#but our country is largely

[runawaycarouselhorse]

Okay, now, you're just being rude and mocking. They've always acknowledged the harms and taught about it, they will not halt it because it's what the economy largely relies on. The tourism thing has only begun rather recently as an alternative source of income, but the main thing has always been oil exports.

A country can both acknowledge what they're relying on is harmful to the environment and that other alternatives are needed and make steps to use more green energy, using more solar power, planting a lot of trees and plants (most of the country is now a lot greener, especially the urban areas.)

"SGI supports Saudi Arabia’s ambition to reach net zero emissions by 2060 through the Circular Carbon Economy approach and is also accelerating the country’s transition to a green economy. Three overarching targets guide SGI’s work - emissions reduction, afforestation, and land and sea protection.

Since SGI’s inauguration, 77 initiatives corresponding to the three targets have been activated, representing an investment of more than $186bn and helping to drive sustainable growth. By bringing together the government and private sector, and fostering collaboration and innovation, the Kingdom’s commitments have been turned into tangible action, whilst supporting global goals."

Friends and family searched for missing hajj pilgrims on Wednesday as the death toll at the annual rituals, which were carried out in scorching heat, surged past 900.

[jingerpi]

hi so I know we're all tired of election discourse so I'll make this short

THE VOTING POPULATION IS NOT REPRESENTATIVE OF THE GENERAL POPULATION.

U.S. elections receive far more participants from upper class white people, and far less participation from poor or marginalized people.

I get that a lot of these people have ridiculous and racist/classiest/xenophobic/etc ideologies and vote along those lines, but they are not representative of everybody.

selection bias really is getting some of y'all.

from a statistical standpoint we can't say if the rest of these are as bigoted as the minority who vote, technical they're just as likely to be more bigoted

but please understand it's not a representative sample. bourgeois and labor aristocracy people are those voting most in US elections, it's no surprise they're bigoted imperialists, you kind of have to be to buy into the whole "liberal democracy" thing.

[anghraine]

jenndoesnotcare replied to this post:

Every time LDS kids come to my neighborhood I am so so nice to them. I hope they remember the blue haired lady who was kind, when people try to convince them the outside world is bad and scary. (Also they are always so young! I want to feed them cookies and give them Diana Wynne Jones books or something)

Thank you! Honestly, this sort of kindness can go a really long way, even if it doesn't seem like it at the time.

LDS children and missionaries (and the majority of the latter are barely of age) are often the people who interact the most with non-Mormons on a daily basis, and thus are kind of the "face" of the Church to non-Mormons a lot of the time. As a result, they're frequently the ones who actually experience the brunt of antagonism towards the Church, which only reinforces the distrust they've already been taught to feel towards the rest of the world.

It's not that the Church doesn't deserve this antagonism, but a lot of people seem to take this enormous pride in showing up Mormon teenagers who have spent most of their lives under intense social pressure, instruction, expectation, and close observation from both their peers and from older authorities in the Church (it largely operates on seniority, so young unmarried people in particular tend to have very little power within its hierarchies). Being "owned" for clout by non-Mormons doesn't prove anything to most of them except that their leaders and parents are right and they can't trust people outside the Church.

The fact that the Church usually does provide a tightly-knit community, a distinct and familiar culture, and a well-developed infrastructure for supporting its members' needs as long as they do [xyz] means that there can be very concrete benefits to staying in the Church, staying closeted, whatever. So if, additionally, a Mormon kid has every reason to think that nobody outside the Church is going to extend compassion or kindness towards them, that the rest of the world really is as hostile and dangerous as they've been told, the stakes for leaving are all the higher, despite the costs of staying.

So people from "outside" who disrupt this narrative of a hostile, threatening world that cannot conceivably understand their experiences or perspectives can be really important. It's important for them to know that there are communities and reliable support systems outside the Church, that leaving the Church does not have to mean being a pariah in every context, that there are concrete resources outside the Church, that compassion and decency in ordinary day-to-day life is not the province of any particular religion or sect and can be found anywhere. This kind of information can be really important evidence for people to have when they are deciding how much they're willing to risk losing.

So yeah, all of this is to say that you're doing a good thing that may well provide a lifeline for very vulnerable people, even if you don't personally see results at the time.

[infinstar]

In this soba eating scene, the gaga subtitles were off regarding the subject/meaning of Hiroko's thoughts.

そうそう ... 本来はこういう反応だよ ( Indeed, Normally that's how people would react )

危うく間違えるとくだった ( I almost misunderstood it )

This is important because it is essential to how Hiroko has been acting throughout this entire episode! From the moment Ayaka declared to pursure Hiroko infront of everyone, she has been gauging everyone's reaction to Ayaka's confession/actions. When the coworkers had a positive attitude towards it, it enabled Hiroko to answer positively to Ayaka's advancements and let her guard down momentarily. When confronted with a coworker?/business partner? who framed Ayaka's confession as a type of identity exploration of the youth "before they eventually settle down", Hiroko felt that familiar/what she had been expecting as the reaction to all of this from her experience in the past. This reinforced her mindset as it fed to her own biases that ultimately the world has not changed afterall and she nearly misunderstood that it was okay to be open about it and be accepted.

Ayaka on the other hand is almost blind/indifferent to everyone's reaction/opinion to her feelings as she bulldozes ahead to the detriment of Hiroko. They are both polar opposites. Hiroko cares far too much about what others think of her and subsequently of Lesbian relationships (either romanticing it through works of Yuri or not taking it seriously at all) that she has not even considered what she should do/want now that she can't avoid it anymore. Ayaka can't seem to understand why would Hiroko withdraw from acting on her feelings when she likes her and definitely needs help understanding Hiroko's worries. Even after Risa questioned her whether it was okay to say it infront of everyone after knowing what happened in the past, Ayaka did not get it.

Again, I dont think any character is particularly wrong in their actions (apart from that old man) they are all approaching it from their own insecurities or lack of it in the case of Ayaka. Not everyone will think about the major consequences of their actions before acting and some will only think of that and I love how this episode depicted it.

[wingsofhcpe]

anyway if yall want something greek-mythology inspired to read, please pick up Threads that Bind by Kika Hatzopoulou. It's a post-apocalyptic fantasy romance (soulmates!) with lots of queerness in it, inspired by various mythologies but centered around greek mythology, with a greek-coded protag & cultural elements strewn across, and written by an actual greek woman who lives in Greece. It's also the first book I see by a greek author to be written & published in English/abroad first, and to go semi-popular on western reading circles.

we need more like this. please support her.

[just-wublrful]

not to be obnoxious on main but classic literature is not global literature. it's western literature at best

[vyvansecrashing]

can russia and north korea just nuke us already this is hopeless

[thebreakfastgenie]

I keep seeing people suggest the campus protests are getting outsized coverage compared to the actual situation in Gaza as some kind of distraction and I have to say I do not think that is the case. I think it is for the much simpler reason that the protests are happening here, in America, where an American might stumble across one in person.

[nolongerexistingsadcatface]

Ok yes America hating the cold is funny (eh) BUT. have you considered that I like the imagery of an America sitting alone in the forest in the bleak mid-winter landscape of an east coast woods, all alone in both body and mind, agonizing over her seeming doom to be stuck in the throes of loneliness for all eternity?

[lastoneout]

tbh I think my new answer any time someone calls americans dumb for using imperial or fahrenheit is going to be “okay, what do you want us to do about it tho? ask our government to change it?? our government??? the one that just had one major branch freeze entirely because after like three straight days they couldn’t decide something as basic as who’s in charge???? that government?????”

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

So, Canada has decided to stop sending arms to Israel after an NDP motion. The Liberals made major amendments to it so as to firmly condemn Hamas as well. It's kind of a mixed bag. Honestly, it's naive of me but I didn't expect there would still be so much outrage, even if the motion did call for an acknowledgement of Palestine as a state. All the Conservatives voted against it - to be fair, some of them wanted to wait for the motion to be passed because the amendments were super last minute and the Bloc Quebecois were annoyed that because of this there wasn't a French translation.

I guess it's a step in the right direction. I think it's still weak but you can read more on it here.

Source 1, Source 2, Source 3

[lord-squiggletits]

It's not that what you like in fiction = what you approve of IRL or that consuming media = a meaningful form of activism, but I do think that to an extent, the way people analyze and talk about media can be revealing about what their personal beliefs are. And tbh the way some people in fandom talk about certain social issues I pray that they're never in a position of social influence or power over other ppl bc yeesh

[stressedbeetle]

sometimes I watch video footage of Sweden from several years ago (70s, 50s, 1920s etc) because, I like history and I find it interesting. But then when I unfortunately check the comments there will without fail always be so many racist, xenophobic, Islamophobic comments saying that Sweden has been overrun and that the time from the video was the "good old days". Which just makes me SO FUCKING MAD PLEASE JUST SHUT UP YOU RACIST PIECE OF SHIT

[stressedjester]

Once again I am begging people who criticize or make fun of the USA to be normal and remember Native Americans and other people of color exist here. You are not just mocking white people when you generalize shit

[cheapcheapfaker]

On one hand i would like to have a large baby. my family and gilgamesh’s come from a long line of beefy, nine pound plus chunkers. I was 9 and something lbs with a full head of hair and almost a week late. I want that baby fully cooked and maybe a little overdone. tons of studies not just anecdotal show that they just seem sort of… nicer and easier to deal with, like the biggest of the litter. they sleep more. they dont struggle in general as much and they gain weight easily and they also move a little slower. not saying they dont hit milestones but a fat ass baby will stay in its potted plant lump stage a little while longer before jumping into the running around sticking fingers in outlets stage.

on the other hand, i am so so concerned for the sanctity of my gooch. a nine pound baby will tear my grundle asunder. my taint to shreds.

[thekingdomofdong]

started my day off reading about how a homeless camp down by the river got flooded/wiped out and so many comments were just like saying this is a good thing etc and i just wanna blow up this entire fuckin country man