countdankula:

modernpangea:

blueshiftbolide:

stopdropandrun:

Jonathan Hobin Re-Creates the World’s Most Infamous Tragedies with Children

more of the album  here

I just heard this guy talk about these on NPR today!  

this is eye opening. 

whoa

(via rokokandmilk)

Source: stopdropandrun

#NoShots: Indelibly Yours

Full disclaimer: I am going to be a first-time voter this May 5th.

Here’s my lame explanation for that: I turned 21 in 1999, the year of the 10th General Elections. I registered to vote. They rejected my registration. I couldn’t vote. I got pissed. I dropped out of university and refused to vote for the 11th and 12th GEs.

Hey, I told you it was lame.

Anyway.

I’m going to vote this time around because, frankly, I’m getting older and I’m tired of trying to change things on my own. The whole “only I know what’s right, and I don’t care if no one else is with me on this” posture is a young man’s game. It was interesting to play. Just being frustrated and angry is not an achievement in and of itself - if you don’t voice that sentiment, you’re yelling at a wall. (The wall is not an elected representative. Stop yelling at it.) As I grew older, I met other frustrated people - young, old, whatever ethnicity, whatever religion, whatever la - all trying to change things on their own. Not many believed in the system being voted into something better.

And you know what? That’s actually true. You CAN’T vote a system into getting better. Not *just* vote, anyway. It’s like letting a Pokemon loose: you can’t just shout “I choose YOU!!” and expect your, uh, Charizard? Right? to effortlessly whup the other dude’s ball beast. You have to coach it, encourage it when it’s doing something right, tell him you’ll whip him raw if he screws up. And these are wild animals you’re dealing with - if you don’t mind it enough, it might just turn around and breathe fire on your ass.

But you still have to choose it first.

Voting is easy. I don’t care if the ink washes off, or if the guy behind me in the waiting line is an undocumented Pinoy banana farmer fresh off the B-52. Those are symptoms of a larger disease. But voting is something we can still do as a constitutional right, and it’s due to the sacrifices of our predecessors. It wasn’t that long ago. My father was 22 when we got independence. He grew up not knowing if he’d ever be able to vote. We didn’t have to grow up that way. We have a choice.

What isn’t easy is what we have to do when we’re done voting. Your Pokemon is out of its ball, and you have to make it kick ass. You have to engage your wakil rakyat, tell him to fix stuff, e-mail your MP, make him support legalizing Iron Man movie marathons in GSC or something. Sometimes, they go deaf. Sometimes you have to shout. Sometimes you have to march. That should be legalized, too. Sometimes, they screw up on purpose. You have to demand that they get fired, tried, judged, and replaced. I think that’s legal already, but it doesn’t get done terribly often. We’re getting better at voicing out our concerns now, and I think that’s cool.

Here’s where I write down my list of demands:

- I want a Malaysia where I don’t have to feel scared when a bunch of cops walk up to me. Unless I’ve done something wrong. In which case I want a Malaysia where I don’t get beat up by cops in the lockup.

- I want a Malaysia where I really don’t have to give a rat’s ass about a person’s race, religion, political affiliation, sexual orientation, or position on whether Episodes I-III should be considered canon.

- I want a Malaysia where you can (politely) say what you think on TV, in newspapers, in magazines, on websites, on a wooden box in the middle of KLCC Park, onstage at Urbanscapes, wherever. No one can stop anyone else from speaking their mind. Not even hate speech. Because the rest of us should have the right to know who’s a blooming idiot.

- Related to the previous point: I want a Malaysia that has The Daily Show with Patrick Teoh. Come on, dudes. Let’s make it happen.

I’m not endorsing any party over another. It’s really not that important. These people are yelling at you (not a wall) asking for a job, or asking to renew their employment contract for another 5 years. That’s about it. They’re in their little balls, pleading to be let out. You - sorry, we - need to choose which one works best for the kind of challenges we’re up against; which ones will do. what. they’re. told. And then we have to tell them what to do. Constantly.

I’m going to be a first-time voter this May 5th. You go do what you want. 

But make it count.