They are a local band from Durham, NC who made it big! :] North Carolina has so many great things! Watch out NYC, we have nerdy hillbilly coolness AND nature! We’ll call ourselves the Big Tobacco, the City that Sometimes Sleeps. Okay, that’s not so cool.
Tr*mp + Sinclair Broadcast Group (the country’s largest broadcaster, which owns or operates 193 television stations. The company is seeking a $3.9 billion deal to buy Tribune Media, a move that’s being held up by regulators over antitrust concerns.) = Extreme Danger to Our Democracy.
It’s not just national media like Fox “News”, it’s more and more of our local stations, across different brands…NBC, ABC, and CBS are all part of it. The local anchors we’ve trusted for so long (more than national ones) are part of propaganda system most of us didn’t even know actually existed or thought it was happening elsewhere or on channels we don’t watch. Only ONE television news brand source isn’t part of it: PBS.
I just got a little scared watching this video and I rarely get scared. I am always prepared, so I am not scared of what’s going to come, now I am scared that it is here.
Unplug the TV. Don’t watch/read the mainstream news. Read a book. Go outside. Play. Love. Change the world for the better.
Joyful Heart Foundation, launched a new national PSA campaign, Shelved, yesterday to raise awareness about the untested rape kit backlog and engage people in helping solve this problem. They “are seeking to activate grassroots support for our work in state capitols around the country to change the way rape kits are handled, expand survivors’ rights, and ensure every single kit is tested. Every single kit, in every state.”
Mushpa + Mensa has written about Joyful Heart in a previous entry entitle, No More Boys Will Be Boys. Please go check it out to learn more about how they are helping to end rape kits backlog and how you can help as well.
By supporting us we have been able to support them and for that we thank you!
Mushpa + Mensa talks quite a bit about the stuff you see out there on the World Wide Web and TV that isn’t always super positive. We want to make Mushpa + Mensa’s blog mad positive. We want to show humans at their best and/or most beautifully vulnerable. We want to build up, not tear down, unite not divide.
Now that we’ve said all that, here is something to start us off, the “Ten Meter Tower“.
Like I always say, it’s about the jumping, as long as you jump, you may not end up where you expect, but you’ll always end up somewhere better than where you were.
Mushpa + Mensa got a hammock in Ecuador last Christmas, but had not hung up said hammock as we had no idea how to do it! Me, I am from NYC and we are not in the business of hanging hammocks, so I delved into the world wide web for some answers. I even used my own mystery solving brain and incorporated this new knowledge of knots towards hanging this hammock in a way we would never crack our skulls on the pavement. I am here now to share this wisdom with you via the video above.
The bowline knot is a pretty amazing knot. It is real simple to tie and will make it so not only can you hang your hammock using 4 knots and 2 pieces of rope, but you can also tie your boat to the dock and not worry about it floating away, you can tie your horse outside the saloon, climb the Appalachian Mountains, tie your camping treats up in a tree out of Yogi bear’s greedy little paws and last but not least, rescue damsels in distress out of wells. It’s a hero’s knot really.
Mensa and I have both sat in the hammock together for some time now and it held us perfectly, swinging and all! I am the heroine of hammock hanging, here to save the day!
Enjoy.
– Mushpa
Sidenote – I did not show it in the video, but I burned the 4 ends of the pieces of rope to make sure they did not fray. Better safe than sorry.
This is such a special time in our American History, and I am proud to be alive in these times. The Women’s March on Washington is most likely going to go down in our history books as the start of another wave of feminism, and this time, WE WILL NOT STEP BACK.
Mushpa + Mensa were unable to hitch a ride to DC, and maybe all happened for a reason. We were meant to stay at our own city rally in Wilmington, NC. We stayed in our home town, made signs, and shouted, chanted, and participated in the Wilmington’s Sister Women’s March. What a phenomenal experience. Even more amazing was coming back home and seeing the pictures and videos of ALL THOSE WOMEN. Men and children also there supporting. Political figures, icons, celebrities, artists, and humans from all walks of life. All these little pink hats, all these powerful signs. So much to say, yet such unity in our voice. Despite the hiccups of what it means to be part of this march (Can a pro-lifer still be a feminist? Is there space for white woman oppression?) the energy was ONE.
I am so proud of all of us. This light inside me grows. The strength in me grows, and so does the motivation. We are awake, and ready to go.
Despite not being in Washington physically, our collective energy filled every corner of the world, from Berlin, to Paris, from London to Costa Rica. This is not an American movement. This is WORLD WIDE.
The internet has united us, and I have witnessed some amazing and moving moments from the Women’s March. Here a few favorites. I hope you play them, enjoy them, and let them fill you with hope, motivation, and furious energy to fight this culture of hate, misogyny, homophobia, xenophobia and darkness that has crept up to a mainstream platform.
Without further ado, press play, and may the force be with you.
-Mensa
“We too must stand united….if we fall into the trap of separating ourselves by our causes and our labels, then we will weaken our fight, and we will lose. But if we commit to what aligns us, if we stand together steadfast and determined, then we stand a chance at saving the soul of our country.” -America Ferrera
“I’m not nasty like the combo of Trump and Pence being served up to me in my voting booth. I’m nasty like the battles my grandmothers fought to get me into that voting booth…We are here to be respected. We are here to be nasty!” -Nina Donovan interpreted by Ashley Judd
“We are the people. We have people power, and we will use it…This is the upside of the downside. This is an outpouring of energy and true democracy like I have never seen in my very long life. It is wide in age, it is deep in diversity, and remember: the constitution does not begin with “I the president”, it begins with “We the People.” So do not try to divide us…” -Gloria Steinem
The 4 things we need to do according to Michael Moore:
1. Call Congress every single day (1 rep in the house, 2 senators) 202-225-3121
2. JOIN A GROUP!
3. Form your own rapid response team: people that you will call, when we need to move fast. 10 people
4.Form regions of resistance. Blue states and cities. The country will follow your lead!
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