Hi! I'm Stephen. I have over a decade of experience in criminal justice, civil legal aid, government service delivery, and the role of data/technology in all of that. I've done litigation, research, tech projects, and organizing. Always trying to get better at all of it.
I also sometimes make music, go on hikes, go birdwatching, and hang out with my cat. I think that's basically it! #introductions #intro
How to make your own chemical weapons wipes
Rosehip Medics in Portland OR documented their recipe and assembly process for their DIY chem wipes (for treating tear gas & pepper spray), you can download the pdf here: http://www.filedropper.com/diypseudoconchemicalweaponswipes
Stay safe!
I have received permission to invite non-Capital-District attendees to our upcoming panel discussion on reparations. The panel is generally local activists and researchers, but could be interesting even for non-local folks. Next Tuesday, April 13, 6pm. Details on the Facebook event! Let me know if you have questions! https://www.facebook.com/events/440907757208601
quote
"The effort to ~manifest~ and ~normalize~ across Instagram specifically ranges from bot-like nonsense splashed over gorgeous imagery to clinical-grade psychological advice with entry-level graphic design. Anyone can contribute to rebuilding global mental health with a stock image of the galaxy and a quote ripped from goodreads.com."
The Dirt is one of my newer newsletter subscriptions, and it is proving to be consistently my favorite each week. Here is today's, on toxic positivity affirmation shitposting. https://dirt.substack.com/p/dirt-affirmation-memes-for-millennial
YouTube Recommendation
I don't know if any of y'all follow Andrew Huang, but he's now doing a thing where he's gone to space (?) and is living on a spaceship (??) to hunt down time crystals (???) but otherwise still just doing music production reviews and tutorials. It's great. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlgkSrFq6hk
1974, Joni Mitchell stops in the middle of performing "Both Sides Now" to talk about Star Trek:
"Did you ever used to watch that show called Star Trek? (cheers from crowd) Oh... I just had a flash of this show, that I saw while I was singing this tune. It was the only show where Dr. Spock ever got any emotion, right? You remember that one? It was really great because... " (https://jonimitchell.com/music/song.cfm?id=83, she goes on to talk about Spock and clouds, just amazing)
Sarraounia (1986) is an excellent film showing African resistance to colonization. It's the kind of film we need so much more of, one that makes a good attempt at being historically accurate, is moving to watch, and engages the present through the past
you can watch it here:
quote from the story
"I realised he just wanted to understand what had happened to him, and more about how technology works. That’s the same kind of curiosity I had, that started this whole surrealist three-act drama. That… wasn’t really what I was expecting from Tony Abbott, but it’s what I found."
Extremely good article: "When you browse Instagram and find former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott's passport number"
Not sure if I posted about it already, but I recently became obsessed with this Oblivion NPC dialogue YouTube channel, which is just edited clips from a series of English-language training videos made by a community college teacher. I have watched every one of these videos at least twice. Here is a good one: https://youtu.be/keNTVD2vvUI
I have appeared on a podcast again
Twice, actually. I would not presume people are interested, but if you are, here is the information:
This episode is about the weirdo B-movie "Trancers": http://withtwobrains.com/lost-in-criterion/2020/12/25/happy-holidays-w-trancers
This episode is about an old western called "The Furies": http://withtwobrains.com/lost-in-criterion/2021/1/15/the-furies
uspol -
In a lot of ways, it's almost poetic that the summer of the uprising for Black lives has led to a world where even lots of WHITE people in America now have to acknowledge their government doesn't give a fuck about them.
It's a Run the Jewels kinda day https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32hUIGnMpOY
pol, David Graeber quote, carework
"You ask any Marxist about labor and labor-value, they always immediately go to production. Well, here’s a cup. Somebody has to make the cup, it’s true. But we make a cup once, and we wash it ten thousand times, right? That labor just disappears in most of these accounts. Most work isn’t about producing things, it’s about keeping them the same, it’s about maintaining them, taking care of them, but also taking care of people, taking care of plants and animals."
Into criminal defense, science, sci-fi, hiking, birds ¤ also into dismantling the carceral state, the nonprofit industrial complex, capitalism, and white supremacy (it's good to have ambitious goals) ¤ (he/him)