Kari Paul

18th May 2013 | Nº 3

Yesterday former dictator of Argentina Jorge Videla died of natural causes in prison where he was carrying out a life sentence for his role in Argentina’s Dirty War. Videla and his regime are responsible for the disappearance of more than 30,000 people during the 1970s dictatorship and the lasting impact of this time in Argentine history is still manifested in many ways today.

Above, the Madres de Plaza de Mayo march, which they have done every Thursday since 1977. Their activism was born out of the helplessness that these women felt when their family members began to disappear. When this happened in Argentina, there was no way to fight back. If you went to the police, the person you were filing your report with may have been the same person you saw take your child the night before. Many people felt helpless, and in a time where anti-government activity was highly monitored and suppressed, the act of simply silently pacing around in circles in the town’s main square was extremely revolutionary.

The bottom two photos are from the “Nunca Más” demonstration, which takes place every year on March 24 to memorialize the day that Videla overthrew Isabel Perón in a coup d’état and started the dictatorship. I went to the protest this year and it was one of the most moving demonstrations I have ever seen. These specific photos are from a community art project where everyone writes messages to lost loved ones, or notes about the dictatorship in general and puts them on this fence. Many of them said “NUNCA MÁS” (Never Again).

17th May 2013

“Everything you experience from here forward is useful. Every failure, every shitty night spent in a weird airport, every person you meet, every sleazy table-running job you work, every book you read … all of it is useful. All of it is fuel. Even when you’re experiencing something miserable, you’re probably experiencing something that someone else will be able to relate to. That’s useful. You see the world through the eyes of more and more people as you go.”

— You’re Fucked, But You’re Free: A Message To The Class Of 2013

16th May 2013 | Nº 3

Fighting the Black Hole of Blogging that is Buenos Aires

So, I have been here since January and have not written a single blog post. Sorry, guys.

There’s something about this city that makes me feel less inclined to spend every second reading my RSS feed, tweeting and blogging like I do in the U.S. Maybe it is the fact that the internet here is slightly behind much of the world in speed and quality, or because I am too busy. Or maybe it’s because I’m in an amazing city that I would rather be enjoying than sitting at home and writing.

It could also be that I’m not into personal blogging in general. My favorite part of journalism is getting know part of another person’s life so well that I can literally be their voice and regurgitate interesting information they have to give. So talking about myself isn’t really appealing, but today I read yet another Ann Friedman column suggesting that aspiring journalists keep a blog, so I’ve been scared into updating more frequently. I’ll be here for another few months, so we’ll see how that goes.

For starters, here is a photo of Argentine band Él Mató a Un Policia Motorizado from a music festival I went to on Sunday.

The festival was for Rolling Stone’s 15th anniversary, and my amazing Argentine friend Valentina called me and said she had an extra VIP pass. It’s seriously hard for me to write about my life here without it seeming like one giant #humblebrag, so I won’t tell you about the open bar and free, unlimited BBQ sandwiches.

In the two months that remain, I’m continuing some work with the Argentina Independent, freelancing and traveling a bit. And at the end of June I’ll be heading to Belize for a volunteer trip. In the meantime, I will make a hopefully-not-futile attempt to keep friends and family in the Northern Hemisphere updated on why I stayed in this slightly crazy, wonderful city.

24th Feb 2013 | Nº 11

Badass blog Part Noveau shows how art, fashion and music of the past influence the present culture. The parallels are crazy.

5th Jan 2013 | Nº 42

“Remember when Dick Cheney’s five heart attacks were ascribed to how hard he works himself, the poor dear? No, you don’t, because that never happened, because he had a moderate contractile dysfunction of his left ventricle. That’s called a medical condition, which men in high office are allowed to have without coming under fire for being too dedicated to their job.”

— From a Jezebel piece on the sexist implications of this New York Times piece about Hillary Clinton’s health

5th Jan 2013 | Nº 48

urbanthesia:

Buenos Aires Skyline at dusk by ryotnlpm on Flickr.

Excited to see this in real life in less than two weeks. Not to mention I’ll be leaving 30 degree weather for summer time…

(via buenosairesporvos)

18th Dec 2012 | Nº 1

Richard Engel has escaped Syria, the most dangerous place for journalists. Imprisonments of journalists has hit a record high this year. Read More

18th Dec 2012 | Nº 36

“Our highest value as journalists and news organizations is to seek truth and report it. This means going beyond the faux balance of he-said-she-said stories to learn, document and state what is true. Once our reporting has established the truth of a situation, future reporting should repeat that truth, especially if newsmakers continue to repeat statements that have been documented as false.”

—Digital First Media’s guidance for Journalists on Expressing Personal Opinions (via soupsoup)

4th Dec 2012 | Nº 35272

buzzfeed:

Yesterday, we hired Grumpy Cat as an editor and then we had an Employee Of The Month party for her, but she wasn’t really into it.

2nd Dec 2012 | Nº 18629

“Society has allowed rapists to define what resistance is: screaming, crying, scratching, pushing, kicking, biting, punching. I didn’t resist like that. My resistance was to wriggle a bit, turn my head away when he tried to kiss me, try to stop his hand going into my bra and knickers, push him ineffectually, talk about wanting to get my cab; all things which normal men recognise as not being enthusiastic participation when they are engaging with women but pretend it’s a grey area when they talk about rape. Rapists have managed to get society to believe, that what I did, was consent. Because I didn’t resist in the way rapists - and society - say that women should resist, they define our non-participation as consent.”

—

- “How I became a rape victim” [sociolab]

When rapists are defining terms that simultaneously ignore and maintain the power dynamic, we live in a rape culture. By the way, it isn’t always reasonable to expect a woman in such a situation to start screaming etc., that requires a force of energy and will that could be sapped when you’re in such a compromised position. Especially when, statistically speaking, the rapist is someone you’ve known for a long time.

(via pushinghoopswithsticks)

Important to remember in light of the Mike Dixon scandal. I heard so many comments on how it couldn’t have been rape, because she invited him over, because she texted him after, because she agreed to change positions when he asked. Let’s shift the paradigm of consent from “no means no” to “yes means yes.” If men would look for enthusiastic consent rather than lack of a verbalized, assertive “NO,” there would be no gray area.

(via pushinghoopswithsticks)