If you want to keep up to date and help pay their fines, Food Not Bombs Houston keeps their instagram current with what is happening and how you can help!

10/10 would watch them solve crimes together.

LOOK AT ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS CAKES

I sometimes wonder if a lot of people on the left just don't let themselves be consciously aware that yes, the people who back authoritarianism, fascism, and generally n*zi bullcrap will be voting. On all levels, local to national. All the time.

Because like, people who aren't authoritarian in leaning will argue. Will point out that there's cons and be depressed sometimes easily that there is no perfect candidate.

But- the very point of being an authoritarian is that once they choose their authority, they do what they are told.

They are told to vote by one politician they decided is on their side to vote for another one and will do it without many, if any, questions.

They're told to vote (illegally if it's during a service) by their pastor, by their boss, by their parents, by their spouse, by someone in authority over them that they have accepted as the authority, and they'll go out and do it.

Some of them can snap out of it if it really goes too much against some spark inside, but the whole thing of their wanting a simplistic us vs them world view where they can just sit back and do what they're told and feel better, comfortable, or even superior for doing it means that they'll go do as they're told and then feel good and superior about doing it.

This is how they've long-gamed the GOP to where it is today, that's what is meant when people say "the Republicans just go out and vote". They do that! And they vote without putting any thought into it, without stressing much about imperfections.

Non authoritarians/non-fascists are more likely to give up, or argue against candidates, or just be contrarian, and thus might rather shoot themselves in the foot when it comes time to just doing what is a civic duty to try and prevent the rise of what the other side will always, always turn out in their full numbers to back.

Even if they live in an area where theoretically they would be outvoted 20 to 2, they will show up 'defiantly' and cast their votes for the person they have been told by someone they have decided to trust told them to vote for. Even if they don't know a damn thing about the candidate other than two talking points from a campaign ad or that were talked about at the church social.

This doesn't make any voting at all useless, it doesn't make anyone who votes sheep. It makes voting absolutely required by anyone opposing them. Not 'instead' of community action and protests and letters or whatever the fuck else, but along with.

It means as long as there are any elections, yes, to avoid fascists winning elections 'fairly' (not gonna get into gerrymandering here,) people have got to show up and vote against them, because the fascist voters aren't going to take a mental health day or write in a joke or go third party. Some person whose authority clicked a little circuit in their brain on, who maybe got them riled up about <one thing> told them to vote for <whoever> and they are going to vote for <whoever>, regardless of whatever <other things> are out there being ignored as less consequential.

People with low spoons, someone just recommended this cookbook to me, so I thought I'd pass it on.

I always look at cookbooks for people who have no energy/time to do elaborate meal preparations, and roll my eyes. Like, you want me to stay on my feet for long enough to prepare 15 different ingredients from scratch, and use 5 different pots and pans, when I have chronic fatigue and no dishwasher?

These people seem to get it, though. It's very simple in places. It's basically the cookbook for people who think, 'I'm really bored of those same five low-spoons meals I eat, but I can't think of anything else to cook that won't exhaust me'. And it's free!

Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly Backstage at the 28th Annual Academy Awards, Hollywood, California, 1956 by Allan Grant

hiiiii, does anyone want to become evil with me?

Source, which includes details like

The vulture capitalist hedge fund that bought and subsequently destroyed Toys R Us now owns Overdrive/Libby.

They have already begun making it worse/less usable and they have a chokepoint monopoly on the delivery method of ebooks borrowed from public libraries in the US.

A fun thing about capitalism is that rich people can buy something a lot of people love and depend on, and then destroy it for fun and profit, and there’s not really anything we can do about it.

And now they’re in closing negotiations to buy Simon and Schuster. I’m sure this will have no negative consequences for books at all.

as of 8/7, the simon and schuster deal appears to have gone through: https://www.npr.org/2023/08/07/1192539219/simon-schuster-sold

i mean we didn’t want penguin random house to get s&s right? right???? sob also sharing @wizardysseus’s tags because, you know, people in the field: #libraries#what’s interesting as a librarian is that i’ve seen a lot of people celebrate libby as if using it is the same as using the public library#i use the service myself and when it’s been good it’s been good - i encourage people to read in any way they find accessible to them#but it is in fact run by a privately owned company#so while it is a small thing: it is ALWAYS better to give your recommendations to a librarian or contact the library directly#than to rely on a third party#i will also say that ebook licensing for public libraries is already wildly expensive. there are many dead canaries in this coal mine#we will continue to do our best but like. vote and protest and agitate with your libraries in mind. please

I have heard LOTS of librarians complain about the ebook licensing issues also while we’re here friendly reminder to check out what services your library subscribes to (mine for instance has both hoopla and kanopy, for instance) and to use them instead of, say, Audible, which is also owned by a private company and don’t forget our dear friends over at Librivox!

oh for fucksake

imagining a guy with a beard entering a mosh pit and coming out completely clean shaven

another clean shaven guy enters the other side and exits wearing the first guy's beard but slightly crooked

fascinating to watch society increasingly work itself into contortions about how to make a principled distinction between boy tits (pedestrial!) and girl tits (taboo!) because even as the rigid gender binary is slowly chipped away, we can’t handle the fact someone somewhere might be turned on

some breast cancer survivors have breasts but no nipples; are their chests nsfw? if they have their nipple transplanted to their forehead, must it be covered? if i have my nipples moved to my forehead but then later acquire tits via hrt or breast implants, then are they nsfw? why is a trans man’s chest post top surgery sfw but not pre? why is a flat-chested woman’s chest never sfw? what if someone refuses to disclose their AGAB? must they wear Schroedinger’s Sports Bra at all times? if someone transitions, has top surgery, then decides to go back to identifying as a woman, does their chest become NSFW again, or does it remain SFW?

so many philosophical questions! and what a waste of human brain power and technical ability to spend it all on arcane points of content moderation. at what point does this all become such a drag on our economy, that we have to jettison our hangups or else permit innovation to grind to a halt?

official boob post

i am profoundly honored by this

women should lift weights because it prevents osteoporosis in old age and makes you a more capable person in everyday life please shut up about butts and waists and hourglasses i'm going to fucking kill

;___;♡♡♡♡

genuine question from someone who would rather chew their arm off than go to a public gym, and also doesnt have a lot of money: how do you safely get into strength training? are there youtube channels, apps (android), etc anyone recommends that makes it approachable and don't lean into diet culture / body shaming?

also the biggest thing that keeps me from working out is that I already have joint and spinal issues and moving the wrong way can fuck up a knee or a shoulder or my spine for days. I really don't want to injure myself, and have unwittingly done so before. resources that are extremely clear on exactly how to move and offer gentler / alternative ways to move for people with limited range are vital.

Okay, so this may not technically be strength training, but muscles are dumber than bricks and cannot tell the difference between your own bodyweight and actual weights.

So, may I recommend:

He runs a YouTube channel where he goes over how to work your way up to more complex exercises (for instance, his pull-ups videos start with using a door jamb and moving your weight back and forth) so it's good for easing yourself into things.

You also don't have to fork out for expensive weights and such if you don't want to/can't. Substitute with stuff you either already have at home or can get from the supermarket and build up the weight you can exercise with. 500 gram cans of butter beans then 750 gram bottles of pasta sauce. 1 litre drink bottle then your 1.5 litre milk bottle. 3 litre bulk-buy bottle of laundry detergent. Etc. One of my dogs weighs 13 kilos and I pick her up on the regular (to her delight). One weighs 16 kg and I pick him up too (to his consternation and mild disapproval). You don't have to fit out some fancy home gym before you can start strength training.

I second Hybrid Calisthenics, that's the program I use. It's run by one guy who's taken it upon himself to make exercising more accessible and it's completely free! Each exercise has different variations based on your ability and each variation is further divided into different levels of difficulty so you can work up to where you want to be. If you can't do a single push up for example then this program will help you work up to the point where you can, and if you're a master of push ups then there are more advanced body weight exercises you can tackle so you can keep moving forward in your training without stagnating. The routine offers a full body workout with absolutely no equipment required for the beginning levels. The only reason you would need to buy anything is if you want to work up to a full pull up, at which point you would need actual pull up rings

Here's his actual website which I feel is easier to navigate than the YouTube channel on its own and organizes things in a way that's easy to understand. He explains everything you need to know about the routine and each individual exercise has both a text description and a video tutorial

agree to pay your workers fairly and the strikes will end, it’s that easy you greedy shits!

More and more I am thinking that the reason the studios are refusing to budge is because any deal other than the workers unconditional surrender would require the studios to make streaming numbers public so workers know what fair pay is, and companies have been lying about streaming numbers so much that making the real numbers public could result in lawsuits and possible criminal charges from the investors they've defrauded.

There has been an outpouring of public support for unions the past few years I don't think the execs would refuse to even make a counter offer unless there was more going on.

Job interview tip I got from a tiktok but it's genius:

If you were unemployed for a while, they're going to ask if you can explain the gap in your resume. Unless you were actually doing something cool & relevant, this is hard to answer in a way that makes you sound like a good corporate cog. So here's the best and infallible answer -

No you cannot, because you signed an NDA.

You now sound mysterious, desirable, worldly, experienced. They can't even really ask you more about it! Perfect.

Seeburg // Stereo Jukebox Model 222 (US, 1959)

Oncologist time.

Hello friends,

Our appointment with the oncologist this morning gave us a better idea of what we're dealing with. Mila has 'intermediate-to-large-cell lymphoma.'

Today we made some decisions: We're going with a middle-of-the-road treatment plan which should have her receiving chemo once a month as long as it works for her. I really like this oncologist -- he's a real straight shooter, and promised that he won't let us carry on with treatment for her that doesn't make sense for her and is only keeping her around for us.

Today's treatment and diagnostics included blood work, a chest x-ray (they're concerned about something going on with one of her eyes which normally happens when there's a mass pressing on one of the nerves, which is probably a lymph node but they want to check it out), and a medication which should clear out the overload of white blood cells in her system. She'll probably feel like garbage for a day or two, and then feel much better. It'll act as a sort of reset.

And then in a week or two, we'll start chemo. The chemo is going to run us about $800/mo for as long as it goes on, and with where we are currently, we have about enough for her first month of chemo. With what we have invested in the shop -- we've spent about $15K on inventory in the past 3 months, starting new amazing things -- what we fundraise is what we can spend, basically.

My hope is that we can get her to her birthday in early November. If she sees 2024, that'll be incredible.

Thank you so much for getting us this far. We appreciate it more than we can say. Time to go pick her up from the vet, bring her home, and give her some big old snuggles.

If you want to opt out of Mila updates -- and that's okay! -- please block the tag 'lyudmila pupperchenko.' All updates will be tagged with that.