#RuthFeiertag

[the-beard-of-edward-teach]

@ruthfeiertag for the win

Why is a woman's worth decided by her relationship to a man?

[ruthfeiertag]

Thirty Reasons to Vote: #24

[ruthfeiertag]

Happy Orange Evening, Tumblers! Here’sxa moment of joyful peace in our turbulent time.

[ruthfeiertag]

Explanatory Prologue

from https://www.freeimages.com/search/broken-camera[/caption]

Due to technical difficulties, I have fallen behind in my postings. And by "technical difficulties," I mean that my daughter, who tries to make sure I take care of my assorted devices, told me that there was an iOS update and that I should download and install it. So I did that, and I saw that my iTunes button had turned red and that there was now a magnifier button on my screen, and I'm hoping to get Meredith to explain the new Privacy settings to me, but everything else seemed pretty much the same. That is, until (dramatic music here, maybe from a tragic opera or a truly frightening horror movie) I tried to upload my recent photos for my next blog post, and WordPress told me, and I quote, "Sorry, this file type is not permitted for security reasons." I figured that I had just not given the photo enough time to latch onto the WordPress media library and tried again. And WordPress said, "Sorry, this file type is not permitted for security reasons," though it sounded snarkier and more smug this time.

I thought maybe there was something wrong with the photo itself, so I took a new picture of the page, re-edited it, and tried to upload it to my media library. And what did WordPress say? "Sorry, this file type is not permitted for security reasons." This time I think it was gloating. It may have stuck its tongue out at me, but it happened too quickly for me to be sure.

Obviously, I needed help. So I tried the WordPress fora. I immediately found an old thread started by someone who had had exactly the same problem with which I was struggling. I was sure that I was on my way to resolving my difficulty, but alas! All the thread had to offer was that, at the time the question had been asked, WordPress itself was being glitchy and the WP Fairies were working their magic to smooth out the bump. I couldn't find anything more recent (and I was getting frustrated), so I sent my daughter a message, a cry for help, a plea for a light in the darkness of my blogging.

Now, Meredith is rather busy these days. She's working full-time, going to school half-time, and volunteering with her local CASA organization. It is, therefore, not unreasonable that it took her a couple days to respond to me. But here I encountered a wrinkle I had NOT seen coming: Meredith didn't know the answer. All of you who rely on your children to help navigate the often stormy seas of modern technology will understand how flummoxed I felt.

In desperation, I opened a browser window and typed in "Sorry, this file type is not permitted for security reasons." One of the links I followed offered a list of file types that WordPress deems sufficiently innocuous to allow to cross its borders. "Huh," I thought, "maybe I should make sure my photos are still JPEGs." So after sifting through menus and sub-menus and randomly clicking on obscure options, I finally got my computer to confess that my new photos were NOT, in fact, JPEGs any longer. They were now something called HEIC. Apparently this new format saves space or something like that. I didn't really care. I just wanted my JPEGgy photos back.

The next logical step, it seemed to me, was to find out how to change my HEIC photos back into nice, tractable JPEGs. So back to my browser I went to ask it how to effect such a transformation. My research revealed that it was possible to do this in fifteen simple steps that I would be able to understand as soon as I got a degree in computer programming. This sort of "solution" is why I like my pens and copy machine.

Even if I could have figured out how to take my poor image through these multiple stations, I don't have the time to go through that process for every photo I want to upload to my blog. I was not happy. So I went to bed.

The next day I looked again for ways to re-dress HEIC photos in JPEG clothing, and after poking around on the 'Net for years — well, maybe months, possibly days —OK: a couple hours, I FINALLY stumbled on a link that told me I COULD GO TO THE SETTINGS OF MY PHONE AND TURN OFF THE HEIC OPTION AND GO BACK TO TAKING JPEGS. And here, my friends, I realized that I had once again fallen prey to one of the persistent problems with my brain: not knowing what question to ask. (I once spend two weeks trying to order a new power cord for my computer and could NOT find one anywhere. Eventually I found out that what I wanted was a power cable, but I didn't know to ask for one of those.)

In conclusion, I switched off the HEIC and restored the JPEG setting, re-took and re-edited the photos, and will now resume my "30 Inks in 30 Days" listing of a month of reasons to vote (really, if anyone is considering not voting, whether you agree with my views or not, please  re-consider and vote. We all need to know what we, as a country, as a society, see as the direction in which we should take ourselves).

Thank you for reading. Stay well and safe and healthy.

Southern Poverty Law Center, "Family separation policy continues two years after Trump administration claims it ended." June 18, 2020.

David A. Graham. The Atlantic, "Are Children Being Kept in 'Cages"at the Border?" June 18, 2018.

Jacob Soboroff on the Rachel Maddow Show. July 6, 2020.

And for those who want say, "Well, President Obama did it first," please read Betania Palma. Snopes.com, "Did Obama Admin Build Cages That House Immigrant Children at U.S.-Mexico Border?". 2 July, 2019. I'm not saying it was right to do it at all, but Obama did not use these "cages" in the same way nor for the length of time that the Trump administration has been using them.

[liminalweirdo]

tags by @ruthfeiertag

Reasons to still be wearing a mask

- Disabled people deserve safety too

- Keeping your community safe

- Solidarity with Disabled people

- Because Covid isn't over just because the media stopped talking about it

- Masks are cool and help you shoplift

- Disabled people's lives matter

[ruthfeiertag]

The constant denigration by elected officials of our leading researchers, of those who base their arguments on reason and evidence, erodes confidence in the science and research that produce the tested cures we need, that keep us safe from chemicals and pollutants, that track the food we eat. Remember last year when there was a sudden decision to shift USDA researchers from Washington, D.C., to Kansas City? That was an ill-advised move because

"Moving these researchers out of Washington puts them out of earshot from policymakers. A lot of the research that scientists and economists do at [the USDA] has policy implications, and members of Congress need this information and need to have face-to-face meetings with these researchers," Rebecca Boehm, with the Union of Concerned Scientists, told The Hill.

"It keeps science out of the policymaking process. And we've seen many times that this administration doesn't like facts or research that isn't convenient or [is] an impediment to their agenda, so I think moving them away helps accomplish that," she added.³

This separation of policy and science is outlined in a list compiled by the Union of Concerned Scientists. It includes, among many other items, "EPA refuses to Regulate Rocket Fuel Chemical in Drinking Water," "White House Demands Rewriting of CDC's COVID-19 Guidelines for Schools," and "Trump Administration Disavows Own Meteorologists for Issuing Factual Statement on Hurricane Dorian."4

The dangerous disrespect the current administration and other representatives show for the wisdom and advice of science have led to Scientific American, for the first time in its one-hundred-seventy-five-year history, to endorse a candidate for office, and its nod went to Joseph Biden. In the October 2020 issue, the editors explain that

Scientific American has never endorsed a presidential candidate in its 175-year history. This year we are compelled to do so. We do not do this lightly.

The evidence and the science show that Donald Trump has badly damaged the U.S. and its people—because he rejects evidence and science. The most devastating example is his dishonest and inept response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which cost more than 190,000 Americans their lives by the middle of September. He has also attacked environmental protections, medical care, and the researchers and public science agencies that help this country prepare for its greatest challenges. That is why we urge you to vote for Joe Biden, who is offering fact-based plans to protect our health, our economy and the environment. These and other proposals he has put forth can set the country back on course for a safer, more prosperous and more equitable future.5

Finding out that SA felt it necessary to speak out and take a side feels monumental to me. I appreciate that way that, in normal times, many organizations stay out of politics. But sometimes there is no virtue in silence and neutrality, and we are living in such times.

I'm a humanities person, but I understand the vital role science plays, should play, must be allowed to play in our lives and society. So vote for science, for representatives who respect science and research and who will encourage and support with both words and funding the scientific leaders whose voices must be heard loudly and clearly for our society to survive.

**************************** Monteverde Fire Opal

"Governor Jay Inslee Calls West Coast Fires 'Climate Fires.'" YouTube. September 15, 2020. Andrew Hammond. The News Tribune, "Wildfires one sign of the 'New Washington' created by climate change, Inslee says." September 9, 2020.

Philip Bump. The Washington Post, "The president who says the coronavirus will go away makes the same prediction about global warming." September 14, 2020.

Rebecca Beitsch. The Hill, "Scientists flee USDA as research agencies move to Kansas City area." July 15, 2019.

Union of Concerned Scientists. "Attacks on Science." July 2, 2020.

Editors. Scientific American, "Scientific American Endorses Joe Biden." October 2020.

[ruthfeiertag]

Making health care available to whomever seeks it is not just the right thing to do, it’s the practical thing to do. Our economy depends on the health of everyone who works, depends on our workers being able to continue to work rather than having to stay at home to care for family members. When we make it difficult or impossible for segments of our population to get the care they need, others end up paying for it when these folks have to go the emergency rooms and can’t pay their bills. This cost is passed on to taxpayers; we all pay anyway, but without the benefit of a healthier national community. This is a self-serving argument, I know. Mostly I believe we should provide health care to all because is the moral course of action.

So vote. Vote for increased health care, health insurance, health for us all.

Pure Pens Cotswolds *************************************

Meagan Flynn and Tim Elfrink. Washington Post. “Trump Administration asks Supreme Court to strike down Obamacare.” June 25, 2020.

Kathleen Sebelius, New York Times. “Attention All Women: Trump Is Coming for Your Health Care.” July 13, 2020.

Maureen Groppe. USA Today, “Who pays when someone without insurance shows up in the ER?” July 13, 2017.

[ruthfeiertag]

Inktober Day 2

Inktober Prompt: Mindless

Goldspot Prompt: Chill

2 October, 2019

Well, Bridie,

As happens so often, our letters must have crossed in the post. I was pleased to see it; I was expecting your recipe for pumpkin soup — goodness knows I’ve asked for it often enough!

Your missive started out well enough; I am pleased that your dear papa is improving. But, Bridget, as I read on, I confess a chill brushed through my soul and left a pattern of ice crystals there. I can hardly say why. There seemed to be a creeping, mindless aura to your words that has settled over my own brain like a living mist and has quite put me out of countenance.

Write back at once to either reassure or confide in

Your anxious friend,

Hannah

P.S. And please don’t forget the soup recipe!

[luneemeritus]

Thanks for tagging me

> Are you named after anyone?

"madre emeritus" is a female version of Papa Emeritus that I gave myself, but Lune means moon in french. So hm. Yeah.

> When was the last time you cried?

Yesterday :v

> Do you have any kids?

No. But i will adopt a cat soon.

> What sports do you play/have you played?

None, i dislike sports.

> Do you use sarcasm?

All the time.

> What's the first thing you notice about people?

The way they're looking at me 🫣 and if they're not looking, the way the dress.

> What's your eyes color?

Brown 🟤

> Scary movies or happy endings?

Uh? There are plenty of horror movies that have happy endings lol well i like happy endings, but i'm also addicted to horror movies and sometimes a bad/grey/open ending is the more realistic and fun

> Any talents?

Writing i guess, and also analysing cinema.

> Where were you born?

São Paulo, Brazil (but i lived most of my childhood in Guarulhos)

> What are your hobbies?

Listening to music, reading, writing bullshit fanfiction that i will probably never gonna publish, making theories about the fictional midias i like (specially My Little Pony)

> Do you have any pets?

Not yet.

> How tall are you?

I have no idea.

> Favorite subject in school?

It was literature. I finished high school but i'm studying it because i really like it, also Sociology, History and Philosophy were great 👌

> Dream job?

I would say being a sucessful writer and social midia persona. And maybe a movie/show director/writer too.

Tagging: @an-angels-fury @piedalchemist @queerbarb @theirlocalvampire @batslikedmytheatre @ruthfeiertag

SORRY IM LATE TY FOR THE TAGS @lady-merian and @tsfennec!!

Are you named after anyone?:

my second name is from my late grandma!

When was the last time you cried?:

Two nights ago?

Do you have any kids?:

Nope! Haven't even had a romantic relationship yet LMAO

What sports do you play/have you played?:

honestly none LOL, my parents didn't really let me play sports because I have a heart condition. But I sometimes shoot hoops with my siblings, and I bike

Do you use sarcasm?:

Yeah, but honestly not as much as I'd like LOL. I tend to be more sarcastic when I'm annoyed tho

What is the first thing you notice about people?:

Their vibes?? I don't know how to explain it LOL, but like just the vibes they give off and whether I think we'd get along or not LOL

What's your eye color?:

Really dark brown! You need to see it in sunlight to really see how it looks though

Scary movies or happy endings?:

Scary movies are fun, but I'm gonna have to go with happy endings! And not just because they make me feel happy lol. I just have a deeper, more nuanced love for happy endings while scary movies are just for fun

Any talents?:

I mean, I think I'm decently musically gifted (and the only reason I know this is because I've never really had any lessons LOL). But I definitely think there's an experience aspect to it. I'd also like to believe I have some talent in writing and photography, although I'm more confident in saying that they're skills I have instead 🤣

Where were you born?:

Somewhere in a hospital in the Philippines

What are your hobbies?:

Writing, reading, photography, doodling, lettering

Do you have any pets?:

We have the family dog, a dachsund named Lila!

How tall are you?:

Short. Most adults are taller than me 😭

Favorite subject in school?:

English and literature

Dream job?:

Maybe a barista LOL, ooh or a candymaker for those hard candies. A baker might be fun too, or a teacher. A florist is starting to sound fun too! I don't think I can be a writer mainly sadly, but I want a job where I'd have time to do that still.

No pressure tags!!!: @dont-do-rice-babes, @choasuqeen, @kenandeliza, @offendedteaspoon, @rose-red-ink @youjustfeelthemforever, @rainintheevening, @nerdywriter36, @brendadaaedestler, @ladyphlogiston, @darling-gemini, @the-laurenceboy, @theragamuffininitiative, @rumpletrumple, @madlybattymontague, @its-a-hare-pom-pom

[ruthfeiertag]

I’m making another attempt at Inktober. Here’s my first go. I traced the flower since I didn’t think I’d do it well enough free-hand (at least, not in one day), then coloured it using fountain pens and inks.

Poisonous; Day One.