#as is Europe

[rocketjo]

There is no such thing as "European culture"

There is no such thing as a unified European, Western or White culture. As there is no unified Eastern or Asian culture. I get what they meant - puritan protestant English culture, predominantly sexist, classist and racist. The kind of Europe that bred the modern US which is perceived as the "Western culture" today. But that's not European. It's industrial period English. There is also a point to make for Athenean culture (not Greek or Ancient Greek, as Athen was more or less it's on country back then, even if it had some influence over the rest of what's now Greek - similar to how protestant English and Dutch views shaped huge parts of middle and northern Europe and extremist-catholic views shaped the Southeast). But then there is a French tradition, a German one, a Swedish, a Swiss, a Polish, an Italian, a Spanish etc. Europe is and will be a hodgepodge and that's surely one of the reasons why the EU as a political system is pretty useless (as of now, who knows how it will evolve). We all learned our diffrent lessons from history, from somewhat diffrent histories even. Have a look at the middle ages or the early modern times, look at how extremly diffrent we've progressed (especially England, Austria and France, a little bit later Germany). And then look at how we in Europe almost collectivley scratch our head about the US. It's diffrent. In a lot of ways. And we're proudly diffrent from each other as well. That's why Europe is rife with racism, but in a diffrent form than rascism happening in the US. That's why some problems don't seem to concern us (as much). Because we have our own typical problems which we should take care of first. And my, we have A LOT of them, even if we exclude things like colonialism and the major World Wars from the list. Does America even know that there's a 3000-year history between diffrent European contries and their cultures? Also: Disney stole European fairytales and made them into distinctive US-versions. The dwarfs had neither names nor personality, but the huntsman was a major character. Cinderella is an amalgamation of diffrent similar tales from middle and eastern Europe. And what the heck is this Rapunzel-story? (Don't get me wrong, I like Tangled a lot. But it's not the German tale anymore. And Frozen is an abomination of the original Andersen-story, as is The little Mermaid). The white US entertainment industry "steals" from all of us and makes it their own. So maybe we should come together instead of trying to hate on each other. This only empowers the wrong people.

[mysharona1987]

[jellogram]

On my first day in Germany I got to my hotel and I couldn't get the lights to turn on. And I was like "Eh, fuck it, I'll just take a shower in the dark." And then the shower wouldn't get hot. I waited and waited and it stayed ice cold.

So I go down to the front desk and I'm like "My lights won't turn on and my shower won't get hot" so they send this guy up with me. We get into the room and I flick the switch and nothing happens so I'm like "See?"

And he goes "You must put your card in the slot."

"I... what? I have to put my room card in the light switch?"

"Of course!"

Now I have been in many hotels in the US and never encountered this concept, but apparently it was something most of their guests already knew. So I'm looking like a fool at this point. I feel like an idiot. The dude is fully grinning at me. I put the card in the slot and voila, the light turns on.

Then he's like "Ok, let's see if the shower works. You know you must wait for the hot water?" and I just know he's thinking I'm an idiot who also can't use a shower. This stupid American can't wait for the hot water! She can't even use a light switch or a shower!

And I guess he was distracted by these thoughts of my stupidity, because this dude fully stepped into the shower. In his nice dress shirt and slacks. He just. Gets into the shower.

And turns it on.

Have you ever seen a playing field get leveled instantaneously

[destiel-news-channel]

[Image ID: The Destiel confession meme edited so that Dean answers 'There's a petition to ban conversion therapy in the EU' to Cas' 'I love you'. /End ID]

If you are a citizen in the EU please sign this petition:

[sanshofox]

It‘s scary to see how very important european petitions get no visibility whatsoever. We had a basic income petition last year which failed because not enough people knew about it. Now we have a „tax the rich“ one that only lasts until october this year and only has around 250k out of 1 mio. signings.

Most EU people go through their every day life w/o knowing about them. There are no ads, no marketing…nothing. I know that costs money though one might think important petitions that lead to a better and progressive life would be supported by the government or ministries in some way, but nooooo

And why should they? It’s petitions that would help out the poor and middle class, but endanger capitalism and their exploitation, sooo: government and business leads for example.

So here the link for those who are interested:

[froody]

countries will be like “nooooo our birth rate is falling exponentially and it’s effecting our economy” and immigrants will be like “hey can you let us in so we can boost your economy and fill your empty jobs and raise our children here” and inevitably the country is like “the only thing worse than a large scale collapse of our population is letting foreigners live here”

[halebop-s-art]

The diagram for the classic Origami Goat, with a twist to make its horns curve ! It's from this video by by Origami Word, but it seems to be a pretty old/intemporal design that a lot of people have made. I could not find a diagram online so I made one.

(If you make her in yellow/orangy-yellow, then decorate her with red ribbons, you can make your own origami gävlebocken ! )

[sugaldean]

Tagging this with gay fandoms sorry

There's currently a European proposition to ban conversion practice in Europe

If you're European please sign it

If you're not please reblog

Edit 1: Just in case the previous link doesn't bring you where you need here

Edit 2: It's EU not Europe sorry

[karemandohan1999]

🙏😔Stop, please 😔🙏

Don't ignore me, listen to our sad story💔🥹🍉

My name is Kariman Dohan, I am 25 years old. I was a committed and diligent teacher, and my husband, Ayman Olwan, 30 years old, is a business administration graduate, but due to unemployment and difficult conditions in Gaza, he was forced to work as a fisherman. We have a wonderful son named Hamoud, who is one and a half years old. We live in Gaza, specifically Khan Yunis, where the fishing boat, fishing equipment and the school where I worked were damaged،Everything we relied on to survive has collapsed: our home, my job, and my husband’s income. We are struggling daily to endure the cold, hunger, and the continuous bombing that threatens our lives every moment🥹💔

🥹🫂💔😭😭😭😭

We have been displaced several times, and our tragedy has reached the point that we now live in a tent that is unfit for living. We desperately need your help, I have launched a donation campaign but I cannot get the funds so I can get $75000 to get through this current crisis.

Or through PayPal

Before the war and after the war, this is what happened to us😔💔

................

I know that the world is full of people who want to help others, and you are one of them. Please be with us in this ordeal and share your donation to help us get out of these difficult situations🫂🥹🥹🙏🙏🍉

Donate, share and be the reason for our happiness 🙏❤️🫂🥹🍉😭🇵🇸💔😣

Donation Link

[herpsandbirds]

Dovekie aka Little Auk (Alle alle), family Alcidae, order Charadriiformes, Iceland

Photograph by Christophe Moning

[without-ado]

Northern Lights

l May 2024 l Andrew McCarthy l Logan Parham l Shane Ware l Joseph Alsousou l Neil Thomas l Greg Sheard l Sebastian Voltmer l TheSolarCan

[etchif]

Inspired by the USA states poll I just reblogged! Take this quiz to see how many European countries you can name in 8 minutes :^)

[taikeero-lecoredier]

CHAT CONTROL TO BE VOTED ON THIS THURSDAY

Original tweet

I know americans are busy with fighting KOSA but I urge you to please help us by spreading the word about this, I can't say this enough, if chat control passes, citizen's private messages will be scanned via artifical intelligence,and they must comply,otherwise theyre not allwoed to send pictures,videos,or links anymore. We have a discord server made to organize against it,with emails scripts you can use when contacting your meps : https://discord.com/invite/e7FYdYnMkS

Find your meps and tell them to vote no on this :

[reasonsforhope]

"A Scottish field once home to mono-crop barley has become a pollinator’s paradise after intervention from a local trust saw bumblebee numbers increase 100-fold.

Entitled Rewilding Denmarkfield, and run by the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, the project has also seen a sharp increase in the number of species passing through the rolling meadows after they were reclaimed by dozens of wildflower species.

The area north of Perth is about 90 acres in size, and surveys of bumblebees before the project began rarely recorded more than 50. But by 2023, just two years of letting “nature take the lead” that number has topped 4,000, with the number of different bee species doubling.

“This superb variety of plants attracts thousands of pollinators. Many of these plants, such as spear thistle and smooth hawk’s beard, are sometimes branded as ‘weeds’. But they are all native species that are benefiting native wildlife in different ways,” Ecologist Ellie Corsie, who has been managing the project since it began in 2021, said.

“Due to intensive arable farming, with decades of plowing, herbicide, and pesticide use, biodiversity was incredibly low when we started. Wildlife had largely been sanitized from the fields. Rewilding the site has had a remarkable benefit.”

Similar increases have been recorded in the populations of butterflies, with a tripling in the number of these insects seen on average during a ramble through the field.

The numbers of both insects are now so high that Rewilding Denmarkfield offers bee and butterfly safaris to visitors.

Local residents told the Scotsman that on spring and summer days, the field is awash with color, and hums with the sounds of bees and birds. Even as multiple housing developments expand around the Denmarkfield area, the field is a haven for wildlife."

-via Good News Network, December 2, 2024

[lsleofskye]

Ylläs, Finland | seffis