beauty is a state of mind.

jeffbernat: Jeff Bernat | Apollo 22 something new for your...

Fri, 11 May 2012 00:25:41 -0400

jeffbernat:

Jeff Bernat | Apollo 22

something new for your ears.

Ready for this rainy weather.

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 00:15:57 -0400

Ready for this rainy weather.

loveechaos: thedailywhat: On Kony 2012: I honestly wanted to...

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 01:56:02 -0500

loveechaos:

thedailywhat:

On Kony 2012: I honestly wanted to stay as far away as possible from KONY 2012, the latest fauxtivist fad sweeping the web (remember “change your Facebook profile pic to stop child abuse”?), but you clearly won’t stop sending me that damn video until I say something about it, so here goes:

Stop sending me that video.

The organization behind Kony 2012 — Invisible Children Inc. — is an extremely shady nonprofit that has been called ”misleading,” “naive,” and “dangerous” by a Yale political science professor, and has been accused by Foreign Affairs of “manipulat[ing] facts for strategic purposes.” They have also been criticized by the Better Business Bureau for refusing to provide information necessary to determine if IC meets the Bureau’s standards.

Additionally, IC has a low two-star rating in accountability from Charity Navigator because they won’t let their financials be independently audited. That’s not a good thing. In fact, it’s a very bad thing, and should make you immediately pause and reflect on where the money you’re sending them is going.

By IC’s own admission, only 31% of all the funds they receive go toward actually helping anyone [pdf]. The rest go to line the pockets of the three people in charge of the organization, to pay for their travel expenses (over $1 million in the last year alone) and to fund their filmmaking business (also over a million) — which is quite an effective way to make more money, as clearly illustrated by the fact that so many can’t seem to stop forwarding their well-engineered emotional blackmail to everyone they’ve ever known.

And as far as what they do with that money:

The group is in favour of direct military intervention, and their money supports the Ugandan government’s army and various other military forces. Here’s a photo of the founders of Invisible Children posing with weapons and personnel of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army. Both the Ugandan army and Sudan People’s Liberation Army are riddled with accusations of rape and looting, but Invisible Children defends them, arguing that the Ugandan army is “better equipped than that of any of the other affected countries”, although Kony is no longer active in Uganda and hasn’t been since 2006 by their own admission. These books each refer to the rape and sexual assault that are perennial issues with the UPDF, the military group Invisible Children is defending.

Let’s not get our lines crossed: The Lord’s Resistance Army is bad news. And Joseph Kony is a very bad man, and needs to be stopped. But propping up Uganda’s decades-old dictatorship and its military arm, which has been accused by the UN of committing unspeakable atrocities and itself facilitated the recruitment of child soldiers, is not the way to go about it.

The United States is already plenty involved in helping rout Kony and his band of psycho sycophants. Kony is on the run, having been pushed out of Uganda, and it’s likely he will soon be caught, if he isn’t already dead. But killing Kony won’t fix anything, just as killing Osama bin Laden didn’t end terrorism. The LRA might collapse, but, as Foreign Affairs points out, it is “a relatively small player in all of this — as much a symptom as a cause of the endemic violence.”

Myopically placing the blame for all of central Africa’s woes on Kony — even as a starting point — will only imperil many more people than are already in danger.

Sending money to a nonprofit that wants to muck things up by dousing the flames with fuel is not helping. Want to help? Really want to help? Send your money to nonprofits that are putting more than 31% toward rebuilding the region’s medical and educational infrastructure, so that former child soldiers have something worth coming home to.

Here are just a few of those charities. They all have a sparkling four-star rating from Charity Navigator, and, more importantly, no interest in airdropping American troops armed to the teeth into the middle of a multi-nation tribal war to help one madman catch another.

The bottom line is, research your causes thoroughly. Don’t just forward a random video to a stranger because a mass murderer makes a five-year-old “sad.” Learn a little bit about the complexities of the region’s ongoing strife before advocating for direct military intervention.

There is no black and white in the world. And going about solving important problems like there is just serves to make all those equally troubling shades of gray invisible.

[kony2012.]

And there you have it people.

Know your struggle.

Sun, 04 Mar 2012 13:03:00 -0500

Know your struggle.

Photo

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 02:42:08 -0500

"Distance is not for the fearful, it is for the bold. It’s for those who are willing to spend a lot..."

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 01:55:57 -0500

““Distance is not for the fearful, it is for the bold. It’s for those who are willing to spend a lot of time alone in exchange for a little time with the one they love. It’s for those knowing a good thing when they see it, even if they don’t see it nearly enough…””

- O Magazine (via sitamenon)

fyeahshibainu: (via What People Think Shibas Are / What They...

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 18:24:37 -0500

fyeahshibainu:

(via What People Think Shibas Are / What They Really Are… : Shiba Inu Hawaii)

This is too true.

"Do you really love me? means, Will you accept me in process? Will you embrace what is different..."

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 01:03:57 -0500

“Do you really love me? means, Will you accept me in process? Will you embrace what is different about me and applaud my efforts to become? Can I just be human, strong and vibrant some days, weak and frail on others? Will you love me even when I disappoint you?”

- Angela Thomas (via newanddifferentsun)

rudyfrancisco: It is our personal responsibility to educate ourselves on the things we claim to...

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:59:50 -0500

rudyfrancisco:

It is our personal responsibility to educate ourselves on the things we claim to believe in

mikeymanifest: Mr. Manifest || Duke Westlake Cypher

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:40:14 -0500

mikeymanifest:

Mr. Manifest || Duke Westlake Cypher

"It is not so bad being ignorant if you are totally ignorant; the hard thing is knowing in some..."

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 02:33:44 -0500

“It is not so bad being ignorant if you are totally ignorant; the hard thing is knowing in some detail the reality of ignorance…”

- Lewis Thomas

Photo

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 17:54:58 -0500

"Jealousy is the art of counting someone else’s blessings instead of your own."

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 02:48:07 -0500

“Jealousy is the art of counting someone else’s blessings instead of your own.”

There’s a lot that I’d like to say about the lessons of this past year and my hopes for...

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 02:55:33 -0500

There’s a lot that I’d like to say about the lessons of this past year and my hopes for the next, but all I’ve been able to conclude is the following.

This past year, I lost and found myself more times than I should have, but amongst the confusion, I had never in my life felt more content and secure about who I am and where I’ve been. This year was full of beautiful experiences and incredible people that have helped me feel validated.

I expect this upcoming year to be full of humbling disappointments and pleasant surprises. While I have no idea what to expect and where I’ll be, I know I’ll be exactly where I’m meant to. I hope for this year’s challenges to expand my comfort zone, redefine my understandings, and supplement my commitments.

2011, you were an amazing year. Thankful for the chance to...

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 02:21:57 -0500

2011, you were an amazing year. Thankful for the chance to finish strong. 2012, bring it!

Happy half year, end of the semester, and early Christmas to us....

Sun, 18 Dec 2011 02:26:29 -0500

Happy half year, end of the semester, and early Christmas to us. :)

dusteezy: the-absolute-best-posts: Submitted by ...

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 17:45:23 -0500

dusteezy:

the-absolute-best-posts:

Submitted by awesomeskippy

Click to follow this blog, you will be so glad you did!

The Gentleman Approach. A theory.

Haluan alumni dusting off their dancing shoes.

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 02:32:55 -0500

Haluan alumni dusting off their dancing shoes.

missrisaifurnasty: pskrizia: gadelrosario: i just cried a...

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 03:44:20 -0500

missrisaifurnasty:

pskrizia:

gadelrosario:

i just cried a little

i remember having a birthday @ DZ. i miss.

oh shit. memories are a flowin’.

Someone is just the cutest little begger.

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 15:37:44 -0500

Someone is just the cutest little begger.