#Disability Access Service Card

[ittyalfie]

Hi!

The need for support and services for autistic people has increased so much, even in the past year.

That is why I’ve committed to Run for autism this October. Please help me raise vital funds to change the lives of children and adults on the autism spectrum and support my Run for autism 2024.

I’ve personally used Aspect’s helpful Autism Alert card in emergency medical situations. And Aspect offer a range of support for Autistic individuals. It can be hard to find services who understand or even know what autism is like and how it can be unique for different people!

Aspect help people access NDIS services specific to autistic needs, and have community support and programs.

As well as aiming for my goal to walk/run 40km to raise funds for crucial support, I also want to add a goal to do drawings for donations! I wanna achieve these goals! Please donate or share, and leave a comment, message or ask for a drawing.

I want to promote awareness and the value of sharing personal experiences. Drawing character art is one of my special interests and it would mean so much to me to help in this way.

https://www.runforautism.org.au/fundraisers/cuddlecosmos

Click below! Please reblog :)

Your donation will help create a more autism-friendly world for children and adults on the autism spectrum. I’m actually so excited to be able to do this. I feel like the more we can help each other, the more it can enable others who were previously unable to help, to then contribute in their own ways to other causes. :)

Thank you so much!

Bit from Cuddle cosmos

PS If you want to join Run for autism, you can sign up via the link as well!

[thebibliosphere]

I've had a couple of messages over the last few days from folks saying things like, "Sorry, I can only afford to get your book through the library," and I need you to know I am gripping you by the shoulders, I am shaking you gently, and I am begging you stop apologizing for using library services.

After Amazon and Payhip, the quarterly checks I get from Overdrive/Libby are my biggest and most reliable source of income.

My readers have been nothing but feral in their quest to get Hunger Pangs into as many libraries as possible, and while library lending pays an exceptionally modest amount, if enough people do it (which many of you evidently are), those pennies add up.

I am guaranteed at least $20 a month in library lending royalties. That might not sound like much to some folks, but to me, that's my b12 supplements covered for the month. That's the thing I need to keep me alive paid for.

I will never resent anyone who uses libraries instead of buying books.

I'm a disabled author who lives month to month at the mercy of my medical expenses. Even though I have incredibly generous patrons and supporters, I know what it's like to not be able to afford things.

Use the library. Please.

Use it guilt-free. You're helping the library and the authors, probably more than you realize.

And if you're in the US and haven't signed up for a @queerliblib free library card yet, you should! it doesn't matter what state you're in, the Queer Liberation Library offers free access to their catalogue of queer media across the US.

And if you've got the means, maybe help them out with a little donation. They're only able to expand their collection via the support of their patrons, and the work they're doing is hugely important.

[ingeniumstan]

STREAMER DR - ᯅ

name: Christian Raymond Frye-Fischbach age: 19 birthday: july 11th, 2005 gender: intersex genderqueer pronouns: he/she sexuality: queer

birth place: florida, USA current living place: Los Angeles, California ethnicity: white occupation: streamer / youtuber / singer / advocate / artist / part-time interpreter

APPEARANCE - ᯅ

height: 5'10 / 177.8 cm piercings: ear lobe x3, septum piercing, the fang piercings tattoos: a few actually, i'll probably make a seperate post & link it face claim: foxteeth on tt extra: heterochromia one green eye, one blue and brown eye

FAMILY - ᯅ

Dad

name: Mark Fischbach age: 35 birthday: june 28, 1989 gender: male pronouns: he/him sexuality: heteroflexible ?

Mom

name: Amy Nelson (future Fischbach 😏) age: 30 birthday: march 21, 1994 gender: female pronouns: she/her sexuality: straight

Brother Figure

name: Ethan Nestor age: 27 birthday: october 24, 1996 gender: male pronouns: he/him sexuality: bisexual

Best Friend (oomf)

name: Jared Schlatt age: 25 birthday: xxxx xx, 1999 gender: male pronouns: he/him sexuality: pansexual

PETS - ᯅ

my babies my scrumblies my love dovey babs i miss them every single day

Sirius/Padfoot/Void

breed: wolfdog mutt rescue age: 3 birthday: november 3, 2021 gender: male owner: me :) about: he's my service dog!! he's a silly goofy energetic dog that is passionate about his work and incredible at it too! chat calls him Void as a bit but his legal name is Sirius, I call him Padfoot as a nickname so much he responds to all three lol.

[also to be finished] i've been working on this for 5 days now sobs

ONLINE CAREER - ᯅ

[to be finished] mostly cuz im doing a revamp of my script sjfh

obviously I got a bit of a kickstart from mark being my dad, though I never let him talk about my youtube channel or twitch or anything until i got older and had gotten a solid foundation by myself. people only really knew i was his son because i still went by "tugger" which was his nickname for me as i grew up to help keep my identity a bit more secret though i did appear on camera plenty of times

List of Channels and Such

MUSIC CAREER - 𖦹

[to be finished]

HOBBIES - ᯅ

oh dear god... i have too fucking many.. - Arial/Circus Arts - Art (more of a hobby than a job) - Fursuiting - Cosplay - Theatre - Crochet - Painting - hoarding Collecting - Crafting - Learning Languages (i'm a polyglot in most drs) - Being a Foodie

ADVOCACY WORK - ᯅ

the biggest part of advocacy that I do is be completely honest and document every part of my disabled life. mental and physical, all of it. i have a whole separate channel called [insert name when i think of it lol] that i use to document all of that. I also often raise money through streaming or youtube to donate to charities that help disabled and neurodivergent people. I also often team up with mobility aid or accessibility aid companies to give giveaways to people in need! For a while I was also doing commissions for custom communication cards as well :) though it happens very rarely nowadays. On my main channel I also do interviews occasionally with disabled and neurodivergent people to talk more about their conditions to properly educate people. I also live stream and let chat ask questions (if the interviewee is ok with that) and my mods make sure to filter chat so only appropriate questions are asked! Though I did script the world is a lot more accessible than this one.

S/O - ᯅ

name: Nicholas Armstrong (Sapnap) age: 21 birthday: march 1, 2003 gender: male pronouns: he/him sexuality: bisexual

[primusfortuna]

Major Update

Yumekuro will be ending service on November 19, 2024 at 12:00 JST.

Below is some information on Yumekuro Offline, a version of the game that can be accessed even after the servers close. Please let me know if I missed anything important.

Yumekuro Offline

Yumekuro Offline is a static copy of your user data. You will be able to preserve and view all progress you personally have made in the game, but you cannot build your account or obtain new cards.

To download your data, click this button in the lower right of your home screen. The file size will depend on how much content is in your account.

The download option is available from now until November 19, 2024.

After completing the download, if you obtain any new data (ie. new cards or story chapters), they will not carry over to your version of Yumekuro Offline by default. You must redownload your data to preserve any new content you acquire. You can redownload as many times as needed.

IMPORTANT: You will not be able to regain access if you delete or try to reinstall the app after November 19. Some devices have a setting that automatically offloads apps or puts them into "deep sleep" mode. Please make sure to turn this setting off if you're worried about losing access.

What Carries Over to Yumekuro Offline?

Many features will be disabled in Yumekuro Offline. Below is a list of what you can still access.

▪ Home Screen Remains mostly unchanged. You can still set characters, backgrounds, and time-specific voice lines. You can now view player's birthday messages from your owned characters any day of the year.

▪ Stories The following will be made fully accessible, even if you haven't unlocked them yourself:

Main story*

All event stories (including collabs)

Misc stories (ie. login stories, Black Summer, Grand Finale)

*The current Prologue & Chapter 0 of Main Story will be slightly rewritten to omit the battle and gacha features.

All other stories will only be available if you've already unlocked them. This includes:

Meister and fairy cards

Affection stories

Voice dramas

"His perspective" stories

Past stories

Guild stories

Other stories (past exploration, hunting, stadium, fairy events)

EXCEPTION: These card stories will be available to read even if you don't have them unlocked: ・ Crow, Itsuki, Grandflair (Beginning of a Dream) ・ Evan, Navi, Himmel (Beginning of a Bond)

This only includes the card chapters, not their affection stories or outing lines.

Keep in mind that you cannot upgrade cards in Yumekuro Offline, so you MUST unlock all the chapters you want to preserve before completing your data download.

▪ Guild Life All Guild Home features remain intact, limited to the cards you own. You can now view player and meisters' birthday dialogues regardless of the day. Keeper's Board messages will still be available, but you can't obtain new ones.

▪ Library All information in here will remain viewable. The glossary can still be updated if you unlock new terms.

▪ Collection You can view badges and boards you already own.

▪ Alarm You can still use the alarm function.

▪ Player Profile Able to edit your profile like before.

New Additions

Some new features will be exclusive to Yumekuro Offline. As usual, access to these features is limited to the cards you own.

You'll now be able to access meisters' outing invites and thank-you messages under the "Memories" (思い出) section of the Keeper's Board.

A LOT of voice lines will be added to the Library:

Outings - Max skinship

Outings - Give a present

Login bonus - Daily

Login bonus - Total

Shop lines

Past exploration - Start exploration

Past exploration - During exploration

Past exploration - End exploration

Outings - Max presents

Various battle lines

★ Some unreleased voice lines will also be available:

Seasonal voice lines - Date on a cold day (all meisters)

Seasonal voice lines - Things to do at the harvest fair (all fairies)

Meister birthday lines for years 2-3

Player birthday lines for years 2-3 (from meisters & fairies)

Disabled Features

All quests/battles

Building characters/cards

Campaigns

Data restoration

Data transfer

Events

Event reruns

Friend feature

Gacha

Guild orders

Hunting

Increasing affection level

Increasing guild level

Increasing player level

Login bonuses

Meister birthdays (you can still access the voice lines in the Library)

Minigames

Missions

Obtaining and using items

Outings

Past exploration

Presents

Push notifications

Set support characters

Shop

Stadium

[rjalker]

You cannot claim you want books to be more accessible to people and then get mad about the Internet Archive accepting book donations that people have fully bought and paid for and lending those donated books out to people completely for free with no hoops to jump through.

I don't know who needs to hear this but not everyone has access to public libraries.

Assuming you even have a library in your town, not everyone can physically get to them! The poorer and more disabled you are, the less likely you are to even own a car, let alone be able to drive it!

And in most US cities, walking from point A to B is either literally physically impossible or illegal, or so literally life-threateningly dangerous that you're better off not risking it!

And assuming you can get to the library -- guess what! There's no guarentee you can actually get a library card! Yes, despite how everyone always sings endless praises, libraries aren't perfect, and there are still very real obstacles between some of the most vulnerable people and being able to borrow from a library!

In many places, you can't get a library card unless you have a driver's liscence / state ID. And in some places, even that alone isn't enough -- you also have to provide proof that you live in the city!

Which means homeless people who've had their IDs literally stolen by the cops, who don't have a mailing address they can use as proof they live in the same city as the library can't get a library card unless they can somehow get to the DMV and miraculously have the money pay for a new ID. Which they can't do without other forms of ID. Which the cops probably also literally stole.

Even if you're not homeless, if someone steals your wallet, and you can't drive, you can't get a library card either now, because you have no ID, and no way to get a new one!

The Internet Archive's lending library is actually free and accessible to everyone who can connect to the internet, with no hoops to jump through. You just have to make an account and you can start reading.

Stop claiming you want people to be able to read books if you don't actually want the most vulnerable people to actually be able to read books. Which have already been paid for and helped the authors.

If you don't even understand the bare minimum basics of how the Internet Archive's lending library works, maybe don't go around proclaiming yourself the expert. And if you literally do not live in the USA, don't go around claiming our libraries are freely accessible to everyone when they're literally not!

The Internet Archive does not hurt authors. It does not hurt publishers. If you understand how it's perfectly fucking fine to buy a book and then lend it to your friends so they can all read it, you understand why the Internet Archive literally accepting fully paid for donations of books which they archive for all of humanity completely for free is also literally fine.

And if you pretend there's actually some evil difference between the two, you just need to admit you've swallowed the capitalist propaganda that publishing companies, who want to turn books into the next streaming service where you never actually own anything even when you buy it, and you're spreading blatant capitalist propaganda that actual authors hate.

It is literally a fact that if people can borrow a book from a library to read it for free, they are more likely to buy it and the rest of the series than they would if they never got the chance to read it without first forking over hard earned money that could be going towards groceries, for a book it might turn out they absolutely hate every second of.

You cannot claim to support libraries and support making books accessible to everyone and then shit on the Internet Archive. Unless you're also going to claim that lending books out to friends or Little Libraries are also immoral.

You people are really blatantly drinking the capitalist "turn everything into a subscription service possible so they never own anything and have to keep giving us money" koolaid and we can tell.

[dark-raven-feathers]

Some random fantasy disability aids ideas: - Wheelchair that can be folded up to about the size of a book - A walker that folds vertically into a cane - Cane that just floats in place when you let go of it - A brace that can be folded/resized depending on where you need to put it - Wheelchair that hovers slightly over the ground instead of being directly on it for multi terrain access - A hellhound service dog - A little pocket space full of meds and water - Those flare up cart things that can fold itself into a single flat sheet of metal, and unfolds with everything still perfectly on it - Stimming toys that come with mutes so only you hear them - A wheelchair that comes with pocket dimensions to store everything from a cane to a 5 star meal, perfectly intact - forearm crutches that fold themselves into the wristbands - Sound spells that can be manipulated to block out certain sounds - A spell that turns any text into raised braille for the caster - Wheelchair, but no wheels. Instead: mechanical arms so you can climb (the arms will turn into wheels when needed) - A spell that briefly flattens raised terrain/turns it into a ramp (lasts for 1h) - communication cards that float in front of you when you use them - Cane/crutches with a sort of 'find me' spell that allows you to summon them if they're too far away (and also prevents people from stealing them) - A spell that acts as a sort of buffer- there is a physical, but invisible shield between you and the other person (can also be applied to wheelchairs, walkers, etc) - Immovable mobility aids that will literally only move when the user touches them - Unbreaking charms a la Minecraft enchantments on wheelchairs - Medical corsets/braces with softening charms on the edges - A weighted blanket with a camouflage spell on it

[butts-bouncing-on-the-beltway]

Was taking to Youtuber BoiToi about some of the heritage crafts I grew up learning and we got into a fun talk about candles and oil lamps.

I've made wax and tallow candles, and they're lovely, but often a bit smoky, and we were talking about olive oil lamps, and BoiToi grew up Eastern Orthodox, and I grew up around sephardic jews, so we both have a vaguely metaphysical reaction to the idea of owning our own oil lamps.

And it made me realize how much knowledge has been relocated outside of the human. How many essential survival skills have been relegated to collector's libraries and the digital commons, and while that's not inherently a problem, the fact is that we treat that as if it means the knowledge will always be accessible to us

But that already isn't true. I see people caught in the throws of despair all the time who insist that it's simply impossible to survive with the trimmings of modern society and like.

Don't get me wrong, I am deeply physically disabled, but I have always had every confidence in my ability to endure and survive major societal collapse and transition. Why? Because I have spent my entire life learning how to navigate the natural world has my environment, and learning how modern technological developments expand out from a physical world that will always be the epitome if resilience.

I understand why people are scared, they feel helpless to navigate a world they've never experienced. But that doesn't have to be how it feels to interact with heritage crafts.

I fucking HATE tallow candles and I will never willingly choose it over available equivalents. But the day may come where there AREN'T available alternatives. And I'm glad that if that day comes and I need to make emergency candles with what we have on hand, I can render down our fattest chicken or some of the beef tallow we keep around, and we will have emergency (stinky!!!!) lights.

But I also know a LOT of other options. I know how to build a clay kiln out in the yard out of clay silt brick. I know how to hard fire oil lamps, how to forge them out of scrap metal in a rocket stove pit out back, and which of the oils I keep on hand burn cleanest for indoor use. I know how to make soap and candle wax from bayberry and tree sap. I know how to card wool and thresh plant fibers. I know enough carpentry to make anything from fancy carved appliques to whole-log construction buildings, to sanded plank notch-fastened furniture. Is it easier to do all that with power tools and a local hardware store? Absofuckinglutely. But it's still doable. And with way less hassle than you might think.

I dunno, I've practically reverted in a lot of ways to my hillfolk upbringing where it was common for households to need to boil bathwater on stoves without electricity, where an ambulance was a punchline in a joke not a public service, where you learn how to trap and forage as a matter of course because it's still how many survive there. And I love it. I know not everyone would or could, but I also think our alienation from the resources we rely on to subsist plays a big role in how afraid we are of having to go without.

[askgildaseniors]

Let's explore the range of Social Security services available online.

The Social Security Administration continually expands its online offerings to provide convenient access to services and benefit information. To make the most of it, head to SSA.gov and create a My Social Security account.

With just a few clicks, you can apply for retirement benefits, spousal benefits, Social Security Disability Insurance, and even Medicare.

You can also update your address, set up direct deposit, and, in most states, order a replacement Social Security card.

You can also track your benefits, check your lifetime earnings history, and estimate future payments.

Now, while you can do a lot online, one thing you can't do is apply for survivor benefits. For that, you'll need to reach out to Social Security directly.

[espers-n-espurrs]

Pinned Post

ignore the name on my trainer card and call me esper, im age 15, pronouns she/her, disabled.

im also psychic though im not out about it irl, im only sharing this here because rotomblr can only be accessed by. like. a small handful of people in my universe. so its safe for me to be out about that here since i cant irl.

attending naranja-uva academy as a general studies student. though due to circumstances i keep having to flipflop between online classes and in-person.

i grew up in spikemuth for most of my life, though one thing has led to another and i am now aware that i was born and raised in kalos for some time before having been brought to galar as a younger child and i have found out a lot of what i knew was false. and as of finding that out my family and life situation changed significantly so be ready to hear me bitch about that on occasion.

i enjoy: horror, args, art, music, baking/cooking, photography, etc. and my favorite pokemon is deerling and sawsbuck.

My PKMN:

Fauna - Deerling | Starter

Harley - Maschiff | Service PKMN

Taffeta - Flaaffy

Kingsley - Pangoro | "Bodyguard"??

Eilwen - Espurr [F] | "Handmaiden"??

[ OOC: Please read under the cut ! ]

My other PKMN IRL Blogs can be found linked to my OOC hub alongside OOC talks: @grims-local-pkmn-irl-hub

The Redux discord server link and info can be found: HERE!

BLOG RULES/GUIDELINES

Though the mun is an adult, the character is still a minor, so please be mindful of how you interact! NO NSFW.

Pelipper Mail/Malice, Musharna Mail/Malice, Magic Anons, Mystery Gifts, Union Circle: OFF

ANY kind of PKMN IRL blog can interact! Eeby Deebies, sapient/sentient pkmn, evil teams, canon characters, etc. ➥ Be aware that Esper will be fearful/hesitant when interacting with blatant legendary/mythical blogs!

IN CHARACTER anon hate is fine! Keep in mind that I reserve the right to not answer all anon hate asks though! Especially if they are something I don't feel comfortable answering!

ASK TO TAG! Sometimes an important tag may slip my mind or I may not think of it so please do not be afraid to let me know!

HIGH STAKES! This blog will delve into high stakes territory at certain points! Be aware of this for your own comfort!

TRIGGER WARNINGS:

Discussion/Exploration of trauma and abuse, discussions of death, discussions of suicide & self harm/EDs, ableism, misogyny

STORY ARCS

Moved to separate page for ease of viewing, click here to access!

General Tags

#esper beams -> Posts made by Esper

#esper rbs -> Posts reblogged by Esper

#askbox -> Ask responses

Semi-Important Tags

#dog brother -> Posts that mention or include Flynn (@/estranger-and-stranger-still) aka Esper’s older brother

#victoria / MN tag -> Posts that mention or include Victoria (@/victoria-vd) aka Esper’s girlfriend

#thievul tag -> Posts that mention or include “Thievul”

#la famille -> Posts that mention Esper's family or speak indepth about them

#psychicposting -> Posts about being psychic or sharing psychic lore

#redux worldbuilding -> Posts about different worldbuilding aspects of redux

#tribes of vianna -> Esper posting about the indigenous people of Galar (the Kingsmen and the Equirex)

#faiths of vianna -> Esper posting about the religion she was raised in aka the religion of the Kingsmen and the Equirex

Important Tags

#foresight -> Posts to pay attention to! These might provide clues or foreshadowing for ongoing or future arcs!

#miracle eye -> Offscreen posts

#blind spot -> Blind spot signifies that the tagged post is completely invisible to certain blogs linked to this one! ➥ If a post is tagged with a specific character than that specific character cannot see it while the others are able to! For example "#blind spot: esper" would mean that Esper cannot see that post! Blind Spots are completely visible to everyone else besides the above blogs so anons or otherwise are able to see and engage with these posts!

Blogs heavily tied to Esper:

@estranger-and-stranger-still @victoria-vd @jaimemes @yveltalreal @aspens-dragons @vulgrados-best @rock-n-rolycoly

And Esper <3

[lastoneout]

Y'all I am so fucking tired of the like, privatization of healthcare and also the way medicaid works. I've been trying to get this blood work done that I need before my surgery next month and there are apparently only two types of clinics I can go to, SonoraQuest, which has reasonable hours and is open on Saturdays, or LabCorp which is only open on weekdays and closes at 3pm.

Turns out I actually can't go to SonoraQuest because they don't take Medicaid, something I found out after going there and sitting in the lobby for an hour. I have to go to LabCorp.

The problem with LabCorp is that my fiancé works until 3:30pm and he's having a very busy week and thus hasn't been able to leave early to take me. I can't take public transit because I'm disabled and don't have a wheelchair yet and going on foot or with my rollator would ruin my ability to do anything for the rest of the day and possibly the next couple of days too. I can't take a lyft or Uber because my fiancé is the sole breadwinner for our household(I can't work) and right now his shit idiot credit union is straight up breaking the law and repeatedly flagging his cards for *possible* fraud despite there being no fraud, and he's gone through like 5 debit cards in the last two months over this(he's gone in to complain about all the ways this is fucking him over big time and they told him there's literally nothing they can do). He's moving his money to a new credit union atm but that takes time, so he legit cannot access his money and thus he can't give me any to pay for the ride. (The bus also costs money I don't have so that's another reason I can't take it.)

I decided this is all horseshit and called the hospital my surgery will be at and asked if there is somewhere else I can go because this isn't working, and the lady told me I can just go to the hospital for it and that they're open until 7pm. So I went there yesterday, only to find out that the people who do the blood work at the hospital is fucking SonoraQuest and they close at 4pm.

LabCorp does have a service where they'll send a mobile team to your house to collect the blood, but it costs $35 which again. We cannot access my fiancé's money atm. Also that's more than a lyft would cost so even if I had access to money I would prefer to go there myself.

So I am hoping my fiancé will be able to get off work early today so we can go down to LabCorp when they're open and hopefully they won't tell me I need an appointment or that coming in like an hour before they close isn't allowed.

Anyway call me a boomer but there is no fucking world in which I shouldn't be able to just go to my fucking neurosurgeon's office and have a nurse take my blood. Like I should just be able to do that. Or just walk into the hospital which overall does take my insurance and have one of the like 100s of nurses take my goddamn blood. This used to be how this shit worked. Why the fuck have we outsourced this to for profit clinics that suck ass, forcing me to try to move heaven and earth to get myself to a clinic with insanely unreasonable hours, stressing me the fuck out. Also why does having Medicaid mean I have to go to the worse clinic like this always happens, the clinics that take Medicaid are always garbage compared to the ones that don't it's such crap that the poor folks have to put up with sub-par medical services just bcs we're poor.

Anyway I'm going to go scream into a pillow for a while and hope to god I'm able to get this out of the way today bcs if not I'm probably just gonna have to call the neurosurgeon and let them know I might not be able to do the blood work because unfortunately it's fucking impossible.

[goodstuffhappenedtoday]

A Pie Shop on Chicago’s South Side Serves More Than Dessert

With her first brick-and-mortar bakery, Justice of the Pies, the pastry chef Maya-Camille Broussard focuses on creativity — and inclusivity for people with disabilities.

By Kayla Stewart

The South Side of Chicago brims with inimitable African American culture and history, and the pastry chef Maya-Camille Broussard is adding her brand of sweetness to the place where she was born and raised. In June, Ms. Broussard opened the first brick-and-mortar store of her longtime delivery and wholesale pie business, Justice of the Pies. The shop, in a former dentist’s office in Avalon Park, one of the South Side’s many historic, predominantly African American neighborhoods, serves Ms. Broussard’s inventive pies and pastries, such as her calling cards — a blue cheese praline pear pie and a strawberry basil Key lime pie — along with unorthodox items like her salted caramel peach pie and a deep-dish chilaquiles quiche.

Ms. Broussard, who lost 75 percent of her hearing in a childhood accident, may be the industry’s most prominent hard-of-hearing Black pastry chef. She has gained a following for her pies through social media, pop-ups and appearances on the Netflix competition show “Bake Squad.” “I realized that being a member of the deaf and hard-of-hearing community actually gave me a superpower,” she said, “and that superpower includes a heightened sense of smell and taste.” Ms. Broussard chose her bakery’s location in hopes of encouraging other chefs and entrepreneurs to join her. “I want to force people who don’t look like me to come to the South Side if they want my pies,” she said. “I want to force people to come to a neighborhood that deserves private investment, a neighborhood that has a blighted corridor, a neighborhood that has empty storefronts.” Zella Palmer, an author and professor at Dillard University in New Orleans who grew up on the South Side of Chicago, said neighborhoods like Avalon Park deserve more inventive Black-owned businesses. “There’s a huge pride in the community to see this gleaming pie shop,” she said. “This is a pie shop that looks like it could be in Brooklyn, or on Magazine Street in New Orleans, but it’s here.”

Several of the shop’s counters are 32 inches high, meeting the height standards of the American Disabilities Act and making them accessible for wheelchair users. Each section of the shop has a different floor tile texture, which helps patrons with limited sight who use a walking cane navigate the store. “How can I be an ambassador for people living with disabilities and have a space that isn’t accessible?” she said. Signs in the shop carry Braille inscriptions, and language is designed to be inclusive, too. (In the bathroom, there are “personal hygiene products” rather than “feminine hygiene products.”) A service door that has a bell and a flashlight allows Ms. Broussard to remain aware of important deliveries.

more at the gift link

[kingsbridgelibraryteens]

If this recent segment from Last Week Tonight With John Oliver about public libraries inspired any questions about libraries, banned and challenged books, unusual items that can be checked out from libraries, and library budgets, we're here to give you some answers!

You can learn more about libraries and what they have to offer, both in-person and digitally, by visiting their websites. Here in New York City we've got three different systems: 

New York Public Library (includes Bronx / Manhattan / Staten Island)

Brooklyn Public Library

Queens Public Library

You should definitely visit your local library system's website, but you can also expand your scope and look outside of your neighborhood. For example, did you know that you can get a New York Public Library card if you live, work, or go to school anywhere in New York State? And did you also know that you can access material from the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled if you're a resident of the United States or even an American citizen living abroad?

Banned and challenged books have been a hot topic for years. Unfortunately, the topic is getting hotter all the time as the number of challenges is increasing! The American Library Association keeps track of books that are banned and/or challenged, and which ones are challenged most frequently. Dealing with book challenges is part of librarians' jobs year-round, but we give banned and challenged books extra attention once a year during Banned Books Week. The more time you spend visiting libraries and library websites, the more you'll discover book displays as well as book clubs and other events bringing more attention to the topic of banned and challenged books.

Okay, let's take a minute to talk about unusual things that you can check out with your library card. As you might expect, a library is a place where you can check out books (about the BERENSTAIN BEARS and many other topics), CDs, DVDs, and magazines. While we don't have any taxidermied animals to offer (!!!), at different branches in our system, patrons can check out things like seeds, launchpads, or even STEAM Discovery Kits which contain educational objects like games and telescopes. I'd like to make sure that you ALSO know that many libraries offer lots of digital resources like ebooks, audiobooks, & video as well as databases, so you can even have library access without leaving the house. And finally, you should know that some libraries have Take-Home Kits available for kids and/or teens, and those don't require a library card at all!

If you'd like to help restore budget cuts to your library, you can reach out to your local politicians directly, or sign letters of support virtually or in-person through your library. For example, right now at NYPL we're facing a new round of budget cuts which could reduce our library service from six days a week down to five days a week. We're asking people to show support for us by:

Signing a letter in person

Signing a virtual letter

or even filling out a virtual sticky note saying why libraries are important to you!

If you live outside of the New York City / New York State area, then please visit your local library's website and see how YOU can help keep libraries open and help protect your community's freedom to read!

[the-no-name-system]

hello, all! i’m benji, relatively new to larger witch communities, but have been on-and-off interested in witchcraft since i was about 20! i’m a crafter, and am interested in selling some of my services in order to afford doctor’s visits so i can get on disability!

i have several options for you to choose from if you want to support my business endeavors, under the cut! (All prices are in USD!)

Sigils

I will make sigils for different intentions at $3 per sigil. No curses.

Tarot Readings

I work with several different gods and goddesses who help me with divination, and I’m willing to do a three card spread (typically Past/Present/Future in some aspect) for $15.

Prayer Cords/Prayer Beads

The price of these depends on how intricate you want the prayer cord to be, or how many beads you want, but I can infuse the beads with intent or make you a personalized prayer cord, depending on what you prefer. A single prayer cord would be $18, and prayer beads would be sold in a minimum of 6 beads per order, at $0.50 a bead.

Alter Cloths

Depending on the intricacy of the cloth and the pattern, these will be higher priced items. I charge $9/hour/item, so if you wanted, say, a 3x3in cloth for a pocket alter, and it took me 30 minutes, I would charge you $4.50. Any alter cloth beyond a certain length may take me several hours and I will charge accordingly. I will also charge more depending on the price of the yarn you want to use and if I need to purchase a specific pattern for your item.

Other Knit/Crochet Items with Intent

I also make shawls, scarves, hats, and stuffed toys that I can infuse with witchy intent. I charge $9/hr/item, and the complexity of the pattern dictates how long it will take me to make. Again, I will charge more based on if I have the yarn you want me to use already or if I have to purchase new skeins, and if you have a specific pattern you want that I do not already have access to, I will charge for the purchase of that pattern as well.

If you’re interested in any of these, please DM me or check out my Ko-Fi!

[tocitynews]

A Widespread Microsoft Outage Disrupted Flights, Banks, Media Outlets And Companies Around The World On Friday And Highlighted Dependence On Software From A Handful Of Providers – New York City reporting

The issue affected Microsoft 365 apps and services, and escalating disruptions continued hours after the technology company said it was gradually fixing it.

Microsoft 365 posted on X that the company was “working on rerouting the impacted traffic to alternate systems to alleviate impact in a more expedient fashion” and that they were “observing a positive trend in service availability.”

Major disruptions reported by airlines and airports grew. Flight tracking website Flightaware reports more nearly 1,000 flights canceled and over 12,000 more are delayed. Chicago O'Hare, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta, Newark , La Guardia and Boston Logan International Airport lead Flightaware's "misery map" with the most delays and cancellations.

In the U.S., the FAA said the airlines United, Delta and Allegiant had all been grounded. American Airlines lifted its ground stop just after 5 a.m ET, saying they were able to "safely re-establish operations."

An earlier ground stop for Frontier Airlines was lifted just after midnight, and the carrier said they had resumed normal operations, for now.

Travelers at Los Angeles International Airport slept on a jetway floor, using backpacks and other luggage for pillows, due to a delayed United flight to Dulles International Airport early on Friday.

Across the pond, Edinburgh Airport said the system outage meant waiting times were longer than usual. London’s Stansted Airport said some airline check-in services were being completed manually, but flights were still operating.

The budget airline Ryanair said they are "experiencing disruption across the network due to a global third party IT outage which is out of our control. We advise all passengers to arrive at the airport at least three hours before their scheduled departure time.”

Widespread problems were reported at Australian airports, where lines grew and some passengers were stranded as online check-in services and self-service booths were disabled. Passengers in Melbourne queued for more than an hour to check in, although flights were still operating. Airlines Virgin Australia and Qantas were severely affected by the outage.

News outlets in Australia — including the ABC and Sky News — were unable to broadcast on their TV and radio channels, and reported sudden shutdowns of Windows-based computers. Some news anchors broadcast live online from dark offices, in front of computers showing “blue screens of death.” Telecommunications providers, banks and media broadcasters were also disrupted as they lost access to computer systems. Outages reported on the site DownDetector included the banks NAB, Commonwealth and Bendigo, as well as internet and phone providers such as Telstra. The New Zealand banks ASB and Kiwibank said their services were down.

Television stations in the United Kingdom were being disrupted by the computer issues.

Hospitals in Britain and Germany also reported problems.

Israel’s Cyber Directorate said that it was among the places affected by the global outages, attributing them to a problem with the cybersecurity platform Crowdstrike. The outage also hit the country’s post offices and hospitals, according to the ministries of communication and health.

In South Africa, at least one major bank said it was experiencing “nationwide service disruptions” as customers reported they were unable to make payments using their bank cards at grocery stores and gas stations.

Numerous European airlines are using manual check-in.

[the-autistic-agoraphobe]

Yes I think you should still wear your sunflower lanyard if you wish to. I live in a regional area in Australia and not many people know about the sunflower lanyard here but I still choose to wear it for a few reasons.

One reason why I wear my sunflower lanyard is because I have pins explaining my disabilities on it. When I need help I can you the pins to tell me about my disabilities if I need too. One time I was having a shut down and a lady asked me for advice on some decorations that she was putting up. I showed her the pin that says "sometimes I struggle to speak" and she understood.

Another reason why I wear the sunflower lanyard is because some people know what it means and may be able to help me when I need it. Once I was at a mueseum buying tickets for entry and the lady serving me said not to worry about getting my concession card out because she could see that I had a disability because I was wearing a lanyard. It made things much easier.

Sometimes the sunflower lanyard can open up conversations where I can to talk about it and teach people about what it means. It's important for people to know what the sunflower lanyard means so they can help people with hidden disabilities like myself when we need help. One time a lady thought I was working at a shop because I was wearing a lanyard and I told her that I didn't work at the shop and why I wear the lanyard.

Sometimes it's good to wear a sunflower lanyard so other Autistic people who I see out and about know that I'm Autistic like them. One time I was at a historical village and there was an Autistic guy making wind chimes and his grandfather was with him. His grandfather mentioned that I was Autistic as he could see my pin and he's grandson said that he was Autistic. It was good to chat about Autism.

I have my loop earplugs on my lanyard which is helpful when things get really noisy and I need them. I can get them quickly from my lanyard.

As someone with Agoraphobia my car is my safe place and I don't feel comfortable with going to some places unless I have access to my car. I have my car keys on my sunflower lanyard so I know I can get into my car when needed.

As you can see there are many reasons why I wear my sunflower lanyard even though it's not very well known in my area. I think it's good for people with hidden disabilities to wear the sunflower lanyard and tell people what it means. I also think it's important that emergency services get educated about it. The sunflower lanyard is a great accessibility tool and can be used to help alot of people.

[hummussexual]

Bangladesh’s first mosque specifically for hijra Muslims has officially opened its doors, as members of the legally recognized “third gender” community seek refuge from abuse and discrimination.

Named the Dakshin Char Kalibari Masjid for the Third Gender, the mosque opened in March, providing worship services for hijra people who are frequently turned away from other mosques due to prejudice, according to a report from the Agence France-Presse.

The mosque consists of a single-room building with a tin roof, paid for and built by hijras near the city of Mymensingh on government-donated land after hijra worshippers were expelled from the local community. The land already contains a graveyard and one plot, belonging to a hijra woman who was denied burial at a local mosque last year, AFP reported.

“From now on, no one can deny a hijra from praying in our mosque,” community leader Joyita Tonu, 28, reportedly told the congregation upon the mosque’s opening last month. “No one can mock us.”

The terms “hijra” and “transgender” are often used interchangeably in English media, but the two identities are separate in Bangladesh and other South Asian countries, though there is some overlap between them. The Bangladeshi government declared hijras a “third gender” distinct from men and women in 2014, but there is no formal path to be legally recognized as hijra. No standard policy for changing one’s legal gender marker to “hijra” exists, and various types of identification cards carry mismatched gender markers, according to the international LGBTQ+ rights group ILGA. Even vague recognition has come with drawbacks, such as the association of hijra identity with disfigurement and complex disability politics. In the decade since winning formal recognition, hijras have also experienced a dramatic rise in violence, medical abuse, and ostracization as religious fundamentalism surges across the region. (Same-sex intercourse itself is illegal in Bangladesh, but that law is not evenly enforced.)

Sonia, 42, told AFP reporters that despite being a devout Muslim all her life, she was abruptly kicked out of her mosque after coming out as hijra. “I never dreamt I could pray at a mosque again in my lifetime,” she recalled. “People would tell us: ‘Why are you hijra people here at the mosques? You should pray at home. Don't come to the mosques.’

“It was shameful for us, so we didn't go,” she added. “Now, this is our mosque. Now, no one can say no.”

Hijra communities have slowly reestablished dedicated spaces of safety in recent years, despite frequent backlash from conservative leaders. In 2020, the first Muslim school (or madrasa) for hijra students opened in Bangladesh, combating the community’s lack of access to educational and religious resources. Designed for safety, community, and healing, spaces like the madrasa and mosque have also begun shifting public opinion of hijras in the country.

“When they started to live with us, many people said many things,” area resident Tofazzal Hossain told AFP last month; after praying alongside them, he says his own “misconceptions” of hijras, in general, have changed. “[W]e've realized what people say isn't right. They live righteously like other Muslims,” Hossain said.