Contrary Nature

Tattoos and Other Easy ways to Ruin Your Body

Fri, 24 May 2013 08:46:10 -0400

Tattoos and Other Easy ways to Ruin Your Body:

Suddenly we have a new front-runner in the contest for the “Worst Article Ever Written.”

===

Women, let me tell you something that your friends and many guys will not. Your tattoos are ugly. We do not like them. We respect you less for them. We think you’re a pawn without a sense of solidarity in a world that pressures you to conform.

oh ho ho ho I hope the tumblr body mod community gets a hold of this

Alberta Tar Sands Oil Is Already Flowing and Leaking Into the United States

Fri, 24 May 2013 08:31:42 -0400

Alberta Tar Sands Oil Is Already Flowing and Leaking Into the United States:

resistkxl:

Yesterday, BuzzFlash wrote about how the de facto decision to let Alberta tar sands oil flow into the US — and particularly Texas refineries and ports — has already been made, beginning with the third segment of the Keystone Pipeline that is almost completed.

After we wrote the commentary, the House passed a bill that is a power grab by the big oil companies, TransCanada pipeline, and Canada to build a fourth more direct Keystone XL pipeline to Steele City, Nebraska. It would increase capacity and profit, but it is not necessary for the tar sands oil to flow in the US; it already is.

Lucy Parsons: "More Dangerous Than a Thousand Rioters"

Thu, 23 May 2013 23:02:26 -0400

Lucy Parsons: "More Dangerous Than a Thousand Rioters":

socialismartnature:

The strongest argument that can be made as to why all radical activists should study the life and works of Lucy Parsons is that the FBI wants you to know nothing about her.

Lucy Parsons died in 1942, at the age of 89, in a house-fire in Chicago — the city in which she lived most of her life. The ashes had hardly cooled before the Chicago police raided the remains of her home, confiscated all 3,000 volumes of literature and writings on “sex, socialism, and anarchy,” which constituted her personal library, and turned it over to the FBI. Tragically, and despite her comrades’ repeated inquiries, this treasure trove of revolutionary material was never again to see the light of day.

Indeed, the Chicago police had ample reason to want to bury Parsons’ legacy as quickly as possible. In their own words, she was “more dangerous than a thousand rioters.” For virtually the entirety of the last 40 years of her life, the Chicago police tried to bar her from making any public speeches, and routinely arrested her for the ‘crime’ of handing out revolutionary pamphlets on the street. Famed labor historian Studs Terkel even noted how rare of a privilege it was to hear Parsons address a large audience in her later years, owing to the constant police harassment.

Overlooked by History

Partially because so much of her own writings were ‘disappeared’ by the government, and partially because she was a revolutionary woman of color speaking out against the injustices of a capitalist society run by white men, Lucy Parsons is one of the least known of the major figures in the history of revolutionary socialism in the U.S. Much like her long-time comrades and friends, Eugene Debs, William “Big Bill” Haywood, and Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, Lucy Parsons made a tremendous contribution to the birth of America’s turn-of-the-century, revolutionary working-class movement; a movement which continues to this day to shape the character of class struggle and revolutionary politics in this country.

Historian Robin Kelley argues that Lucy Parsons was not only “the most prominent black woman radical of the late nineteenth century,” but was also “one of the brightest lights in the history of revolutionary socialism.” Historian John McClendon writes that she is notable for being the “first black activist to associate with the revolutionary left in America.”

More often than not, however, if Lucy Parsons is mentioned as an historical figure, she is noted merely as the “wife of Albert Parsons,” a man who had gained international notoriety after he was executed in 1887 by the state of Illinois for his revolutionary activities.

Unfortunately, this slight extends beyond solely ‘mainstream’ historians, including supposedly left-wing intellectuals as well. For instance, in the 1960s, the feminist editors of Radcliffe College’s three-volume work, Notable American Women, decided to leave Parsons out of their study on the grounds that she was “largely propelled by her husband’s fate” and was a “pathetic figure, living in the past and crying injustice” after her husband’s execution.

Even contemporaries of Lucy Parsons, such as the popular anarchist-feminist Emma Goldman (with whom Lucy Parsons became a life-long political opponent), accused Parsons of being an otherwise unimportant opportunist who simply rode upon the cape of her husband’s martyrdom, describing her as nothing more than one of those wives of “anarchists who marry women who are millions of miles removed from their ideas.”

None of this, however, is to diminish the historical importance of Albert Parsons and the events leading up to his execution; and while it is true that Lucy Parsons spent much of her life addressing the crime that was her husband’s murder at the hands of the capitalist state, nonetheless, her political activity and impact on history extend far beyond the scope of that single tragedy. In fact, the work that she lent her energies to in the years following Albert’s execution are of equal (if not greater) importance than anything he had been able to add to the fight for workers’ emancipation in the course of a life that was sadly cut short.

READ FULL ARTICLE»

joannaestep: Listening to Daft Punk and drawing some Vikings....

Thu, 23 May 2013 22:35:53 -0400

joannaestep:

Listening to Daft Punk and drawing some Vikings. :3

avocadh0e: so-relatable: Hungry Motto Nothing could be more...

Thu, 23 May 2013 22:22:39 -0400

avocadh0e:

so-relatable:

Hungry Motto

Nothing could be more accurate

The cruelest thing in the world you can do to a stoned person is...

Thu, 23 May 2013 21:51:57 -0400

The cruelest thing in the world you can do to a stoned person is spring this song on them unexpectedly

I know, I have been on the receiving end

"[Obama’s] words will be little consolation for 8-year-old Nabila, who, on Oct. 24, had just returned..."

Thu, 23 May 2013 20:33:24 -0400

“[Obama’s] words will be little consolation for 8-year-old Nabila, who, on Oct. 24, had just returned from school and was playing in a field outside her house with her siblings and cousins while her grandmother picked flowers. At 2:30 p.m., a Hellfire missile came out of the sky and struck right in front of Nabila. Her grandmother was badly burned and succumbed to her injuries; Nabila survived with severe burns and shrapnel wounds in her shoulder. Nabila doesn’t know who Mr. Obama is, or where the Hellfire missile that killed her grandmother came from.”

- The Forgotten Victims of Obama’s Drone War (via theamericanbear)

Introduction: 37 years of oil spills in Alberta

Thu, 23 May 2013 19:11:56 -0400

Introduction: 37 years of oil spills in Alberta:

resistkxl:

On average, there have been two crude oil spills every day in Alberta for the past 37 years. Our series examines spills in Alberta: where they are, and what’s being done about them.

On average, there have been two crude oil spills every day in Alberta for the past 37 years

On average, there have been two crude oil spills every day in Alberta for the past 37 years

On average, there have been two crude oil spills every day in Alberta for the past 37 years

deleteyourlife: i’m high and i can’t stop laughing holy shit

Thu, 23 May 2013 18:33:19 -0400

deleteyourlife:

i’m high and i can’t stop laughing holy shit

lobotomyfail: The anatomy of a Chihuahua.

Thu, 23 May 2013 18:32:03 -0400

lobotomyfail:

The anatomy of a Chihuahua.

fuckyeahfatvegans: A friendly reminder to treat wild animals...

Thu, 23 May 2013 18:23:26 -0400

fuckyeahfatvegans:

A friendly reminder to treat wild animals with the respect they deserve, and give them plenty of space.

and that dude in the background let it happen smh

Senate Accepts Deal to Kick Formerly Incarcerated Off Food Benefits - COLORLINES

Thu, 23 May 2013 17:42:48 -0400

Senate Accepts Deal to Kick Formerly Incarcerated Off Food Benefits - COLORLINES:

socialismartnature:

Yesterday, Sen. Vitter of Louisiana offered up an amendment to permanently drop anyone ever convicted of a violent crime from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). According to Robert Greenstein, president of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Democrats in the Senate obliged him. The amendment is for a farm bill, which is currently being debated in the Senate.

Says Greenstein:

The amendment would bar from SNAP (food stamps), for life, anyone who was ever convicted of one of a specified list of violent crimes at any time — even if they committed the crime decades ago in their youth and have served their sentence, paid their debt to society, and been a good citizen ever since. In addition, the amendment would mean lower SNAP benefits for their children and other family members.

So, a young man who was convicted of a single crime at age 19 who then reforms and is now elderly, poor, and raising grandchildren would be thrown off SNAP, and his grandchildren’s benefits would be cut. … Democrats accepted it without trying to modify it to address its most ill-considered aspects.

Two-thirds of SNAP recipients are children, elderly or the disabled, and two-fifths of SNAP households live below half the poverty line.

because hungry people never resort to desperate measures to obtain food

Homeless man happily reunited with dog stolen from him

Thu, 23 May 2013 17:14:16 -0400

Homeless man happily reunited with dog stolen from him:

James Bryant was happily reunited with Handover, who was stolen from him. 2 of 2 Handover, a Pit bull who was stolen from a homeless man two weeks ago, has been found and reunited with his owner. James Bryant made an emotional plea for help after Handover was taken from him during the night on May 8 in Hudson, Florida. He said Handover was his late wife’s final gift to him. After his wife died, James…

Eat shit, uncaring god, sometimes things are awesome!!!!!!

hxingramx90: “But if they ever flip sides like Anakin, you’ll...

Thu, 23 May 2013 16:38:10 -0400

hxingramx90:

“But if they ever flip sides like Anakin, you’ll sell everything including the mannequin”….Kanye West

oh my god

Kanye acknowledges the fact that he is Anakin Skywalker

It caaaaaaame Thanks you @heatherdangertooth from Almighty...

Thu, 23 May 2013 16:33:00 -0400

It caaaaaaame

Thanks you @heatherdangertooth from Almighty Studios in Jamestown, NY for making my nose even more punxxxxx

Actual question from scholarship exam paper for Eton College, 2011

Thu, 23 May 2013 14:52:34 -0400

socialismartnature:

The year is 2040. There have been riots in the streets of London after Britain has run out of petrol because of an oil crisis in the Middle East. Protesters have attacked public buildings. Several policemen have died. Consequently, the Government has deployed the Army to curb the protests. After two days the protests have been stopped but twenty five protesters have been killed by the Army. You are the Prime Minister. Write the script for a speech to be broadcast to the nation in which you explain why employing the Army against violent protesters was the only option available to you and one which was both necessary and moral.

http://www.etoncollege.com/userfiles/file/KS%202011%20General%20Paper%201.pdf

===

From Wikipedia:

“Eton has a long list of distinguished former pupils. David Cameron is the nineteenth British Prime Minister to have attended Eton,^[2]^[3] and has recommended that Eton set up a school in the state sector to help drive up standards.^[4] The College has also educated generations of British and foreign aristocracy and members of the Royal family, the most recent being Prince William and his brother Prince Harry.

“Eton has traditionally been referred to as “the chief nurse of England’s statesmen”,^[5] and has been described as the most famous public school in the world.^[6] Early in the 20th century, a historian of Eton wrote, “No other school can claim to have sent forth such a cohort of distinguished figures to make their mark on the world.”^[7]

“The Good Schools Guide called the school “the number one boys’ public school … “

chubbyvegan: Vegan Fried Breakfast

Thu, 23 May 2013 14:50:28 -0400

chubbyvegan:

Vegan Fried Breakfast

420angel666: katoptrikos: New Support Jerry 11”x17” poster...

Thu, 23 May 2013 08:04:53 -0400

420angel666:

katoptrikos:

New Support Jerry 11”x17” poster available for free download. In the near future, we’ll have limited, really beautiful screen printed ones for sale.

We also have some dope solidarity patches that are cheap and help ensure that Jerry’s commissary is always full

Gerald Koch
# 68631-054
M.D.C.
P.O. Box 329002
Brooklyn, NY 11232

And write to Jerry! If you’ve never written to a prisoner before, here are some useful tips.

inkdefense: altonym: I don’t think I have ever felt more understood by a cartoon character than...

Wed, 22 May 2013 22:01:10 -0400

inkdefense:

altonym:

I don’t think I have ever felt more understood by a cartoon character than with tina belcher

in my house, “making tina noises” is an acceptable form of communication

Photo

Wed, 22 May 2013 21:13:21 -0400