b u g f e r a t u

On the 28th of April, 2011, Ed Balls got a Twitter account. He decided (as most people under the spotlight do) to attempted to look up his own name. However, all he did was tweet “Ed Balls”. This, for some reason, got retweeted by THOUSANDS of people. On a global scale. And because he didn’t know you could delete a tweet it stayed. Every year since then,the 28th of April is Ed Balls day. 

This is the infamous tweet

and here are some gems to celebrate that have followed the years, including last year where they framed the tweet and got him to sign it for charity

There are also LOADS MORE in this article from the Telegraph

Harry Clarke- Judith slaying Holofernes, early 20th C

Lighting the first Hanukkah candle tonight feels more necessary than ever.

I illustrated this Jewish woman with her physical eyes closed because we all feel that deep need to shut out the cruelty and the noise of the world right now just to find a moment of internal peace. But I made sure her third eye was wide open because we must stay fully awakened to the unshakeable strength we carry.

That open eye represents the intuition and power that has kept our people alive for generations. It feels like there is a constant pressure trying to make us feel small or afraid to be visibly Jewish, but the entire story of Hanukkah is about the refusal to disappear when forces try to suppress us. We have always been a people who find light even when it seems impossible.

The smoke rising in this piece is a reminder that our spirit always ascends and endures no matter how hard others try to push it down. We cannot stop celebrating just because there is darkness out there, since Jewish joy is the ultimate form of resistance. We have to be prouder and stronger than ever to show that we aren’t going anywhere. I hope you feel that ancient power tonight.

Happy Hanukkah.

Tonight is the first night of Chanukkah. This gathering would have been a celebration to mark the holiday’s start. There were 1000 people there; 11 dead (plus one of the shooters), and 29 wounded, so far. They haven’t finished counting the casualties.

I mostly focus on antisemitism in America, but Diaspora communities all over the world have suffered a sharp uptick in antisemitic attacks in recent years:

A year ago, a synagogue was set on fire in Melbourne.

This January, a home formerly owned by by a Jewish community leader was vandalized with antisemitic slogans and two cars set on fire

A few days later, a childcare center near a Jewish school and synagogue was vandalized with antisemitic graffiti and firebombed

Two other synagogues were vandalized during this period

Members of the Australian Jewish community, though grief-stricken by this latest attack, are not surprised by it. Nor am I. We’re seeing the same bullshit here in the US, British and French Jews report much the same, and so forth. This is the new normal.

I know many of my Gentile friends are going to respond with expressions of support and sympathy. I’m grateful for that, I truly am, but I need you to do more. I need you to educate yourself about antisemitism, and to push back against it when you see it in your friend circles. Here are some books on the topic that may be useful for you:

Antisemitism: the Longest Hatred

Jews Don’t Count

I remember the fight for mixed gender sports, but now we’re fighting for trans people’s rights to be included in gendered sports. The only justification for gendered sports that exists is Those Men Will Crush Our Weak Little Women. It’s sexist. Segregation is always a means of oppression.

Both of which, if youll note, are species that we race in non-sexgender-segregated sports. There's not one derby for boy horses and another one for girl ones.

The majority of the dimorphism that we *see* is social and cultural. Women are discouraged from sports from a much earlier age than men. Women who are naturally tall and muscular may choose not to pursue body building because of social pressures for women to be small and dainty. Women who have broad shoulders, double jointed ankles and webbed toes (the things that make Michael Phelps such a good swimmer) may never touch a swimming pool in their life because of similar stigma surrounding women's bodies that men are not subject to.

Night and her Daughter Sleep

1902

Lilith

1924

Artist : Abel Pann (1883-1963)

La Belle Dame Sans Merci.1905.

Black wool riding habit, 1880-1889, Swedish.

By Augusta Lundin.

Worn by Irma von Geijer.

Hallwylska museet.

Riding Jacket

c.1835

Europe