With the all-consuming presence of social media we could make the case that it is close to the truth that what we used to think of as real journalists has been somewhat corrupted — actually wiped out, in some instances, by a malicious media sound-byte.

We could even claim that not just journalists but we as people can be involuntarily shape-shifted by corporate media norm and spurious political machination.

Not just dead lawyers at the bottom of the ocean but dead journalists. You get the idea. Some might say this might be overstating it.

But some of us do continue to make the argument and carry the torch for independent media. What we think of as working journalists are expressing distress. We have to conform in a basic way to corporate conglomerates and cultural institutions that fundamentally mold and constrain our speech freedoms, as expressed by way of solid journalism example here.

Larger media outlets do have a mindset — this just can’t be ignored if the writer wants to be paid. Smaller publications often rely on volunteer writers. Not ideal. To remain part of the pack we have to constantly re-invent ourselves.

There’s always the pre-requisite, catchy media-outreach promotional phrases to stay relevant.

To those of you who might not know, this is Mediageode’s actual signature message.

— (c) Mediageode 2023:

“We understand the difficulties of editorial independence in these days of Big Media conglomeration especially what its effect is on the control of information. We possess a thoughtful cognizance of the impact that large corporate syndicates and bipartisan groups have on characteristically sound byte oriented media product.”

Independent journalists exist. “I exist”— as some famous philosopher once said but for the most part it’s always been on the margins of the literary media landscape. This isn’t a bad thing it is just a fact.

Blogging is a contribution as well. A contribution to the things that have happened by way of remembering them in writing. Blogs are archives, historical records. Hence this practical site, carefully preserved over 15 years +. Enjoy!

Basically I am about analysis and research. My writing (mostly blogging now) is intended to give my view and perspective, of observed events, that are of interest to me in what I call the nexus between the historical moment and the research purpose.

I am a reader of people and defender of all that is aesthetic and uplifting to the human spirit. I classify myself as a curious thinker with an investigative bent and tendency toward being a bit of policy reader or wonk.

I fault that to a certain extent to a background in political theory and policy studies.

My schooling and my travel interests drew me toward eye-opening opportunities, opportunities to learn new things about identity, things that seemed to me ‘more relevant to my experience’ as — a person — something called method-writing.

My her-story helped me to uncover learning methodologies on the human condition and on existential subjects such as power, pain, stigma — and something called relations of ruling (a phrase coined by Method Sociologist Dorothy Smith). Collectively, it means taking an active role to talk about her concept of ruling relations or as I’ve tried to suggest here, the power relations around us, defining our lives.

Etymology is the study of the history of words. So think of my suggestion here as looking at the etymology-of-power. Loosely defined, in its usage here, I like to observe power properties or power relations at origin or development through a historical point in time.

As a researcher, I love biology, anthropology and sociology as subjects of study. I look for nexus points in the world around me. In observing life and all its lifeforms in my garden I seemed to evolve over the years through a series of intellectual stages in my own life trajectory and in my research interests in school.

I was drawn to the natural sciences almost instinctively.

As an early academic and a ‘social being in the forest’ so to speak I slowly begin to gravitate towards an interest in studying historical intervals (or tenets you could say) of symbolic-interactionism.

Out of that research-journey came a more pronounced commitment to ethnographical work in anthropology as a discipline. It began to show itself in my intellectual pursuits and most clearly in my animal welfare research interest.

I can say that I’ve always felt most grounded when I am outside in a park or near the river’s edge — places where I can observe the birds and animals roam and go about their business. Taking this one step further, I read about academic topics that bring me closer to nature.

The simplest way of putting it is today I am geared toward analyses relating to or resulting from the influence of human beings on nature.

My fascination is in ‘interpreting the Anthropocene’, a somewhat loaded thing to think about perhaps. But in simple terms it’s usually presented as an anthropological lens: an agreed or defined geological epoch dating to an intense period of human impact on the Earth’s ecological order.

It may include but not be limited to intrusive ‘anthropogenic’ changes to our world and its animal habitats.

See more about this vast and wonderful subject here.

I gently warn you at this point. There is a lot of eclectic stuff on this site. It is presented as a smorgasbord of writing observations which hopefully draws some of your interest.

I am a creative sort, you could say even artsy. I edit, I paint, I make things, I am into arts & crafts. I am all about hobbies, my favourite being gardening (botany) and ethnographic research in anthropology which looks at the relationships between human and animal kingdoms and how we’ve encroached on the four-legged and winged creatures of our ever evolving and fascinating world.

Happy reading!

——————————————————————————————————

Deeper definition for those who want to do further reading but may be new to anthropology. I try to bring sometimes unreachable academic research to every day life, to the masses, to common understanding.

What do I mean by ‘anthropogenic’ changes to our world and its animal habitats?

Speaking generally, it means observing both human and animal habitats and the conflicts for space which have arisen in a more pronounced way in the last two hundred years as a result of massive industrialization.

My latest research looks at how humans have waded into [historically] animal territories and how this may inform on who ultimately has or will have rightful territoriality of Earth itself.

Who’s encroaching on whom?

Of course here the study of ‘Survival of the fittest’, a term associated with British naturalist Charles Darwin and his epic work On the Origin of Species fifth edition (1869) argues that species best adapted to their surroundings are the most successful in surviving and carrying on their DNA and RNA.

Will humans be able to adapt to their changing world or will the viruses destroy us and the infernos burn us up? This is the question of our time.

I wrote this sentence in 2019 before we even knew about COVID-19 pandemic, so that will tell you something about eerie foreshadowing.

————————————————————————————————

~ Diane Walsh, BA, MA, PGCert. (2016)

Bachelor of Arts (Canada) UBC Political Science – Master of Arts (Canada) UVIC Human Social Development – Post Graduate Certificate (UK) UStAndrews Anthropology

Areas of study: international relations, inter-discipline, methodology studies, in policy & practice, approaches in environmental sociology, cultural studies and political & cultural anthropology

Most recent graduation: 2016 Post Graduate Certificate in Social Anthropology, University of St Andrews, Scotland

Welcome to my Blog! ..Well more like an overall info page about what you might like to know about me in the ‘reportage’ field.

I am usually based on the West Coast whilst the Canadian political landscape remains an active hub for me.

I have history in the Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ) and (CAJ), and, more recently (FPA) the Foreign Press Association 2013-2018 and (NPC) the National Press Club (NPC) 2017-2023 in Washington.

Mediageode 2014

I am a 3x UN media accredited correspondent, both New York (2010) and UN Geneva campus (2011, 2014). I was was an invited as an independent media representation participant in a UN Geneva symposium in 2014. #AntiFGMGlobal #GAFGM on twitter.

UN Geneva March 2014

Cross-border issues  are key for me. I classify myself as an investigative journalist.  I write for new media outlets as well as long-established print publications. I blend writing, videography and photo-journalism into creative-form.

What do I mean by investigative? Don’t worry I get that question a lot. Critical thinking about the world in which we live, advanced source-seeking and background-checking – probing deeply into research projects of my choosing (and/or those of my fave editors) and the pursuit of eclectic interviews with people I find the most interesting.

I’m not afraid of politically sensitive topics and on a good day being in possession of a signature style/forté for spontaneous and revealing Q&As (I’ve been told anyway). I’m easy to talk to and easy to reach. I enjoy covering international news items and I guess you could say I have a social justice bent.  

Motivated to cover issues that have some social relevance and perhaps, in some small way, I try to help to improve people’s quality of life.

I’ve enjoyed freelancing here and there for the odd random rag and for a couple of glossy mags covering various topics on internet trends, community politics, cultural (social) anthropology (see my blog posts), lifestyle choices & social identity – also the alternative music and fashion scene and eco-travel (something I like to dabble in on a more personal level).

That’s about it other than if you’d like to gab and share ideas about art please check my e-portforlio in the ‘Artwork’ TAB on this site. Would welcome hearing from you!

My twitter feed is @dwalshmedia.

~ Diane Walsh BA, MA, PgCert (2016)

most recent Alums: st-andrews.ac.uk @univofstandrews

2016  Postgraduate Certificate in Social Anthropology

 (c) MediaGeode 2023

Please email: mediageode AT yahoo DOT com if you’d like to republish anything from this site. Skype: [mediageode]

A look back at LIN through the years

Posted: February 25, 2023 in Canada

Check out #LowerIslandNews on Twitter for original tweets – @lowerislandnews

Blog lowerislandnews.com lowerislandnews.com

1941 Wedding picture of
Captain John Myles Wilson, Merchant Mariner (The Keila)
groom/husband, Scotland-born (my Grandad) and
Marie Hortense Bellemare-Gélinas
bride, Canada-born
Marie Hortense Wilson, wife (my Nana)
Photo taken in Trois Rivières, Québec

Hortense’s father’s family name: Bellemare-Gélinas

Her father’s – mother’s family name: Lamy. My own mother recalls,

“Lamy was another surname that I heard of in my childhood. Grandmère Bellemare and Auntie Fernande went to Bordeaux in search of ancestors around 1949 when Auntie Fernando lived in England with Nana & Grandad. She married Uncle Jimmy Dron (also) a Scotsman. Grandmère came to visit Nana in Dovercourt, England”.

The suggestion of Jewish heritage
Scroll list for: family name, Bellemare, Gélinas and Lamy
Source: https://www.serviceamitie.org/fr/information-assignation-1

With gratitude and thanks to @hervegeneologie on Twitter

Here is a comprehensive document http://joachimleblanc.com/Descendances/Bellemare.htm

You can find the neatest things on Reddit — Activism Anthropology explained modestly well for the newcomer.

Oxford reference says, “The practice of collaborative research and action with (typically, but not always, socially marginalized) people involved in a political struggle”. Okay.

Does this count? https://indydianewalsh.com/2015/12/10/the-belugas-culture-shock/

Here is a short reading list on Anthropology and activism

https://www.jstor.org/stable/24497696

https://thefamiliarstrange.com/2019/04/22/activist-anthropology/

Activist Anthropology | Wade Davis https://youtu.be/Rkp6bVZsGDE

https://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/newproposals/article/download/213/305

https://www.routledge.com/Anthropology-and-Activism-New-Contexts-New-Conversations/Willow-Yotebieng/p/book/9780367464097

https://culturalanthropology.duke.edu/about/anthropology-activism

This one in particular caught my eye, tweaked my attention:

https://www.colby.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/44/2012/07/Heckelman-anthropologists-activists.pdf

https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdf/10.1086/653837

https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199766567/obo-9780199766567-0227.xml

https://www.easaonline.org/networks/movement/

This one is quite enthralling

https://nomadit.co.uk/conference/easa2020/p/8570

https://www.americananthropologist.org/online-content/activist-anthropology-a-conversation-between-daniel-m-goldstein-and-keisha-khan-y-perry

https://www.amazon.com/Anthropology-Activism-Anna-J-Willow/dp/0367464098

https://www.jamesgmartin.center/2016/02/turning-anthropology-from-science-into-political-activism/

https://www.berghahnjournals.com/downloadpdf/journals/contention/10/1/cont100102.pdf

https://www.anthropology-news.org/articles/virtual-reality-and-activism/

http://field-journal.com/issue-11/uncertain-realities-art-anthropology-and-activism

https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1607636/FULLTEXT01.pdf

FREE FALLING by anonymous

Suddenly our shifting shape

Morphs into another arrogant ape

And from our Alpine canopy

Short falls become our destiny

Mountains and jungles share common floors

Where creatures poor and flightless lark

And canopy heights are beyond the snark

Of jealous eye and sabre tooth

And newly fattened, the ape has fallen

Ungenerous to less favoured fur

And now gripped and pinned by roots that bore

The self-serving life the floor abhors

The snake and tiger, rat and roach

Now feast upon the fallen fat 

A lesson how the mighty fall

When fortune favours the slimmer shape.

https://twitter.com/dwalshmedia/status/1564062606612381696?s=21&t=B_RRe7_l8eWkMhvitTnk1w

Captain John Myles Wilson Merchant Mariner documents

https://twitter.com/dwalshmedia/status/1555915627558187010?s=21&t=4bjk9OxeptfeOCYU8jAeag

UK National Archives – July 24 1944

History of 4 medals and why they would be given to someone https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/medals-decorations/details/23

https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/medals-decorations/details/11

https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/medals-decorations/details/12

https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/medals-decorations/details/16

Update May 2022: The fourth-medal-received mystery: Grandad’s fourth medal was/is the “War Medal 1939-1945”. I’ve included a sample. But I have yet to see it in front of my eyes and get a photograph of it. Working on it! Still to be located.

“Happy you’re undertaking this project. The merchants marines played a decisive role in the Allied victory. I know Nana was greatly upset he wasn’t recognized by the Canadian or British governments as a veteran, despite the critical role in the war effort and the dangers of U-boat attacks. My understanding is that his ship was struck and greatly damaged. But that’s from stories, not documents. Sorry” — enormous thanks for this encouraging note from a family member about:

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/checkout/download/D4371232?reference=BT%20395%2F1%2F106016&ordernumber=C%2F222682315807273Q&digitalreceipt=NATIONALARCHIVES%5ETNAONLINE%5EC%2F222682315807273Q%2C350%2CGBP%2CAUTHORISED%2Ccbfc53423463bf3fe616cf2ada1168abf8121b67d6ffda1c8f548b818d60eb28&edocId=0

https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D8653094

Biodiversity cries for TLC!

There is current interest in the concept that biodiversity in cities (amid sprawling development) needs space — biodiversity needs green space. More green-space.

So we must ask, “What are the influences determining the spacial relationships between humans and nature in cities” (e.g. special interests behind a substantial highway expansion, rationales for clear-cutting for a townhouse development, even tree-cutting to make way way for cycle paths or something as ‘innocent’ as walkers carving out an off-trail pedestrian paths where wildlife lives and was once abundant). Many examples can be cited. These are but a few.

Habitat networks for nature and animals is shrinking worldwide.

In anthropology and the environmental humanities, scholars are studying shrinking trends and answering questions about ”What is inter-urban biodiversity variation” and “What is ecological reflexivity”.

Learn more here

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Axel-Hochkirch/publication/274731383_Biodiversity_in_cities_needs_space_A_meta-analysis_of_factors_determining_intra-urban_biodiversity_variation/links/59e5b324aca272390edfe2ca/Biodiversity-in-cities-needs-space-A-meta-analysis-of-factors-determining-intra-urban-biodiversity-variation.pdf?origin=publication_detail

Can biodiversity be more varied and more plentiful if green-space was strategically and deliberately expanded in bigger ways if as a society we lend ourselves to protecting it?

https://eventi.unibo.it/theecologicalturn-architettura-bologna-2020

https://journals.librarypublishing.arizona.edu/jpe/article/id/2226/

https://www.iccs.org.uk/content/icn-202021-workshop-theme-reflexive-turn-conservation

https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/6864669/an-ecology-of-attention-recalibrating-reflexivity-in-online-qualitative-inquiry

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2435164

https://kemp.unu-merit.nl/pdf/Voss%20Kemp%20Reflexive%20Governance%20FUTURES.pdf Berlin

http://somatosphere.net/2022/unequal-value-lives-harm-reduction-drug-use-ngos-canada.html/

https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/ces/research/current/socialtheory/maps/reflexivity/

https://escarpment.ca/make-an-impact/conserve-nature

For additional archives https://twitter.com/dwalshmedia/status/638372842841571328?s=21

The Keila [Br)
UK National Archives, record of bombing of the Keila February 22, 1941

Source: https://warsailors.com/convoys/ob288.html

https://www.shipsnostalgia.com/media/keila.323449/

https://www.naval-history.net/WW1Book-MN2a.htm

https://collections.mun.ca/digital/collection/mha_mercant/id/42165/

See below – for the quotation I mentioned this week 11/10/19 on Twitter @dwalshmedia from a recent Hong Kong resident speaking about protesters being criticized for disrupting worker commute.

November 12, 2019 – At this time, Hong Kong or HKSAR is understood to be the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the PRC People’s Republic of China – a sort of hybrid, ultra-heated commerce zone – for China to be able to carry out its principle of One country – Two systems.

Hong Kong has its own legal system unique from the Law of the PRC and based on the combination of English common law which has evolved over time in local cases and with local legislation coded in the Laws of Hong Kong. The Basic Law guarantees: The continuation of the English common law system (laws based on judicial precedent) that has been practiced in Hong Kong for more than 170 years. It is on this basis that the masses of Hong Kong people that take to the streets and current political upheaval must be understood.

Historically the British occupied the island of Hong Kong in 1841, during the First Opium War. In 1841 China had to give Hong Kong up to the British signing the Treaty of Nanking in 1842 and ending the war.

Hong Kong was a British colony from 1841 onward.

Hong Kong was occupied by Japan, from 1941 to 1945. When the Allies won WWII Hong Kong was surrendered back to the British, in 1945 until 1997.

In 1997 Hong Kong was transferred (returned) to China.

Administratively today Hong Kong is described as a devolved executive led within a socialist republic and includes; Chief Executive of Hong Kong, Carrie Lam; Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung; Council President Andrew Leung; and Chief Justice, Geoffrey Ma. Hong Kong’s legislature is called the Legislative Council. The region is nationally represented by National People’s Congress of 36 deputies and a Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference of 203 delegates.

Hong Kong has not historically been used to the kind of political demonstration the region is currently experiencing. In 2019 protesters, in what has been dubbed the #FreeHongKong movement, made the claim that, all told, it could be said that more than a million residents have been attracted to its genesis. The region’s emerging democratic personality has evolved over a short time, with the birth of the Umbrella Movement being reported as 2014. There is a focus within the movement on a strategy and on historic English common law having penetrated the psyche of Hong Kong-ers, with human rights, universal suffrage, rule of law and free and fair elections are part of a more long term freedom-fight praxis.

The actual trigger for the current unrest is purported to have been the Proposed Extradition bill of 2019 which would allow China to target and extradite fugitives. The protests are believed to be a combination of well organized on-line demonstrations in Hong Kong against the Hong Kong government’s Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2019. In part because it was a visible demonstration just how not-autonomous Hong Kong was actually seen to be by the Central Government in China. Democratic reform is a key component of the battle in the streets, spurred on it’s been suggested by some onlookers by a reaction to Causeway Bay Books disappearances.

Of note, the Wikipedia on Hong Kong cities “nominee per-screening, discrepancies in the electoral registry and disqualification of elected legislators after the 2016 Legislative Council elections” as some of the reasons for the unrest.

The upshot, today, is democratic activists share the position that that China fully intends to micro-manage nominee suitability and stop any kind of widespread democratic development and so they’ve taken to resisting this crackdown unapologetically.

Seemingly, the moment the world has started watching intently and more visibly lending support on social media for #FreeHongKong, media images of a man set on fire by a masked flash mob emerge – on Nov 12, 2019.  “A man who argued with a group of rioters in Ma on Shan was doused with a flammable liquid and set alight.” (scmp.com, Nov 11, 2019). The police are calling it attempted murder and have launched an investigation. It is difficult to find a cohesive statement anywhere. One would have expected a push-back from protesters distancing themselves from the violence. Most of the media reports share the institutional response. The Guardian is reporting that police are claiming that “protesters are pushing Hong Kong to the brink of collapse.” (The Guardian, Nov 11, 2019). The timing is relevant.

“As Hong Kong’s protests rage on, Xi Jinping’s meeting with Carrie Lam and China’s fourth plenum promise more interference. The attention paid to Hong Kong during the fourth plenum and news that central government officials will come to the city to explain the meeting’s communiqué should arouse concern.”(Opinion: David Zweig, scmp.com, Published 9 am 12 Nov, 2019).

Seen by many democracy activists as China’s ‘appointed puppet‘, Carrie Lam, Hong Kong Chief Executive, is said to have the confidence of Chinese leaders and the Chinese police (PLA) will not necessarily show their faces on the streets of Hong Kong. Others would like to see Lam on her way out and believe that the unity and confidence displayed by China is just a smoke-screen for the Western press to make it look as though a total crackdown by specifically China’s military/security/police forces is not yet in the cards but is veiled threat felt on the streets everywhere nonetheless. China displayed massive military might on social media on Oct 1, 2019 and the warning to Hong Kong was clear as day.

Chinese leaders say they expect the local government to prioritize dispersing the unrest. Local officials have clearly failed to calm the unrest. They have never been required to act politically. They are ‘newbies’ in that sense. Protesters in Hong Kong continue to show confidence in the Telegram app and Bridgefly, with the reported loophole now fixed.

Advanced technology to capture the movements and faces of protesters is being employed including the use of artificial intelligence by government, reported the BBC World News, BBCNews.com, on Sept 23, 2019. Protesters apparently sawed through traffic posts and found evidence of a surveillance company. The report went on to say, protesters are using lasers to disrupt sensors. Goggles and germ masks are being worn as self-protection from tear gas.  The Valiant and The First Aider is described as a key category of protester. The former raises the freedom banner and challenges authority putting herself or himself in harm’s way, and the latter swabs the injured and speaks with the liberal media as a both a nurse and an endorser. The Black flag is issued by police when they intend to use tear gas. In response, protesters have lit barricades on fire. Protesters claim they are following Bruce Lee’s mantra, “Be water”.

This has all the ingredients of an escalating crisis – use of water cannons by police and police kettling of protestors. On Nov 11, 2019 the hashtag #FreeHongKong on twitter includes video of the protestor that was shot close range by police.

Protesters are being criticized for disrupting commuters and vandalizing subway stations. In a recent interview with a Hong Kong resident she expressed these thoughts:

This is wide open to agent provocateurs. Tsuen Wan is featuring in the news. The universities in Hong Kong (this space) are  hot spots. It appears to be becoming increasingly violent. The protests are disrupting working people trying to get on with their day. It is unclear who the head is or is there is a head. There is a lot of volatility about it. Random reaction. Hong Kongers have never had to fight for anything! It is like they are being handed over to a biological parent. They are trying to be independent. The movement needs to be non-violent, Gandhian. It has the appearances of anarchy. They are seeking emancipation. But they are not ready for self-government. China will not give up Hong Kong! Hong Kong is about commerce. When it comes to political training it is still in infancy.

BBC World News, Nov 12, 2019 at 5:45 pm PST reported on TV that the Hong Kong protests showed no signs of letting up. Markets are slipping and nervous investors look on. It all has the appearance as looking more like a conflict between the police and a growing protester intelligentsia. Protesters say they are being compelled to increase their precautions to self-protect.

Update: Nov 14, 2019 Reuters   ‪- ‘Flaming arrows and petrol bombs: Inside Hong Kong protesters

Nov 15, 2019 PBS News Hour ‪- ‘In Hong Kong, public outrage toward police rises as violence spreads’

https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/1824 Hong Kong bill

https://twitter.com/m_johnston1/status/1198411981222502400?s=2

November 25, 2019 New York Times- Hong Kong election mapped

June 30, 2020 Hong Kong Security Law explained – New York Times

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/intelligence-report-warned-coronavirus-crisis-early-november-sources/story?id=70031273

https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/intelligence/491712-us-intelligence-warned-in-november-that-virus-spreading

https://www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/assessments/Unclassified-Summary-of-Assessment-on-COVID-19-Origins.pd

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/u-s-intel-report-identified-3-wuhan-lab-researchers-who-n1268327

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/did-coronavirus-really-escape-chinese-lab-here-s-what-we-n1199531

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/u-s-still-hasn-t-completely-ruled-out-lab-accident-n1258032

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/inside-wuhan-lab-center-coronavirus-storm-n1236254

https://www.businessinsider.com/wuhan-doctor-chinese-sounded-alarm-coronavirus-outbreak-december-2020-3