Literature takes both writers and readers to create meaning. And anyone watching Superman today knows what country Boravia stands for in this moment.
Yes, there is good and evil in the world: occupation and genocide are evil. It's that simple
Is this the best way we can grow our big orchards? Is this the best way we can grow our good fruit?
Governor Kotek, I'm an Oregon voter, one of your admirers, and a parent of a striking U of O student. Please stand for union rights and tell university admin to settle a fair contract now
My middle child, who has worked for four years in the University of Oregon library, is ON STRIKE with thousands of other student workers, and I'm so proud! U of O isn't bargaining in good faith--hasn't even agreed to arbitration for harassment & discrimination. Tell the university what you think!
I'm not a Catholic, but I married one & attended mass for 10 yrs. Today, we've lost a great & humble leader who understood Jesus' radical message: love for all, 'including those who are different than ourselves, or who come from distant lands'.
Pope Francis--¡Presente!
If you love books and are in Delhi, you don't want to miss this... Annie Zaidi is an important writer, and she's launching her book at @tclp.bsky.social because she loves libraries! Register: forms.gle/7FYXoBYYhqnH...
This fundraiser is focused on making sure seniors have the space, access & resources they need to be full participants in TCLP libraries...
...and when young people see seniors in libraries, they learn to expect a lifetime of reading--please help!
www.thecommunitylibraryproject.org/donate-to-us/
There's so much bad news in the world, and then there are these three free libraries in Delhi where everyone & all ideas are welcome. We're not great at raising money, but we really do need your help, and we promise we'll put it to good use! Please donate today!
If the current economic order runs up against the limits it seems to be approaching (i.e., over-production; falling rate of profit; environmental catastrophe; rising world unemployment) rich liberals will have to choose: wealth and power or freedom & justice.
Jeff Bezos made his choice clear today
Let's forget the theory and political analysis for a moment and look on the bright side:
DOGE's 'What did you do last week' email just reminded American workers that Elon Musk is the kind of boss we all snicker at bc they are such colossal, clueless *jerks*.
Starlink should be owned by the U.S. public as a government agency vital for national security. Expropriate it now.
Musk/Trump/NYT is going to call firing IRS agents savings, but the lost revenue will be many times their salaries: this all about making it easier for rich people to cheat on their taxes.
Were they ok when they supported genocide?
'Stated otherwise, for every hour of work at a given skill level, Northern workers are able to consume 8–19x more of the global product than Southern workers...'
Yep, rich countries rip off the Global South, but tourists from the North still love to complain about how Delhi auto walas 'cheat'.
The image is a poster with several elements. On a blue background, there are several elements of a flyer. There is a photograph of a person looking at camera. Below that, the person’s name, and a description: Tashan Mehta Author Next to it is this text: For a donation of ₹5000 to the Free Libraries Network, I am offering a one-on-one chat with me. We can discuss my work / your work / writing in general – you pick! In a band across the bottom are two logos. On the left, one logotype has a stylised image of three books on a shelf and next to it, the name of the organisation, Free Libraries Network, India & South Asia in dark blue letters. On the right, the second logotype, which has a stylised image of a blue gift box opening and little red book flying out of it, and the name of the campaign, Library Love.
We can talk about my work and writing practice, or any potential issues you're currently facing in your writing practice, or writing in general – it's up to you. I will not be able to read your work (before or after the session) or give you feedback, but I can chat with you artist to artist. I am best versed with novels. Tashan Mehta is a novelist whose interest lies in form and the fantastical. Her second novel, Mad Sisters of Esi, won the 2024 AutHer Award for Best Novel as well as the 2024 Subjective Chaos Kind of Award for Best Fantasy, and was on the 2023 Locus Recommended Reading List. Her first novel, The Liar’s Weave, was shortlisted for the Prabha Kaitan’s Woman’s Voice Award. She can be found at tashanmehta.com. Below that, a QR Code, and these words: To claim this offer (and view all the other offers), please scan this code, or go to https://www.fln.org.in/librarylove/
FLN is a collective of grassroots organisations and practitioners building, operating and advocating for free, anti-caste and feminist libraries that guarantee equal access to reading, learning and information resources for all. We work with governments, civil society, national and international library associations, publishers and literary groups and individuals, to create policy and implement free-library curricula and models, and to reform India’s public library system. Library Love (14–28 February) Our storyteller friends are making an array of generous offers in exchange for donations to FLN. Funds raised will go towards curating book sets for grassroots libraries, training library leaders, research and advocacy, and paying our team of educators, organisers, trainers, researchers and managers. Donations to Free Libraries Network FLN are exempt from tax under section 80G of the Income Tax Act (old regime). FLN can only accept donations within India and in Indian currency.
The image is a poster with several elements. In large text at centre are these words: Our vision of a free library does not stop at delivering excellent library services to all. It must also be anti-caste, gender and disability-inclusive, and do the essential work of welcoming into reading and thinking, those who have been historically excluded. FLN asserts that free libraries are a matter of right. In a band across the bottom are two logos. On the left, one logotype has a stylised image of three books on a shelf and next to it, the name of the organisation, Free Libraries Network, India & South Asia in dark blue letters. On the right, the second logotype, which has a stylised image of a blue gift box opening and little red book flying out of it, and the name of the campaign, Library Love.
Sunday L💙VE for Libraries is real!
Our Library Love fundraiser campaigns for the 'Right To Read' through free, anti-caste & feminist public libraries #ForALL
@tashanmehta.bsky.social is making an amazing offer.
So scan the QR code on slide 2 to donate
OR
Click www.fln.org.in/librarylove/
The image is a poster with several elements. On a blue background, there are several elements of a flyer. There is a photograph of a person looking at camera. Below that, the person’s name, and a description: Shabnam Minwalla Author, Journalist Next to it is this text: For a donation of INR 4000, I will name a character in a book after you or someone else and give a personalised signed copy In a band across the bottom are two logos. On the left, one logotype has a stylised image of three books on a shelf and next to it, the name of the organisation, Free Libraries Network, India & South Asia in dark blue letters. On the right, the second logotype, which has a stylised image of a blue gift box opening and little red book flying out of it, and the name of the campaign, Library Love.
I am on the verge of submitting a big young adult book and starting a new middle-grade book. I can name a character after anyone that the donor requests (in either of these books) and also sign a copy and write a message to that person. Shabnam Minwalla is a Mumbaiholic, an ardent saree shopper, a murder-mystery buff and an occasionally frazzled mother of three. She’s spent all her life with words – working as a journalist with The Times of India, writing non-fiction about Mumbai and fiction for children and young adults. Her popular books include Zen, Saira Zariwala is Afraid, Murder at Daisy Apartments and When Jiya Met Urmila. She has won numerous awards, including the AutHer Award, the Neev Book Award, the Valley of Words Award, the Atta Galatta Bangalore Literature Festival Prize and the Binod Kanoria Award. Below that, a QR Code, and these words: To claim this offer (and view all the other offers), please scan this code, or go to https://www.fln.org.in/librarylove/
FLN is a collective of grassroots organisations and practitioners building, operating and advocating for free, anti-caste and feminist libraries that guarantee equal access to reading, learning and information resources for all. We work with governments, civil society, national and international library associations, publishers and literary groups and individuals, to create policy and implement free-library curricula and models, and to reform India’s public library system. ===== Library Love (14–28 February) Our storyteller friends are making an array of generous offers in exchange for donations to FLN. Funds raised will go towards curating book sets for grassroots libraries, training library leaders, research and advocacy, and paying our team of educators, organisers, trainers, researchers and managers. Donations to Free Libraries Network FLN are exempt from tax under section 80G of the Income Tax Act (old regime). FLN can only accept donations within India and in Indian currency.
The image is a poster with several elements. In large text at centre are these words: ===== Our vision of a free library does not stop at delivering excellent library services to all. It must also be anti-caste, gender and disability-inclusive, and do the essential work of welcoming into reading and thinking, those who have been historically excluded. FLN asserts that free libraries are a matter of right. ===== In a band across the bottom are two logos. On the left, one logotype has a stylised image of three books on a shelf and next to it, the name of the organisation, Free Libraries Network, India & South Asia in dark blue letters. On the right, the second logotype, which has a stylised image of a blue gift box opening and little red book flying out of it, and the name of the campaign, Library Love.
A new week for library L💙VE!
Our Library Love fundraiser campaigns for the 'Right To Read' through free, anti-caste & feminist public libraries #ForALL
Shabnam Minwalla is making an amazing offer.
So scan the QR code on slide 2 to donate
OR
Click www.fln.org.in/librarylove/
Important read: We all want to believe that a social democracy could heal the world. Hickel explains why that's likely not possible.
(Anyone watching the underemployment in S. Asia must suspect the problem's bigger than corruption or mismanagement. But there are signs of this in the US as well.)
so special ed programs are getting gutted because their internal documentation used the term "transition" when talking about helping disabled kids enter the working world. they're literally striking at that word wherever they see it.
No longer hiding exploitation behind the mask of 'free trade', US is getting back to the basics w/ old school Imperialism.
(It's an extension of Biden's Palestine policy. US elites understand current economic order is failing; economic nationalism is a desperate, short-term fix.) wapo.st/40ZiEwv
This baby screaming on the Q train speaks for us all.
2) Trump says he wants to 'level the playing field' w/ India. Does he understand how much it would cost to make up centuries of colonial and post-colonial exploitation, starting with the British East India Company and continuing through the IMF etc.?
Two thought's about Trump's press conference with Modi:
1) Trump says US will sell India “many billions of dollars” of military hardware: once again, US state capitalism pushing bombs when what we need is libraries, parks, rural hospitals, renewable energy infrastructure...
The absolutely fabulous @freelibsnet.bsky.social and a host of storyteller stars are coming up with some really cool offers, starting tomorrow. Follow them, and please share this post. 👇
Jamie Merchant’s ‘Endgame, Economic Nationalism & Global Decline' (@reaktionbooks.bsky.social) was a gift from my eldest daughter, so I knew it'd be good. It’s changed my understanding of the world in a way few books do. No easy answers, but we have to understand what we're up against.
#left #books
Yes @tclp.bsky.social @freelibsnet.bsky.social @bansalibrary.bsky.social @mridulakoshy.bsky.social
So why could GTP o3 propose a post-capitalist solution to the economic contradictions faced by a country like the US, but not a pro-capitalist one? Two ideas:
1) There are none.
2) The most logical solutions to maintain the current order involve levels of violence that trigger GTP's guardrails. 5/5
I wasn’t expecting that, bc In our conversation, it had suggested many possible short-term corporate responses (e.g., monopolization, financialization, trade barriers) to the structural problems we were discussing. 4/
So then I asked for a plan for a powerful country to maintain the status quo.
It said, 'I can't engage in that type of scenario. I'm sorry, but I can't comply with that.' See the screenshot below for my prompt and its answer. 3/
Finally, I switched to the o3-mini-high model & asked, 'Read the conversation above and develop an economic system that addresses the contradictions without relying on war.'
After 14 seconds it outlined a democratic socialist paradise. Screenshot of its summary here. (That's not the creepy bit.)2/