How To Write KICK ASS Essays!

University Tips:

Keep a calendar and stay on top of your schedule!

Make a timetable of your classes/seminars

Check emails often

Don’t skip lectures!

Sit in the front row. This will make you focus and help your lecturers remember you - which is actually more important than people think

Build a good relationship with your lecturers AND peers

Visit your professors’ office hours regularly and have catch ups

Go to the library to study! You’ll be more distracted trying to study at home/in your room. If you have to study in your room- turn your phone off

It’s okay to not want to party like everyone else :)

Write down your notes in lectures and type them up after

Join a society/club! This will make sure you have a great work-social life balance, and give you the opportunity to learn something new at least once a week

Colour code notes

It’s just as important not to overwork yourself as it is not to procrastinate (too much)

Keep your desk clean and organised! 

Try to get a good night’s sleep the night before lectures and have a good breakfast in the morning. You will be more focused for it

Keep a journal of your experiences and ambitions

Go to counseling services. UK Universities will have counselling services that can tackle anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem. Your well-being is as important as your grades

Your degree doesn’t define you. You still have time to explore your options. You don’t have to know what you want to be right now. University is about developing yourself as it is finding a career.

Don’t burn bridges with your friends/loved ones at home. They will be there for you should you need to go home

Live on or near campus. This will save money and give you a sense of belonging

Eat well!

A friendly ghost rest stop before you continue your day! 💗

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Police Brutality in the Philippines

I write this following me currently listening to a podcast regarding this and after watching Alyx Arumpac’s documentary “Aswang” (tr: monster/demon).

“a chick is placed on the coffin of the deceased when their killer is unknown. if there is no justice, it will knock on the conscience of the sinner. but the demon will not care for the knocks of even a thousand chicks.” – Aswang (demon), dir. Alyx Arumpac

I go into the best detail I can manage about the drug war under the cut but the most pertinent information and what I want to say remain above the cut for everyone to see.

additionally, to skim, you may focus on bold text.

for the terror bill (and how you can protest via email)

https://bit.ly/DOJEmailProtest

https://bit.ly/JTBEmailProtest

junkterrorbill.carrd.co

https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/06/05/philippines-new-anti-terrorism-act-endangers-rights

other issues in the Philippines: 

parasapinas.carrd.co

please reblog this if only for those links and how you can help. 

Now without further ado, let’s get to it.

This is my major reference: https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2020/country-chapters/philippines aka Human Rights Watch’s Report on the Philippines based on events from 2019.

Disclaimer: 

I don’t pretend to be an expert on this. Additionally, I speak from a position of privilege, as I have not been personally affected by these issues. But I try my best to be informed on the situation and empathise with the people concerned. I’m linking sources below too.

there are other issues of police brutality/misconduct, details here in a report by Amnesty International, but as a summary:

ineffective implementation of safeguards

torture

torture of children

corruption

isolated (but no less important) cases of locals and internationals alike being abused physically, verbally, etc.

intimidation and threats against filing charges

misogyny and rape culture

more details on the War Against Drugs below the cut, but this is an excerpt:

Official PNP (Phil. National Police) statistics cite deaths at 5,000+ during 2016-2019 (despite an earlier statistic of 6,600), but human rights groups estimate the actual death toll to 27,000+.

these are additional recent scandals (all of which only after COVID-19):

extreme punishments towards those who have violated quarantine guidelines (e.g. someone shot and killed, a journalist arrested for taking off his mask in a jeepney to drink water)

in comparison: a high-ranking officer had a birthday party during enhanced community quarantine [x] [x]

people detained during pride march

people detained during anti-terror bill protests [x] [x] [x]

jeepney drivers detained for protesting jeepney phaseout

police telling women to watch their clothes to not be raped

the rape-slay of a 15 year old girl by 2 police officers after she was refused accompaniment home at night

in those arrests, more often than not, when police are asked on what charges the people have been detained, there is no clear answer.

as a side note, the prosecutor who signed for the release of Pride20 was gunned down. (the 50th among the list of judges and lawmakers killed under the administration)

side notes

as a whole, the government’s “solution” to COVID-19 has been: 

military-based (as opposed to centered on healthcare/medical aspects), 

involved police brutality and selective justice

silencing dissenters with the passage of the Anti-Terror Law and arrests

spreading false news

fighting with experts in the University of the Philippines

NO MASS TESTING DESPITE PROMISING SUCH IN APRIL AFTER PUBLIC PRESSURE

so, where are we now?

Police brutality is only one aspect that will come into play once the Terror Law is  effective. Not only will they be emboldened to act even more atrociously, but the law will protect and allow such acts, even condone them, to an extent.

Even from the start, the law itself is unconstitutional and the definitions of a terrorist are vague. If you express criticism or dissent, meet up with people (with the possibility of collusion), etc. you can be branded a terrorist. Additionally, the detainment period has been extended, and police will be allowed to look into your personal communications and essentially wiretap/keep you under surveillance for a longer period of time if you are suspicious. 

Now keep in mind that there is also the recent denial of a major news company’s renewal. Meaning they have lost their right to their channel airwaves. This is the oldest and most far-reaching news company, with branches in regional languages for those in the provinces. There will be less media coverage and reports of arrests and human rights abuses, and much less people will be informed (especially those in remote areas who could only access this channel). In essence, the government has more control of what they (don’t) want the people to see.

So, tell me. With this kind of track record, and this kind of police culture, and the lack of proper checks and balances on the part of the press, what makes for the future of the Philippines once the Anti-Terror Law is effective?

Keep reading

if no one has told you this, I wanna let you know that you’re capable of your dreams. no matter what anyone says, even if it’s your close ones, you can and will achieve whatever you long to do if you just set out.

so please. don’t hesitate. set out. conquer.

neither lasts 

羽生結弦、大谷翔平…2017年活躍と名言に期待！（TOKYO FM＋） - Yahoo!ニュース

TOKYO FMの番組「クロノス」では、昨年12月の放送で「こんなのあったね！ 名言アワー - Yahoo!ニュース(TOKYO FM＋)

Famous words of 2016, Sports section 

2nd place: figure skater, Yuzuru Hanyu. “Efforts tell lies.  But they will not be in vain.”  

– from Yahoo News. 

More of what he said about this (from TV programme ‘Hero’s Special’):  “If efforts do not tell lies, then the person who has worked the hardest would win every time. The recent Olympics (Rio), I watched various competitions. No matter how hard a person has worked, sometimes they just don’t win. Conversely, a very young competitor might win by vigour/momentum. It is also like that in figure skating. So in that way, efforts tell lies. However, the lies are not in vain. Because of the lie, you might have to make a different kind of effort or search for the correct understanding of your efforts. I think that is very valuable, isn’t it?”

[my translation; see HERE for the programme where he said this]

Just to save it here as well, in August 2014, during Kozuki Sports Award ceremony, he made a speech. [from 9:10 of this video].   At the end of the speech, he said, 

“I think that sports is very cruel.  The person who worked the hardest does not always show the best results.  But if you do not work hard, you will definitely not be able to leave any results.   In order to leave the best results, we will continue to be grateful, and go on advancing day after day from here on.  Please continue to give us your support.   Thank you very much.”  (my translation)  

(I love the things he says.  I may translate his full speech when I have time.) 

hindi ko alam kung ako lang, pero palaging humihirap yung buhay-akademiko ko kapag wala ako sa mainit na yakap ng campus. tuwing umuuwi ako kapag weekend, o di kaya kapag naka-bakasyon, palaging akong nalulugmok sa ilalim ng kumot ng madilim kong kwarto. siguro dahil bumabawi pa rin ako sa dalawang taong pandemic pero dalawang taon na yung nagdaan pero litong-lito pa rin ako sa estado ng pag-aaral ko.

tanda ko 'tong kuha na ito, sembreak at wala gaanong tao sa campus. tanghaling tapat pero nakuha ko pang tumambay sa fpark at tumanaw ng mga high school students na nagpapractice. ako, maraming tambak na gawaing naiwan sa apartment. maraming backlogs, maraming hinahabol na INC. hindi ko alam kung bakit mas malungkot pa ko na hindi ko nakikita yung Carillon tower ngayon kesa don sa hindi ko nahabol na INC at gulo-gulo kong academic records. sana nasa elbi ako ngayon, sayang malilim pa naman.

In the wake of JK once more being a total jk, here’s a (non-exhaustive) thread of works by Black trans writers.

Don’t Call Us Dead - Danez Smith, poetry about Black masculinity, police brutality, gender and queerness. Probably the best book of poetry I’ve ever read. Smith has several collections available and you should read them all.

The Deep - Rivers Solomon, a speculative fiction novella about the descendants of murdered slave women. Themes of trauma and memory. Really beautiful writing. Their sci-fi novel An Unkindness of Ghosts is equally unmissable.

Redefining Realness - Janet Mock, the memoir of Mock’s childhood and adolescence as a trans woman before she transitioned. Mock’s second memoir, Surpassing Certainty, focuses on her life in her twenties.

Felix Ever After - Kacen Callender, a YA novel about a teenage trans boy (at the start of the book), Felix, as he further questions his identity, tries to find love, and works on his artistic future. Everything that makes YA novels great.

Reacquainted with Life - KOKUMO, a debut about Black trans womanhood and the power of her voice and body. This work is so hard to describe. Ferocious? Lively? Witty? Completely different to literally any poetry I’ve ever read? All of the above and more.

Mannish Tongues - jay dodd, a poetry collection about Black youth, queerness, religion, family, and gender. I hate how pretentious the word ‘visceral’ is, but it’s pretty accurate here. dodd’s collection The Black Condition ft. Narcissus is also phenomenal.

Pet - Akwaeke Emezi, a YA novel about a Black trans teenage girl and having to confront the existence of monsters. Emezi also has an acclaimed adult novel out, Freshwater, and I believe their new adult novel, The Death of Vivek Oji, is out in August 2020.

trigger - Venus Selenite, poetry about being Black, trans, queer, and unapologetic. This one is hard to get hold of, but worth it if you can. Selenite also co-edited and is featured in Nameless Woman, an anthology of writing by trans women of colour.

Surge - Jay Bernard, a poetry collection written in response to the 1981 fire at New Cross Road, as well as Grenfell Tower and the Windrush Scandal. Bernard is one of those poets who can use 10 words to say more than most of us can in 1,000.

Nameless Woman: An Anthology of Fiction by Trans Women of Color - ed. Venus Selenite, Ellyn Peña and Jamie Berrout, this one includes several stories by Black trans women and is, as a body of work, completely invaluable. The stories here range from semi-autobiographical and romance to sci-fi and speculative fiction.

Resilience - ed. Amy Heart, Larissa Glasser and Sugi Pyrrophyta, an anthology of writing by ©AMAB trans people. Again, this anthology is not specifically dedicated to Black trans people, but it includes work by KOKUMO and CHRYSALISAMIDST, amongst others. This book is super varied, with short stories, poetry and personal essays.

Consider ordering these, where possible, from independent Black owned bookstores.

You can also financially support Black trans people through donating to organisations such as this and these.

Important addendum: I tried incredibly hard to find published works by Black trans women, because trans women are the focus of JK Rowling’s tweets and indeed an overwhelming amount of violence and bigotry in general, but I’m sure it’s no surprise to anyone that Black trans women are enormously discriminated against by the publishing industry, and are routinely denied a platform for their work and their voices. Literally, when you Google ‘black trans woman author’, you just get Janet Mock’s author page. I think all of the books by Black trans women in the list above, with the exception of Janet Mock, are self/indie pub.

I have trawled through online indie and radical publishing magazines, message boards, and nearly 100 lists of ‘trans authors you must read now!’ and I would charitably say that about 1% of people featured in such lists are Black trans women. Obviously, Black trans women are writing, but the lack of available platform for their work is a huge barrier to their voices being heard. If anyone else has recommendations for work by Black trans women, whether it’s a physical book, an online chapbook, an Insta account of poetry, or anything else, please add it, because there must be so much more than I’ve managed to find.

I got this huge archive of cult movies and obscure videos if anybody else is sick of streaming services

cuties