legalkimchi

[legalkimchi]

Weird and Cute

I don't talk about my kids a lot online. I like keeping my personal life separate. Also, while i feel like i can take a ton of online abuse that people hurl in my direction without much issue, if folks came after my kids... i would get violently upset. I'm very protective.

But this is a cute story.

So my eldest doesn't speak much. Most of their verbal communication is requesting things. outside of that, it is scripting, or the act of repeating phrases/lines from movies, books, videos, etc.

So their favorite books right now are dogman and captain underpants. very common, age appropriate stuff. So they likes to look up videos on dogman.

somehow, they stumble on this video of someone flipping through a dogman book. Except this person apparently chose a dog related song to play in the background. Which song? "I Bet On Losing Dogs" by Mitski.

So bath time rolls around and right after brushing their teeth, this kid starts singing.

🎶My baby, my baby You're my baby, say it to me Baby, my baby Tell your baby that I'm your baby🎶

Which... is adorable.

No matter how much they grow up, they'll always be my baby.

[legalkimchi]

New video Premiering today!

How History Is Created in Real or Fake Worlds

[legalkimchi]

Loving day

Today is Loving day. It marks the 57th anniversary of Loving v. Virginia, the Supreme Court case that struck down Anti-miscegenation laws in the United States.

my parents were married in 1976. 10 years prior, their marriage would have been a crime.

Forgive me, i'm tired. i didn't sleep well.

I could wax poetically about how important to my, and my children's existence, this ruling is.

I could tell you how it enforced many of our rights through the use of the Due Process Clause of the 14th amendment.

I could tell you how obergfell and roe v wade were based on the reasoning of the due process clause of the 14th...

I could tell you how justice thomas, who is himself in an interracial marriage, questioned the validity of that right and reasoning.

It is all interconnected. Race, LBGT+ issues, our rights in general.

If you are LGBT, or poc, both, or whatever, you should know that your rights are being targeted. and it isn't in hiding. It isn't a secret.

You can see it on project2025. You can see it in Thomas's concurrence in Dobbs v Jackson women's health. It is out in the open. easy to find. spelled out.

Today is Loving day. and if you want to celebrate this day with me in the future, be sure you fight and support Obergfell, for our trans friends, for women's rights, and all the other interconnected issues out there.

Also: side note. Mildred Loving never wanted to be in the spotlight. She wanted to live a normal life after her and her husband's name became a rallying cry for civil rights. Her husband, Richard Loving, passed away in 1975 from a car accident. She passed away in 2008. Prior to that, on the 40th anniversary of Loving V. Virginia, Mildred Loving came out of her quiet life and said, "I am still not a political person, but I am proud that Richard's and my name is on a court case that can help reinforce the love, the commitment, the fairness, and the family that so many people, black or white, young or old, gay or straight seek in life. I support the freedom to marry for all. That's what Loving, and loving, are all about."

She knew it was all connected. Let's honor her memory.

[legalkimchi]

Source

Source

Source

[legalkimchi]

I finally made the meme I've had in my head for over a year

[legalkimchi]

I made a video. It's like one of my tumblr posts with images, and audio and stuff. Check it out.

https://youtu.be/ZlK51P0vuc4?si=x_mTNDpbHVA3fxVb

[legalkimchi]

[legalkimchi]

I found out something hilarious.

So the word Spain comes from the latin Hispania, what the romans called Iberia. (That I knew) but they got that word from the carthaginian "ispania" which means "the land of rabbits."

So the European Rabbit is from Spain. But it is an invasive species, so now it is all over the continent. So much so it is now called the European rabbit, as opposed to the Spanish rabbit.

Additionally, it has wreaked havoc on the Australian ecosystem when introduced there.

As I look back on my spanish heritage, I cannot help but think...

Even the rabbits of spain were greedy colonizers!

[legalkimchi]

Just saw that a watch youtuber is a reactionary asshole. Had a whole second channel of hate speech.

So I blocked them.

And I get the thing about "creating echo chambers." Thing is, I do watch, converse, and associate with folks who's political beliefs differ from my own. Sometimes I can change minds, learn something, or come to a better understanding about things.

I don't do that with hate mongers. And I mean that literally, as this person was using their hate as a commodity.

There is a fundamental difference between having a conversation with someone about how the concept of private property is good for innovation or economic growth overall and rising tide lifts all boats or something, we can have that conversation. If you want to discuss possible compromises to gun ownership through gun legislation to keep society safer, we can do that. If you want to discuss mental health care and ways to help ensure housing and food for folks? Let's talk.

If you want to hate people, you aren't worth my time.

If you defend genocide, you aren't worth my time.

If you love being openly and unabashedly an asshole to marginalized people, that's not a political position.

I'm all for talking things out and educating people. I actually enjoy that.

I shouldn't have to teach you that human life has value and should be respected.

[legalkimchi]

Who is are the victims of these genocides?

It is a question we need to know the answer to if we want to formulate helping others. While my last big post was about the nature of the other conflicts happening, namely the Third war of the Congo and the Sudanese Civil War, I failed to answer a central question in that post.

Who is getting killed here?

People who call the situation in the Congo a "genocide" have a hard time telling you who is the victim of the genocide.

If you google "congo genocide" you will get the figure of 6 million dead in the wars of the Congo. These conflicts have been going on for about 30 years and we are entering the third war of the Congo now. But they won't mention the target. That's partially there are two groups that hate each other, but also other groups that hate all of them.

As I mentioned in my previous post, the wars in the Congo started because of spill over from the Rwandan genocide of the 1990s. That's where the hutu majority fought against the ruling tutsi minority. The Tutsi were the ruling elite and used as puppets of the belgium colonizers. The Belgians used these two ethnic groups against each other, fueling a hatred between them to their own benefit.

When Rwanda gained independence, the hutus took control. They treated the tutsi as second class citizens and eventually, during the Rwandan Civil War, extremist hutus killed tutsis and moderate hutus in the Rwandan genocide. But it isn't an easy binary. War crimes were committed by both sides and atrocities were commonplace.

Prior to that, many tutsis fled rwanda. Most going to places like Uganda or, then zaire,now the Drc. So you have a displaced tutsi population in the drc.

After the end of the Rwandan Civil War, hutu genociders, fearful of tutsi reprisals, fled into the Drc. They brought their war with them.

Rwandan government accused the drc of harboring genociders. They armed tutsi refugees in the drc. Hutus were trying to fight to take back rwanda, while also killing tutsis in the drc.

As the war escalated, neighboring nations joined in. Rwandas armies massacred hutu populations. (They also fight to control the Diamond and cobalt mines. If you hear about apple supporting genocide it is because of these cobalt mines. Cobalt is essential for modern computing and yes, children are mining in slave conditions to make your phone affordable)

DRC, angry at the Rwandan tutsi government fanning the flames of war, called upon the Congolese people to kill tutsis.

So the genocide here is of tutsis (like the Rwandan genocide) but also of hutus. All while a civil war is happening in the drc, which is being exacerbated by local African governments and "the west" (through the exploitation of the diamond and cobalt reserves.)

The Sudanese genocide is a little simpler. Sudans major ethnic group are sudanese Arabs. While there is a civil war happening, Darfur is where the genocide is happening. Why that area specifically?

Darfur means "home of the Fur people." You probably already guessed it. These people are black africans, not sudanese Arabs. While they speak Arabic and are generally muslim... they are darker skinned folks.

With this knowledge, I hope you have a better understanding of the situations and can press your politicians into action.

[legalkimchi]

[legalkimchi]

lol i hate today’s era of absolutely zero nuance takes. a friend didn’t behave exactly as you’d wanted them to? cut them off. a guy didn’t text you back instantly bc he has his own life? he’s just giving you breadcrumbs. doing something makes you uncomfortable? don’t do it anymore. someone isn’t instantly available for you? disinterest. just absolutist statements that often don’t apply to the multilayer situations of everyday life. like. stop. literally just stop it

[legalkimchi]

10 years

As of today, i've been an attorney for 10 years.

weirdly nostalgic.

[legalkimchi]

Please learn more than just a Phrase.

I don't expect people to be subject matter experts on issues of global politics.

But false equivalency is rampant in online discourse regarding three major conflicts in the world today. I am using the word conflict in this post, however, when applicable, i will use other words to describe specifics. (Nuance folks... it's a thing)

So i start off with an assumption that most people don't understand the basics of most international events. As an american, i only know some of the stuff that is happening within my own nation. This is not an insult to you, dear reader. Rather, it is a position we all must realize we are in. You do not understand most world issues.

You just don't.

you aren't there. it isn't your life. you don't have the academic background.

I saw a post recently calling for "freedom for Palestine, Sudan, and Congo."

And it bothered me. Not because i am opposed to peace, (how is asking for ceasefire a bad thing?) but rather because i believe simplifying the conflicts with this wording showcases the ignorance of the differences.

Not all conflicts are the same.

In palestine, we have a convoluted mess where two groups claim a territory as home. getting into the in-depth story of this conflict takes time. Foundational elements of it take place thousands of years ago, but the conflict itself is only about 75 years old. So it is a long and short story. Currently, the sovereign state of Israel is engaging in a genocide in Gaza. Asking for freedom for palestinians makes sense. they live in an apartheid state and would like a state of their own. they wish to be free of occupation. you can argue with the details, be pro-israel, or whatever, but that is the basic ask of palestinians. (if you want to get into anti-semetic regional sentiment or the desire of certain groups to eradicate the israeli jewish population or Israel as a nation that's a different topic, not the point of what i'm talking about.)

In the Congo and Sudan, it is a different story.

Let's start with the Congo. First of all, Which Congo?

Let's please understand that there is the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Republic of the Congo is a former french colony. Then there is Democratic Republic of the Congo. Some of us might remember this country as Zaire.

the DRC is the congo we are talking about in the news. This was a former belgian colony and the atrocities committed by the belgians there rival any genocide in human history. i've seen estimates between 5 million and 20 million deaths. some estimates state the population of native congolese were cut in HALF. since the turbulent start of the country after their independence in 1960, the country knew relative peace until the 1990s. Then a mixture of a weak central government and the Rwandan Civil war (which had it's own genocide you may have heard about) spilled over into what was then Zaire. Zaire dissolved, and the DRC took it's place, But the wars have been raging off an on since then. earlier this year, more civil war violence erupted AGAIN. This displaced millions, AGAIN. while the DRC is a bit of an autocratic and repressive regime, the rebel groups are groups with ties with the Rwandan government and the other group with ties to Isis. It's awful all the way down.

Sudan has had an ongoing civil war for over 20 years. I remember this because i helped lead some anti-genocide protests regarding Darfur when i was in college 20 years ago. I've been following this conflict for nearly my entire adult life. you may have heard about this with regards to the Save Darfur coalition regarding the genocide in Darfur. Well, that genocide has continued (albeit with less intensity) for 20 years. the civil war lasted until 2021, but restarted in a different form in late 2023. the conflict is now between two different sides of the military government fighting each other.

It is an awful conflict full of awful leaders. Sudan's government suffered a revolution in 2019 from a dictator, only to have that government overthrown in a coup by the current dictator. The Sudanese military is supported by folks like Russia and North Korea. you might see that among the other countries that support sudan, bunch of communist countries, and you might think "hey, maybe al-Burhan is a leftist".

no... no he is not.

He is a military despot. He has no ties to any real ideology. He just runs sudan as a military dictator.

So who is opposing him?

The Rapid Support Forces. and you may be thinking "ok, so they are the good guys? trying to overthrow the dictator?"

No... They are the ones that instigated the Genocide in Darfur.

This is a situation is "no matter who wins, the people of Sudan lose."

So when folks claim these are all the same. Or wonder why folks talk about one and not the other.

there are reasons. These are very different conflicts. Please learn about them. It matters more than spouting some 4 word slogan calling for "freedom."

Find out what the people of these areas actually need. Learn more about what is happening. My description above is incomplete. I may even get some things wrong. I am trying to keep informed, but I am not an expert, nor do i live there. Raise voices from the region and find out if there are ways to help.

[legalkimchi]

Spam.

Spam has a bad rep.

Most of the folks I've met in my life decry spam as garbage food. A symbol of everything wrong with the food industry. Caned, processed meat. High in sodium and preservatives. It's been called unhealthy, which it may well be. We hate it so much in the US, we refer to unwanted mail as spam...

I often ask folks how they first experienced spam. Usually they tell me how awful it is. They ate it straight from the can.

What?

Look, just because it is "safe" to eat right out of the can doesn't mean that's what you are supposed to do.

You can fry it up, soak it in a marinate, put it in a stew, chop it into cubes and put it in a wok with fried rice. The list goes on.

I grew up eating spam. This is due to my mother being a Korean of a certain age. She was born, we believe, immediately after the korean war. I say "believe" because records aren't great from that timeframe in korea. We assume it is between 1954-1956.

She was raised on foods taken or recieved from the US army. That generation of koreans has an interesting culinary relationship with spam, hotdogs, and corn bread. Because corn meal was cheap and given as foreign aid, or smuggled from army bases. Same with spam. There is an entire style of stew in korea (a culture known for their soups) called budae jigae (army base stew). It has Ramen noodles, spam, hot dogs, American cheese, kimchi, and a variety of other things.

When you're hungry, you survive. Your delicate palate be damned.

But you also develope a taste for these things. I know a half dozen ways to prep spam in a meal. And I can afford "better food," whatever that means.

But you never know. So much of the foods hipster foodies obsess over are another cultures' desperation food. Pho, ramen, musubi etc.

Maybe spam, or budae jigae, will be next.

[legalkimchi]

There's a Korean restaurant I go to so often that they ask how my kids are when I get To-go and laugh when I come in and it's not a Saturday like I normally do

i see posts here about how people are so mortified when they are acknowledged as being a regular customer somewhere that they never return. cowards. the employees at taco bell treat me like a celebrity. like royalty. i am their strange little pet customer who gets traded along as staff comes and goes. they know my car before i even speak in the drive-thru speaker. today i was 2 hours late and she ran over and squealed that she "thought i'd left them!" and that she "made my order with extra love!" and you what, she did

[legalkimchi]

To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar (1995)

Dir. Beeban Kidron