Fat Body Politics

storehousesladenwithsnow: on another note, this past week at...

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 05:20:18 -0400

on another note, this past week at school, we had a photographer come for a special lecture. now what would a photographer be doing at a medical school, you ask? well you see, his name is rick guidotti and he used to be a high fashion photographer. he has since then embarked on photographing beauty elsewhere, specifically in people who have genetic disorders. the way it happened is kind of long to explain, but basically, he saw a girl with albinism (people who have no color pigments) and thought she was gorgeous. he couldn’t get a picture of her so he looked up what she had and saw all of these depressing pictures of people who are affected with albinism. he wanted to photograph them in a more positive, humanistic light and so he partnered with a group to do this and has since then gone on to photograph so many other people with different disorders. his pictures really gave us lives to identify our future patients with and not just people who are sick. you really see the beauty in each and every one of them and i wanted to share it with all of you. these are his pictures above.

if you want to learn more, you can go to his website: http://www.positiveexposure.org/
or if you have the time, check out his ted talk on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIKM7_rgUXU

thedetroitfoodie: From Grandma with love, these are few shots...

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 02:40:13 -0400

thedetroitfoodie:

From Grandma with love, these are few shots from a personal project by Gabriele Galimberti. Travelling around the world, he couched surfed and persuaded each family’s grandmother to cook the best dish they knew. More info here!

saucy-mermaid: My Life as a FAT Girl.: corpolitical: Truth Behind Fat: References [Original post...

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 01:22:20 -0400

saucy-mermaid:

My Life as a FAT Girl.: corpolitical: Truth Behind Fat: References [Original post found here….

corpolitical:

Truth Behind Fat: References

[Original post found here. All content following is authored by the maker of Big Liberty, the source blog.]

DISCLAIMER: This links list is always in the works, and is not comprehensive or complete. If evidence is not listed, it doesn’t mean it does not exist. If you have any links to add, please insert them in relevant comments and they will be reviewed.

For a general resource on debunking the junk science behind obesity, please see:

Linda Bacon’s resources and blog

Sandy Szwarc’s blog, Junkfood Science

Michelle’s blog, The Fat Nutritionist

ASDAH’s article repository

Debunking Fat Hate and Misconceptions

Doesn’t Obesity Kill?

Obesity does not kill 400,000 Americans a year (in fact, it ‘contributes’ to fewer than 30,000).

Fit Over 60s Live Longer Regardless of Body Fat

No tenable link between obesity and breast cancer type

No tenable link between diet and weight control and remission of type II diabetes

The J-curve relationship between BMI and mortality

Mortality risk for overweight and obese is no greater than for ‘normal’ when hypertension and diabetes are controlled for, (Anthony Jerant, Peter Franks. “Body Mass Index, Diabetes, Hypertension, and Short-Term Mortality: A Population-Based Observational Study, 2000–2006″ J Am Board Fam Med July-August 2012 vol. 25 no. 4 422-431)

Low-Calorie Diet Doesn’t Prolong Life (New York Times, August 29, 2012)

Shouldn’t Fat People Should Simply Eat Less and Move More?

In controlled settings people lose 10% of their weight on a diet, but one third to two thirds of the weight is regained within 1 year, and almost all is regained within 5 years. (“Methods for voluntary weight loss and control. NIH Technology Assessment Conference Panel.” Ann Intern Med. 1992 Jun 1;116(11):942-9.)

The preponderance of evidence shows that diets don’t work

No weight loss intervention shown generally effective post 5 years

Fat people as a whole metabolically the same as lean people, except that they’re bigger

Eating and weight gain not necessarily linked, study shows

Evidence for a bodyweight setpoint (energy homeostasis)

Medicare’s search for effective obesity treatments: Diets are not the answer. (Mann, Traci; Tomiyama, A. Janet; Westling, Erika; Lew, Ann-Marie; Samuels, Barbra; Chatman, Jason. American Psychologist, Vol 62(3), Apr 2007, 220-233. doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.62.3.220 ) (PDF)

Isn’t There An Obesity Epidemic?

Americans have only gained an average of 14 lbs (women) and 16 lbs (men) since 1990 (Gallup)

Obesity: An Overblown Epidemic

The 1998 BMI definition changes made 30 million Americans overweight or obese OVERNIGHT

The Myth of the Obesity “Tsunami”

One-third of American Adults are Obese, but Rate Slows

Yeah, But What About the Children? Isn’t Fat Killing Them?

Childhood famine (that includes dieting and starvation) increases risk of type 2 diabetes

Adolescents who engage in unhealthy weight-control behaviors such as dieting and binge eating are three times more likely five years later to be overweight than adolescents who did not engage in those behaviors

Isn’t Weight a Lifestyle Choice?

Obesity largely determined by genetics, says study

Obesity is 77% heritable

Thin parents pass on skinny genes to children (October 4, 2011, The Independent, UK)

Insulin resistance. A multifaceted syndrome responsible for NIDDM, obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. DeFronzo RA, Ferrannini E. Diabetes Care. 1991 Mar;14(3):173-94.

But Doesn’t the Idea that People are Different Sizes Though Consuming/Exercising the Same Violate the Second Law of Thermodynamics?

In fact, in principle, the suggestion that a “calorie is a calorie” — all human metabolisms are the same Bunsen Burner — violates the Second Law of Thermodynamics.

Isn’t there a Study that Disproves the Claim that You Can Be Fit and Fat?

That study is junk science. The preponderance of evidence shows that in fact, one can be fat and fit.

Is there Discrimination Against Fat People?

Brownell Obesity Discrimination Study (2001)

Health Professionals Specializing in Obesity Aren’t Immune from Weight-Bias

The surprising reason why being overweight isn’t healthy

Obesity bias based on disgust, study says (2010)

Isn’t Fat Unhealthy?

Weight Science: Evaluating the Evidence for a Paradigm Shift (Linda Bacon and Lucy Aphramor, Nutrition Journal 2011, 10:9, 24 January 2011)

Higher BMI can lower risk for Alzheimer’s

Metabolic syndrome associated with decelerated cognitive decline in the very elderly

The case against the Type II diabetes “epidemic” in kids

You can’t eat your way to diabetes

‘Obese’ BMI does not harm current health of young adults, study says

Obesity not always tied to higher heart risk (Reuters, May 24, 2012)

Shouldn’t Fat People Try to Diet Anyway?

Although long-term follow-up data are meager, the data that do exist suggest almost complete relapse after 3-5 yr. (Miller, W. C. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1999 Aug;31(8):1129-34.)

In fact, size acceptance and health at every size may be a better approach to health than chronic dieting. (Bacon L, Stern JS, Van Loan MD, Keim NL. J Am Diet Assoc. 2005 Jun;105(6):929-36.)

Except that dieting can kill you, even when you’re fat and dieting down to a ‘normal’ weight.

And there are suggestions that frequent (intentional) weight loss diets reflect susceptibility to weight gain, rendering dieters prone to future weight gain. (August 9, 2011, K H Pietiläinen, S E Saarni, J Kaprio and A Rissanen. “Does dieting make you fat? A twin study” International Journal of Obesity | doi:10.1038/ijo.2011.160)

Healthy lifestyle habits are associated with a significant decrease in mortality regardless of baseline body mass index. (Eric M. Matheson, MS, MD, Dana E. King, MS, MD and Charles J. Everett, PhD. J Am Board Fam Med January-February 2012 vol. 25 no. 1 9-15)

And adolescents who engage in unhealthy weight-control behaviors such as dieting and binge eating are three times more likely five years later to be overweight than adolescents who did not engage in those behaviors.

There are even further suggestions suggest that for many adolescents, dieting to control weight is not only ineffective, it may actually promote weight gain. (Alison E. Field, ScD, S. B. Austin, ScD, C. B. Taylor, MD, Susan Malspeis, SM, Bernard Rosner, PhD, Helaine R. Rockett, RD, Matthew W. Gillman, MD, Graham A. Colditz, MD. “Relation Between Dieting and Weight Change Among Preadolescents and Adolescents” PEDIATRICS Vol. 112 No. 4 October 1, 2003 pp. 900 -906)

Weight Regain Following Sustained Weight Reduction is Predicted by Relative Insulin Sensitivity, Trudy J. Yost, Dalan R. Jensen, Dr. Robert H. Eckel*, Obesity Research, Volume 3, Issue 6, pages 583–587, November 1995

But Aren’t Food Deserts/Lack of Access/Poor Choices/Lack of Time Making Poor People Fatter?

Studies question the pairing of food deserts and obesity (Gina Kolata, The New York Times, April 17, 2012)

General Sites Debunking the Junk Science About Obesity

Big Fat Lies

General Science

The Problem With Peer Review

When the population approach to prevention puts the health of individuals at risk

Food Science

Canned foods are as nutritious as fresh foods

Evidence for the Moral Panic

ADOPTION AND FERTILITY

Australian woman told she was too fat to adopt (January 2003, The Age, Australia)

In the UK, fat women can’t adopt (June 2006)

Kylie Lannigan told she was ‘too fat to adopt’ (June 2007, Australia)

Gary Stocklaufer denied adoption request because he was fat (July 2007, United States)

New Zealand bans fat woman from entering the country (November 2007, Big Fat Blog, NZ)

Obese women not allowed to get IVF treatments (December 2008, BBC News, UK)

Charlotte and Damien Hall denied for adoption because of their BMI (January 2009, The Guardian, UK)

CHILD ABUSE

Couple accused of starving baby so she doesn’t get fat (January 28, 2010, Fox News, USA)

Grandad arrested over Grand Canyon hike (September 2, 2011, The Age, Australia)

Parents allegedly starved baby because of obesity concerns (November 8, 2011, ABC News, USA)

Grandmother to face capital charges in granddaughter’s death (March 1, 2012, CBS News, USA)

CHILD REMOVAL

Oz parents to be held responsible for their kid’s obesity (February 2, 2009, The Indian Express, India)

Parents of fat children told they may be put up for adoption (September 5, 2011, Mirror News, UK/Scotland)

Ohio puts 200-lb third grader into foster care (November 27, 2011, MSNBC, USA)

‘Obese’ 5 year old taken from parents (December 5, 2011, iOL News, UK)

DEMONIZATION OF FAT PARENTS, AND PARENTS OF FAT CHILDREN

Is childhood obesity a symptom of neglect? (July 16, 2010, TIME Magazine, USA)

Study: Children are likely to become overweight by mimicking behaviors of obese parents NOTE: The study did not in fact show that children become overweight by mimicking the behaviors of fat parents, despite that scare-headline. It just showed that fat parents are much more likely to have fat children — which makes sense, given body weight is 77% heritable (July 13, 2009, NYDailyNews, USA)

MEDICINE AND HEALTH CARE

Doctors’ ultimatum to kidney transplant wife: Lose 42lb in nine months or watch your husband die (March 2009, Daily Mail, UK – h/t richie79)

TAXATION AND PUBLIC POLICY

Fat people should have their food taxed to ‘pay for healthcare’

Don’t operate on smokers and the obese, says NHS Health Secretary (February 2007, Daily Mail, UK)

City government promotes lie to motivate weight loss via fear; anti-obesity agenda is to blame

The 1998 BMI definition changes made 30 million Americans overweight or obese OVERNIGHT

Obesity bias based on disgust, study says (2010)

Global governments must get ‘tough on obesity,’ in which the commentariat helpfully suggests plus-size clothing be ‘prescription-only,’ amongst other astoundingly panicked and bigoted replies (August 25, 2011, BBC Health, UK)

TRANSPORTATION

Southwest, Sizism, and Institutionalized Oppression (Athia, YouTube, August 2011)

On Kevin Smith and Flying Fat (BigLiberty, February 15, 2010)

WORK AND EMPLOYMENT

Obesity can mean less pay

Libertarian/Anarcho-capitalist Arguments Against the Obesity Moral Panic

The freedom to be fat

The new obesity pandemic, as same as the old obesity pandemic

The assault on food

Public health and the tyranny of the common good

Are food trucks really like child molesters?

Is Your Flab Imposing a Burden on Society? (May 1, 2012)

Police Tase Man For Trying to Rescue His Baby From Fire – Baby Does Not Make It

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 21:20:35 -0400

Police Tase Man For Trying to Rescue His Baby From Fire – Baby Does Not Make It:

nezua:

On June 2nd, there was a large house fire at Morningview drive, in San Antonio, Texas. 3 children were staying at their grandparents house, when a fire started from an unknown cause. The grandparents managed to rescue 2 children from the house, and accidentally left a nine month old boy.

Shortly thereafter, the father of the children arrived, and immediately attempted to go inside the burning house to rescue his nine month old son. However, police interfered with his will in this life or death situation, and went as far as to tase him for trying to save his own son. He was tased, and sadly, the infant did not make it.

The adrenaline, and pure loving determination to save his son would have made it a high possibility that he would have been able to save him, but the police disrespected his will, and used extreme force against him, preventing him from doing something that will probably taunt him the rest of his life.

This is a very sickeningly unfortunate event, and it is a very potent indicator of the mechanical, dysfunctional, disrespectful, and forceful characteristics of the police, the enforcement class of our out of control government.

The police of the United States tend to not know anything about the government they serve, except for what they hear from mainstream media.

The police, to speak collectively for a moment, have a mixed up, partially developed moral perspective, and desperately need an awakening, a large amount of information about who makes the laws they enforce, and how a society can be policed the right way. I’m talking of course, about a voluntary society, where the only people who are forcefully locked in a cage, are people who were using force against others.

The goal of this is not to insult or offend police officers, but to illustrate as clearly as possible, that they have no right to disrespect the will of people like this, and no one would disrespect them if they respected the people. It takes a situation as unfortunate as this, for some people to realize that blind faith in authority will lead to bad results every time.

Their increasing brutality is a natural outcome and reflection of our property worshiping, might makes right, war-hungry, individualist, militarized, racist, classist, national ethos. And as our economy continues to crash and sink, they—fist of the rich—will more and more aggressively claw and pummel at us.

heirofmedusa: eyan-j: shehateme: shehateme: not-here-for-it: ...

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 18:40:32 -0400

heirofmedusa:

eyan-j:

shehateme:

shehateme:

not-here-for-it:

annsthewo-man:

basedbrezhnev:

Sharapova knows she is lying.

Stay bitter Sharapova. Trust, you don’t even register on Serena’s radar.

But why you lying?

What’s funny about Sharapova is… she hasn’t won a match against Serena since 2004… and hasn’t won a SET against her since 2008. (They have faced off almost every year since, and the closest that Maria has gotten was a 7-6 set - that Maria lost.)

Let that sink in… she hasn’t won a set… a simple set… in almost 5 years against Serena. Even Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova said on numerous occasions that Serena is the top female in the game, regardless of what the rankings say. John McEnroe and Chris Evert both said that she’s the best female player in the game, and McEnroe said that she even rivals most of the male players.

Oh, and just a small note, Maria: Monica Seles? The one that you say is the toughest player you’ve faced in your career? Lost to Serena in 2003 and had this to say about her: “She has a great serve, a sweet return, fantastic movement and all this is combined with awesome power. As if this is not enough, no player comes close to being as mentally strong as her.”

Look at her, Maria. Look at the woman who has beaten you the last 13 times you’ve faced each other. Look at the woman whom you haven’t even won a set against in the past 5 years. 18 time Grand Slam winner Chris Evert said that Serena played the two best matches that she’s ever seen a woman play on a clay court (and that she’s the greatest player of all time), and you still contend that Monica Seles is the toughest player you’ve faced? Serena is the OLDEST woman to have the Number 1 ranking in the world. She has the best serve in the game AND the best return in the game. I think it’s time to give Serena her props.

NOTE: Of the modern era, only Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, and Steffi Graf have more Grand Slam victories… and Serena isn’t done playing.

maybe she’s not lying. maybe she already knew she didn’t stand a snowball’s chance in hell so she was already resigned to the fact that she wouldn’t win. that 2nd place is a hard spot, yo.

Lying. Serena has been crushing this girl’s dreams in every match. Just give credit where credit is due. If she wasn’t the toughest player you ever faced, why haven’t you beaten her yet?

redefiningbodyimage: In response to the AMA announcement that...

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:08:11 -0400

redefiningbodyimage:

In response to the AMA announcement that they recommend classifying obesity as a “disease” - People are taking to Twitter and the #IAmNotADisease tag to tell their stories and refute the bullshit.

“The vote of the A.M.A. House of Delegates went against the conclusions of the association’s Council on Science and Public Health, which had studied the issue over the last year. The council said that obesity should not be considered a disease mainly because the measure usually used to define obesity, the body mass index, is simplistic and flawed.”

“Without a single, clear, authoritative, and widely accepted definition of disease, it is difficult to determine conclusively whether or not obesity is a medical disease state,” the council told the AMA’s policy-making House of Delegates. “Similarly, a sensitive and clinically practical diagnostic indicator of obesity remains elusive.”

So let’s get this straight - the AMA council on Science and Public Health is AGAINST the classification of obesity as a “disease” (hey, look! proof! warning for headless fatties!) - but you know, fuck that, BECAUSE OF REASONS THAT HAVE EVERYTHING TO DO WITH MONEY AND CORRUPTION THAT STARTS IN AMERICAN DOCTORS OFFICES.

In case you didn’t know - along with this announcement comes the release of two new diet products, being pushed in conjunction with the media push surrounding the AMA’s “opinion”.

“Two new obesity drugs — Qsymia from Vivus, and Belviq from Arena Pharmaceuticals and Eisai — have entered the market in the last year. Qsymia has not sold well for a variety of reasons, including poor reimbursement and distribution restrictions imposed because of concerns that the drug can cause birth defects. Those restrictions are now being relaxed. Belviq went on sale only about a week ago, so it is too early to tell how it is doing.”

WLS and diet products are big business and pharmaceutical companies looking to MAKE MONEY - which the AMA is feeding directly into, and has been for a long time.

The pressure has been turned up. The fatty political movements will feel the blow, as will the nature of our society, which is fragile enough as it is when we are in a state of feeling constant shame about our bodies and health.

But fuck all if you think we’re about to be silent about it.

naturalhairdoescare: She calls it her unicorn hair. We can dig...

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:01:09 -0400

naturalhairdoescare:

She calls it her unicorn hair. We can dig it @simplycre8eve! #naturalhairdoescare #colorcodefriday #naturalswithcolor #colorednaturalhair #naturalstyles

There is no obesity without fat people. By saying obesity is a disease, you're saying fat people are diseased, which is a tiny semantic leap from saying FAT PEOPLE ARE A DISEASE.

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:53:45 -0400

thisisthinprivilege:

Are you concerned yet? Because you should be.

Historically, genocidaires have dehumanized targeted groups by depicting them as animals, vermin, insects, diseases, or tumors. This rhetoric constructs a narrative which justifies the “cleansing” of society. The mass murder of a people or peoples is facilitated through this process.

Think this is way off in left field? Fat people are told to mutilate their healthy stomachs to become thin. When they do, far too many die or suffer terrible consequences demonstrably worse than any conditions correlated with fatness. Fat women are told they shouldn’t get pregnant, which is a shame-based form of social sterilization. Fat people are rarely portrayed positively in media, if they’re portrayed at all, a direct method of dehumanization.

And now, the AMA says fat people are diseased.

A terrific read on the cultural history of fatness, including the framework for it being a moral panic and how deep the roots of fat stigma go, is reviewed here.

-ATL

muddypetticoats: dancing-with-diversity: Source: found on...

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:20:51 -0400

muddypetticoats:

dancing-with-diversity:

Source: found on facebook (if any of you know the original source, please message me so I can add it!)

Heh I love it

fat-grrrl-activism: just heard about the American Medical...

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:50:04 -0400

fat-grrrl-activism:

just heard about the American Medical Association’s classification of obesity as a disease… but fat grrrls are ready to fight back: check out the #IAmNotADisease tag on twitter.

This Is Not Fucking Harmless

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:34:04 -0400

dontbearuiner:

caseymalone:

I love Kickstarter. I think that’s clear to people who know me by now? I love it. There’s a dude named Brad Muir and he works at Double Fine and I love the games they make, so much. But before Kickstarter, every time a Double Fine game came out I was a little worried it would be their last, and I’d have to worry that if people didn’t buy it, who knows what would happen to that studio. Then they found KIckstarter and now they make games and people like me can front load the development cost for them and it is the absolute best arrangement for creative people who want a tool in the exhausting struggle of art + commerce. A friend of mine is taking a month off her job to write a children’s book because of this platform. It’s GREAT. I love it.

The outcome of this is that I spend a lot of time just browsing Kickstarter looking for something cool to either back or crow about online. I don’t really back much - I don’t have a ton of capitol to toss around, and I’m sure the fact that I have a lot of ideas and no money factors into my love of a platform that gives money to people with ideas - but I like to check it out. So tonight, I found THIS fucking thing.

This is a nightmare.

Watching the video, reading the description, it sounds fairly innocent but a little eye-roll inducing. It’s another book where some nerd, desperate to be liked by women (this is not an insult, we are ALL desperate to be liked by someone we want to have sex with) thinks he’s figured out some cheat code or check-list like routine they can run in a bar to make women sleep with them, as if women aren’t people but a series of subroutines or an obstacle course that they can optimize to get their dick wet as fast as possible. And he’s written that advice down! And he’s selling it! To you! You could learn his cheat codes. This is nothing new for the internet. In fact, a large swath of this book was published already on Reddit. What’s new is that he’s crowdfunding it.

And sure, you might think this is sad or dumb or that this guy is just another lonely dude talking to other lonely dudes who’ll head out into the night with their fedoras to failure, right? Not a big deal? Oops, turns out we’re wrong, because here are some excerpts from what he’s already put on Reddit -

”5) Get CLOSE to her, damn it!

To quote Rob Judge, “Personal space is for pussies.” I already told you that the most successful seducers are those who can’t keep their hands off of women. Well you’re not gonna be able to do that if you aren’t in close! ”

“All the greatest seducers in history could not keep their hands off of women. They aggressively escalated physically with every woman they were flirting with. They began touching them immediately, kept great body language and eye contact, and were shameless in their physicality. Even when a girl rejects your advances, she KNOWS that you desire her. That’s hot. It arouses her physically and psychologically.”

“Decide that you’re going to sit in a position where you can rub her leg and back. Physically pick her up and sit her on your lap. Don’t ask for permission. Be dominant. Force her to rebuff your advances.”

“Sex

Pull out your cock and put her hand on it. Remember, she is letting you do this because you have established yourself as a LEADER. Don’t ask for permission, GRAB HER HAND, and put it right on your dick.”

- Source

SO. Now I am no longer rolling my eyes.

This guy is no longer just being weird and creepy on the internet. Now he’s writing a book about how to sexually assault women, and he is using something I believe in (Kickstarter) to ask YOU for money to do it. I am offended as someone who believes in the platform, and more importantly I am offended as someone who believes women shouldn’t be treated this way, and that people who say otherwise CERTAINLY should not profit off saying they should.

This isn’t harmless. People come to these boards because they are scared of being humiliated, and they are saying to the world, “Tell me what to do, because I don’t know what to do.” And this guy has chosen to tell them, “You should be a rapist.”

There’s largely nothing we can do about people saying this shit on a place like Reddit - Reddit’s a mess for another time - but let’s get it off of Kickstarter. The project is funded in 10 hours - and unfortunately a lot of those are sleeping hours - but PLEASE report it to Kickstarter, please tweet @Kickstarter asking them to take it down, and PLEASE do not let something cool be used for the UGLIEST thing imaginable.

The Kickstarter - Report Button is on the bottom of the page

Please Tweet at @Kickstarter

Casey

ATTN.

So fucking gross.

How Ronald Reagan Made Genocide Possible in Guatemala

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:23:36 -0400

How Ronald Reagan Made Genocide Possible in Guatemala:

nezua:

janedoe225:

http://How Ronald Reagan Made Genocide Possible in Guatemala

The early 1980s were particularly violent in the Latin American theater of the Cold War. Smack in the middle of Guatemala’s 36-year civil war which claimed 200,000 lives, Rios Montt edged out the winner of a sham election in a bloodless coup and began systematically repressing support for the Marxist opposition,as his forces raped women, burned villages, and murdered indigenous Mayan peasants.

From day one Reagan backed Rios Montt, feeding him millions first in jeeps and trucks, and then helicopter and plane parts, despite clearly articulated reports from both the CIA and international watchdogs that genocide was accumulating bodies in the ditches and gullies of Guatemala.

A cache of internal Guatemalan records from the time revealed the existence of Operation Sofia, which was the operation that led to the massacre of indigenous peasants. It was used by the 1999 UN-sponsored Historical Clarification Commission to classify the counterinsurgency campaign in the summer of 1982 as “acts of genocide against groups of Mayan people.”

The horror described by independent human rights reporters on the ground is enough to turn your stomach: “We heard many, many stories of children being picked up by the ankles and swung against poles so their heads [were] destroyed.”

Despite the fact that he knew all this, Reagan praised Rios Montt, calling him ”a man of great personal integrity and commitment” who wanted to “promote social justice.”

President Bill Clinton apologized in 1999, saying that the U.S. support for the death squads “was wrong.”

sunny ole reagan, death squad reagan, coup and rout and crack-hand reagan.

and clinton’s sorry. i guess. judging from the axes he took to the US’ social net programs, i don’t see him as extremely empathetic to the non-rich or anyone else.

very recently the US funneled millions to México to aid the police and military through the Mérida plan, even as (at last count 60,000) lives have been lost through the brutal police tactics and War on Cartels that illegitimate Mexican President Felipe Calderon (FeCal) loosed on the public, with those same police and military forces. it’s no genocide, but it’s a whole lot of lives being lost in a mostly brown nation, and the US government sure ain’t too concerned about that part.

I Wish This Blog had Come Sooner

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:20:32 -0400

thisisthinprivilege:

[tw: eating disorders]

To all the mods on this blog: Thank you so much, and keep up the good work. I know the trolls can be aggravating, but this is a really good thing you’re doing. It took a little while for me to build up the courage to share my story (even anonymously), but I did it in the hopes that if another girl (or boy) is struggling with what I went through, she would learn from my mistakes.

My (thin) parents are very health-conscious. They’re also the kind of people who believe that a person’s weight is a direct reflection of their health. All of our food came from stores like Whole Foods, and I always had soccer or swim practice after school. So even though I was a chubby child, my parents were convinced it was just “baby fat” and I would thin out when I hit puberty.

That didn’t happen. Instead of thinning out I filled out, mostly in my breasts and hips. I was still eating the same salmon and broccoli (in the same portions) as my parents for dinner, but I was a lot bigger than them. My parents struggled trying to understand how their own daughter could be living proof that their preconceived notion of weight was wrong. Their comments started out fairly innocent (“I just don’t understand how you can eat so little and be so big”) but gradually became cruel (“You look so trashy at that size. Aren’t you ashamed of how huge you are?”). I would often end up crying in my room wishing they would stop. I came to the (stupid) conclusion that the only way they would stop is if I stopped eating, and I did. Their comments stopped, but unfortunately I haven’t.

The thing is, I never had a problem with how I looked, and I knew I was healthy. I just wanted them to stop terrorizing me about something I didn’t have any control over. Now I’m thin and have their praise but I hate it. I hate how my clothes are too big a few weeks after I buy them, I hate trying to sleep because my bones now stick out and get in the way, and I especially hate how my friends worry when they see me dropping pounds I can’t afford to lose. I want to start eating again, but if you’ve ever struggled with an ED you know how hard that can be. I know it’s only a matter of time before I’ll have a major health problem, and that scares me.

I wish this blog had come sooner. I think that if I had been able to realize I wasn’t alone I would have made some different decisions. I was much healthier fat than I am now, and if I could I’d go back to my old body in a heartbeat.

americanaex0tica: prestonhymas: snail-monger: awesomephilia: ...

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 10:40:15 -0400

americanaex0tica:

prestonhymas:

snail-monger:

awesomephilia:

Russian guy saves dog from imminent death (via)

I SCREAMED

this was the most stressful five seconds of my life

poor pug baby omfg

wheeliechair: faeking: tastefullyoffensive: A mother goose...

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 08:00:56 -0400

wheeliechair:

faeking:

tastefullyoffensive:

A mother goose and her goslings.

omg

nature

Photo

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 05:20:20 -0400

American Medical Association: Stop defining "obesity" as a disease!

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:41:07 -0400

American Medical Association: Stop defining "obesity" as a disease!:

thisisthinprivilege:

Using weight to define health is inaccurate, unscientific prejudice. It directly fuels discrimination in the workplace, from insurers, in medical care, and in social interactions. The war on so-called “obesity” [sic] is a war on fat people. Doctors already exhibit dangerous levels of weight bias. Fat people deserve care, not condemnation. Correlation≠causation. Behavior≠BMI. Weight≠health. Hate is not good for public health.

Please sign this and/or signal boost.

fearlessfeminist: brujacore: sluteverbabe: activist-hat: tops...

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:26:09 -0400

fearlessfeminist:

brujacore:

sluteverbabe:

activist-hat:

topsidepress:

DONATE HERE

Cathy Brennan, radical “feminist,” has set her sights on a young black activist in Baltimore County, MD. Phylicia Sampson is being taken to court by Brennan, a notorious harasser of trans women and their supporters. Sampson is a recent college grad with few resources, no car and no way to fight back without your help.

As a community, we’ve suffered Brennan’s assaults for a long time—her blog is the best known for outing trans women’s personal information. She believes trans women are men who are infiltrating the feminist community and expends her resources fighting them. The idea that she is now taking her harassment to a legal venue is horrifying. That she has selected a young black woman with few resources to fight back is repugnant.

We can’t let Cathy Brennan get away with this! Share Phylicia’s campaign on Facebook, twitter, tumblr and instagram. Here are some things you can do TODAY to help:

Tell your friends why it is important that they donate to this campaign.

Donate what you can.

Write to your favorite feminist blog and ask them to cover this campaign

DONATE HERE

It’s pretty awesome to have allies and supporters.

Help my girl out, DONATE if you can and Signal Boost! If you’re tired of Cathy Brennan attacking people for calling her out on her bullshit, support Phylicia in her defense!

omigod I am so sick of this monster of a woman PLEASE help a girl out

gOD she is the WORST

kemetically-afrolatino: lionza: earth-song: fotojournalismus: ...

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:24:19 -0400

kemetically-afrolatino:

lionza:

earth-song:

fotojournalismus:

Brazil June 17, 2013

1. A military police officer pepper sprays a protester during a demonstration in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Monday, June 17, 2013. (Victor R. Caivano/AP)

2. Protestors are reflected on the glass of a building, left, as they march in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Monday, June 17, 2013. Protests in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and other Brazilian cities, set off by a 10-cent hike in public transport fares, have clearly moved beyond that issue to tap into widespread frustration in Brazil about a heavy tax burden, politicians widely viewed as corrupt and woeful public education, health and transport systems and come as the nation hosts the Confederations Cup soccer tournament and prepares for next month’s papal visit. (Felipe Dana/AP)

3. Demonstrators march in Rio de Janeiro downtown on June 17, 2013, against higher public transportation fares and the use of public funds to disrupt international football tournaments. (Christophe Simon/AFP/Getty Images)

4. Demonstrators face riot police during one of the many protests around Brazil’s major cities in Belo Horizonte June 17, 2013. (Pedro Vilela/Reuters)

5. Demonstrators shout anti-government slogans behind a banner during one of many protests around Brazil’s major cities in Sao Paulo June 17, 2013. (Alex Almeida/Reuters)

6. A demonstrator shouts at police during a protests in front of the Brazilian National Congress in Brasilia, Brazil, Monday, June 17, 2013. (Eraldo Peres/AP)

7. Policemen arrest students during a protest at the National Congress, on June 17, 2013 in Brasilia. (Evaristo Sa/AFP/Getty Images)

8. A demonstrator argues with police during a protest against the Confederation’s Cup and the government of Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff in Brasilia June 17, 2013. (Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters)

9. Protestors march in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on June 17, 2013. (Felipe Dana/AP)

10. A demonstrator waves a Brazilian flag by a burning a car in downtown Rio de Janeiro June 17, 2013. (Sergio Moraes/Reuters)

this is a good post on top of the importance of the events happening in brazil rn because it actually gives credit to the photographers, their agencies, and the captions. a+

protests rockin the world atm

nudiemuse: Cougar talking to camera man. Okay time for me to...

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:18:39 -0400

nudiemuse:

Cougar talking to camera man. Okay time for me to work.

I love big cat rescue.