do and this capability will carry with this generation as we grow and gradually become involved in increasingly senior positions within society. Yes, of course, this generation has its share of the violent but as mentioned before, this demographic are less important in the development of this generations history they have ever been…which is still a lot, but just less then before.

Millennials and the Media

Introduction

Millennials, whatever the fuck they are, is a generation I have been assigned to. No generation before millennials, has been judged by the media in such a way, only because no generation has previously existed during such an overbearing and toxic, generation of media. The condemnation of this generation, pales in comparison to the positively quaint seeming hysteria concerning rock and roll or marijuana. In this hyper connected, hyper aware society, the media creates a new problem with millennials, every other day.

The media and childhood development in the modern world.

“Millennials are having too much sex! Millennials aren’t having enough sex! What your child’s attitudes towards sex says about you as a parent! ” The Media have lumped hysteria upon me and my parents alike, causing us to self-analyse and develop neuroses like never before. Depression, anxiety and the medications developed for them are rife in my social circles and show no signs of plateauing. The cause? I’d be lying if I said I knew it but I’d hazard a guess the media’s played a part. Constant self-analysis isn’t healthy for a child’s development. Now, with the ubiquity of and age which children acquire smartphones, access to this hysteria is more or less uncontrollable. I think the reason the media treats Millennials with such disdain is that there is so much to judge, no generation has ever filmed themselves as much as we have. We are the media generation, self-producing content and then outsourcing the editing to a third party. The Media has written my generations story before it has happened. However, what I believe will become apparent in the coming years, is that they are wrong, or at least not wholely correct.

Millennials are the media’s favourite generational punching bag but what is not being discussed is that we are starting to punch back. No longer are we some market trend, the confused teenagers, corrupted by internet pornography with ADHD, social anxiety and depression. Now we’re the young professionals, corrupted by internet pornography with ADHD, social anxiety and depression. This is what cultural players always fail to properly internalise. Everyone says, “children are our future” but no one’s ever ready for is when that stops being a political talking point and starts being reality. It’s already happened, children born in 2000 are now legally adults and we have profoundly more options than those that have come before us. It all looks like noise at the moment but with the clarity afforded by history I think my generations significance will be apparent, especially in regards to diversity.

Conclusion- The Threat we Represent

In much the same way that young people have disrupted static seeming social dynamics and governments, we are coming for the workplace next. I look at my generation and I do not see a placid, sheepish, brainwashed herd of lemmings. I see a generation of people that love being pissed off, are good at typing and talk to each other, faster and in more ways than ever before. Maybe I’m being hopelessly naïve, I’m sure many older readers believe that I am being. But I’m also equally sure that many people my age feel the same way and to you, I say this. Soon, if not already we will start making decisions that impact those around us, our communities and ultimately, the world.

So when people sneer at my generation I say ‘fuck you’, why? Because I can. I am alive in a time and a place where I have the societal freedom, the technological facilitation and the god given right to say ‘fuck you’, louder, in more ways and to more people than ever before. The revolution will not be televised, it’s already been tweeted.

Conclusion

The average corporate boardroom right now, is a fragile immune system. An immune system that has falsely identified a threat and in turn… is setting itself on fire. If we are to change for the better we need a greater variety in the types of people and opinions in these rooms. If our societal and ideational ecosystem is to be sustained, it must be diversified.

We must use the tools afforded to us by history, to buck the trend of allowing the violent to dictate societies direction. We must resist the temptation to atomise further into our echo chambers and fight for a diverse ecosystem of ideas using whatever weapons available to us. So draw if you can draw, write if you can write, organise if you can organise. What we now possess is something that every social mobility orientated movement in history, wishes they had.

To labour a point I hope I’ve made clear by this point, the internet matters. The internet might well be the single greatest invention of all time. Not only is the internet a shining gem of what can be accomplished by man but also, a catalyst to everything else we might hope to one day achieve. The cure for diseases: the answer to science’s biggest questions, a society who’s upper echelons reflects that of it’s working classes and social mobility for the dispossessed. The internet represents an opportunity for humankind, a question. What will we do with the ultimate tool, the ultimate weapon? What will we do with the hammer that could build the future.

It would be the ultimate tragedy if this generation of ‘millennials’, blessed with what those before us could only dream of, will let it destroy us. It’s hard to see the positivity the internet has to offer in the era of Bannon and his weaponised arsenal of Facebook data. But this twisting of what the internet enables us to do, is the old guard. Desperately trying to twist what they fear, into a weapon. A weapon to destroy the movements that they see as a threat to what they currently possess.

It’s easy to doubt what can be accomplished through the internet but doubt is easy and hope is for the brave. To quote Rebecca Schmidt’s- Hope in the Dark
“Hope is an embrace of the unknown and the unknowable, an alternative to the certainty of both optimists and pessimists. Authentic hope requires clarity, imagination and determination.”

Author’s note

Fuck you.