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New! My Art on Totes & More

11/27/2020

I have an announcement! I decided to move everything I sell that's decorated with my art to my Lalena.me website.

Why? It's different customers & fans than my women's clothing business. I've sold just as many items to men as women. :) And I think the people that like my art are likely to be the same people that like my music and my videos. :) Some of the music videos do have a similar aesthetic, like this one.

SPECIAL SALE

To celebrate, I'm offering a sale on totes. Prices Good until Mon., Dec. 30th at 12 midnight. While supplies last.

Basic Tote Bag (Only a few of these left in-stock!)

Origami Tote Wrap (Only a few of these left in-stock!)

Urban Tote Bag (Lined)

All of the items are Made in Canada and decorated with my art. Please support me and Canadian business by buying some pretty, artwork decorated goods. :)

And please share with friends and family who may be interested, share on social media, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Thank you!

#madeincanada #shoplocal #blackfridaydeals #smallbusinesssaturday

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Feminist Fridays: WAP, Cuties, Cats and Capitalism

9/25/2020

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Is this the new face of feminism?

Note: Since we're discussing the song WAP there will be some graphic language in this post, so #nsfw

Background
A number of people have mentioned Cardi B.'s background in talking about WAP and I do think it’s relevant, since she’s being put forward as a feminist icon. So let's start with a little history in case you don't know. (I don't know about Megan's background, so I won't comment on that.)

Cardi has talked about the fact that she started stripping when she was 19. She’s also talked about what she did when men offered her money for sex, she drugged them and robbed them. So she did what's shown in Hustlers in real life and was never caught or prosecuted. She's also talked about getting back at men who cheat on her by getting them drunk/drugged and having a “tranny” have sex with them.

I think this is part of the problem, a lot of people have, with holding up Cardi B. as a feminist role model. I think we can all agree that drugging, raping, and robbing people is wrong. From her own description, it's clear she was not a good, ethical sex worker. And I think Cardi has some pretty messed up ideas about consent and transsexuals, if she thinks it’s ok to get “even” with a cis-het* guy she’s dating by getting him drunk/drugged and setting him up to have sex with someone who’s a “tranny”.

Beyond Cardi's past though, there's the lyrics to WAP. A number of women have proclaimed WAP as being feminist and a great anthem for female empowerment. AOC (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) even went so far as to tweet about WAP standing for "Women Against Patriarchy" and Gwyneth Paltrow talked about WAP being "part of the crumbling patriarchy" and glowingly said that "Cardi B is changing it by her incredible lyrical prowess".

Are you blindly ignoring the lyrics? Did you just hear the word “pussy” and decide that it must be feminist and progressive? The lyrics reinforce the idea that the only thing women have of value, the only currency women have to trade is their bodies and sex. The lyrics talk about trading sex for money and cars, using sex to get ahead in your career, and how sex is all that's important get a guy to marry you. Are these empowering, feminist messages? Are these women against patriarchy?

"There's some whores in the house"
Let's look at the lyrics, starting with the backing track, "There's some whores in the house". This line is repeated over and over again like a mantra throughout the song. This is the main message!

(The fact that you never see a guy in the video makes it ambiguous who’s saying this or why. I know it’s a sample, but in the context of the lyrics, is he their pimp? Is he a customer? Is he a neighbour complaining?)

You can interpret "There's some whores in the house" in two ways:

There are some actual sex workers in this house.
There are some women who enjoy sex in this house.

The rest of the lyrics make it clear the answer is both.

The Good
Is it catchy? Yeah, it's catchy as fuck, like an STI (more on that comparison later). WAP is an awful earworm that will get stuck in your head. You have been warned!

The lyrics graphically talk about sex, and comically and ridiculously talk about female arousal, like the line about needing "a bucket and a mop for this wet-ass pussy".

I think the *best* I can say about WAP is that the lyrics talk about women liking sex. Typical cis-het sex with lots of sex work and a little kink. But being raunchy is not revolutionary. There are LOTS of song written and sung by women talking about being aroused and enjoying sex. And I’m not convinced that merely talking about enjoying sex equals female empowerment, particularly considering the lyrics and messages conveyed in WAP overall.

It’s possible that WAP is trying to reclaim the words "whore" and "freak". Both of the women sing about enjoying sex and doing sex work, so perhaps they are trying to reclaim the word “whore”. And there is the line “I said certified freak, seven days a week”, so perhaps the song is trying to reclaim that word as well.

I think that is the most glowing, positive light I can shine on WAP. Beyond that, well, I don't think the messages are particularly feminist and I have difficult seeing this as a great song for young women. Here are some of the lessons you can learn from WAP.

Sex work can pay for your tuition, get you a new car and more!
The song includes a number of lyrics talking about sex work, like "Pay my tuition just to kiss me on this wet-ass pussy...Now make it rain if you wanna see some wet-ass pussy". So the song glorifies sex work as a way to pay for college. There's also a line saying you should, "Ask for a car while you ride that dick". So there are a number of lyrics that talk about exchanging sex for money and goods. Is it feminist to encourage women to do sex work? To demand money before showing your WAP to a guy?

You don't need to use condoms, the guy can just pull out.
There are several lines that talk about the guy pulling out, such as "Wet-ass pussy, make that pullout game weak" and "Quick, jump out 'fore you let it get inside of me". No need for condoms apparently, even though they're talking about doing sex work and having sex with guys who don’t know your name. Apparently they’re not worried about sexually transmitted diseases. Yeah, you thought I was joking about the STI bit.

If you suck the right cock, you can get a record deal.
There's also this lyric, "I spit on his mic and now he tryna sign me". This line is clearly saying she did oral on a guy and now she's getting offered record deal. After #metoo and #timesup is this what we want to encourage? Women willingly sucking dick to get ahead in their career?

How to be a gold digger
And then there's this line, "I don't cook, I don't clean, but let me tell you how I got this ring". Saying quite literally that you can be a talentless whore and still get married. No need for common interests, love, or anything like. No, all you need to do is find a rich guy and have sex with him.

Oh, you don't think that's what this song says? Here's another line "He got some money, then that's where I'm headed, Pussy A1 just like his credit". Either she's looking for a rich guy to get money and goods for sex, or she's looking for a rich guy to marry her. Which is it? Which is a better message for women?

I've read some people think the lyrics are feminist because women used to be expected to cook and clean if they got married, but this song is saying women don't have to cook or clean. Um, really? So it's better to focus on how all women need to do is be good in bed?

Really, this whole song talks about women enjoying sex with men and using sex to get money and goods, get ahead in your career, and get married. Is this moving feminism forward? Is this going to crumble patriarchy? Or are these messages heteronormative?

Why do some feminists think WAP is great?
I've asked women who proclaim WAP to be feminist and empowering to explain what's feminist and empowering about the song. They seem to struggle to explain it and eventually descend to telling me to shut up if I don't like it and insults. Hmm, so much for an open-minded discussion on this topic.

@feminist shared Raquel Willis's post speaking positively about WAP and asking people to “Imagine if women and other folks could love their selves on their own terms without being concerned with the white cis-hetero patriarchal gaze.”

I think that’s a nice idea, but WAP is clearly designed for the cis-het male gaze. Every sexy outfit, pose, and dance move. The lyrics too. Even their bodies! I know Cardi has openly talked about getting plastic surgery to look more attractive to men. All of WAP is designed to appeal guys, maybe not so much white guys, but definitely for cis-het guys!

WAP and young women
A number of people commented online about WAP being great for young women. When I asked of one the commenters why they thought WAP was great for young women and they said WAP makes young women feel good about their bodies.

I'm all for women feeling good about their bodies! But I don't think that's something WAP does. And in terms of its effect on young women, have you seen Generation Wealth? Have you seen Cuties?

Here's a still from the WAP video and a still from the dance performance in Cuties.

A still from the WAP music & a still from the movie Cuties, both showing the same hump the floor dance move.

Notice some similarity there? Yup, it's the same hump the floor dance move meant to look like you’re having sex.

Cuties and #cancelnetflix
Here's a clip of the infamous dance performance in Cuties.

The girls shown in this clip are supposed to be 11 years old competing in a dance competition. I think Cuties accurately points out that the hyper-sexualisation that women are exposed to from a young age puts pressure on them to dress sexy, to do sexy dance moves, to expose themselves, etc.

Should you cancel Netflix? Yes, but not necessarily for Cuties. There are other reasons to cancel Netflix.

I think the director of Cuties is trying to show a young woman's journey and ultimately, she shows a middle ground for the young lead character, not conforming to her family or to dance crew she joined. But there is a LOT of young women dressing sexy and doing sexy dance moves in Cuties, so yeah, pedos would probably enjoy watching it.

At the same time, I think it's probably an accurate depiction of a young woman journey. Women are looking at videos like WAP and emulating the dance moves, and looking at women like Cardi B. and Kim Kardashian as roles models.

However, I do think Netflix choice to use a more sexualized poster for the English version of Cuties rather than the original image used for French release is questionable.

French poster for Mignonnes (Cuties) showing girls enjoying a shopping spree with confetti in the air.

Netflix English language poster for Cuties showing girls in revealing dance outfits posing to look sexy.

Similarly the original English description was, “Amy, 11, becomes fascinated with a twerking dance crew. Hoping to join them, she starts to explore her femininity, defying her family’s traditions.” Netflix later changed the description to "11- year-old Amy starts to rebel against her conservative family’s traditions when she becomes fascinated with a free-spirited dance crew.”

I guess Netflix realized using sexy poster of children and advertising 11 year old girls twerking might not be the best idea.

Big Cats & Tiger King
There's one other detail to WAP that bothers me, the wild animals. I thought everyone watched Tiger King! There should not be big cats in this video. Wild animals should not be exploited. Here's a longer article discussing this problem and how this isn't the first time Cardi has used big cats in her videos. She's a repeat offender.

When she was called out about it by Carole Baskin, Cardi said, “Like, that’s just ridiculous you know? Like, girl, you killed your goddamn husband.” I think her husband’s disappearance is suspicious too, but that’s not the point. The point is Cardi B. is contributing to the exploitation of big cats and using them to to portray extreme wealth in her videos, and apparently sees nothing wrong with that. I guess she doesn't care about big cats.

Sex, sluts and sex workers
To be clear, I love sex, I've enjoyed some porn, and I've even written some erotica. ;) I think being aroused and wanting sex are perfectly natural and normal for anyone, any person, or animal for that matter. And if you want to be a slut, go for it, but I think it’s best to be an Ethical Slut. :)

Much like the lyrics of WAP describe, I want to have sex every day, given a chance 4 or 5 times in a night. LOL But for me personally, I like other aspects to go with that, like common interests, connection, love, a relationship...

And if a billionaire or millionaire would like to date me, send me a message. I would be happy to marry someone wealthy, there are just other qualities I’d be looking for too, like compassion.

And I'm not against sex work. I've had a number of friends and acquaintances who have done sex work. I think it's a skilled profession and it's been around a very long time. But, and this is a big BUT, a lot of women do sex work for the money. They don't do it because they enjoy it, they do it because it pays well, because they're desperate for money. Sex workers usually get paid at least $250 an hour. What other jobs can you get that pay that well? Even Cardi talks about being a stripper to "survive" and clearly she focuses more on music now that she has a choice.

Have you seen how many women suddenly started OnlyFans accounts during the pandemic? It's a sign of the times. Women needed a way to make money, preferably from home, so it makes sense they would turn to becoming web cam girls and offering sexy pics on OnlyFans. I think sex work is something women turn to the same way men turn to gangs and dealing drugs. It's often because they see it as the best option available for them to make money. If there were other options available, many wouldn't do it. And men do sex work too, it's just not as common.

The other day someone mentioned to me that Seeking Arrangements is doing a “Back to School” sale, because you know, it’s time for students to go back to school and they need money. Seeking Arrangements boasts that Sugar Baby University now has more than 4.5 million students, 2.5 million in the US and over 330K in Canada. In its annual report for 2020 it said the number of students in Canada has risen "44 per cent in one year" and that was before than pandemic. A number of articles have been published talking about the growing trend and how it’s increased even more now with the pandemic. In one of the articles a student says, "I knew that the only way for me to make money was to either sell drugs or get a sugar daddy." So I think the comparison to dealing drugs is right on target. Sex work is choice, but what other options do women feel like they have?

Doing sex work, being a sugar baby, even being a gold digger, these are things women do to try to survive and thrive in a “man’s world”. Sex sells! And men have money. As woman, you have accepted that and have chosen to sell yourself as a sex object. In all of these cases we’re talking about a relationship with a man that is centered around the women’s sex appeal and her performing sex acts, and the man rewarding her with money and goods. As a woman, you are being valued for your beauty and how good you are in bed. As a man, you’re being valued for how much money you have.

I do understand in *some* cases there is an actual relationship where the people love each other, but in *most* sex work situations that is not the case and some of those articles included horror stories about being a sugar baby that are comparable to the some of bad experiences sex workers have. The sugar babies interviewed confirmed there is definitely an expectation of sex for money at the start, so I think this is a spectrum of exchanges of sex for money, money for sex. This is capitalism at its core, sell your body for money.

I think the questions I have about WAP are: Are the messages in WAP actually feminist? Or is it enabling patriarchy and promoting capitalism by encouraging women to sell their bodies to chase after wealth at any cost? If you haven’t done so already, I strongly encourage you to watch Generation Wealth and consider these questions.

*cis-het = cisgender heterosexual. One of the most common gender identity and sexual orientation combinations. Cisgender a term for people whose gender identity matches their sex assigned at birth. Heterosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction or sexual behaviour between persons of the opposite sex or gender.

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The Case for Basic Income: Take Action!

9/20/2020

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Saturday was International Basic Income day, but I was busy on a film set over the weekend so I'm posting about it today. :) Plus the marches planned for this weekend were cancelled due to Covid, so I think sharing online is the best option right now.

Basic Income (aka, UBI, Universal Basic Income, Guaranteed Living Basic Income) is the idea that everyone should have enough to survive, enough to cover essentials like food and housing.

This Wednesday, September 23rd the Canadian government will present their plan to fix our social safety net. Now is the time to speak up! Sign a petition, write to your MP, and Justin Trudeau.

Basic Income is key to recovering from the Covid crisis, as the money will support the people who need it the most & it will be directly injected into economy by people spending on rent, food and other essentials. It simplifies support systems & it will help Canada deal with the economic impact from the Covid crisis, the decrease in jobs, and the rise in automation.

Please help Basic Income become a reality in Canada! We need a better support system for Canadians that will actually help everyone & help the economy, now more than ever before.

If you're new to the concept, here's a nice short video explaining "the case for universal basic income in post-pandemic Canada".

Is this a crazy left-wing idea?

No, not at all. Bill Kelly mentioned in his show the other day that "one of the architects of the concept of this was actually long-time conservative strategist and senator Hugh Segal".

Hugh Segal is quoted on the cover of Basic Income for Canadians saying it is, "The new Bible for how to best reduce poverty for millions."

And Former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney says a guaranteed basic income needs to be looked at with “great priority”.

Basic Income is a rare policy that people on the left and right side of the political spectrum support. It's easy to see why if you look at it. It's a good solution for poverty, it has an excellent ROI, and it stimulates the economy. Studies have shown that every $1 invested in the CCB drives $2 of economic activity!

It also simplifies and reduce government programs by replacing a number of existing support programs. Did anyone find themselves looking at the list of various Covid support programs when this first started to try to figure out which ones you were eligible for, personally or as a business? Did you see how long the list was? And yet, they still missed millions of people providing no help at all to many people and small businesses. Introducing basic income at the start of the pandemic for everyone would have been far more straight-forward than the patchwork of programs that is literally pages long and still misses millions.

And if you look at an issue like abortion, basic income can help women, regardless of whether you are pro-choice or pro-life.

Pro-choice: 3 out of 4 abortions happen because the woman can't afford having a baby. Basic Income allows women to choose whether to have a child from a place of financial freedom, rather than insecurity.

Pro-life: Basic Income addresses the most common reasons why women seek abortions, giving them financial security to have a child, the freedom to stop working, and increasing family stability.

Basic Income is cheaper than poverty

The two main criticisms of a basic income are:

Giving people cash will cause them to work less and hurt the economy.
Providing an income floor at a reasonable level for everyone is unaffordable.

Both of these critiques are wrong and poverty is expensive!

Income and wealth inequality are getting worse

A new PBO report says Canada's wealthiest 1% hold more than 25% of the wealth, about $3 trillion. And giving out millions to companies to help with Covid didn't result in those companies spending the funds as intended in the US or Canada.

There has been a dramatic rise in the concentration of wealth during the pandemic.

I think it's helpful to see which companies these billionaires are associated with, so I added the company names below.

And Jeff Bezos isn't just profiting from this pandemic, he's price gouging; "Items sold by Amazon reportedly increased in price by up to 1,000 percent".

Photo by @35mm_johnnyramen taken in the Capital Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) in Seattle.

Housing

I know some people were hoping the Covid crisis would lead to the housing bubble bursting, prices falling back down to reasonable levels, and being able to afford to buy a home someday!

Instead housing prices are going up. Vancouver home prices rose 4.5% in July compared to 12 months ago.

I know you might be getting hopeful and thinking that 270 number might means something like $270,000, but no that's the price index showing how much prices have increased. The MLS Home Price Index composite benchmark price for all types of properties is up to $1,031,400. Yes, over a million for any type of property.

Rents have not gone up in BC yet, but starting this month landlords can evict tenants for not paying rent, and in December rent increases can start happening again. In places like Vancouver, nearly half of renters spend 30% or more of their income on housing which is unaffordable. Nearly a 1/4 spend at least half of their before-tax income on shelter.

Food

I'm sure you've noticed by now that food prices are going up and package sizes are going down. There are lots of articles discussing how the pandemic is causing grocery prices to rise and how "no food category is immune". Food insecurity is “most prevalent among households with low incomes, those who rent … and those who identify as Indigenous and Black” and food insecurity has increased during the pandemic. Food is a basic human need essential for health and life itself. We ALL need food to survive.

Millions of Canadians still don’t have jobs to return to

Many business are struggling. Bars and nightclubs and other businesses have been shutdown indefinitely in many places due to being high-risk environments. Bartenders, DJs, waiters, numerous people have lost their jobs and those jobs aren't coming back anytime soon.

In BC, we have a limit of 50 people for gatherings and ALL of the events where I used to sell my clothing and accessories were gatherings of more than 50 people. Artisan markets, fashion shows, trade shows...large events, indoors with lots of people, which are now banned. This disrupts not just me and the other businesses who attended these events, there's also all the organizers for the events and the workers who setup up the convention halls, food servers, security, etc.

The Covid crisis has "disproportionately impacted our most financially vulnerable: low wage earners, part-time employees, the solo self-employed, youth, and recent immigrants" and estimates suggest that over 1/2 million lay-offs could be permanent.

And automation is coming, very quickly. You may think, oh, that's something far off in the distant future. It's surprisingly close in a lot of fields.

Companies are already testing driverless trucks. "The technology will bring untold profits, but it may cost thousands of truckers their livelihoods."

A number of companies have developed 3D printers for constructing buildings. So far, they can only do as tall as low-rises. They plan to have the machines commercially available later in 2020. The technology looks really cool and sustainable. If so, it could be a great option that could be widely adopted, developed, and expanded quickly.

And a language-generating robot wrote an op-ed article that was published earlier this month by The Guardian. The editor's note says editing "was no different to editing a human op-ed. We cut lines and paragraphs, and rearranged the order of them in some places. Overall, it took less time to edit than many human op-eds.”

Even small companies like mine are looking at how to increase automation and involve less people. I'm looking at doing runways shows using virtual 3D models and I'm considering moving my manufacturing to a new computerized on-demand system that would reduce costs and be more sustainable. But these changes would also mean not hiring local people, such as models, pattern-makers, photographers, industrial sewers...

"In contrast with the industrial revolution, the titans of our new economy aren't creating that many new jobs. At its zenith, GM employed hundreds of thousands. Facebook fewer than 10K. The same is true of globalization...it's outsourcing a lot of jobs from the developed western economies. The terrifying reality is that there is no economic rule which automatically translates increased economic growth into widely shared prosperity." This is a quote from Chrystia Freeland's Ted Talk on "The rise of the new global super-rich". It's an interesting talk discussing the radical shift happening in our economy, a shift that is now being accelerated by the pandemic.

Small Business and Women

Canada has a large number of small businesses & BC's rate of entrepreneurship is even higher than the national average. The businesses hardest hit by the Covid crisis were small businesses and solo self-employed.

Want to take a guess at who the majority of small business owners and solopreneurs are who were hardest hit by the pandemic? Who owns the small businesses that were too small to be eligible for Covid support programs? Who runs the vast majority of solopreneur businesses? Women! Click on the links to read more about The Case for Basic Income for Small Businesses and The Case for Basic Income for Women.

Artists For Basic Income

Artists have been particularly hit hard by this crisis. Many theatres are closed or struggling. In BC, dancing is now banned, both indoors and outdoors. Film and TV production was shut down for months. Now it's finally restarting, but there is a reduction in staff and hours. Even scripts are being written to include less characters and eliminate the need for background actors. Click on the link to read more about The Case for Basic Income for The Arts.

Being a female artist and a small business owner and soloprenuer, these points all speak to me. I know I've found the pandemic very challenging and I know I'm not alone. I've heard from other artists, small business owners, and soloprenuers who are having a very difficult time surviving this crisis.

Take Action!

Sign a petition! Write to your MP. Write to Chrystia Freeland and Justin Trudeau.

Here are some links to help you get started:
Ask your MP & Trudeau to support Universal Basic Income
Sign to Support M-46 Guaranteed Livable Basic & tell your MP to support Motion 46!

#basicincome #artists4basicincome #motion46 #ubi #universalbasicincome

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Black Lives Matter: Protests, Concerns and Suggestions

6/7/2020

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I have some thoughts I want to share about the current Black Lives Matter movement and how it's going so far.

To start, I want to clearly repeat my call to take action:

Speak up to oppose racism and hate in all its forms!

Here are some of my thoughts about what's been going on based on what I've seen and what I've read.

1. Let's try to focus on the matters that most URGENTLY need attention right now, like situations where people were killed!

This started over a black man being pinned under cop's knee until he died. From what I've read, George Floyd did have criminal record and did do some awful things in the past, but it's clear what happened was horribly wrong.

I think Breonna Taylor's case is another good focus, because it's a situation where she did nothing wrong. She was asleep in her home. Cops broke into her her place in the middle the night. Her partner did fire a gun, once. But the cops were in plain clothes and entered unannounced, her partner thought they were being robbed and in danger! Breonna did nothing and she was shot at least 8 times. Why were the cops there? From what I've read, they were doing a "no-knock" drug raid to arrest someone ELSE at a DIFFERENT address, who they had already arrested earlier the same day. There's no cell phone footage, but the facts seem pretty clear.

These are both US cases of horrible treatment of black people by police.

In Canada, I read just this week Chantel Moore was shot by police in New Brunswick when they visited her for a safety check! The police say she attacked them with a knife. There's no video footage. :( But even without footage, a basic Aikido move would be able to disarm someone with a knife. And how bad of a shot are you? Even if you HAD to shoot someone, how about the leg or somewhere where you won't kill them? The cops were supposed to go check to make sure she was safe!

I think these are all good cases to focus on. These are all cases where it's clear something went horribly awry and police killed people.

And I think in places like Canada, the issues we have with racism are broader than just black people. We have a different population make-up and a different history than the US. In Canada, I think our biggest issue is actually with the treatment of Indigenous people. We've had issues with the treatment of black people too (most recently in Toronto when D'Andre Campbell was killed by police in his home while he was experiencing a mental health crisis). Canada has a history of slavery and servitude, but it's a bit different than the US. Some slaves in Canada were of African descent, but many were Indigenous. In addition, many people originally from India migrated to Canada both as indentured servants and as free migrants. (Many indentured servants sent to British colonies later ended up migrating to other places, including Canada.) And there have been incidents of racism directed towards Indo-Canadians. And early settlement, particularly in BC, was helped tremendously by Chinese immigrants, but there have been issues with racism toward Chinese Canadians and Asians in general , both in the past and recent incidents related to the coronavirus.

So in Canada, I think it's bigger than racism towards black people. I think the same is likely true in many other countries too. I think in any case where we're talking about people's lives, it's important to call attention to those specific situations and call for justice. And please do try to keep it specific! If we can get a LOT of focus on a FEW cases that's great!

I think if our efforts get too diluted into too many paths, it will be hard to get the numbers we need to support specific issues, and I've seen this starting to happen.

I've seen a number of posts talking about police brutality towards white people, which does happen and happened just this past week in a bunch of places. I think police brutality is an important issue to address, so yes, let's tackle that too, but it is a slightly different, related issue.

I've also seen some posts pointing out how many white people are killed by black people and pointing out that black on black violence kills lots of people too. There is lots of violence in the world, but I think these conversations are derailing and shifting attention away from the focus on racism and police killing people. "All lives matter" is not a good response to people pointing out racism.

But then, I've seen things like a petition someone put up trying to get the terminology "Master/Slave" taken out of the way camera equipment works.

No, I mean, maybe later. But no one is dying over that! And if you want to go after everything associated with master and slave and everything associated with slavery and servants, good luck. And goodbye to all those cute collars and pretty metal body chains you like to see on girls. And are you going start boycotting Billie Eilish, because she sings about enjoying Master/slave roleplay? (If you don't know what I'm talking about, watch the video and read those lyrics!)

Goodness knows lots of people criticized Doja Cat, because they thought she might be into BDSM race play. Why hate on the black girl for liking BDSM, but cheer on the white girl who likes it?

And lots of societies still have servants. In some places that's accepted and even enjoyed by the people who have servants and the servants themselves (when they're treated well). In some places, that's a job. Like in the US or Canada, you'd just call them cook or a maid or a personal assistant. And how many rich people and celebrities have that?

So again, I urge you, please FOCUS on the BIGGEST issues, the most URGENT issues. I think clear, recent incidents of racism and police brutality that involved injury and death are good areas to focus on and encourage change!

2. There's more than just protesters wanting social justice involved in these events.

As many people have pointed out there are 3 types of people who often show up to these events:

Protesters, people who are there because they believe in the cause and want social justice.

Rioters, people who want to cause destruction, anarchists, people who want to break windows and start fires.

Looters, people who want to steal stuff (and as some people have pointed out, these are often people who are really poor and feel like they could never afford the items they're stealing).

What I haven't seen discussed as much are the other people who clearly appear to be involved in these events, including Agent Provocateurs, inciters, enablers. People who want to encourage and incite other people to violence, rioting and looting. People who enable rioting and looting.

One clear example of this is the "ANTIFA_US" twitter account that posted messages like this one:

According to multiple news reports, the account was actually run by the white supremacist group, Identity Evropa, that was pretending to be an Antifa group. Stop and think about that for a second, why would a white supremacist group want to pretend to be an Antifa group and encourage protests, violence, rioting and looting? Maybe to make black people look bad? Maybe to give cops an excuse to use lots of force? Maybe to encourage black people and allies to go out and infect each other with Covid-19?

Another example is this video showing a white guy wearing a full plastic hood respirator using a hammer to break windows in Minneapolis. He doesn't seem to be with the protesters and from what I understand this was the first instance of property destruction at the event, he started it!

I know there have been accusations he's a cop, but setting aside whether he's a cop or not, he's clearly someone who wanted to encourage rioting and looting with more than just words. He wanted to encourage it with actions!

I've also seen lots of photos and posts about mysterious piles of bricks showing up near protests, which seems suspicious. The mainstream news media has published articles saying there's no clear evidence of anything out of the ordinary, that these piles of bricks are "normal". Still I think it's plausible that someone working in construction might have easy access to a pallet of bricks and the ability to move it into place. Maybe an anarchist? Or a white supremacist with the same motives as Identity Evropa? I haven't seen any clear evidence showing who put the bricks in place, but it is clear there are some people who have NOTHING to do with #BlackLivesMatter involved in these protests.

I know for a fact that the protests in Vancouver this weekend and last weekend were NOT organized by the local Black Lives Matter group. Similarly, the protest in Toronto this weekend was NOT organized by the local BLM group either. The local BLM group in Vancouver issued an official statement about last weekend's protest saying they did not organize it and would not attend the event over Covid-19 concerns. The group was vague about support for this weekend's protest saying they didn't organize it, but then gave a number of safety recommendations for attending. Similarly, the Toronto BLM group put out a statement saying they had "NO involvement in the organizing of any of this weekend's upcoming actions and marches." But then said, "We believe in Black people mourning, grieving, and protesting however works for them..." Meanwhile Crime Stoppers reported the Toronto protest was organized by the Black Bloc, which is an anarchist group.

And there have been photos and videos showing the presence of several far-right groups associated with white supremacists showing up to protests armed with weapons, including the Proud Boys and the Boogaloo Bois.

And then, there's the police. I think it's clear from the photos and videos that have been shared over the past week that there have been a lot of incidents of police behaving badly, particularly in many major US cities. I've seen the footage of an officer shoving a 75 yr. old man down and then a whole group of police walking by his body on the ground with his head bleeding in Buffalo, NY. I've seen footage of a person who was reportedly homeless and disabled and not involved in the protests bleeding from a head wound caused by a rubber bullet in LA. And rubber bullets, those things are not just rubber! It's the outer casing that's rubber. From what I understand the bullet itself is usually metal and/or plastic. And they're huge! And it's pretty clear from the photos I've seen showing up online during the last week that some cops are using them wrong and causing people serious facial injuries! I've also read first-hand reports of terrible treatment of protesters arrested at some of the demonstrations. And I've seen photo and video documentation of police destroying first aid stations, even though the medics were given permission by the city to setup stations to provide first aid!

So I caution protesters, allies of social justice, be careful. If you're going to a protest, please make sure:

You know who's organizing the protest you're attending.
You have people there to take photos and video of what happens.
You're prepared to handle the kinds of things you may have to deal with, like tear gas and rubber bullets.

3. I think large gatherings during a pandemic are a bad idea.

I've seen the footage, thousands of people gathering in major cities around the world. I think lots of people feel strongly about racism and would like to see it end, completely. I know I would!

At the same time, according to the current global data, Covid-19 is about as contagious and deadly as the flu, specifically, the Spanish Flu. It's much less deadly than bird flu. And more contagious and deadly than the seasonal flu and swine flu.

I think this movement happened to coincide with a time when lots of people are unemployed and have been at home for months, so lots of people are tired of being home all the time, many people want to go out, have the time to go out, and it's for a good cause! Still, according to health officials, we should keep our gatherings small and transmission can happen outdoors.

Many people did wear masks, but I saw mostly fabric masks that don't really provide much protection. And in a lot of the photos and videos I saw people were much closer than 6 feet away from one another. And I know that, at least in the US, police used tear gas on the crowds, which causes lots of coughing.

I will echo the advice of BC's provincial health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, who apparently is now considered "one of the most effective public health officials in the world".

If you're thinking of going to a protest, consider YOUR health and YOUR family. If you are high risk or someone in your household is, maybe stay home and sign a petition or do some virtual protesting instead.

If you go to a protest:

Wear a Mask
Keep Distance (6 feet away)
Be prepared to self-isolate for 14 days after the protest (yes, really!)
Carry signs to say what you want, rather than chanting, shouting, singing
Keep the group numbers SMALL, here in BC the limit is 50 people per group

So if you have 500 people, that's 10 groups of 50 people, and you could arrange the groups at different locations around the city with signs. If you have thousands, you could have 50 people every couple blocks and you easily stretch a protest across a whole city that way.

I also feel we need to think about other ways to protest. We need to get creative and find ways to make sure our voices are heard, safely. I found this set of suggestions for virtual protesting posted by @sa.liine on Instagram. If anyone knows of other resources like this, please share!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Design | Content Creator | â–¡â–¡ (@sa.liine) on May 29, 2020 at 11:55am PDT

I think it was a bad idea for Trudeau, Obama and other leaders to appear at protests and encourage these large gatherings. I mean unless leaders want to make sure we re-open completely right now. Or maybe they want to test that "herd immunity" theory? Or see how well cloth masks work? Or maybe Covid-19 isn't really that dangerous and they destroyed people's businesses, jobs, finances and lives for no good reason?

Either this virus is dangerous and you should avoid large gatherings or it isn't. So which is it world leaders? For now, I'm choosing to believe Dr. Henry, because she's been very open and honest in her briefings. When she spoke this past week, she seemed concerned about the large gatherings and the possibility of transmission in large crowds. As she warned, it has happened before in other parts of the world. There have been cases where Covid-19 was transmitted at outdoor gatherings.

I understand it's kind of too late now. Now, we just get watch over the next couple of weeks and see what happens and hope for the best!

Thankfully, here is BC, the case numbers and rates of community transmission are low enough, I think we'll be ok. Though I worry about areas that still have lots of cases and lots of community transmission.

If you were at the protests, please watch for ANY symptoms!

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3 Fashion Tips for Pandemic Times

5/15/2020

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Here in Canada, like some areas of the world, there are plans to begin lifting some restrictions and opening more businesses. Since that means we’ll all likely be going out a bit more, I thought it was a good time to post some fashion tips for pandemic times!

First for men, because I feel like sometimes guys don’t get enough fashion tips & these articles are often girl-focused.

#1 Shave your Face.

No, I’m not kidding. I know you’ve been in quarantine and all, and when you were staying home, as much as possible, sure that was fine. Now, there’s an issue.

Masks don’t fit well or tightly over beards.

One of the first people I heard about testing positive for Covid-19 was a friend of my mother’s who was very careful. He carried around a spray bottle of 99% alcohol that he used to sanitize surfaces and his hands. He even wore a Vogmask (which is a reusable N95 designed for the public). Still even he admitted, the mask didn’t fit well because of his beard and he commented that he needed shave to get the mask to fit better. Just a few days later, he had a fever and cough and was being tested Covid-19. The test came back positive. It’s possible he caught it some other way, like droplets hitting his eyeballs. But to be safe, shave!

#2 Updo for You

For all genders, if your hair is long, tie it back when you go out.

Hair can get contaminated with coronavirus. I have no idea how long it lasts on hair, I haven’t seen any studies specifically talking about hair, so I’m guessing it’s similar to fabric, which means 4 to 48 hours.

Have you ever had the wind blow a strand of your hair in your eyes? Or accidentally gotten a strand of hair in your mouth? If so, tie your hair back! Put it up! Keep it away from your eyes & mouth!

#3 Short, Natural Nails are In!

For women (or I guess anyone else who likes to do their nails), keep your nails short and just add polish. Avoid gel and acrylic!

You want to keep your nails short, because they’re much easier to keep clean and short nails work better under gloves. (Invest in a good nail brush too, to help clean under your nails.)

You want to avoid gel and acrylic for similar reasons. Natural nails are much easier to keep clean and there’s also the issue of lift with gels and acrylic, or any kind of applied nail. Lifting is always dangerous, not just in terms of damage to your nail, but as an empty space that stuff can get into… You do NOT want to provide a location for coronavirus to hang out on your hands!

So short, natural nails are in!

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World Belly Dance Day & Shimmy Mob

5/9/2020

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"Creating change...one shimmy at a time!"

Today is World Belly Dance Day. Normally, I would have spent the day performing at various location around Vancouver with Shimmy Mob!

Shimmy Mob is global flash mob that raises awareness about domestic violence and raises funds for local women's shelters.

Since most places in the world are still under lockdown we had to do everything online this year, including the performance.

This is my best attempt at the choreography for this year. I'm a beginner at belly dance and I found it a bit hard to learn from the videos.

I gave it my best though, because it probably more important this year than it ever has been. Domestic violence has increased dramatically during this time.

If you need help in BC, contact Victim Link BC 24/7 (many languages)
Call 1-800-563-0808
Text 604-836-6381
Email VictimLinkBC@bc211.ca
TTY accessible at 604-875-0885 or collect at 7-1-1

"Creating change ... one shimmy at a time!"
Team Vancouver, BC (Canada)
#wbdd #shimmymob2020

Official 2020 Shimmy Mob Choreography by Yasmina Ramzy
Song: “El Binti Beida”
Artist: Arabesque Dance Company Orchestra

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World War 3: Humans vs. SARS-CoV-2?

3/21/2020

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Today it really sunk in for me how much this is like a war-time effort.

Very late on Friday night, like at 10pm, I got an urgent email from a provincial industry group wanting to know by Monday morning, how many machines your business has, what types, what fabric supplies do have on hand, etc. They wanted to assess the local industry capability, just in case we need to help out with manufacturing apparel or gear.

Hmmm... Does that sound familiar to you? Times when industries are asked about capabilities and called to help out with manufacturing.

Then I was texting with someone today. He's a pilot, so he’s out there working. And I thought, oh yeah, that’s right. You're essential services! You're one of those people on the front lines risking illness to transport what we need. I sent him a pic of me in a bikini. I thought he deserved some kind of reward for his efforts.

Then I thought...um, wow. Pinups for pilots? Again, this is really reminding of something.

He talked about wanting to meet me, you know, when this craziness was all over...

Wait a minute, what movie am I now?

I talked to friend of mine last week. He works in grocery store. He told me how crazy and busy things had been with all the panic buying. Then he got sick with cold, so he had to stay home from work. He was still sick a few days later, so he was probably going to have to stay home for a week or so.

Another front-line worker. Someone who probably caught his cold on the job, from all of the people out buying groceries!

During the BC Health Ministry briefing today, they talked about healthcare workers getting sick and how that's a risk.

That’s a real problem, because we need healthcare workers to take care of us!

And worse, the healthcare workers are transmitting it and that’s an issue! That’s how the illness spread to care homes for the elderly and why we have outbreaks in several care homes in the Greater Vancouver Area now.

The healthcare workers picked up the illness in the community. They didn’t realize they had, because they were in the incubation period and they passed it on to the very people they were caring for.

Healthcare workers are not getting sick from patients...they're getting sick when they go out for groceries.

This what they’re talking about when they talk about “Community Transmission” and the great danger with community transmission.

Healthcare workers are at risk in the community. They’re getting it in the community, they’re getting it at the grocery store, etc. They’re getting it from YOU!

We have to stay away from other people, because it protects them!

I've been in self-isolation, because I got a mild fever last weekend. I still have it, a very mild cold. So mild I probably wouldn't have even noticed if I wasn't looking for it. But a friend told me that they had come down with a cold and a fever. And I knew a couple of people in my building had just returned from an international trip. I ran into one of them in the elevator and they were wearing a mask, and they told me they were going getting tested for COVID-19. So I was concerned and checked my temperature.

I think with COVID-19 for some people, it's so mild you barely notice it. I think that's part of the problem. You don't realize you have it. You feel pretty good, so you go out and do things.

And if you do get a more serious cold, the 14 day incubation means you spread it around for 14 days before you even realize anything is wrong.

They talked about this during the briefing too. How that 14 day incubation period means when a person does get sick, they have to track down everyone that person interacted with in the last 14 days.

Can you remember every place you went, every store you checked for supplies, every person you got within 1-2 metres of in the past two weeks? Every person you stood next to in line? Every person who rang up your groceries? Who rode in the same elevator as you?

So just stop, please! Don't go out! Not now! We are in a state of emergency! Seriously. STAY HOME!

I know it's hard to comprehend just how important it is, but we are at war with a tiny, invisible enemy. And we need to work together. It's about YOU. It's about me. It's about ALL of us.

Here in BC, they're saying the next 10 days to 2 weeks are critical!

Only go out if you absolutely NEED to go out.

If you do go out, treat it like the fucking zombie apocalypse! Stay 1-2 metres (3-6 feet) away from all other people!

You should ONLY be spending time alone, or with people you live with, that's it right now!

All other connection is virtual! Phone calls, texts, email, video chat. Connect! But do it remotely.

Thank goodness we still have power and an internet connection, though it feels it’s gotten much slower than it’s been in years, since everyone seems to be using it now.

We can do even do some #QuarantinePinups to share with those wonderful people working to provide us with essential services, like groceries & healthcare, but it's going to have to be wearing a bikini on the balcony, doing some pinup shots on the patio or taking some photos in various rooms around the house.

#Coronavirus #COVID19

Note: If you are in BC and have industrial sewing machines and fabric supplies and have not filled out the survey yet, please feel free to contact me and I’ll send you the details. They want the information by tomorrow morning, Monday, March 23rd. (I did ask if I could share the information publicly, but they haven’t answered, so send me a message if you need the details.)

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Distancing: How Far Away Do I Need to Be?

3/20/2020

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It's weird. A week ago I was writing that post about COVID-19 preparations and encouraging everyone to #MakeAPlan. Here we are a week later & I don't know about you, but in my city we're pretty much at lock-down, shelter-in-place, STAY HOME land.

The local government has made an emergency declaration that everyone is to stay home unless you absolutely need to go out (e.g. for groceries) & if you go out you're supposed to stay 1-2 metres (3-6 feet) away from all other people.

So while I was out on my patio today enjoying some fresh & air sunshine (do it, it's beautiful), I did some people watching.

I saw some people walking around & I was curious to see if people knew how to do distancing. I saw 5 different people pass each other while walking around my neighborhood.

Success Rate?

3 people clearly didn't know how to judge distance and were too close to each other.
1 person kept a 1 metre distance.
1 person clearly knew what they were doing and stayed 2 metres away from other people.

So that's what inspired this post & video.

How to Measure 1-2 Metres
I apparently could do this by sight from many floors above ground level. I think it's because I sew, so I'm used to working in metres and yards & knowing how long a metre of fabric is in relationship to the human body.

So here are some helpful tips:

1 metre = ~1 yard = ~3 feet
2 metres = ~2 yards = ~6 feet
1 metre is about the distance from the tips of your fingers to the center of your body, if you're average adult, obviously this varies with body size.
2 metres, if you stretch out your arms on both sides the total distance is about 2 metres (again, depends how big/small you are, this is for an average human being).
Sidewalks are ~1.5 metres wide*

So, yes, get some fresh air and sunshine! Open your window, step out onto your patio, into your yard. But if you're walking near other people, here's the best arrangement for walking.

DON'T pass each other on the sidewalk. You should keep a sidewalk width BETWEEN you and other people!

#COVID19 #Coronavirus #SocialDistancing #PhysicalDistancing #Distancing

*"Current standards are for a minimum 1500mm wide sidewalk, generally constructed of broom-finished concrete, in low density residential areas. Higher density residential areas have a minimum 1800mm wide sidewalk." https://vancouver.ca/files/cov/AccessibleStreetDesign.pdf