The world seems even heavier than normal this week: university fees for humanities degrees are set to double in Australia, a ‘jobs creation’ bill that erodes workers’ rights has been agreed to by the Indonesian parliament, and climate change continues unabated. I feel very overwhelmed by it all today.
On a positive note, last night I moderated a webinar about how to report gender-based violence and find support in Indonesia. If you speak Indonesian, you can watch the recording on YouTube.
As always, if you’re enjoying Solidaritas, paid subscriptions are available for US$5/month or much much cheaper at US$40/year. Have a lovely weekend!
-Kate
Read
The global food system, powered by ‘just-in-time’ algorithms and fast transport, has been greatly challenged by COVID-19, leading to bizarre outcomes like the prices of frozen fish fillets in Kenya doubling (apparently the fish comes from China!). This is a really good overview of how the system we have now doesn’t really work for anyone, and how local food systems would be better for individuals, communities, and the environment.
How US data scientist Emily Gorcenski is exposing white supremacists through collating information on court cases and outcomes. Part of a fascinating series of stories from the Guardian on trans activists.
A great overview from Lausan on the Omnibus Law aka the ‘jobs creation’ bill that the Indonesian parliament has just agreed to ratify. (via Asia Undercovered)
Online learning in the US is seeing large numbers of people signing up for Indigenous language classes.
How an Australian country bookshop kept their community together and their shop running during COVID-19.
Watch and listen
I love magpies. They’re smart and sing such beautiful songs. The Guardian’s Full Story spoke to Cheyne Anderson about why people are scared of them (swooping!) and how there’s actually so much to love about them.
What can media outlets learn from holding events online? Are online events the ‘new normal’ and how can the media best use these platforms? From Splice Media’s Beta conference.
Eat
We made pork katsu for dinner last night with a slaw-type salad of red cabbage, green cabbage, and capsicum with a soy-garlic-ginger-vinegar-etc dressing. Easy and satisfying.
For a quick lunch the other day, I fried up four Haldiram’s masala vada ($4 for eight) and ate them with cucumber and Mother’s Recipe lime ginger pickle. The masala vada were surprisingly good for frozen ones! Would definitely buy again.
I haven’t cooked anything from it yet, but my copy of Parwana: Recipes and Stories from an Afghan Kitchen arrived during the week and everything looks DELICIOUS.