soundscape of young green martian playing with pvc pipes
Stupid fucking slut hour
rainbow pool!! 🌈✨
An Anatolian pars, a leopard subspecies, is seen by a camera trap set up in Turkey. It was thought that the endangered animal was extinct for years until 2013 when two of them were spotted
Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
i th
heehee
i think probably all of them are spotted
thank you to the dishonest failing new york times for constantly erasing us and purposefully obscuring jewish participation in these protests just to make people less sympathetic to the movement opposing an ongoing genocide
btw you can see all the edits nyt makes to their article titles on this twitter account
attention joann's shoppers. there is a freak in the yarn aisle buildinf a nest
I already said this in my tags but:
Hey, y'all in the notes: she wasn't asking you to call her beautiful or say she's adorable or "uwu she's so sweet i would die for her". She's asking you to interact with physically different creators regardless of if you think they're beautiful or not. Beauty standards are a farce and we need to stop implying that beautiful is the most important thing someone can be. Every person who says "oh she's so sweet I would die for her" or "anyone who calls her ugly is getting their kneecaps caved in": this is for you. You are being madly infantalising. It's like when you say to a fat person "oh you're not fat, you're cuddly" like, shut up! I thought we were past this by now. She is a PERSON and you are all scrambling to say just how beautiful you think she is, without even thinking about the message she is trying to send.
This isn't me saying she's ugly or whatever the fuck. I don't believe in ugly. This is me telling you all to stop being so fucking surface level with your beauty 'activism'. She knows what she looks like and she probably doesn't need hundreds of people infantalising her because they need to performatively show off how good they are and how much they don't care about traditional beauty standards. Grow up and interact with her like she's a person, not a fuckin three-legged puppy.
I’ll be honest, when one party’s aiding and abetting the genocide and the other’s outright gonna kill all my friends, I don’t really care if the fascists “win”. They’ve won already.
You know who would be delighted to hear that? Trump and Putin. The US far right and the Russian government have poured lots of time, effort, and money over the last decade+ into convincing US leftists and liberals that things are hopeless, there's no point in even trying to make things better, and the Democrats and Republicans are functionally interchangeable. They do this because one of the easiest ways for them to win is if the left gives up and stops trying. Every person on the left they can convince to give up in despair brings them closer to complete control. Defeatism on the left actively supports victory on the right.
I think your statement is wrong on a number of levels, both factual and emotional. It comes from not understanding what the actual options are for the US government and the President specifically, either at home or abroad. And it will allow actual fascism to flourish and make the world far worse than it is now.
On an emotional level, the way to address this is to stop doomscrolling. Stop focusing on the worst things happening in the world. Don't ignore them! but don't let them consume you. Start looking for the things that are going well. Find places in your community that you can get involved in making things better. Even if it's only on a small scale like volunteering in a soup kitchen or homeless shelter, it will help you realize that you aren't helpless, that there are things that can be done to make the world a better place. Stay informed about things on a local, national, and international level, but limit how much time and attention you give to things that depress you that you can't affect. Instead of sitting there thinking about all the ways the world sucks and how awful things are, look for things you can do that are productive, and then do them. You'll feel better and you will have made your corner of the world a little better. And you will be a lot less likely to unintentionally fall into the despair, nihilism, and passivity that the fascists want you to be consumed by.
Always remember that the worlds problems are not resting solely on your shoulders, or solely on America's shoulders, and neither is the hope of fixing them. Everyone has things that we can do to make the world a better place, but there are also things that are beyond our control. We can control what we do; we cannot control what others do. We can and should try to make the world a better place, but focusing on the things we can't change has no positive benefits. Focusing on things we can't change accomplishes two things: it makes you feel bad, and it stops you from doing the things you actually can do to make things better. Neither of these things is good for you or anyone else. Look for things you can do and do them. Keep informed on the things you can't change, but don't focus on them.
On a factual level, let's look at "aiding and abetting genocide," shall we?
First, it's important to remember that the US President is not the God-Emperor Of The World. The US government has limits to what it can and can't do in other countries, and both legally and practically. If the US wants to intervene in a problem in another country, there are a variety of things we can do that boil down to basically four categories. It's a lot more complex than this in practice, of course, but in general here are the categories of things we can do:
- Send in the troops. Invade, either by ourselves or as part of a NATO or UN operation. (Or maybe just send in a CIA wetworks team to assassinate the head of state.) I hope you can see the moral problems with this option, and also, we've done this a shitton of times over the course of the 20th Century and pretty much every time we've done it, we've made an already awful situation worse. On a moral level, it's pretty bad, and on a practical level, it's worse. Sure, we could stop the immediate problem, but what then? Consider Afghanistan and Iraq. We got rid of Saddam Hussein and the Taliban, and everything went to shit, we spent twenty years occupying Afghanistan with pretty much nothing to show for it. (The Taliban is back in control of Afghanistan.) Things were worse when we left than when we arrived. So this option is pretty much off the table (or should be).
- Diplomatic pressure. Now, the thing is, they're a sovereign nation, they don't have to listen to us if they don't want to. We have a lot of things we can leverage--including financial aid--but the only way to force them to do what we want is to invade and conquer, and that only works temporarily. Since we can't force, we have to persuade. This requires us to maintain our existing relationship with the country in question, and possibly strengthen it, because that relationship is what we're leveraging to try and influence them to do what we want them to do. If we do not maintain our relationship, they have no reason to listen to us.
- Cut ties and go home. Break off any existing relationship and support, loudly proclaim that they're awful and doing awful things and we wash our hands of the whole situation. This keeps our own hands lily-white and pure, but it also means we have zero leverage to work on any kind of a diplomatic solution. They have no reason to listen to us or care about what we think. We can pat ourselves on the back for doing the right thing, but we destroy our own ability to influence anything. Not just now, but also in the future. Let's say the current crisis ends, and then ten years later there's another crisis. If we want to have any effect then, we would have to start from square one to start building a relationship. Cutting ties would be great for making Americans feel better about ourselves, and there are times when it's the only option, but it should be a last resort. If there is any hope of being able to influence things for the better this will destroy it at least temporarily.
- Cut ties and impose sanctions. Break off any existing relationship and support, loudly proclaim that they're awful and doing awful things, but also use the might of the American economy to isolate and punish them. We've done this a lot over the 20th Century, too, and it has never actually resulted in the country in question buckling down and toeing the line we want them to. What happens is the sanctioned country has an economic shock (how long it lasts and how bad it gets depends on a lot of factors) and then pulls themselves back together economically, except this time they're more self-sufficient and less reliant on international trade and financial networks. They tell themselves that America is evil and the cause of all their problems, and so not only do they not listen to us, they actively hate us. And they have fewer international relationships, so fewer reasons to care about what the international community thinks about them. So they're most likely to double down on whatever it is they're doing that we don't like. This one is completely counterproductive and utterly stupid. It's great for making Americans feel better about ourselves, but if we actually care about being able to use our influence for good (or, at least, to mitigate evil) this option shoots us in the foot. It encourages other nations to do the very thing we're trying to stop them from doing.
So, with those four options in mind, both option one (invasion/assassination) and option four (sanctions) are off the table for being immoral and counterproductive. That leaves "breaking our relationship and going home" and "using diplomatic pressure" as our only two viable options.
Biden has chosen option two, diplomatic pressure. Yes, he and our government have continued financial support for Israel ... but with strings attached. They have put limits on it that have never been put on any US foreign aid before. They have taken legal steps to lay the groundwork to target Israeli settlers (i.e. Israeli citizens who confiscate Palestinian homes and businesses). We've been hearing reports for months that Benjamin Netanyahu (Israeli Prime Minister, and a far-right-wing demagogue) hates Biden's guts, because Biden is pressuring him to stop the genocide and work towards peace. Biden is maintaining the relationship, and he's using that relationship to try and influence things to curb the violence and pave the way for a just peace settlement of some sort. Biden has also mentioned the possibility of a two state solution where Palestine becomes its own completely separate country. That's huge, because up until this point the US position has always been that Israel is the only possible legitimate nation in that territory. If Biden stopped US support for Israel, it wouldn't force Israel to stop what it's doing ... but it would let them ignore us. It would remove any leverage or influence we might have.
Biden's hands aren't clean. But the only way for them to be clean would be to also give up any chance of influencing the situation or working to protect Palestinians now or in the future. Only time will tell if it works, but I personally would rather have someone who tried and failed than someone who didn't even try. You might disagree about whether this is the right course of action, and there's a lot of room for honest disagreement about the issue (there's a lot of nuances that I'm glossing over or ignoring). But please do acknowledge that Biden isn't supporting Israel because he supports genocide; he's doing it so that he can continue to maintain diplomatic pressure on Israel to stop the violence.
Which brings us back to "aiding and abetting genocide." Trump is not like Biden. Trump is good friends with Netanyahu and backs Israel to the hilt. Trump thinks that all Arabs are terrorists (and all Muslims are terrorists) and genuinely believes the world would be a better place with them dead. Biden is continuing to support Israel, but using that support as influence to get them to stop or slow down. Trump would be using that influence to encourage them.
And those are the two choices. Someone who is trying to curb the genocide, and someone who actively supports it.
I really hope you can see the significant and substantial difference between those two positions.
But let's say that you're right and Biden's policy towards Israel and Palestine is every bit as bad as Trump's would be. If there was nothing to choose between them on foreign policy grounds, there would still be a shitton to choose between them on domestic policy grounds. You admit that the right wants to kill your friends, and yet you don't seem to think that stopping them from killing your friends might be a good thing to do.
"We can't save Palestinians, so we might as well let Republicans destroy the rights, lives, and futures of LGBTQ+ people, women, people of color, people with disabilities, poor people, non-Christians, and anyone else they don't like." "We can't save Palestinians, so why bother to try to save the people we might actually be able to save." "We can't save Palestinians right now, so there's no point in trying to build up a longer-term political bloc that might drag US politics to the left over the long run."
Do you get why there's a problem with that line of thought?
#people seem to be learning for the first time that politics is complicated and messy and often forces them to compromise their morals#in order to actually accomplish anything#and that this is a direct consequence of too many people ignoring all things political for far too long#resulting in the situation where there are no good choices only bad and worse ones#the anger is justified but so often directionless meaning it's in danger of fizzling out accomplishing nothing#progress is a game of chess and your vote is a single move so use it wisely --tags via lurkernomore2814
The thing that really gets me about every single time I see people make this "Well, both sides are evil so it doesn't matter" argument, they always say something like Anon "Well the DEMOCRATS aren't doing anything to stop the genocide in Gaza, and the REPUBLICANS are going to completely strip all LGBT rights so it just doesn't matter" MY DUDE DO YOU THINK THAT THE REPUBLICANS ARE GOING TO STOP ISRAEL
Look me in the eyes and tell me, even at its worst, it's choice between ONE bad thing and TWO BAD THINGS because you are fucking insane if you think the Republicans are going to lift a finger to help Palestine or Ukraine.
If you don't vote, you're saying you're fine with the Palestinian genocide AND the stripping of LGBT rights, because if we slide Right, we get both. Enjoy that.
Fundraiser masterpost
This is a masterpost for the evacuation fundraisers I've vetted so far, a few other fundraisers I find trustworthy but have not been able to vet (inability to communicate with the organizer), and a few semi-completed fundraisers or fundraisers for a different purpose (like house rebuilding, or aid distribution). The numbers next to the names have no significance beyond ease of navigation for me for when I check their progress in the future. You should look at the disclaimers instead and focus on those. Occasionally I will update these with new info, including new fundraisers, and the amount of cash that's been raised. Check in regularly on the original post when you see it being reblogged. In all likelihood once its reached you it's already outdated. Also please don't overlook the Sustainable Aid options near the bottom! The brain drain is already creating problems but having another way of keeping or creating new knowledge and key members of a functioning society is important. Latest update: 16/04/2024.
VETTED FAMILY ESCAPE FUNDRAISERS
- Walaa Abusamra (1). 10 family members. 24.2k out of 80k €.
- Ezzideen Shehab (2). 6 family members. 7k out of 32.5k €. LOW ON FUNDS.
- Madleen Abu Jayyab (3). 4 family members. 18.7k out of 70k USD.
- Jehad Shehada (4). 1 individual. 3.5k out of 15k CAD. LOW ON FUNDS.
- Aser Alassar (5). 5 family members. 405k out of 550k SEK. Or 37k out of 51k USD.
- My friend Mona Abu Hamda (6). 9 family members. 59.5k out of 75k USD.
- Mohammed Shamia (7). 7 family members. 8.9k out of 35k USD.
- Abdullah Al-Saghir (8). 9 family members. 67.3k out of 100k €.
- Randa Abubakr (9). 6 family members. 14.6k out of 17k €. (NEARLY COMPLETE)
- Fadi Alshrafi (10). 9 family members. 54.5k out of 85k USD. (1 evacuated)
- Osama Abdelrahman. (11). 9 family members. 35.2k out of 45k €. (1 CHRONICALLY ILL CHILD, NEEDS TREATMENT)
- Alhaw family and the Albittar family (12). Between 18 and 12 family members. 8.8k out of 90k €. (EXTREMELY LOW, NEEDS FUNDS)
- Verified Fundraiser by Palestine Asdiqa to help a malnourished baby with cerebral palsy. (13) 7.7k out of 31k USD. (URGENT + CHRONICALLY ILL CHILD, NEEDS TREATMENT)
- Rana Abu Ahmed (14). 6 family members. COMPLETED ✅
- Mohammed Abu Matar (15). 6 family members. 9.9k out of 34k CAD.
- Moataz Abu Sakran (16). 3 family members. 12.4k out of 20k $ ORIGINAL CAMPAIGN COMPLETE, NEEDS TRANSFER FEES COVERED. 629$ out of 5k needed.
- Ayah Abu Sidu (17). 10 family members. 15.8k out of 50.4k USD.
- Said Fadel (18). 7 family members. 19.7k out of 50k USD.
- Tasneem Nabil Musa (19). 7 family members (ALL INJURED, NEED MEDICAL CARE.) 10.5k out of 50k USD
- Belal Azmi Msallam (20). 14 family members. 7.1k out of 160k AUD. EXTREMELY LOW ON FUNDS.
- Mortaja Family (21). 11 family members. 28k out of 70k €.
- Abu Ramadan family (22). 14 family members. 10k out of 148k €.
- Mai Rajab (23). COMPLETED ✅
- Amal Abu Shammala (24). 4 family members. 33.7k out of 42k €.
- Maryam & family (25). 30.3k out of 50k USD.
- Haneem Abdelhalim (26). 8 family members. 31.8k out of 40k USD raised.
- Ahmed Masoud (27). 12 family members. 10k out of 60k €.
- Mohammed Fareed (28). 30.2k out of 60k CAD.
- Lena Nofal (29). 40.6k out of 44k € (NEARLY COMPLETE, original family registered to evacuate, extended family are being helped now)
- Rasheda Alfaiomy (30). 6+ family members. 27.5k out of 65k USD.
- Ula El Hindi (31). 1+ individuals. 8.6k out of 15k €.
- Muhammad Safi (32). 5+ family members. 4.5k out of 30k BP. LOW ON FUNDS.
- Yazan Khalaf (33). 18 family members. 16.9k out of 40k USD.
- Afaf Masoud (34). 5+ family members (2 evacuated). 83.8k out of 110k €.
- Motasem Khayal (35). 5 family members. 1k out of 43k € (26.5k needed for escape.) EXTREMELY LOW, NEEDS FUNDS.
- Youseff Abu Saeed (36). 3 family members (1 is already out for treatment). 155k out of 200k USD.
- Abdulaziz & Abdullah, escape & surgery (37). 2+ family members (1 has already been treated, 1 NEEDS TREATMENT). 96.3k out of 150k BP.
- Nadine Abdullatif (38). 8 family members. 113k out of 130k AUD (NEARLY COMPLETE).
- Sami Salhab (39). 6 family members (5 already evacuated). 16.9k out of 26k €. (NEARLY COMPLETE)
- Jehad Al Ghandour (40). 5 family members (1 already evacuated). 31k out of 100k USD
MORE VETTED FAMILY ESCAPE FUNDRAISERS (tumblr has a character-per-block limit, there's no difference between the following fundraisers and the previous ones).
- Mahmoud Algharabli (41) COMPLETED ✅ (check last section for more info)
- Dr. Marah & family (42). 2+ family members. 7.2k out of 40k USD. LOW ON FUNDS.
- Khaled Alshabrawi (43). 5 family members. 1.5k out of 35k € (25k needed for escape, but will begin with 10k for stable housing). LOW ON FUNDS.
- Muhammad Osama Alzaq (44). 5 family members. 3.1k out of 60k BP. LOW ON FUNDS.
- Mohammed Wishah (45). 7 family members + 1 pet. 7.9k out of 71.5k €. LOW ON FUNDS.
- Muhe Ayman (46). 5+ family members. 6k out of 60k €. (CAUTION: If you scroll down in the GFM there are photos of mutilated and dead babies.) LOW ON FUNDS.
- Abdallah Animal Rescue (47). 1 individual + lots of pets. 34.5k out of 40k USD. (NEARLY COMPLETE)
- Haya Orouq (48). 5 family members (1 injured, NEEDS TREATMENT). 35.9k out of 50k.
- Retaj Abu Abdo (49). 8 family members. 9.1k out of 60k USD.
- Mohammed Zyad (50). 9 family members (1 MISCARRIAGE). 5.6k out of 40k BP. LOW ON FUNDS.
- Souad Al-Kurdi (51). 5 family members (1 DIABETIC W/O INSULIN, CRITICAL, 1 INJURY). 3.7k out of 50k €. LOW ON FUNDS.
- Mahdy Zourob (52). 1 individual. 622 out of 20k €. LOW ON FUNDS.
- Ahmed Alboji (53). 5 family members. 78.4k out of 100k USD. (TIME SENSITIVE)
- Sama Lulu (54). 7 family members. 5.4k out of 80k USD. LOW ON FUNDS. (CAUTION: PHOTO OF INJURED CHILD IN GFM)
- Fadel Moghrabi (55). 4 family members. 33.3k out of 40k USD. (NEARLY COMPLETE)
- Qosai Hani (56). 2(+?) family members. 28.2k out of 40k USD.
- Khaled Khraizim (57). 14 family members. 32.6k out of 100k €.
- Ahmed Raida (58). 3 family members (1 INJURED, NEEDS TREATMENT). COMPLETED ✅
- Rozan family (59). 6 family members. 3.6k out of 38k €. LOW ON FUNDS.
- Samah Oudh (60). 5 family members. 30k out of 35k USD. (NEARLY COMPLETE)
- Qasim Al-Kafarneh (alternatively: gfm) (61). 33 family members. 1st one, 5.7k out of 80k AUD. 2nd one 86k out of 94k USD. (NEARLY COMPLETE)
- Mahmoud Qassas (62). 42 family members. 6.9k out of 200k CAD. (ONE CHRONICALLY ILL, NEEDS TREATMENT)
- Hussam Ramadan (63). 14 family members. 14.8k out of 148k USD. LOW ON FUNDS.
- Ottawa4Palestine’s vetted fundraiser spreadsheet (76 different families with listed fundraisers)
UNVETTED, BUT HIGHLY LIKELY LEGITIMATE ESCAPE FUNDRAISERS:
- Rasha family (1). 5 family members. 1.3 out of 15k € (EXTREMELY LOW, NEED FUNDS)
- Natasha Matar (2). 14 family members. 20.8k out of 200k CAD (140k needed for escape). LOW ON FUNDS.
- Islam Daher (3). 6 family members. 2.6k out of 50k CAD. LOW ON FUNDS.
- Ahmed M. Saleh (4). 4 family members. 8.3k out of 35k €. LOW ON FUNDS.
- Salwa Zarifa (5). 4 family members. 2.1k out of 50k €. LOW ON FUNDS.
- Moutasem Quffa (6). 6+ family members. 7k out of 65k €. LOW ON FUNDS.
- Alaa Nidal (7). 4 family members. 12.6k out of 22k BP (original goal met, family evacuated ✅. Extended family being helped now, 2 INJURED, 1 OF THEM ELDERLY)
- Zeina and her family (8). 3 family members (1 evacuated, 2 NEED TREATMENT). 6.4k out of 90k $. LOW ON FUNDS.
- Jamila Begum (9). 7 family members. 35k needed. UNKNOWN STARTING AMOUNT. Zelle 347-738-0257, and Venmo @/merilm
OTHER FUNDRAISERS:
- Mohammad Qadas. NEEDS TREATMENT + FOOD.
EXTREMELY URGENT! HAS CHILDREN TO FEED!! - Help Yousef Replant Family Farm & Greenhouse. 2k out of 50k BP. SUSTAINABLE AID.
- Rebuilding Developers Plus and Gaza’s community. 2.4k out of 47k €. SUSTAINABLE AID.
- Samar Elrayih Hydoub. It seems that most family members have been evacuated, but they need an emergency 1.5k for medical expenses.
- Eman Abdel Rahman. Need help rebuilding home and access to food. 7.1k out of 42.6k USD.
- Ibrahim Adil Osman. All intended beneficiaries have escaped, they just need some financial support to start being stable enough to make money to get more family members to escape.
- Anonymous Palestinian-Canadian woman. She was doxxed and harassed by zionists until she got fired. She's in a very precarious situation and needs funds to survive daily life. NEEDS FUNDS.
- Abd Al Karim Adnan Alakklouk. Most intended beneficiaries have escaped, they just need some financial support to start a new life and send more family members money to survive.
- Bana AZ. All intended beneficiaries have escaped, they just need a bit of support in establishing a new life. (only 866 € left to meet goal)
- Kareem Abu Samra. All intended beneficiaries have been able to escape. They just need support to establish a new life.
- Mahmoud Algharabli (previously no. 41). All intended beneficiaries have been evacuated. They just need support to establish a new life.
- Al Hitana Omdurman soup kitchen.
- Helping the People of Gaza – Mutual Aid Fund (run by my friend Mona)
- Supporting Displaced Families in Gaza (CareForGaza)
- Emergency Medical Relief for Gaza Refugees.
- Help Sudan Tarada Initiative.
- Amer Qudaih’s Relief efforts in Gaza.
My redesign hot take is that if you’re aiming to “desexualize” a female character, don’t make her boobs smaller. You’re implying a lot here.
Instead of shrinking her boobs, try:
- Changing her posture to something normal people do (bonus points for slouching/rounded shoulders, a common posture for tall and/or big chested women)
- Making sure her outfit is appropriate for the situation (showing skin is not inherently sexualizing, lingerie armor or half-naked-in-the-snow probably is)
- Making her torso/waist thicker, maybe even enough that all her organs would reasonably fit!
There are probably lots more options too! I’m not an artist! Just a person with a big chest and back pain!
俺様のしっぽは俺様のものだ。
My excellent tail belongs to me alone.
I hate hate hate hate how dog friendly everything is in the city now. Barring medical necessity, there is no reason to bring your dog to a restaurant, there is no reason to bring your dog to the grocery store, there is no reason to bring your dog to the nail salon. Dogs do not need to go everywhere you go why am I being forced to be around dogs all the time
The worst part is the degree to which city people will aggressively fearmonger about crime while also bringing their dog everywhere. Bestie you're more than twice as likely to get sent to the hospital by a dog bite than you are by anything a human does the danger is coming from inside the house
Statistically speaking, homeless people are far less dangerous than dogs but the average city liberal would kill a dozen homeless people to save a single stupid french bulldog it's so bleak I can't stand dog people
Based on the replies to this post I am now convinced that "keep your damn dog at home" is a very much a silent majority position




