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Stella Aug15 - am not doing any blogs from time ... but have been contributing to some threads on FB & other discussions, so thought I'd put the links here directly instead of copying the news like I did before (trying this out to see how mini-max it is :)

May 17

stopped linking these for a whole year :) ...

This one about travelling was interesting

May16

Great post about racism by Starhawk, which was spoiled for me by seeing her buy into the 'cis-gender' mind-fuck. When I mentioned this of course people rushed to 'educate me'.

"It's because I am a permaculture designer that I could never subscribe to the biophobic agenda that says Nature could possibly, ever, make such gross mistakes as 'putting people in the wrong bodies'. "Learn from Nature", remember?

There's nothing ever wrong with our bodies: it's this crappy patriarchal civilization that has invented - and very violently tries to keep us slaves to - a totally unnatural gender system. And all the stupid 'beauty' & 'sexuality' standards that come with it. It's all crap, wake up.

I've heard & read plenty of the arguments about 'cis' politics & they boil down to calling the (enforced by violence) feminization of women & masculinization of men 'a privilege'.

This can only sound normal or sensible to people who are totally desensitized from the brutalization that has to happen in patriarchy to make girls into acceptable 'females' and boys into acceptable 'males'. It's NOT a privilege if you 'win' that acceptance, it's slavery! And it's enforced by a very violent gender control system - which we need to *dismantle*, not justify or try to adapt to, or even re-design!

The pornography industry has a LOT to answer for, in cementing ever younger people's powerful sexual impulses to a sadomasochistic idea of 'sex' that is just enforces the 'sexyness' of women's submission, and men's 'natural' brutality... or in twisting our sexuality into all kinds of weird shapes.

As the famous saying goes “I freed a thousand slaves. I could have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves.”

I'm also transgender, a biophilic (nature-loving) transgender person AND 100% a woman - because I don't fit well in any of the definitions of gender as dictated by this sick, sick society, BUT I totally don't accept anyone's idea of what 'being a woman' (or a man) should look or feel like. Nature made me female, so HOWEVER I choose to express myself is, by definition, female. And that goes for anyone.

And yes, of course not fitting into the gender slave system hurts. "Only those who do not move, do not notice their chains." (Rosa Luxemburg) & not being able to move (or not 'choosing' to move) is NOT a "privilege"! Calling it that is a major mind-fuck.

whilst you're here ... take a still moment to breathe ...

(isn't it amazingly relaxing just to look at this pic? love it ... :o)

Apr16

Some DGR post answers about eco-tech, here & here

- Women Destroy Civilizations video: commented this_

It is a great argument for dismantling civilizations (civilizations = societies based on cities - capitalism) as quickly as possiblem to claim that civilization isn't compatible with women's equality. In fact, it isn't compatible with ANY other kind of equality, either: it is incompatible with human rights, and in fact with our very humanity.

There have always and will always be slaves & exploitation required for all civilizations to function (all the layers of 'lower classes' needed to maintain the capitalists), and therefore classism, racism & sexism.

So thanks for making the argument that these oppressions HAVE TO be enshrined in our civilization for it to even function. Feminists have been trying to get that point across for decades - eg. how the oppression of women is totally interconnected with our civilized hatered of nature: something to be subjugated at all costs - much like women, & especially women's sexuality. And how patriarchy is incompatible with our very humanity.

Anyone with an ounce of intelligence will, hopefully, conclude that we need to seriously revise the mass-brainwashing of equating 'civilized' with 'everything we hold dear & must preserve at all costs'.

Yes, men have created and maintain civilizations (by actively excluding women, unlike other much more humane societies). And not coincidentally (maybe?) there always has and always will be pillaging & destruction of the environment & wars (for dwindling resources) wherever there are civilizations. (200 species PER DAY, is the toll of the current globalizing civilization). That civilized machismo is protective of women and children is yet another sick joke that we've been brainwashed with.

All civilizations have collapsed because they - inherently & unavoidably - exploit (rather than maintain) the very resources they are based on. Including people, and especially women. Western civilization has just gone much further in destroying because it had fossil fuels to maintain it - and that's going to end.

The others all collapsed by destroying the soils they relied on. But ALL collapse. And it isn't because the women revolt.

We have plenty of historical evidence that the only sustainable human cultures have been tribal (they didn't build cities), and they are now the only ones that have any chance of surviving the environmental collapse that western civilization has caused. IF any humans survive at all.

Tribal societies are also diametrically opposite in almost every other respect to civilizations: women are not exploited, rape is unknown, children grow up free in a supportive community of many 'parents' (& so noticeably free of all the psychological traumas we consider 'normal' in the anti-human civilizations based on keeping 'one woman to one man', etc.), neither are there 'inferior classes' of men, nature isn't pillaged, their lives are peaceful & fulfilling, and there is no mental illness (or the rest of the long list of 'the diseases of civilization').

So if feminists are helping this civilization to collapse quicker, they should to be appreciated for this service in the same way that people working for racial and class equality should be appreciated. Let's learn something from (billenial..) history and herstory.

Feb16

- about men's groups (in pc women)

- about people-care teaching in PC (awaiting moderation):

Actually some of the best people-care models are VERY old, just virtually un-known (and even more rarely taught) in permaculture courses. There are many and they each have different applications.

One is the RC model (50year history of action-learning by a now world-wide community) – link to the theory in the Integral Permaculture Designers Manual online: http://en.permaculturescience.org/english-pages/1-peoplecare/6-the-scientific-model/the-human-mind#TOC-RC-Theory

Another one is Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits, some 30 years old, also a very permacultural, pattern and value based manual for people-care (especially self-care). And there are many others.

That feelings come from thoughts is observably true, but it doesn’t explain ‘triggering’ which is actually the most problematic way in which our feelings boycott our relationships & behaviors. It doesn’t explain how oppression happens, and how it is perpetuated even when we intellectually do understand how our thinking & beliefs are wrong.

Patterns aren’t the same as models, but related: patterns go some way to explaining WHY things happen, but mostly they just describe WHAT happens (& in what sequence). Models go much deeper into the whys – so we can more effectively change things. It is effective models that we need to look for and use, in order to start understanding how to do effective people-care.

There is a collective effort (15 years into the making, started in Spain) by an international cooperative of permaculture teachers and practitioners who have been putting together a holistic People Care curriculum described herehttp://en.permaculturescience.org/english-pages/1-peoplecare

Nov15

- gift economy in Beaut.World

Oct15

- analysis of 'consent' in materialist feminists group

- vegan revenge thread in PC Women

- truth universal or relative by Heather

- sea water for soil fertility thread in Regrarians

- bioregional designs thread in Regrarians

- Gender Critical Feminism thread on 'CIS'

- ancestors thread in FB Women PC group

- women and language thread in FB Women PC group

- permi beauty routines for women in FB Women PC group

- jeez... liberal (ignorant) feminism really makes me MAD!

- facts or stories thread in Brock's FB

- interesting 'no anger allowed' thread about 'cis' women (didn't contribute because am furious about this stuff... but will quote)

- 'social permaculture' and privilege thread in Brock's FB

- legal structures question in women in pc

- colonizers returning land question by Heather, reminded Jose to move his diploma design!

- women in pc about safe spaces .. interesting 'venting' comment... am thinking about this.

- responding to yet more platitudes... this time about being brave .. BeauWorld

- Cowspiracy doc is just HH in my opinion ... BeautWorld thread

- interesting thread about power v energy in Derrick's page

- enjoying various threads in the (private, for now) group for the Integral PC Institute Design group... but I wish we could get on with the design :( although it made me start on thinking of the attacks on DGR wiki as a possible Masters I can present...

- was interviewed by Derrick Jensen about Integral Permaculture! (rough draft here) to be aired Nov-Dec'15

- beautiful video on our power, in Beautiful world

- health thread in Beautiful World, ... got me to update the Radical Health wiki with a pioneer page for Caroline Myss

- thead about moderation in Beautiful World (the 'non-judgement brigade judging all over the place .. old new age story..)

Sept15

- Grandma Leadership in Beautiful World

- Victim Mentality thread in Beautiful World

- Rhethoric and Enlightenment article I started in Beautiful World since most of the discussions end up being "discussions about how we discuss" ... which is actually a lot more basic in the end ... have been putting together an article on this under Passionate Dialogue here for some time ... hoping that Sabine & Suz will help put it together (here in our private WritersGuild group)

- Integral enquiry about pre-trans by David Long

- IPC online more interactive event? in Integral PC group

- Cognitive Dissonance 'science of gender' article

- Vegetarian Myth discussion in Beautiful World

- Women's knowledge thread in Women in PC group

- Deplatforming (bigotry) thread in Beautiful World

... which inspired me to add that great article by Derrick to the DGR Attacks wiki, together with The Real Politics of PostModernism article (+ I actually went looking for more attacks articles ...

.. ended up adding Christina's shamanism podcasts to a gender spectrum discussion

- wow, someone in Regrarians noticing Jensen might have a point

Aug15

- 7th :) EcoVillage project newsletter just came out, see SummerSun

- about permaculture courses in Permaculture Educators group

- another critique of DGR - in A Beautiful World group

- expanded on the Derrick Jensen thread in Integral PC group

- PC questionnaire thread in PC Educators

- 3rd ethic discussion in Permaculture Women

- 'Calling in' discussion in A More Beautiful World

- 'Liberation Permaculture' article by colleague Graham Burnett

- e-motion movie dialogue ... I replied with the RC model

- e-motion & billionaires in a More Beautiful World

- leadership models :) suggested a 3rd one

- drowned Syrian child in a More Beautiful World (too controversial!? deleted ... sigh ... questioned here)

- Gender Issues, have been adding stuff to the wiki I created about the DGR attacks inspired by gender politics. A colleague wants to take on the goddessspiritrising program (last item on "Embracing Men and Transgenders in the Goddess Community") so we're helping her.