A test post, because I had to sign up for a new account for my old blog on a mastodon server, and because federated instances are a murky mess at the best of times, i can’t tell if my mastodon blog account is actually connected to this account.

If it isn’t, I’m not sure how else to get the blog out there.

So, wish me luck?

S'il y a des entreprises qui fabriquent des vêtements au Québec, et même des entreprises qui se veulent éthiques, plus de 82% de nos vêtements viennent de l'étranger (Source Mutrec). On devrait se préoccuper autant des conditions dans lesquelles ces vêtements sont fabriqués que de l'impact environnemental de cette industrie.

#Achats #Capitalisme #Consommation #Ethique #Exploitation #FastFashion #MainDOeuvre #Travail

C'est en lisant l'article Garment workers’ unions must engage global brands on impacts of changing business strategies on workers’ rights du China Labour Bulletin que j'ai voulu fouiller la question. L'article porte sur les actions collectives menées par les ouvrières principalement dans des manufactures de vêtements.

Ces actions collectives sont dues à la contraction que ce secteur a connue en Chine en 2023, mais aussi du fait que la délocalisation qui a affecté notre propre secteur des textiles et des vêtements dans les années 1970, touche maintenant les ouvrières de Chine.

Le Bangladesh, deuxième pays producteur mondial de vêtements, a aussi été l'objet de demandes collectives de la part des ouvrières qui demandaient un salaire minimum mensuel. Il faut dire que ce pays fut le «bénéficiaire» de la relocalisation de manufactures chinoises.

Dans les pays où sont fabriqués nos vêtements, au-delà de l'aspect environnemental (voir mon billet J'achète peu de vêtements, suis-je normale?), il y a l'aspect humain.

Le Centre international de solidarité ouvrière (CISO) et le Mouvement ACTES de la Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ) ont développé plusieurs outils pédagogiques pour mieux comprendre les répercussions de l’industrie du textile sur les droits de la personne et sur l’environnement.

Dans un de ces documents, destiné aux enseignantes et enseignants, on apprend que plus de 91 millions de personnes travaillent pour l'industrie du textile qui comprend la fabrication de vêtements, dont plus de 80% sont des femmes.

Celles-ci sont très mal payées et en plus, elles doivent souvent faire de longues heures de travail.

Depuis de trop nombreuses années, les organisations de défense des droits humains au travail documentent les violations systémiques des droits des travailleurs·ses liées au modèle de production dans l’industrie de l’habillement. La pression sur les coûts et les délais de production, dans le but d’accroître les profits, pèse avant tout sur les ouvriers et les ouvrières au bout de la chaîne, qui en paient le prix fort. Fashion Revolution Week : 11 ans après le Rana Plaza où en est-on ?

On peut se donner bonne conscience, acheter moins et acheter éthique. Une recherche dans DuckDuckGo avec les mots «acheter vêtements éthiques» et la région de recherche Canada fr permet de découvrir des entreprises québécoises qui fabriquent des vêtements éthiques.

L’Observatoire de la consommation responsable de l’ESG UQAM qui sonde les Québécois·e·s pour son Baromètre annuel de la consommation responsable constatait une baisse des personnes sondées sont capables de mentionner une marque à leurs yeux responsable en 2023.

Déjà qu'entre être en mesure de nommer une marque responsable et acheter responsable, il y a une marge.

Tant qu'acheter éthique demeure à petite échelle, ça ne règle pas le problème fondamental d'un système économique dominant qui repose largement sur l'exploitation des ouvrières et ouvriers dans des pays où les salaires sont très bas, les conditions de travail pénibles et les droits quasi inexistants.

C'est sur les effets pervers de ce système économique qu'il faut s'ouvrir les yeux.

Check in time. Still in Ohio for the week hanging with my family checking out all of the beautiful sites. Amazed by the scenery and just how many trees there are! Where I currently live looks like a barren wasteland compared to this place. Thrilled to be moving here soon! The new home I’m building will begin next week and should be done at the end of August. Much sooner than I anticipated. Once I return back home I have to start trying to sell my house. Not that excited about it, frankly.

I’m still being good about studying my Japanese daily and making some sort of progress. Currently at WaniKani level 15 and not sure what level on Bunpro. Don’t really care. Taking my time and trying to actually learn. No short cuts available. I’m almost half way through Japanese from Zero book 5 and will be happy to finish that whole series. I think my favorite interaction with Japanese now is reading my graded readers. Reading vertically is pretty cool and my brain is adjusting to it more and more. Still on pretty simple stories with low complexity sentences and no sophisticated idioms. Going to finish reading the story about the Monkey and Crab tonight.

Ok there’s my uninteresting update.

Sleepytime herbal tea bag is steeping in the cup. I like to give it at least 10 min. to get good and strong before I fish it out of the cup, stir in a packet of Splenda, let it cool, then sip it slowly. One of the little rituals I try to follow every night as I get myself ready for bed.

posted Thursday May 16, 2024 ~19:55 #QNMAY2024

Prayers, etc.: • 05:00 – Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel • 06:00 – the Angelus • 07:10 – Praying the Joyful Mysteries of the Holy Rosary, followed by The Memorare • 07:30 – Thought for today from Archbishop Lefebvre: Let us thank God who has made known to us all of His greatness, and let us realize the importance of believing in this great mystery of the Holy Trinity. It is destined to be our joy for all eternity. Certainly in Heaven we will have an immense gratitude for what God has done for us, for His Incarnation, for His Redemption, for His sacrifice of the cross; but all of those things will be part of the past. At the end of time, the choice will have been made between the elect and those who are not, but the great mystery of the Trinity will remain. • 08:10 – May 14, 2024: FrancisChurch: Making the Passage as Painless as Possible, followed by May 15, 2024: Looks Like China May Probably Pick the Next Pope Too – Canon212 • 10:30 – When the Sunday Mass Obligation Binds and Ceases to Bind – Peter Kwasniewski • 12:00 – the Angelus • 18:00 – the Angelus • 19:00 – The hour of Compline for tonight according to the Traditional Pre-Vatican II Divine Office, followed by Fr. Chad Rippberger's Prayer of Command to protect my family, my sons, my daughter and her family, my granddaughters and their families, my great grandchildren, and everyone for whom I have responsibility from any demonic activity. – And that followed by the Thursday Prayers of the Association of the Auxilium Christianorum.

Health Metrics: • bw= 222.00 lbs. • bp= 139/73 (73)

Diet: • 05:45 – ½ pb&j sandwich • 08:30 – 1 ham & cheese sandwich • 09:00 – applesauce • 12:45 – pizza

Chores, etc.: • 05:00 – listen to local news talk radio • 08:45 – listen to relaxing music and work on my chess games • 12:00 – watch old episodes of Wheel of Fortune • 12:30 – eat lunch at home with Sylvia • 14:15 – continue watching Peter Kwasniewski's speech I started this morning • 15:00 – research TLM options in San Antonio • 16:00 – watching old episodes of Adam 12 on MeTV • 17:00 – local news and weather • 17:30 – tuned into the New York Mets Radio Network for the Pregame Show before their game vs the Philadelphia Phillies

Chess: • 10:20 – have moved in all pending CC games

posted Thursday 16/May/2024 ~19:30 #DLMAY2024

I forgot to get a picture of the pile of gravel when it came. Imagine a big orange pile of clayish sand with lots of chunks. It's called crushed wash gravel and I may come to regret it.

The delivery truck dumped the pile entirely on the tarp and not at all on the landscaping fabric. Sigh. The pile wound up way too close to the far edges of the tarp, meaning that tonight's rain would probably wash it right down into the green area.

No go.

I tried raking and shoveling the pile in the direction I wanted it to slide, but I wasn't getting very far. And I was exhausted already from yesterday.

So I went to get more tarps. Two, just in case, but one turned out to be sufficient. I folded up the edges of the bottom tarp and staked the top one firmly, then anchored it down with stuff. Fingers crossed that this works.

This song came out more than 20 years ago now, so I'll consider it a #ThrowbackThursday track. Back to 2002 with The Used!

So here I am, it's in my hands And I'll savor every moment of this So here I am, alive at last And I'll savor every moment of this ♪ ♫ ♪

#TheUsed

Kefalonia is the largest of the Ionian Islands in Greece, and it is a captivating destination for anyone seeking a blend of natural beauty, rich history, and tranquil surroundings. Known for its stunning landscapes, crystal-clear waters, and charming villages, Kefalonia offers a unique and unforgettable travel experience.

The island is renowned for its diverse and dramatic scenery. Myrtos Beach, often cited as one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, features striking white pebbles and turquoise waters, framed by towering cliffs. For a different beach experience, head to Xi Beach, where the soft, reddish sand contrasts with the clear blue sea. The waters here are shallow and warm, making it ideal for families.

Kefalonia is also home to the captivating Melissani Cave. This underground lake, illuminated by sunlight streaming through a collapsed roof, creates an enchanting play of light and water. Visitors can take boat tours through the cave to fully appreciate its beauty. Similarly, the Drogarati Cave, with its impressive stalactites and stalagmites, offers another fascinating underground adventure.

For history enthusiasts, the island has much to offer. The Archaeological Museum of Argostoli provides insights into Kefalonia’s ancient past, while the ruins of the Castle of St. George offer a glimpse into the island’s medieval history along with panoramic views. The Monastery of Agios Gerasimos, dedicated to the island’s patron saint, is a serene and spiritual site worth visiting.

Exploring Kefalonia’s charming villages is another highlight. Fiskardo, in the north, is one of the few villages that survived the 1953 earthquake intact, preserving its traditional architecture. Its picturesque harbor, lined with pastel-colored houses and lively tavernas, is perfect for a leisurely stroll. Assos, a tiny village nestled on a narrow isthmus, is equally charming with its Venetian castle and scenic views.

Outdoor enthusiasts will find plenty to do on Kefalonia. Hiking trails, such as those in the Ainos National Park, offer stunning views and the chance to see the rare Kefalonian fir tree and wild ponies. The island’s varied coastline is perfect for kayaking, snorkeling, and diving, with opportunities to explore underwater caves and shipwrecks.

Kefalonia’s cuisine is another reason to visit. Traditional dishes such as moussaka, meat pie (kreatopita), and fresh seafood can be enjoyed at local tavernas. Don’t miss tasting the island’s Robola wine, a crisp white wine that pairs perfectly with the local flavors.

Accommodation options range from luxury resorts to family-run guesthouses, ensuring a comfortable stay for every traveler. The island’s relaxed pace and warm hospitality make it an ideal destination for unwinding and enjoying the simple pleasures of Greek island life.

Living in Lassi is an excellent choice for those looking to explore the island of Kefalonia. This charming resort area, located just a few kilometers from the island's capital, Argostoli, offers a perfect balance of convenience, comfort, and access to the island's many attractions.

One of the key advantages of staying in Lassi is its central location. Being close to Argostoli means easy access to essential amenities such as supermarkets, pharmacies, and healthcare facilities, as well as a variety of restaurants, cafes, and shops. The vibrant atmosphere of Argostoli, with its bustling harbor, picturesque square, and lively markets, is just a short drive or a pleasant walk away.

Lassi itself is known for its beautiful beaches, making it a great base for beach lovers. Platis Gialos and Makris Gialos are two of the most popular beaches in the area, featuring golden sand, crystal-clear waters, and excellent facilities. These beaches are perfect for swimming, sunbathing, and enjoying water sports. The proximity to these beaches means you can easily spend your mornings or afternoons soaking up the sun and the sea without needing to travel far.

For those interested in exploring the natural beauty and cultural sites of Kefalonia, Lassi's central location is ideal. The island’s famous Myrtos Beach, with its dramatic cliffs and turquoise waters, is about a 30-minute drive away. The stunning Melissani Cave, where you can take a boat ride on an underground lake, is also within easy reach. A bit further afield, you can visit the charming village of Fiskardo, known for its preserved Venetian architecture, or hike in the Ainos National Park, home to rare fir trees and wild ponies.

Transportation from Lassi is convenient, whether you choose to rent a car, use local buses, or hire taxis. The island’s road network allows you to explore various attractions at your own pace, and many of the island’s scenic drives start close to Lassi. Renting a car provides the most flexibility, enabling you to venture to remote beaches, hidden villages, and off-the-beaten-path spots.

In addition to its strategic location, Lassi offers a wide range of accommodation options. From modern hotels with sea views to cozy apartments and villas, you can find a place that suits your preferences and budget. The area is also known for its welcoming and friendly atmosphere, making it easy to feel at home.

Whether you’re drawn by the natural beauty, historical sites, outdoor activities, or culinary delights, Kefalonia promises a rich and rewarding travel experience. It’s a destination that captivates and lingers in your memory long after you’ve left.

This post is not really about pickleball. It's about a mental pattern that people have, and I'll use pickleball merely as an example. Thanks for following along.

One of the things I see often online is tennis players trashing pickleball as “tennis lite” or “a way for old people to feel athletic” (hello ageism) or whatever. There's one Facebook group where every post attracts dozens of “your sport sucks” kinds of comments. The question is: why? Perhaps even more illuminating is the question of why these same tennis players don't say the same things about ping pong, which involves an even smaller playing area. Why does pickleball get “not athletic” comments but ping pong doesn't?

Part of the answer is that tennis and pickleball compete for public space. This battle is raging in cities and towns all across the country as we speak. Ping pong was already relegated to private facilities, like squash and raquetball and badminton, and that seems unlikely to change, so there's no such conflict. But I don't think that’s the whole answer. I think the real answer is that tennis players are afraid pickleball will displace the sport they’ve spent years mastering, while there’s no such threat from these other sports. I don’t think that’s going to happen, but it’s not a totally crazy belief. The kind of player who has spent years honing their tennis skills so they can beat up near-beginners is unlikely to be happy about a sport where they would be the newbie. They’d have to learn new skills, and they hate that idea. They’d rather try to hold back the tide, discourage people from starting with or converting to That Other Sport, than have to raise their own game.

OK, enough about pickleball. My point is that this same “rather hate than learn” attitude appears in other areas as well. I saw it over and over again in my tech career. New languages, new frameworks, new tools were routinely dismissed as wastes of time – not because they actually were, but because the critics had a lot invested in other languages and frameworks and tools. The grognards of the title – both the original soldiers and the modern gamers – are/were driven by the same impulse. Writ larger, this attitude is behind many people’s hatred of modern education (especially accurate history) or urban design. It might even explain part of their hatred of modern gender/sexual identities, though there are surely other factors at play there. New ideas, new terminology, new skills … “no thanks” say the grognards. They’d rather burn everything down than update themselves.

This is kind of like the sunk cost fallacy, except that it’s not a fallacy. The switching costs are very real. These people really would lose some of their status in whatever activity is involved. In a twist on the well known aphorism, those who are experts in one thing see learning another as an imposition. No matter how necessary or ultimately rewarding a change is, they’d rather stay in the swamp than venture out.

As a writer and a writing teacher, I’m interested in how language changes, and now I’m old enough to have witnessed it happening in real time. (Like how the “finta” of my youth became “finna”!)

And one thing that’s puzzled me is how “porno” became “porn.” Everybody used to say “porno”—see The Beastie Boys’ 1986 “Fight For Your Right to Party,” with its complaint that “your mom threw away your best porno mag,” or the band Perry Farrell started in 1992, Porno for Pyros.

The transition happened in the late oughts. I know this because I sold a novel, The Mall of Cthulhu, in like 2005 or 2006. In this version of the novel, Laura admonishes Ted not to look at “porno” on her computer. When I was doing final copy edits for the 2008 publication, I changed this to “porn” because “porno” sounded outdated and corny to me.

So I know more or less when the shift happened, but I’ve always wondered why. And yesterday, I finally came up with a theory. It involves our tongues and the internet!

So Netflix streaming started in 2007. Pornhub also launched in that year, which indicates the linguistic shift was already underway. (This is a kind of transitional time—Isabella Rossellini’s nature series “Green Porno” premiered in 2008, so both terms were clearly in use in 2007-2008) Both Netflix streaming and Pornhub were enabled by high-speed (at the time) internet, and, in turn, started to drive more widespread adoption of high-speed internet. And so DVDs started to whither, Blockbuster died in 2010-11, and porn consumption moved almost exclusively to the internet.

But what does this have to do with the missing “o”? Well, before high-speed internet, when people spoke of pornography, they typically talked about “porno mags,” as the Beastie Boys did, or “Porno movies.” Try to say either “porn mags” or “porn movies.” Notice how this is kind of tough to say—your tongue doesn’t want to go straight from the n sound to the m sound. But if you have a vowel in between the n and the m, the phrase becomes much easier to say! The o provides a nice little bridge!

But once pornography consumption started moving away from both magazines and movies, the o was no longer necessary because no one was pairing the term with “mags” or “movies” anymore.

And here we are 15 years later, and nobody says “porno” anymore. I don’t have any large point to make here—I was just happy to come up with a theory for why our language changed in this way!

#001688 – 19 de Abril de 2024

A sopa da minha mãe: abóbora manteiga, nabo bola de neve, amor comestível.

The wonderful thing about Sky She's a wonderful, wonderful thing Her heart's made of stardust Her soul's made of spring She's a kind and loving, warm and caring beautiful magical girl! But the most wonderful thing about Sky is she's the only one in the world!

#Poetry #SelfLove

Sun bronzing skin through layers of lotion. The garden growing too floriferous to note. Pearl hyacinth, hellebore, pasqueflower. Gabled greenhouse frame rising in a far corner. A moorhen, kerrluk kerrluk, flying over every day at six.

▽ | #journal

Hmm ... het probleem met mogelijkheden zit hem in de aanwezigheid koop ik die cake of die andere de c of de d cake het is beide ongezond doet niks goeds voor lijf en leden maar het is daar de cookies, de chips, de kassa, de pinpas in je zak, het krediet en de anderen met exact hetzelfde Hmm .... Cake label c ik produceer deze cake dat is oké voor het aandeel en de houders daaraan je wil ze niet teleurstellen met een gebrek aan opties ze moeten ook parkeren

I'm a little bit worried that some of my students might see this website/blog, and the thought of that is a bit weird. I don't think I've ever had a TA where I've been like damn that's an individual person, but at the same time I am both of those things. I'm dialing my internet presence back a little bit while a lot of students are seeing my stuff for the first time, so I guess this is my little baby version of an entry in order to kind of protect my own privacy I guess. What a weird concern for having a publicly linked journal. Oh well, I am who I am.