mellowtigger: (cooperation)
Pink Floyd released its first new recording in a quarter-century. They've done it in support of Ukraine, as explained in the opening titles of their video.  Translated from Ukrainian, the lyrics of today's theme song are:

Oh, in the meadow a red viburnum has bent down low
For some reason, our glorious Ukraine is in sorrow
And we'll take that red viburnum and we will raise it up
And we shall cheer for our glorious Ukraine, hey, hey


I've written before about the new computer game Timberborn.  The developers in Poland released a recent update expressing their support for neighboring Ukraine.  They added Ukrainian language support, they added sunflowers (culturally significant) to the game, and they donated cash to a Polish humanitarian group that's helping people affected by the war.  Solidarity.

In semi-related news, Mark Hamill of Star Wars fame wished a happy birthday to David Hogg on Twitter.  That's the teenager now politically active after one of our (many, many) USA high school shootings that left his classmates dead.  He's been encouraging his next generation of voters to demand sensible gun laws.

"For David: [cake emoji] Keep fighting the good fight."
- twitter, Mark Hamill

Dare this old Occupier hope that change may finally be in the wind?  Is the resistance against old persistent problems now rising up and organizing?  "Hey, hey, rise up."

Bucha

2022-Apr-03, Sunday 10:04 am
mellowtigger: (ukraine tears)
I just can't any more.

The story, the pictures thread, the video.

Genocide in Europe, and amongst people hoping for unity.  "Never again", my hairy ass.
mellowtigger: (ukraine tears)
It's been a month since my last post about the war in Ukraine.  I've learned a few things since then.

Please watch the video, but I'm assuming this text is too boring... )

Third, I continue to be intrigued by the European response to this war.  I think people are mistakenly pursuing a theory of racism here.  There are useful criticisms of hypocrisy, yes, but that's not the main motivator in this case.  I think the cause of European unity is much simpler and more visceral.  Watch this data visualization from 5 years ago.


It's almost 20 minutes, but this award-winning video is very compelling.  It was created long before this war, and I think it adequately explains this year's reaction.  Europe has strong opinions about war within its boundary.

a songwriter's praise

2022-Mar-08, Tuesday 09:07 am
mellowtigger: (unicorns rainbows)
I had my first dream of 2022 last night.  I won't describe it as I usually do.  The only person in it that I recognized is someone I had a crush on and who died over 3.5 decades ago.  I know I'm stressed out at the many continuing and new crises, but my brain is reaching rather far back to find some kind of reassurance.

Instead, do you remember the famous and reassuring song "Let It Go" from Frozen?  One of the songwriters tweeted a recognition and encouragement to the young girl singing it to other children in a bomb shelter in Ukraine.  Please give a like to that tweet and the original video source on Twitter.  I suppose everyone needs at least a small measure of empathetic peace these days.

Meanwhile, today marks the first day of me burning up lots of accumulated vacation days.  I'm not working for the rest of this month.  I suppose I need to get my house cleared of junk, so it's easier to move soon.  Just in case.  I probably won't do that prep work today though.  I'll probably play some computer games to soothe my own mind, steeling myself for the results of the Minneapolis "2020 Civil Unrest After Action Review" at 1:30pm, then go see what I can do to support the local teachers strike that starts today, besides just signing their petition this morning.

I just don't have any attention/stability to spare for the protests in Florida or the refugees fleeing Texas.  (Remember Texas?)

Good luck, everyone.

the red crystal

2022-Mar-05, Saturday 10:09 am
mellowtigger: (red crystal)
I learned today that "The Red Cross" (as an organization) actually has 3 different international symbols.  It uses the red cross and the red crescent, both of which have subtle-to-overt religious significance, but it also has the red crystal.

I was following a news link from a Steam game that I've played, "This War of Mine".  It's a game developed in Poland and inspired by the war in Bosnia, trying to highlight the horrors of civilian life in wartime.  Their news post on Steam used the hashtag #FuckTheWar.  Pursuing that charity topic is how I eventually learned of this other symbol.

I now favor use of the red crystal exclusively.  I don't know about other countries, but here in the USA the red cross (as a symbol) is plastered over nearly any first aid resource.  It is useful that way.  Use of the red crystal would instead be unique to the organization which is recognized globally with protective status during warfare.

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