TSG_Asmodeus (he, him)

  • 66 Posts
  • 229 Comments
Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 16th, 2023

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  • I know she’s not exactly progressive like AOC is, but I’m still baffled as to why the Liberals aren’t running Crystia Freeland.

    While there she attracted the attention of the KGB, which tagged her with the code name “Frida”, and Soviet newspapers, who attacked her as a foreigner meddling in their internal affairs over her contacts with Ukrainian activists. The KGB surveilled Freeland and tapped her phone calls, and documented the young Canadian activist delivering money, video and audio recording equipment, and a personal computer to contacts in Ukraine. She used a diplomat at the Embassy of Canada in Moscow to send material abroad in a secret diplomatic pouch, worked with foreign journalists on stories about life in the Soviet Union, and organized marches and rallies to attract attention and support from Western countries. On her return from a trip to London in March 1989, Freeland was denied re-entry to the Soviet Union. By the time her activism within Ukraine came to an end, Freeland had become the subject of a high-level case study from the KGB on how much damage a single determined individual could inflict on the Soviet Union; a 2021 Globe and Mail article quoted the report by a former officer of the KGB, which had described Freeland as “a remarkable individual”, “erudite, sociable, persistent, and inventive in achieving her goals.”

    Nenshi for the NDP would be excellent, but I doubt Alberta will let him go.

    EDIT: And ladies, I am so, so sorry about the gender gap there. Jesus Christ.



  • Just wanted to post the history/story of this amazing piece:

    Inuit

    Otter Amulet

    Engraved & Pigmented Ivory, 3 ½” Length, c.1870 -1880

    Inuit Otter Amulet

    There are rare occasions when a carved object has no other function but to represent a hunted animal, as a sculpture. This is one such example, of a charm figure, which would have been placed in a Kayak when seeking otters. It should be noted, however, that even though this charm does not appear to double as a practical tool, its significance is powerful.

    This is a communicating figure, shown swimming on its back, with front paws delicately touching its face, as if eating or calling out. Arctic native hunters have described using amulets like this precisely to assist them in guiding animals to them, which this otter seems to be doing.

    Notable here are the finely engraved rib markings, and the repeating dots and drill holes along the spine, tail, and joints of the rear flippers. Like the circular joint markings depicted in many other animal representations, these express the mortal and spiritual transformation of the animal. Skeletal markings often metaphorically express life cycles, in that we, as animals, are composed of bones, which hold us together while alive as well as remain as evidence of us once we die.

    The circular marks and dots represent passages through transformational states, and in the shamanic universe of native Alaskans, animals, people, fish and birds may be seen traveling through concentric circles much like the stacked planes that the Buddhist universe is conceived to be. As one passes through one circle, he becomes another creature, in order to navigate the particularities of the next sphere.

    The fact that there are seven drilled dots along the spinal decoration of this otter, and three triangulating dots encumbering his belly, is additionally significant, perhaps in the expression of the hunter, that his success depends upon the continual support of his charm, repeatedly, throughout his life.