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yeah

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flapjack octopus courtesy of monterey bay aquarium research institute i love this man he is Flat

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Extremely shocking article about what a local independent bookstore has been going through for the crime of carrying books by and supporting Palestinian authors:

According to Lisa Gozashti-Riddle, Brookline’s longtime co-owner and manager, the shift began in January 2024, after the store had hosted a virtual poetry fundraiser for Mosab Abu Toha, a celebrated Palestinian poet whose English-language library in Gaza had just been destroyed by Israel. “We had 20 poets from around the world, including Mosab, who joined us from Egypt,” she told me. They raised more than $30,000 to purchase and ship books to a new library in Gaza upon reconstruction. After that, the threats started. “I was trying to protect my staff while fielding all the calls myself,” she said. One caller asked to speak to “Hitler.” Someone else, in a message, said that Gazans “don’t read books. They only want guns.” To avoid another flare-up, the store moved pro-Palestinian programming online. But the scrutiny didn’t stop. “People started coming in daily to count the number of Palestinian books we had. I’ve seen the spreadsheets, the circle graphs, the reports they’ve sent out accusing us of bias.” Some called the store a “hotbed for Islamic fundamentalism” and accused it of “inculcating the youth.” Then came Becoming Baba. “This wasn’t a book we flagged,” Gozashti-Riddle said. But the emails came anyway. Some asserted that hosting me was “an act of incitement.” One message said, “We can overlook the author, but if that woman attends, you’re sending a message that pro-Israel Jews aren’t safe at Booksmith.” The message linked to Canary Mission. “That was a watershed moment,” Gozashti-Riddle said. “We realized the people organizing this weren’t rational. And when you’re dealing with that level of irrationality, it’s scary.” So the staff took precautions: installing peace marshals from Jewish Voice for Peace and alerting local police. “After your event, I finally started using the word harassment,” she said.

I would note that Aymann Ismail (the author) is not himself Palestinian. He is an Arab-American who wrote a book about being a father where he briefly mentions watching videos of fathers mourning their children in Gaza and thinking of himself and his family and that, apparently, is enough.

ETA: if you are paywalled, here is an archive link

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hard to pick the worst quote from this

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Hello beloved smeemo my voids say hello

they're smeemos now.

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not to be a dirty commie or anything but i don't think any one person should have enough money to solve world hunger and then get to decide not to

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Just finished book 3! I need to have a emotion in private!

Murderbot is friend shaped. It would greatly protest this designation.

[ID in alt text]

I've read the first three books so far and I'm very much enjoying The Murderbot Diaries!

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So hey, started listening to The Murderbot Diaries on audio book! I've really been enjoying them, right until just now, in fact! 😭😭😭

Both me and SecUnit (probably) at the end of Rogue Protocol:

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MAY YOUR DAY BE YAOIFUL ON THIS YAOI DAY EVERYONE 🥳🎉👨‍❤️‍💋‍👨💞

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tomorrow……… is august„„„„,?????

its augu…….st?? tomorrW???????????

8th monTH???????? 4 ,more mont hs of 2013?????????????

what??????????????????????????????………………………..

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it's mouth season

(95º and 77% humidity)

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that was one of the biggest earthquakes ever recorded. that just hit. it got upgraded to an 8.8. there are so many tsunami warnings

if you are in an evacuation zone please stay safe

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"A tsunami has hit coastal areas of Russia’s Kuril Islands and Japan’s large northern island of Hokkaido after a powerful, 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Russia early Wednesday. Warnings are also in place for California, Alaska, Hawaii and other coasts south toward New Zealand.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said a tsunami as high as 40 centimeters (1.3 feet) had been detected in 16 locations as the waves moved south along the Pacific coast from Hokkaido to just northeast of Tokyo. Officials urged caution, saying that bigger waves could come later.

Damage and evacuations were reported in the Russian regions nearest the quake’s epicenter on the Kamchatka Peninsula."

Associated Press

News 18

CNN