#family support center of south sound

[arijsblog]

https://gofund.me/92cc9c56

Verified by @90-ghost

My name is Areej Salem, I am twenty-eight years old, I fell in love two years ago, then we planned to get married until the path we always dreamed of was completed.

 Muhammad and I got married on November 3, 2023, and after five months, God surprised me with the most beautiful gifts..

I had learned that I was pregnant, I would give birth to my first child and I will have a happy family,

During the journey of weakness and fatigue within pregnancy, Muhammad and I began preparing the baby’s things, buying clothes for him, and searching for suitable furniture until the seventh of October came to destroy everything we dreamed of for our child and our future.

The war began and fire broke out from every direction, and the Zionist indiscriminate bombing of civilians and defenseless people began, I was then in the eighth month of pregnancy, and I was suffering from strong panic attacks that I experienced with every strong bombing close to our house, I clutched my body and held myself tight, I was thought that i lose my baby many times just because of fear! After that, I suffer from uterine contractions that stay with me for days.

 Within a few days, Israel decided to displace us from our homes in the north of the Gaza Strip to its south, During the air, land and sea bombardment, we got our car, heading towards the south, until naval boats attacked us with a shell that hit our car from the roof, So I put my hand on my womb to protect my fetus and prayed to God a lot to grant me sight for my child, safe and sound.

Thank God, we miraculously survived, and on the second of December, that is, within two months of the war, I gave birth to my little boy, “Adam,” in a small room containing three beds, without the minimum sanitary necessities, and in which there were many displaced people fleeing their homes to health centers to take refuge in them, with a lack of food ,Sanitation, hygiene, and a lack of equipment and tools needed for childbirth, These were the most difficult hours of my life, until I felt like my soul had left my body. After three days I spent in labor pain, Adam came to enlighten my heart and my life and give our future meaning and existence.

Now... the war is still going on, but our lives are also going on, but! Without a home, it was destroyed by the Israeli occupation, also without food, medicine, or even milk to feed my little baby.

Your life continues, but in order for us to live like you, you must help us, so that I can provide a healthy environment for Adam, and for me and my husband, Muhammad, to live a decent life. Every amount, even a small one, will make a difference!

‏Donations will be spent on living expenses and the money will be transferred to us through Western Union and to have money for get out from gaza also

 Fear fills our hearts, as death is very close to us, so we ask for your support and attention to find a safe way.

 Your donations will make a difference in our lives, and we are incredibly grateful for your support.

Verified by @nabulsi

 Follow my instagram account for full story https://www.instagram.com/arij.raji?igsh=YzAwZjE1ZTI0Zg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr 

[lambentplume]

Maui Fires & How to Support Relief Efforts

(Posted on 8/10/23) Hi, I'm Jae and my family is from Lāhainā. I watched my hometown burn down this week. The fires caused immeasurable loss in my community so I'd like to spread awareness of the situation as well as provide links to support local organizations directly assisting survivors. I'm pretty sure most of my following is Not local so I'm writing with intent to inform people outside the situation, but if you're reading this and happen to have family in the affected area that isn't accounted for, message me and I can send you the links to the missing persons tracking docs + more localized info!! If you'd like to skip down to how to help and follow community organizations, scroll to the bottom of the post after the image.

Earlier this week, Hurricane Dora passed south of the Hawaiian Islands, bringing strong wind gusts that caused property damage across the islands. On Tuesday August 8, high winds caused sparks to fly in the middle of Lāhainā town, knocking out power lines and immediately igniting drought-ridden grasses. The fire spread quickly and destroyed the entire center of town, the harbor, and multiple neighborhoods including Hawaiian Homes (housing specifically for Native Hawaiians), parts of Lahainaluna, basically all of Front Street, and low-income housing units. There is only one public road in and out of town, and after a very hectic evacuation period that road has been mostly closed off except to emergency responders, thus it is extremely difficult for anyone to leave town to get help. The nearest hospital is 20 miles away in Wailuku, and most grocery stores in town have burnt down.

As of Thursday, August 10, over 1,000 acres have been burned and 271 structures (including homes, schools, and other community gathering places) have been destroyed. Cell service is still extremely spotty, many of the surrounding neighborhoods deemed safe for evacuees are still without utilities. There are currently confirmed 53 deaths but that number is expected to increase as search-and-rescue efforts continue. Countless families have been displaced and many have lost the homes they lived in for generations. Places of deep historical significance have been reduced to ash, including the gravesites of Hawaiian royalty, the old Lāhainā courthouse where items of cultural significance were stored, and Na ‘Aikane o Maui Cultural Center. To add further context: Lāhainā has a population of about 13,000 residents. EVERYONE I know has been impacted in some way--at best forced to evacuate, at worst their house was burnt to the foundation, they cannot find a loved one, etc. I'm still trying to track down family members and it's been over two days. My neighbors down the street had homes last week and now many don't have ANYTHING. The hotels are taking in residents (tourists are also being STRONGLY urged to leave so that locals can recover). Without open access to the rest of the island, Lāhainā residents are now dependent on whatever people had in their homes already as well as disaster relief efforts coming in, but it's been difficult to organize and mobilize due to the location + conditions. People who have made it out are in shelters where no blankets or medicine were provided. Friends and acquaintances from neighbor islands are preparing aid to send over. Community response has been incredible, but the toll on the town has been immeasurable. My parents were desperately walking through town yesterday, my mom sounded absolutely hollow talking about it on the phone with me. It's horrifying. Below is a satellite map with data from the NASA Fire Information for Resource Management System showing the impacted areas from the past week; all of the red blotches were on fire at some point in the last three days.

Here are ways you can help:

If you have the means to donate:

Here are three donation sites verified by Maui Rapid Response, which also lists FAQs for people who are wondering about next steps.

Hawaiʻi Community Foundation - Maui Strong Fund accepts international credit cards. Maui United Way

Maui Mutual Aid Non-monetary ways to support:

If you know anyone who is planning to travel to ANY Hawaiian island, not just Maui, tell them to cancel their trip. Resources are extremely limited as is. Advocate for climate change mitigation efforts locally, wherever that is for you. The fire was exacerbated by drought conditions that have worsened due to climate change.

Lastly, remember that these are people's HOMES that burned, and Native Hawaiian cultural artifacts that have been lost. Stop thinking of Hawaiʻi (or any "tourist destination" location, really) as an "escape" or a "paradise." If that's the only way you recognized my home... I'm glad I got your attention somehow, but I would ask that you challenge that perspective and prioritize local and native voices. For transparency, I don't currently live in Lāhainā, I've been following efforts from Honolulu. My parents and brother have been updating me and I've been following friends and family who are doing immediate response work. I'm doing my best to find reliable and current sources, but if I need to update something, please let me know. If you're going to try to convince me that tourism is necessary for our recovery, news flash ***IT'S NOT***!

Thanks for reading.

[breelandwalker]

Wolf Moon - January 24-25, 2024

Shake off the cold and sing to the sky, witches - it's time for the Wolf Moon!

Wolf Moon

The Wolf Moon is the name given to the full moon which occurs in the month of January. The name is said to be derived from the sound of wolves howling with hunger while prey is scarce in the midst of winter. Given that we now know that wolves howl mostly for communication, my personal opinion is that people huddled in their homes during a very dark and dangerous time of year probably noticed these sounds a lot more readily with little else to occupy their time as they waited out the winter, and thus were set to worrying about ravenous beasts invading their villages and farmsteads. (It's worth noting that wolves preying on livestock was a very real concern for most people outside major cities for many centuries, so this isn't entirely unfounded.)

The name also calls to mind the howling of the wind during winter storms, or whistling around the eaves during the long cold nights. And for those of us who might not have been careful with our spending over the holidays, I might cite a tongue-in-cheek reference to the wolves being at the door when those credit card bills come due.

[For those not familiar with the phrase, to have "a wolf at the door" is a saying that refers to some imminent hardship or disaster. In modern parlance, this is usually applied to poor finances or looming bankruptcy.]

This month, the moon peaks at 12:54pm EST on January 25th, so the moon will likely appear to be full on the nights of the 24th and 25th, depending on where you are in the world.

Some North American indigenous names for the month of January and its' moon are Cold Moon (Cree), Center Moon (Assiniboine), Severe Moon (Dakota), Ice Moon (Catawba), and Spirit Moon (Ojibwe). Other names include Mantis Moon (South African origins), Quiet Moon (Celtic), and Moon After Yule (Anglo-Saxon).

What Does It Mean For Witches?

As a new year dawns, it's time for rest and reflection before we set out on the next phase of our journey. While the cold weather lingers, take some time to sit by the fire, literally or metaphorically, and take stock of where you stand, what resources are available, and what you plan to do with them.

Check in with your near-and-dear following the mad rush of the holiday season as well. Make sure that friends, family, and community members around you are doing all right. Offer support and kindness where you can, but don't overextend yourself. It's your time to recuperate too, and it is good and healthy to set boundaries which allow time and space for yourself.

What Witchy Things Can We Do?

Winter is a prime time for storytelling. Back in the days before internet or television or radio, people would often read to each other or tell tales to pass the time. Consider re-reading a favorite book that inspires you or exploring some region of folklore or mythology you've been meaning to look into. If you have children who are of an age to enjoy stories, read them some of your favorites or introduce them to something new. Share stories and discussions with your witchy circle too!

While you're at it, take a moment to examine the role that folklore and stories play in your practice. If you subscribe to a particular mythos, be it through deities or just general belief, consider which parts of it resonate the most with you and why.

Consider also the lessons of the winter season - the necessity of rest between periods of growth and activity, and the role of death, cold, and darkness in the natural cycles of life. What do these things mean to you and your practice? Are they a source of fear or fascination? Do you come alive in the winter or bundle up and wait for spring? How can you best remind yourself to pause for breath as the year goes on?

And of course, the beginning of a new year is an excellent time for goal-setting and divination. You're making resolutions for your mundane life, so make a few for your craft while you're at it, and pull out your cards or runes or pendulum for a New Year forecast on how things might go.

Happy Wolf Moon, witches! 🐺🌕

SOURCES & FURTHER READING:

Bree's Lunar Calendar Series

Bree's Secular Celebrations Series

Wolf Moon: Full Moon in January, The Old Farmer's Almanac.

Full Moon January 2024: Discover the Wolf's Thrilling Spiritual Meaning, The Peculiar Brunette.

Moon Info - Full Moon Dates for 2024

Calendar-12 - 2024 Moon Phases

Image Source: What Is A Wolf Moon?, The Fact Site.

[mohamed3reham]

I am Reham from Gaza, and my husbant Mohammed ,a mother of two children, Walid and Maryam. Walid is 4 years old and Maryam is 3 years old. We were displaced from Gaza to the south. We live a difficult life, where there is no food, no water, no shelter, and no treatment. With every sound of an explosion, my children go through a very difficult psychological state. I cannot control it.  On them, my child Walid dreams of returning to the kindergarten to complete his studies, and my child Maryam dreams of returning to her room to embrace her favorite doll, but unfortunately there is neither a kindergarten nor a room left. They have been completely destroyed. I dream for my children to live in peace and security like the rest of the children of the world, not just my children, but the matter.  It concerns every Palestinian child. We dream of peace and security prevailing, where there is no fear, starvation, or destruction. The occupation has destroyed homes, schools, universities, kindergartens, recreational centers, and hospitals. Children have been deprived of their most basic rights.

I hope you will donate for my family in the Gofundme account or publish the link in my account bio . Thank you for your support🙏https://gofund.me/cea2b45b

[thewhumpcaretaker]

🝊 Curse in Two Bodies: Yule Special 🝊

Masterlist | Summary: With the curse evenly split between them, Adelais and Ninlen struggle through their respective holiday celebrations while pretending they both just have colds. But Adelais isn't doing too well.

Note that there has been a time skip! This is a month or two after we left off. Adelais and Ninlen have learned how to split the curse partially between them, and have started to work together to some extent.

Oh Ievenar, God of Justice, who holds the scales:

Today I come to you with gratitude. For these few hours, I lost myself in the joy of the season, sitting in an easy chair to watch flames consume the yule tree piece by piece in our hearth. What’s a little pain in my body anyway? At an approximately fifty-fifty split, the curse feels, for each of us, like one of the worst sore throats we’ve ever had, but it’s bearable. And it wouldn't work any other way, with the palace festivities happening at the same time as my family's party. I think it was a pretty clever solution. The flannel buttoned up to my chin hides what lacerations there still are, wrapped twice in gauze to prevent visible bleeding. And I am with the people I love, at the little cabin in the valley outside Korsaivar City, where the smoke rises against a golden sky while the sun slowly plunges into the longest night of the year. Home sits on good land, over a humble but deep mana well. I can feel the familiar, energetic strength radiating both from the people around me and from the soil below.

I do love these people, in spite of everything. We aren’t a peaceful family. We claw at one another in our desperation to rise above the circumstances we were born into. I am, at times, tired of being their meal ticket. But they’ve been doting on me all day. They think I have a cold, as an excuse for my raspy voice and my pain on swallowing. It has meant that I can’t hold my newborn niece, Esmerelda, but still, she waves to me across the room in a conversation of curious glances. They’ve wrapped me in quilts, and given me cup after cup of steaming hot chocolate and tea. I feel so cared for… Rarely have I felt so comfortable in every part of my body except the neck. It doesn’t stop me from drawing deep inhales of cedar smoke. Every burning breath is a reminder of how possible it is to be happy even in pain. I am happy, Ievenar.

But I don’t come to you for myself. I come to you, as usual, for Adelais.

It was about three o’clock when he appeared on the television in the corner, tuned to the news broadcast of the royal celebration and national address. Immaculate, as usual, in a pure white military uniform adorned in thin lines of gold, he stood on the balcony overlooking the south courtyard, flanked by his mother and father. Neither of them looked at him even once.

He, too, had made illness his excuse for the way his voice would sound when he spoke his piece on the state of the kingdom and the decrees for the upcoming year. I doubt anyone will question it. He looked positively ashen.

He rested on the cold granite of the railing sometimes, to stop himself from swaying. Those months spent on life support are still haunting his atrophied frame. He’s dizzy, and he’s in at least as much pain as me. Even now, I swallow, and feel that knife-like jab in response, and it makes me uneasy for him.

I don’t want him to suffer so much, Ievenar. It’s as simple as that, what I have to say to you today.

I texted him, because I couldn’t contain myself. “I can see you on TV.”

He was sitting by that point, mercifully, at some kind of long, marble table set up on the balcony. The feed kept cutting to close-ups of his father, who droned on about war bonds, and in those stretches, he was able to reply, “Lovely. /s” His eyes darted across the crowd from one news team to another.

“I’m seeing the feed on your left, from KNZ Daily. And sometimes the one across from you, centered.”

He looked down at his phone, then right at the camera, his face expressionless. “Do I look as bad as I feel?”

Should I have lied? I didn’t. “It’s definitely believable that you’re sick. I don’t know why they have you up there on live news.”

“Neither do I. It’s a PR disaster waiting to happen.”

“You’re doing well so far.” A small shake of the head, and he abandoned his phone pointedly enough that I didn’t bother texting again.

He managed to get to his feet to speak. I couldn’t hear him much over the sounds of the card game going on in my own home. I redirected my attention again and again to the cards on the table and the gingerbread cookies, away from the thready, stumbling rasp of his voice, underpinned with misery even as he forced himself to smile. The warmth and laughter surrounding me seemed to mock him. Just because I was born here, and he was born there, we suffer differently. Where is the justice in that, Ievenar? If it were me, working long hours in the fields, everyone would see the injustice. But because his suffering is the suffering of guilt, no one sees it.

I looked down at my phone again when the card game was over, and at the television. He was seated once more by that time, and the sun painted pink and gold across his bloodless face. A chill wind ruffled the platinum blond fluff under his crown, and he rubbed at his temple. “Ninlen,” he had texted me (some ten minutes prior), “I think I’m actually coming down with something.”

A strange, protective jolt went through my heart. I felt the unmistakable, intoxicating uprush of my body drawing power involuntarily. “Did you feel that?” my mother asked. “Ripple in the mana.”

“Weird,” I lied, and discharged it quietly, flexing my wrists and letting the veins glow under my sleeves until I didn’t feel like I’d explode anymore.

Under control again, I managed to type, “It’s cold out there. You’ll feel better when you’re inside.”

“No. My throat hurts worse and worse. I’m getting congested. And I feel so faint.” He was visibly frowning and sniffling. Did you see him, Ievenar? Were you looking at him? You made him so miserable. Why punish him now, when he’s already in pain? He’s sick. Just lift the curse for a little while, just…

I know that’s not how it works. But it’s how it should work. I’ll say it. That’s what I see. If his throat hurts anyway, why double it?

“Come back tonight. Please. I won’t be able to sleep like this.” The please, from him…that’s really something.

“I can’t. I’ve rightfully taken my paid leave, and I promised my family. I’m so sorry. But I’ll be there first thing in the morning.” He sniffed again and left me on read.

The press conference wore on. Outside the thick lattice of my window, snowflakes started to tumble out of the sky. Heavy and thick, good for a snowman tomorrow. It had started up at the palace too. Despite the overhang above the balcony, a dusting had started to settle on Adelais’ hair and his almost bluish lips. He was shivering too violently to conceal.

“Will they let you go inside, now that your speaking part is over? If you tell them you’re sick?”

“There’s not much chance of that.” But he leaned towards his mother while the mics were cut to focus on the choir performance in the courtyard below. He whispered something to her, and she shook her head. A moment later, she whispered back, turning her whole body for it, lips drawn tight and speaking forcefully. Adelais looked away. His eyes went…a bit dead. A scolding looks the same even in the royal family.

“I’m sorry,” I texted. “This is awful.” He stared down at his lap, at my reply, his face trembling dangerously.

“It’s fine. I deserve it.” It’s lucky I was glued to my phone in a near frenzy of nerves, because the message was deleted a moment later. I looked back up and watched him take deep breath after deep breath, fighting not to cry.

When I tell you I almost drew the entire mana well into my body, Ievenar… God, such a desperation came over me, to intervene. But we were setting the table for dinner, laying out the candles and the sprigs of holly.

I did the only thing I could think to do. I texted Steward Quincy. “The Prince is genuinely sick. Get him inside if you can. If you can’t, get him a coat or a blanket or something warm.”

“In the middle of the Yule broadcast? I don’t even have the authority to do that.”

“Do you want him to pass out on live television?” It was a bit of an exaggeration, but so be it.

A minute later, a member of the PR team stepped up behind him, speaking briefly to him and setting a thick overcoat around his shoulders. I have very been grateful today, Ievenar. But I was most grateful at that moment.

Another wave of emotion seemed to go through him, by the heavy way he was breathing, but he fought it down. He looked right into the camera then, and smiled weakly at me. At me, I’m certain, because a moment later he texted, “thank you.” But I’m also certain that the whole portion of the kingdom who happened to be watching at that moment found themselves thoroughly dazzled by the fondness there.

I’m laying in my childhood bed now, and I can’t stop thinking about him. He’s trying to sleep now and probably can’t. He told me afterwards, in his formal, matter-of-fact way, “It seems I have a fever. Everything hurts. Don’t be late tomorrow morning.”

And I won’t be late. But I also won’t be early enough. So please. Nature is hurting him enough tonight, Ievenar. Can’t you just give him a break, just this once? Before I go mad with protectiveness and draw every spark of power from here to Montagleo, leave him alone.

[oshidorifuufu]

https://gofund.me/92cc9c56

My name is Areej Salem, I am twenty-eight years old, I fell in love two years ago, then we planned to get married until the path we always dreamed of was completed.

 Muhammad and I got married on November 3, 2023, and after five months, God surprised me with the most beautiful gifts..

I had learned that I was pregnant, I would give birth to my first child and I will have a happy family,

During the journey of weakness and fatigue within pregnancy, Muhammad and I began preparing the baby’s things, buying clothes for him, and searching for suitable furniture until the seventh of October came to destroy everything we dreamed of for our child and our future.

The war began and fire broke out from every direction, and the Zionist indiscriminate bombing of civilians and defenseless people began, I was then in the eighth month of pregnancy, and I was suffering from strong panic attacks that I experienced with every strong bombing close to our house, I clutched my body and held myself tight, I was thought that i lose my baby many times just because of fear! After that, I suffer from uterine contractions that stay with me for days.

 Within a few days, Israel decided to displace us from our homes in the north of the Gaza Strip to its south, During the air, land and sea bombardment, we got our car, heading towards the south, until naval boats attacked us with a shell that hit our car from the roof, So I put my hand on my womb to protect my fetus and prayed to God a lot to grant me sight for my child, safe and sound.

Thank God, we miraculously survived, and on the second of December, that is, within two months of the war, I gave birth to my little boy, “Adam,” in a small room containing three beds, without the minimum sanitary necessities, and in which there were many displaced people fleeing their homes to health centers to take refuge in them, with a lack of food ,Sanitation, hygiene, and a lack of equipment and tools needed for childbirth, These were the most difficult hours of my life, until I felt like my soul had left my body. After three days I spent in labor pain, Adam came to enlighten my heart and my life and give our future meaning and existence.

Now... the war is still going on, but our lives are also going on, but! Without a home, it was destroyed by the Israeli occupation, also without food, medicine, or even milk to feed my little baby.

Your life continues, but in order for us to live like you, you must help us, so that I can provide a healthy environment for Adam, and for me and my husband, Muhammad, to live a decent life. Every amount, even a small one, will make a difference!

 Fear fills our hearts, as death is very close to us, so we ask for your support and attention to find a safe way.

 Your donations will make a difference in our lives, and we are incredibly grateful for your support.

 Follow my instagram account for full story https://www.instagram.com/arij.raji?igsh=YzAwZjE1ZTI0Zg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

.

[sweatygardengoatee]

On the first day of the war, my family was forced to evacuate our home and head to shelter centers in northern Gaza. My family fled from Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza after our five-story home was destroyed under relentless bombing. The displacement to the north was not the end; the war was fierce and relentless, and after days of terror and destruction, my family was threatened once more, forcing them to move south after it was declared a “safe area.”

The journey south felt like crossing through the gates of hell. Bombing surrounded them from all sides, chasing them at every step, with the sounds of explosions deafening. On the way, the family saw a bus filled with a family fleeing death, only to fall victim to merciless missiles, scattering body parts into the air. They moved through the devastation, and every few steps, they came across completely burned-out cars, with lost dreams trapped inside the charred remains.

Finally, they reached Khan Younis, where they sought refuge at the Khan Younis Training College for Industry run by UNRWA, where their suffering deepened. They spent over 90 days in that place, constantly fearing the bombing that relentlessly pursued them. During those painful days, with the shelling at its peak, my father rushed to help the wounded, driven by his humanitarian duty and bravery. As he moved amid the destruction, a “quadcopter” drone approached and targeted him with merciless fire, taking him as a martyr to God and leaving an indescribable pain and memory in our hearts.

After my father’s loss, the situation only grew harsher. Israeli forces stormed the college, surrounding the place with tanks. Soldiers stood at the doors, cursing and yelling, demanding everyone leave without allowing them to take any of their belongings. In front of my family’s eyes, they burned the tents one by one, adding another layer of grief and pain.

They finally settled in Rafah, but even here they found no peace. The army controlled every side, and the border crossing was completely closed, forcing them to flee again, this time to Al-Mawasi in Khan Younis, where they set up a small temporary tent on a rented plot barely enough for them. But this stop didn’t last long; they recently received a notice from the landowner to vacate, with no idea where to go next.

Today, my family lives on the brink of despair, surrounded on all sides, moving from one tent to another, as if death is chasing them at every turn but deliberately leaving them to suffer endlessly. Under constant siege and daily bombing, they endure with a faint hope, as life stands before them as a wall of pain and challenges.

[tacticalhimbo]

Hello there, please advise if you have any chance to support my family in their fundraising campaign

hello! unfortunately i do not have the means at this time, but i will share your campaigns for my followers in hopes that someone can help! this fundraiser and account have been verified by palestinian bloggers such as nabulsi / nairuz (post 1 ; post 2)

from the gfm [link].

Help Nahla and Amal Family to Rebuild their life.

We launched this fundraising campaign for two families in Gaza-Palestine.

1st Family -Khalil and Amal Family

We, Amal and Khalil a Palestinian family, having 4 children, lived a peaceful life filled with hard work and security. Together, we tirelessly worked for many years to raise our children and ensure a happy life for them. We didn't ask for much, just a little stability and safety. My spouse and I spent twenty years in the field of education, teaching science. Our goal was to provide a safe shelter for our family and meet the needs of our children, along with maintaining a simple household life. Our son Mohammed 10 Years [...] Our Daughter Sara 16 Years old, Ibrahim 14 years old and Karim 12 years old. But one day, on October 7th, our lives changed dramatically when the sounds of war echoed in our horizon. We didn't go to school, and neither did our children. Hours later, our home began to tremble as shells shook its walls, and our children cried and screamed. Our days became filled with horrifying events of displacement, moving from one place to another, each new place worse than the last. our beloved house was destroyed completely. Our first displacement occurred on the third day of the war, forcing us to seek refuge at Jerusalem Hospital. There, we witnessed the martyrs and the wounded, hearing the cries of children for their fathers, and the shouts of paramedics and volunteers for their colleagues. After six days, the process of displacement began, and we moved to a shelter center in the Nusseirat camp, where we suffered for eighty-five days from food shortages and the spread of diseases. The illnesses began to affect the children with gastrointestinal infections, hepatitis, and continuous flu. At the beginning of January, the threat to the Nusseirat camp increased, and the ground invasion began. We were forced to flee to the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, living in a state of displacement, anxiously awaiting our fate after the invasion that affected the eastern part of the city. That is our story, the story of a Palestinian family suffering from the horrors of war and displacement. Yet, we still hold hope for a better tomorrow. We continue to fight for the safety and security of our family and to ensure a future of peace for our children With your help, you can save our family and help us start a new life. We ask for your assistance and support. Rebuild my House: $30000 initial estimate. For Necessary Furniture : $10000.

2nd Family -Abdelsalam and Nahla Family

We are Abdelsalam & Nahla having a four beautiful children, the youngest is five-year-old girl and the eldest a fourteen-year-old boy. We used to live in our own house in Gaza City, fully equipped with all living necessities, enjoying a more than wonderful life. We had a monthly income sufficient to provide for all our life necessities, including food, clothing, housing, and healthcare. Kinzy 12 Years old, Abdullah 14 Years old, Hazem 10 Years old, Karma 5 Years Old With the onset of the war in Gaza on October 7, 2023, our suffering began. The Israeli occupation forces requested on October 13, 2023, that we evacuate our home in northern Gaza and head south to the Gaza Valley. Since then, we have become displaced, moving from place to place. Today, we live in a small tent, lacking the necessities of life. Our children, who suffer from neglect and poverty, have lost their basic rights as children, including their rights to education and healthcare. As a result of the war, our home was burned and destroyed along with all its contents, and we lost our jobs, thus losing our monthly income that supported the treatment of our sick children. My four children need monthly medical treatment due to illnesses: Abdullah suffers from as growth hormone deficiency, and vitiligo, and my youngest son Hazim has previously undergone open-heart surgery. you can imagine how our pain for losing our beloved house that has been burnt totally and it is required to rebuild again. With your help, you can save our family and help us start a new life. We ask for your assistance and support. For Children Treatments: €5000 Rebuild my House: €25000 initial estimates For Necessary Furniture : €10000

may these families find the funds, safety, and support they need <3

as part of the ficsforgaza initiative, if you donate to this campaign and send me proof of this, i will write you a custom fanfiction! make sure to check out my rules for submissions via my pinned blog post, or via this rebloggable version

[spaceasianmillennial]

A few weeks ago, Kat Wehunt held a training for new volunteers at the Formation Project, a nonprofit that provides specialized services for people in Charleston, South Carolina, who have experienced human trafficking or commercial sexual exploitation. Each new group of volunteers need training so that Wehunt can get them up to speed on best practices, and it’s usually a fairly routine process.

This time, though, something different happened: Wehunt found herself in the midst of an unusual argument with a potential volunteer. 

The training typically starts with a discussion of the industry’s “myths and misconceptions and what trafficking actually looks like in our neighborhood in Charleston,” said Wehunt, who founded the nonprofit in 2019 and serves as its executive director. But some of the latest crop of potential volunteers had recently signed up after seeing Sound of Freedom, the surprise blockbuster film based on the purported work of Tim Ballard, the founder of the anti-trafficking group Operation Underground Railroad. 

One potential volunteer simply didn’t buy Wehunt’s matter-of-fact descriptions of how sex trafficking often occurs, and the two started to argue, according to Wehunt, with the volunteer insisting that people were frequently trafficked after being kidnapped, which, in reality, is an exceedingly rare occurrence, according to the available global data.

“Those things I’m sure do happen,” Wehunt told Motherboard. “But it’s not representative of the majority, especially in our neighborhoods.” 

As a survivor of familial sex trafficking herself, Wehunt would know. But like other trafficking survivors who now work in anti-trafficking spaces, she’s seeing a direct impact on her work as a result of Sound of Freedom, which – in lurid detail –  depicts children who are kidnapped by strangers and sold into commercial sexual exploitation. (The film ends with the Ballard character canoeing into the jungle alone to rescue a little girl, fighting her trafficker in hand-to-hand combat and ultimately killing him. As Vice News has outlined in a series of stories, Ballard and Operation Underground Railroad, or OUR, have frequently misrepresented their work; former “operators” who accompanied OUR on international missions describe some of them as bumbling and amateurish.)

The film has awakened the passions of a broad swath of the right-wing and conspiratorial world. Religious influencers, QAnon fans, and a huge group of people who defy easy categorization have all thrown their support behind the movie. And while fans of the film have insisted that it’s “raising awareness” of a global problem, experts in trafficking, including people who have experienced it themselves, are finding that it’s contributing to serious and harmful misinformation about what trafficking looks like and what survivors need to recover. Since its release, survivors who have criticized the film have been frequently accused of being “pedophiles” or “groomers” – the kinds of people by whom they themselves were once victimized. (Sean Wolfington, a producer for the film who contacted Motherboard to object to our coverage of the film, did not respond to two requests for comment for this story.)  

Piraino-Guzman, himself a survivor of childhood sex trafficking, has been critical of OUR’s work in the past, and the film, he said, furthers the same issues he’s called out before. 

“We have been here in this very spot in the anti-trafficking movement for over 20 years,” he told Motherboard. “We’ve been fighting for 20 years for the appropriate ways to talk about trafficking, the ways we should be centering survivors, in order for us to be moving forward in a way that’s evidence based, not assumptions based.” 

Alfaro, the trafficking survivor and consultant, has spoken frequently about how he was trafficked by a man who took him in after his family kicked him out as a teenager for being gay.  “He came across the right person at the right time and that was me,” he said. (Alfaro’s abuser is now serving 30 years in prison for trafficking at least four teenage boys through a “massage” business he ran out of his home.) 

The backlash he’s received for criticizing the film is an extension of what he’s already experienced, Alfaro said; men and LGBTQ trafficking survivors often face skepticism when speaking about the abuse they endured, and a particularly brutal variety of victim-blaming and homophobia. 

FULL READ

[newstfionline]

Monday, July 1, 2024

Despair in the air: For many voters, the Biden-Trump debate means a tough choice just got tougher (AP) The sound you might have heard after the presidential debate this past week was of voters falling between a rock and a hard place. Apart from the sizable and pumped-up universe of Donald Trump’s supporters, the debate suddenly crystalized the worries of many Americans, a portion of President Joe Biden’s supporters among them, that neither man is fit to lead the nation. Heading into the first debate of the general election campaign, voters had faced a choice between two strikingly unpopular candidates. They then watched as Trump told a stream of falsehoods with sharpness, vigor and conviction, while Biden struggled mightily to land debating points and even to get through many sentences. It added to doubts about the 81-year-old Democratic president’s fitness to be in office for four more years. Now, the options are even more dispiriting for many Democrats, undecided voters and anti-Trump Republicans. More than a few people came away from watching the debate very conflicted.

“Rural Studies” (NYT) Kristin Lunz Trujillo grew up proud of her family’s way of life. She spent summers getting ready to show cattle at the county fair. During the school year, she rushed home after class to feed the chickens on her family’s corn and soybean farm. Neither of her parents went to college, but they encouraged their daughter when she decided to go to Carleton, a liberal arts school a two-hour drive from their farm in Minnesota. Despite being physically close to home, Ms. Lunz Trujillo was surprised by how foreign her upbringing seemed at the college. She was dismayed when she checked out the farm club and learned that its members wanted to brew kombucha, not milk cows. When an art history teacher asked students which famous paintings they’d seen in person, Ms. Lunz Trujillo stayed quiet, because she had never been to an art museum. This sense of cultural alienation molded her research when she became a political scientist: What is rural identity? How does it shape a person’s politics? This year, Ms. Lunz Trujillo, now an assistant professor at the University of South Carolina, was reading a new, best-selling book that cited her research to explore those same questions. But “it seemed to be more of a hit piece on rural America,” she said. “White Rural Rage,” by the journalist Paul Waldman and the political scientist Tom Schaller, is an unsparing assessment of small-town America. Rural residents, the authors argued, are more likely than city dwellers to excuse political violence, and they pose a threat to American democracy. Ms. Lunz Trujillo excoriated the book in an opinion piece for Newsweek as “a prime example of how intellectuals sow distrust by villainizing” people unlike them.

Beryl strengthens into hurricane in Atlantic, forecast to grow into major storm entering Caribbean (AP) Beryl grew into a hurricane Saturday as it churned toward the southeastern Caribbean, with forecasters warning it was expected to strengthen into a dangerous major storm before reaching Barbados late Sunday or early Monday. A major hurricane is considered Category 3 or higher, with winds of at least 111 mph (178 kph). A hurricane warning was issued for Barbados, St. Lucia, Grenada, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. A tropical storm warning was posted for Martinique and Tobago and a tropical storm watch for Dominica.

CDC warns of increased risk of dengue fever infections (Yahoo) Federal health officials are warning that dengue fever risks are elevated in the United States as cases in the Americas for the first half of 2024 are already more than double last year's rates. This year has also set a record for global cases of the potentially fatal mosquito-borne illness, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a June 25 advisory. Rising global temperatures are fueling a similar boom of dengue-infected mosquitoes, the CDC said. That's particularly concerning during the summer when Americans are more likely to travel to territories and countries with high rates of the virus, including to Puerto Rico, which has declared a public health emergency due to its nearly 1,500 cases of the illness, the agency said.

One gun, 34 dead: Inside Ecuador’s war on black-market weapons (Reuters) The gun—a 9-millimeter pistol—blazed a violent trail even by the standards of one of Ecuador’s most dangerous neighborhoods, the Nueva Prosperina precinct of Guayaquil. Shell casings from bullets fired by the weapon, recovered at the scenes of 27 separate violent incidents, were linked to 34 deaths, according to a police forensic unit. And a police forensic official told Reuters the authorities believe the pistol remains on the streets. The havoc attributed to a single firearm exemplifies the challenges for President Daniel Noboa’s crackdown on an explosion of violent crime and homicides since 2020, fueled by a sharp increase in smuggled weapons during the same time, many of them from the United States. Ecuador recorded 7,994 murders last year, a nearly six-fold increase since 2020.

Britain’s Young Voters Are Frustrated (NYT) As the flag of a British workers union flapped behind him on a blustery June morning, Liam Kehoe was on strike with colleagues outside Royal Liverpool University Hospital, demanding better pay for porters, cleaners and catering staff. Their wages have failed to keep up with the surge in the cost of living, and many said they were living paycheck to paycheck. Mr. Kehoe, 26, serves food in the hospital. Thinking of the life that his parents built on salaries earned as a nurse and a truck driver, Mr. Kehoe says that young people have been left with far worse prospects after 14 years of a Conservative-led government. “If you go back 30 years ago, houses were a bit more affordable, life was a little bit easier,” he said. “Nowadays, it’s like you can’t afford anything.” Polls suggest more than half of voters under 35 plan to vote for Labour on Thursday, compared with 27 percent of voters over 65. While the gap between young and old in politics is not new, the extent of the split in Britain in recent years is exceptional.

France’s exceptionally high-stakes election has begun (AP) Voters across mainland France began casting ballots Sunday in the first round of an exceptional parliamentary election that could put France’s government in the hands of nationalist, far-right parties for the first time since the Nazi era. The outcome of the two-round election, which will wrap up July 7, could impact European financial markets, Western support for Ukraine, and how France’s nuclear arsenal and global military force are managed. Many French voters are frustrated about inflation and economic concerns, as well as President Emmanuel Macron’s leadership, which they see as arrogant and out-of-touch with their lives. Marine Le Pen’s anti-immigration National Rally party has tapped and fueled that discontent, notably via online platforms like TikTok, and dominated all preelection opinion polls. A new coalition on the left, the New Popular Front, is also posing a challenge to the pro-business Macron and his centrist alliance Together for the Republic.

7 killed and dozens wounded after missiles slammed into a town in southern Ukraine, officials say (AP) Russian missiles slammed into a town in southern Ukraine, killing seven civilians, including children, and wounding dozens more, local authorities reported. Ukrainian officials published photos of bodies stretched out under picnic blankets in a park in Vilniansk, and deep craters in the blackened earth next to the charred, twisted remains of a building. Thirty-six people were wounded in Saturday evening’s attack, authorities said, and declared a day of mourning Sunday. Vilniansk is in Zaporizhzhia region, less than 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the local capital and north of the front lines, as Russian forces continue to occupy part of the province.

For India’s garbage pickers, a miserable and dangerous job made worse by extreme heat (AP) The putrid smell of burning garbage wafts for miles from the landfill on the outskirts of Jammu in a potentially toxic miasma fed by the plastics, industrial, medical and other waste generated by a city of some 740,000 people. But a handful of waste pickers ignore both the fumes and suffocating heat to sort through the rubbish, seeking anything they can sell to earn at best the equivalent of $4 a day. “If we don’t do this, we don’t get any food to eat,” said 65-year-old Usmaan Shekh. “We try to take a break for a few minutes when it gets too hot, but mostly we just continue till we can’t.” Shekh and his family are among the estimated 1.5 to 4 million people who scratch out a living searching through India’s waste—and climate change is making a hazardous job more dangerous than ever. In Jammu, a northern Indian city in the Himalayan foothills, temperatures this summer have regularly topped 43 degrees Celsius (about 110 Fahrenheit).

US, Europe warn Hezbollah to ease strikes on Israel and back off from wider Mideast war (Politico) U.S., European and Arab mediators are pressing to keep stepped-up cross-border attacks between Israel and Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah militants from spiraling into a wider Middle East war that the world has feared for months. Iran and Israel traded threats Saturday of what Iran said would be an “obliterating” war over Hezbollah. Hopes are lagging for a cease-fire in Israel’s conflict with Hamas in Gaza that would calm attacks by Hezbollah and other Iranian-allied militias. With the stalled talks in mind, American and European diplomats and other officials are delivering warnings to Hezbollah—which is far stronger than Hamas but seen as overconfident—about taking on the military might of Israel, current and former diplomats say. The Americans and Europeans are warning the group it should not count on the United States or anyone else being able to hold off Israeli leaders if they decide to execute battle-ready plans for an offensive into Lebanon.

Gaza’s remaining hospitals will stop working in two days, health officials warn (Washington Post) Gaza’s remaining hospitals, health centers and oxygen stations will stop working within 48 hours as the fuel needed to operate generators runs out, Gaza’s Health Ministry said in a statement shared to Telegram noon local time Sunday. Israel’s closure of the vital Rafah border crossing last month severed key supply lines, limiting access to food, fuel and medical supplies inside the enclave, aid groups say. A United Nations report released earlier this month said that more than 1 million people in Gaza are expected to “face death and starvation” by mid-July. Many of Gaza’s medical facilities have already been damaged, raided or evacuated since Oct. 7. Israel has made hospitals a key target of its military campaign, alleging Hamas uses them for militant activity. In other instances, fighting between Israeli forces and militants has struck hospitals and clinics.

Kenya’s urban population is growing. The need for affordable housing is, too (AP) In the heart of the crowded Kibera neighborhood in Kenya’s capital, Jacinter Awino shares a small tin house with her husband and four children. She envies those who have escaped such makeshift homes to more permanent dwellings under the government’s affordable housing plan. The 33-year-old housewife and her mason husband are unable to raise the $3,800 purchase price for a one-room government house. Their tin one was constructed for $380 and lacks a toilet and running water. “Those government houses are like a dream for us, but our incomes simply don’t allow it,” Awino said. Kenya’s urban areas are home to a third of the country’s total population of more than 50 million. Of those in urban areas, 70% live in informal settlements marked by a lack of basic infrastructure, according to UN-Habitat.

[bonewaryreblogs]

These Trolls be Trollin' Me

I have many thoughts about Trolls.

The canon backstory is pretty dark, though the movies themselves cover it up with so much rainbows and glitter that you don't really notice it at first and the dark parts are played for laughs. It's prime real-estate for trauma and drama, though, and the fandom has capitalized on this in a way the movies don't dare touch on. I tend to gravitate to traumatized characters anyways, especially if there are cute aesthetics involved!

So.

Before I can go about rewriting the movies (because of course that's what I'm gonna do lol) I need a solid understanding of the backstory and how the characters got to where they are. And that's what this post is all about! Not sure if any of it counts as spoilers but here's your warning anyways lol...

"Hair we go!"

Before time began, there were… 6 Musical Strings! We know not where they came from, only that they have the power to create worlds, and fill them with life. That is how the race of magical beings known as trolls was born. Like all great power, some wanted it for good, others for evil, and so began the String War; a war that divided the trolls’ music into genres and ever more niche subgenres, but never again allowed to mix and mashup their flavors of music. Pop trolls, the most likely to shamelessly utilize sounds from other genres, were blamed for the war and the resulting division, eventually being ejected from the greater Troll Kingdom; however, some small, niche subgenres remained, such as Kpop. The remaining troll tribes adopted an “I ignore you, you ignore me” kind of truce, leaving them isolated from each other.

Forced to flee, the pop trolls traveled south, through the Never Glades, and eventually settled in a tropical-type jungle, centered around an ancient, hollow but living, tree they called the Troll Tree; this became their capitol, where the royals resided. They thrived in the thick jungles, innumerable smaller communities developing and working with nature to be able to support their quickly growing numbers, spreading far and wide. Over time, pop trolls thought they were the only trolls there were, forgetting about the other troll tribes in anything but legend; to everyone but the royals, anyways, who handed down the “true” history of the pop trolls.

This was the status quo until the bergens from the west, traveling in tribal groups with nothing to unite them, discovered they could “feel true happiness” by eating a troll. United by their growing appetite for troll, the bergens led a swift campaign to track down the troll capitol and surround it; first with temporary structures but soon with more permanent buildings, including a castle for the newly dubbed “Bergen King” who led the campaign. Trolls were hunted all year, stored at the now caged in Troll Tree, until Trollstice; a yearly feast set up so as to not decimate the troll population.

The troll royals had initially fled the Troll Tree, hoping to come back and free the others later, but King Peppy was eventually captured while holding Poppy’s egg in his hair, separated from his (mortally wounded) queen and eldest daughter, Viva. As he was at the troll tree, Peppy refused to give up and, shortly after Poppy hatched, led those trapped out of the tree via tunnels. Realizing the tree was no longer secure, the Bergen King Gristle Sr. cast out his head chef, who was charged with keeping the trolls in their enclosure, and Trollstice was abandoned only a few years (decades?) after it had become tradition. Long enough that it felt like it was always a part of their culture. Being only recently united, the bergens didn’t have any other set holidays that everyone agreed on either.

BroZone was working on the Perfect Family Harmony, as were many other family bands of the time, hoping to be able to use it to free troll-kind from the Bergen menace. With initially four members, their parents were captured shortly after Branche’s egg was produced and left to oldest brother John Dory and grandma Rosiepuff to raise. Inducted into the band almost immediately (trolls hatch already at the toddler stage), Branch had a few smaller performances with his brothers before they attempted the Harmony again, on the biggest stage they’d seen. When they failed, the older four brothers left Branch with grandma that night and the pair were captured by bergens early the next morning, along with many of the concert goers, having been drawn by the lively concert.

Grandma Rosiepuff was taken by Chef early, along with a few others, leaving Branch newly grey and blaming himself as he runs away on the day of Trollstice. Since there were constantly new trolls at the Troll Tree, those that escaped weren’t all as traumatized by losing family members to Trollstice as they could have been and those that were tended to put on a happy face and “not think about it” but Branch was unable to do that, having sever survivor’s guilt on top of abandonment issues.

[everygame]

Battle City (NES)

Developed/Published by: Namco Released: 9/9/1985 Completed: 20/11/2022 Completion: Beat all 35 unique levels. Version Played: Switch Online Trophies / Achievements: n/a

[Apologies for interrupting, but before we get to the article I’d like to mention that you can pre-order a copy of exp. 2600, my brand new zine, right now and get more of–and help support–writing like what you’re about to read.]

There are iconic NES games–Super Mario Bros. and that. And then there are iconic NES pirate cart games. Battle City is the latter. 

I have a funny history with NES piracy, actually. As most people know, the NES wasn’t really a thing in the UK for most people (I certainly didn’t know anyone with one as a child) and by the time I reached the age where my family were spending more time in Malaysia, I was already an avowed PC gamer. So even though I have so many memories of department stores with rows of pirate carts and knock off Famicoms… I wasn’t interested at all, and instead filled my boots with copied floppies (seeking out the stalls with the best reproductions of manuals and that sort of thing.)

In some respects, I regret this–so much of the video game culture of South East Asia in the 90s seems to be lost forever (see tweets) and now all I really have is snatches of memories–usually a gaggle of kids crowded round a pirate cart version of Street Fighter II in a Jaya Jusco–but I also know that games like Battle City squandered the chance to get me lugging a Malaysian famiclone home with a couple of 150-in-1 carts.

Let’s remember here I’m not yet a teenager and I’ve just discovered the glory of things like Wolfenstein 3D’s vibrant ultraviolence and Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis’ cinematic narrative. And while in Malaysia I’m putting the exchange-rate equivalent of pennies into big fancy sit down/ride cabinets of the likes of Suzuka 8 Hours or Rad Mobile. So when an uncle digs out a faimclone and a pirate cart and you boot it up to find you can play 30 versions of the dustiest-ass tank game for babies you’d ever seen…

(And what was the deal with every single pirate cart massively over-inflating the number of games anyway? Was anyone fooled when they selected “Fancy Excitebike” in the list and just got Excitebike again??? I have one of those snatches of memory of standing in a wee store with my dad, him saying “you can get another game for the house!” and me, unable to tell which cart offered any value at all–after all, 80 of the games would probably be the same ones on the cart we already had–going home empty handed! Empty handed! When do kids ever do that???)

Anyway. When I think of pirate carts, I think of Battle City. Maybe it isn’t iconic to everyone, maybe it’s only iconic to me because it was on the cart I had for one summer at least… but it’s such a pirate cart game that it almost feels weird to play it in an “official” way.

And I suppose, this many years later, it’s kind of weird that I put a bunch of time into it?

I’ll say this. It’s not surprising that at the time I gave it short shrift. It’s got horrible sound (a constant buzzing of engines) and feels extremely simplistic and limiting as you awkwardly move your tank around sans diagonals. It was, after all, based on a game from 1980 with a bit of a graphical touch-up–contemporary with the timeless Pac-Man, sure, but this ain’t Pac-Man. I’ll admit the tank movement feels better than I remember it (smooth, and perfect speed) but the game sort of doesn’t really feel like anything.

Look at it this way. The game has you as a tank trying to defend one poorly walled-in base, always at the bottom center of the screen, from being shot by enemy tanks. There’s some terrain, but it’s mostly brick walls that can be shot through. Enemies spawn from the same three spawn points at the top of the level, and there’s some variation between them (some fast tanks, some tanks that take a bunch of hits). None of the enemies have any real AI–they don’t seek you, or really seek the base, either. Sometimes there are power-ups; you can improve your gun to destroy steel walls; there’s an occasional smart bomb or time-stop which are must-grabs. Shoot 20 tanks to get to the next level.

It’s, you know… fine. It’s an alright game design. But when you actually sit down and play it, the game very quickly devolves into getting your tank as far up the screen as you can manage where you are able to shoot clearly to both the left and right boundaries without being shot from a tank spawning above, and then just… firing constantly left or right based on which side tanks are traveling down from most urgently.

There are a few levels where this is not simple to do (a total bastard of a level mostly with tree coverage, making tanks near-impossible to see) and you can’t consider this tactic a total slam dunk because if a tank does slip past, they’ll often destroy your base before you can get to them, leading to an instant game over (no matter how many lives you have!) which can be infuriating. But it’s not like there’s better tactics; on a level by level basis you’ll do your best to shoot your enemies straight paths to your base, so you kind of just have to accept the variance.

In the cold light of 2022, Battle City is… a half-hour or so of near-mindless blasting that you wish had any sort of twist, or spark, or even particularly interesting level design, to make it a charming bit of classic arcade action worth score attacking.

In the early 90s it’s a dusty-ass tank game for babies that is indirectly responsible for the total lack of preservation of south-east Asian game culture history. Probably.

Will I ever play it again? Nope but I’ve got 1991’s Tank Force waiting to be played which is a baffling (and obscure) sequel that’s maybe brilliant. I mean who knows.

Final Thought: One of the most annoying things about Battle City of course is when you’re shot from the side by a tank that’s turned on a dime before you could notice, and I have to admit I’d be interested to play this exact game but with real, slow-ass tank turning. Would it be better? Would it actually be even more annoying? I’m kind of imagining these situations where you watch your tank turn, watching another tank turn, thinking “oh god, I hope I get this shot off” like you’re actually in the tank, feeling it slowly spin around… [“That’s why tanks have turrets though. So they can shoot in different directions more quickly”--Ed.] Shut up!

Support Every Game I’ve Finished on ko-fi, either via a one-off donation (pay what you like) or by joining as a supporter at just $1 a month. Supporters receive an automatic 35% discount off physical zines, like exp. 2600, which you can order now.

[jackiebarnard11]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 6, 2023

Contact: Chris Boneau/ Amy Kass / Michelle Farabaugh / Kenya Williams

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Download Press Materials Here

Manhattan Theatre Club

Announces Full Casting for the

New York Premiere of

Poor Yella Rednecks

By Qui Nguyen

Directed by May Adrales

Previews begin Tuesday, October 10, 2023

Opening on Wednesday, November 1, 2023

At MTC at New York City Center – Stage I

Lynne Meadow (Artistic Director) and Chris Jennings (Executive Director) are pleased to announce the full cast for the New York Premiere of Poor Yella Rednecks, written by Qui Nguyen (Vietgone) and directed by May Adrales (Vietgone, Golden Shield). Poor Yella Rednecks will begin previews on Tuesday, October 10 and open on Wednesday, November 1, 2023 at New York City Center – Stage I (131 West 55th Street).

The cast of Poor Yella Rednecks will feature Jon Hoche (Vietgone, Life of Pi), Ben Levin (Vietgone, “Kung Fu”), Samantha Quan (Vietgone), Jon Norman Schneider (The Coast Starlight), Maureen Sebastian (The Best We Could: A Family Tragedy), and Paco Tolson (Vietgone).

The creative team for Poor Yella Rednecks includes Tim Mackabee (Scenic Design), Valérie Thérèse Bart (Costume Design), Lap Chi Chu (Lighting Design), Shane Rettig (Original Music & Sound Design), Jared Mezzocchi (Projection Design), David Valentine (Puppet Design), Kenny Seymour (Arrangements), and Alyssa K. Howard (Production Stage Manager).

Qui Nguyen, the wildly inventive playwright (and screenwriter for Marvel and Disney) known for his use of pop culture, pop music and puppetry, reunites with his frequent director, May Adrales, for this funny, sexy and brash new play. A young Vietnamese family attempts to put down roots in Arkansas, a place as different from home as it gets. A mom and dad balance big hopes and low-wage jobs, as old flings threaten to pull them apart. It all makes for a bumpy road to the American dream. From the world of Nguyen’s Vietgone, with its comic book and action movie influences, comes a play that melds a deeply personal story with the playwright’s trademark, killer humor. The New York Times hails the writer’s work as “culturally savvy comedy,” and this production shows you why.

Poor Yella Rednecks is co-commissioned by South Coast Repertory and Manhattan Theatre Club. Support for MTC’s production of Poor Yella Rednecks is provided by the Howard Gilman Foundation and Laurents/Hatcher Foundation. Developed in part in Center Theatre Group’s Writers’ Workshop.

The 2022-23 season marked Lynne Meadow’s 50th Anniversary as Artistic Director of MANHATTAN THEATRE CLUB. Meadow was recently joined at the helm of MTC by Executive Director Chris Jennings, who succeeded Executive Producer Barry Grove. MTC’s mission, which Meadow created in 1972 and has implemented since, is to develop and present new work in a dynamic, supportive environment; to identify and collaborate with the most exciting new as well as accomplished artists; and to produce a diverse repertoire of innovative, entertaining, and thought-provoking plays and musicals by American and international playwrights. Since 1989, MTC Education, which uses the power of live theatre and playwriting to awaken minds, ignite imaginations, open hearts, and change lives, has also been an important part of our work.

Over five decades, MTC has grown from a small off-off-Broadway showcase into one of the country’s most prestigious and award-winning theatre companies, creating approximately 600 world, American, New York and Broadway premieres. Our productions have earned 7 Pulitzer Prizes, 28 Tony Awards, 50 Drama Desk Awards and 49 Obie Awards amongst many other honors. Our Broadway home is the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (261 West 47th Street) and Off-Broadway at New York City Center (131 West 55th Street). MTC is an anti-racist organization that respects and honors all voices, and upholds the values of community and equity, For more information, please visit www.ManhattanTheatreClub.com. 

TICKETING INFORMATION

Joining MTC’s season of plays is easy! Just call the MTC Clubline at 212-399-3050 or go to www.manhattantheatreclub.com. Group Sales available now, contact Joanna Lee at Jlee@mtc-nyc.org. Single Tickets on Sale September 5.

BIOGRAPHIES

JON HOCHE returns to MTC after performing in the Off-Broadway Premiere of Vietgone and has collaborated with playwright Qui Nguyen for over a decade. Other credits include - Broadway: Life of Pi (Richard Parker Puppeteer, Associate Puppetry and Movement Director), King Kong: Alive on Broadway (Voice of King Kong/Puppeteer). Off-Broadway: Little Shop of Horrors (Audrey 2 puppeteer); Soft Power (The Public Theater - Grammy Nominated); Vietgone (Manhattan Theatre Club); Soul Samurai, The Inexplicable Redemption of Agent G (Ma-Yi Theater/Vampire Cowboys Theater); Hello, From the Children of Planet Earth (Playwright’s Realm). National Tour: Warhorse (Puppeteer/Puppet Captain). Regional: Revenge Song (Geffen Playhouse). TV: “Hello Tomorrow!” (Apple TV+) - @JonHoche

BEN LEVIN’s MTC debut. Ben just wrapped a season-long arc on the CW series “Kung Fu”. Prior to that, he starred in the series Legacies for four seasons. Selected TV credits include “Arrested Development”, “Love”, and a recurring role on ABC’s “Time After Time”. He appeared in a supporting role in the critically acclaimed Independent Spirit Award nominated feature Test Pattern. Ben can also be seen in the Freeform/Hulu feature Turkey Drop. Other features include Allegiant, Admission, and Mike Birbiglia’s indie comedy Sleepwalk with Me. He's thrilled to be reprising the role of Quang in Qui Nguyen’s Vietgone, after starring in the 2018 production at the San Diego Repertory. Ben is New York City born and raised and is a graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. Shout out to TADA Youth Theatre. In addition to acting, Ben makes music under the moniker Grasshapa, available wherever music is found. 

SAMANTHA QUAN’s theatre credits include Poor Yella Rednecks (South Coast Rep); Vietgone (South Coast Rep, MTC); B.F.E. (Just Add Water Festival); Masha No Home (Ensemble Studio Theatre); An Infinite Ache (The Globe Theaters), workshops of To Red Tendons, Peerless, Hannah and the Dread Gazebo, Red Flamboyant, American Hwangap (Ojai Playwrights Conference); Monument: Or Four Sisters (A Sloth Play) (Boston Court New Works Festival).  Television credits include “Home Before Dark”, “Elementary”, “NCIS”, “The Mentalist”, “Blue”, “Suburgatory”, “Castle”. Film credits include 4 Wedding Planners, Sake Bomb, Good Grief and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.

JON NORMAN SCHNEIDER most recently appeared onstage in Keith Bunin's The Coast Starlight at Lincoln Center Theater. Select New York credits include Catch As Catch Can (Playwrights Horizons), The Chinese Lady (The Public), Henry VI Parts 1-3 (NAATCO), Awake and Sing! (NAATCO/The Public), The Oldest Boy (Lincoln Center Theater), Lunch Bunch (Clubbed Thumb), A Map of Virtue (13P), among others. Regionally, he has worked at Actors Theatre of Louisville, The Alley, Alliance, Barrington Stage, Dorset Theatre Festival, The Goodman, Huntington, The Kennedy Center, Long Wharf, Magic, McCarter, Milwaukee Rep, Mosaic, Northern Stage, The Old Globe, and South Coast Rep. His film and TV credits include Bitter Melon, Manila Is Full of Men Named Boy, The Normals, HBO's Angel Rodriguez, “The Endgame”, "Jessica Jones", "Veep", "30 Rock" and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent".

MAUREEN SEBASTIAN’s theatrical credits include, most recently, MTC’s The Best We Could: A Family Tragedy for which she received a Lucille Lortel nomination for Best Featured Performer in a Play; Vietgone (South Coast Repertory) ; Arabian Nights (Berkeley Repertory/Arena Stage); Thunder Above, Deeps Below (Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center/Second Generation); Now Circa Then (Ars Nova); Lonely, I’m Not and Year Zero (Second Stage); and Soul Samurai (Vampire Cowboys/Ma-Yi). Television credits include “Love Life” (HBO), “American Gothic” (CBS), and “Revolution” (NBC). She produced and starred in the web series “Pretty Precious Unicorns” and the short film “Second Province”. She co-created the podcasts “Gulp” and “A Guide to Freedom” with The North Star Fund. She is a member of May-Yi’s Writer’s Lab and The Gotham Film & Media Institute.

PACO TOLSON is thrilled to return to Manhattan Theatre Club where he received a Lortel nomination for his work in Qui Nguyen’s Vietgone. Paco and Qui have enjoyed an artistic collaboration of over 18 years, and Poor Yella Rednecks will mark their ninth full production together. Select Off-Broadway Credits: Fiasco Theater’s productions of Knight of the Burning Pestle (Red Bull), Twelfth Night and Pericles (Classic Stage Company); The Unwritten Song (EST); Slavey (Clubbed Thumb); The Children of Vonderly (MaYi Theater); Soul Samurai (Ma-Yi/Vampire Cowboys). Regional: to the yellow house (La Jolla Playhouse); Fiasco’s Measure for Measure (Actors Theatre of Louisville); The Winter’s Tale and Vietgone (OSF); Peter and the Starcatcher, Vietgone, and Poor Yella Rednecks (South Coast Rep). Audio: (There’s) No Time for Comedy (Playwrights Horizons), The Memory Motel (Two River Theater), Witness (Paramount/Gideon Media), Play On Shakespeare’s Henry V, The Tempest, and Measure for Measure (Next Chapter Podcasts). Film and TV credits include “Billions”, “Law & Order: Organized Crime”, “Law & Order: Criminal Intent”, “Prodigal Son”, “Search Party”, “The Good Fight”, “Madam Secretary”, “Happy!”, “The Code”, and 7 DAY GIG.

QUI NGUYEN (Playwright) is a playwright, screenwriter, and co-founder of the pioneering geek theatre company, Vampire Cowboys. His plays include Vietgone, Poor Yella Rednecks, Bike Wreck, and the critically acclaimed Vampire Cowboys shows Revenge Song, She Kills Monsters, Soul Samurai, The Inexplicable Redemption of Agent G, Alice in Slasherland, Fight Girl Battle World, Men of Steel, and Living Dead in Denmark. For TV/film, he’s written for Marvel Studios, Netflix, AMC, SYFY, and PBS. He most recently wrote Disney’s Raya and The Last Dragon (nominated for a 2022 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature), and he co-directed and wrote Disney's Strange World in 2022.

MAY ADRALES (Director) is a director, artistic leader, teacher and mother; she has directed over 25 world premieres nationally. Her work has been seen most recently at Second Stage (Rajiv Joseph’s Letters of Suresh), Manhattan Theatre Club (Anchuli Felicia King’s Golden Shield, Qui Nguyen’s Vietgone). Awards include: Ammerman Award at Arena Stage; TCG’s Alan Schneider award for freelance directors; Denham fellowship; New Generations Grantee. She is a Drama League Directing Fellow, Van Lier Fellow, WP Lab Director, SoHo Rep Writers/Directors Lab and New York Theater Workshop directing fellow.  She served as an Associate Artistic Director at Milwaukee Rep; Artistic Associate at The Playwrights Center; Artistic Associate at The Public Theater; and Director of Artistic Programs and Artistic Director at The Lark. She serves on the board of Theater Communications Group.  She is currently the Director of the Theatre Program and Assistant Professor at Fordham University.  MFA, Yale School of Drama. (www.mayadrales.net)

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Exciting update! Ben will be making his Off-Broadway debut this Fall! Here is Manhattan Theatre Club's announcement on Instagram and the theatre's press agent BBB's press release that was sent to our magazine.

Poor Yella Rednecks website link:

[namjhyun]

DRAMA REVIEW | Not Others (2023)

This drama was a pleasant surprise. It's not that common to see a kdrama that has as leads a single mother and her grown daughter, mostly because of the stigma this kind of family stills carries in South Korea.

Thankfully, Not Others manages to not make it all about the stigma of teen pregnancy or single motherhood, it finds a good balance between every day life events, criminal investigation and rom-com. Particularly because Mom and Daughter are so unbothered by it that they carry on with a "it sounds like a you problem" when someone points out they are, within their society, wildly unconventional.

At the heart of it, there's a story of two women making their way in the world through hardships, love and growing pains. About how it's possible to choose your family and make that unit be whatever you want, not what it's expected.

My favourite part of this drama was the performances. Jeon Hye Jin and Soo-young shine as the outspoken Mother-Daughter duo. Their characters are kind, smart and brave about their life choices. They have great chemistry with each other and make you feel everything.

The rest of the cast delivers solid support. Kim Hye Eun plays the rich, cool aunt and she's a hoot in every scene she's in. Park Sung-hoon in a great counterpart for Soo-young and Ahn Jae Wook delivers as the lovable fool supporting whatever his ladies wish for.

There's also a murder mystery surrounding the central story that manages to keep it all very centered and makes all the characters interact with each other making their world better developed.

Don't miss out on this found family! Their affection it's the real deal.

[meaganproperty]

Understanding the Market Trends for Properties in Jimboomba

The Australian property market is constantly evolving, and Jimboomba, a charming suburb in Queensland, has emerged as a key area of interest for both investors and homebuyers. Property for sale Jimboomba has become a popular search term, reflecting the increasing demand for this region. With its mix of rural charm, modern amenities, and growth potential, Jimboomba is positioned as a hotspot in the real estate market. This article explores the trends and factors influencing properties in Jimboomba, helping prospective buyers and investors make informed decisions.

Why Jimboomba is Gaining Popularity

Jimboomba offers a unique blend of lifestyle benefits that appeal to a broad demographic. The area is known for its spacious properties, picturesque surroundings, and proximity to essential services, making it a desirable location for families, retirees, and professionals alike.

Strategic Location

Located just 50 kilometers south of Brisbane, Jimboomba provides a tranquil lifestyle while maintaining convenient access to the city. This balance between urban connectivity and rural serenity is a key driver behind the surge in demand for property for sale Jimboomba. Additionally, its proximity to the Gold Coast adds to its appeal for those seeking a versatile living environment.

Expanding Infrastructure

Jimboomba has seen significant investment in infrastructure, including road upgrades, schools, and healthcare facilities. These developments not only enhance the quality of life for residents but also contribute to the long-term value of real estate in the area. Properties in regions with robust infrastructure tend to experience steady appreciation over time.

Key Trends in the Jimboomba Property Market

Rise in Demand for Larger Properties

One of the defining features of the Jimboomba real estate market is the availability of larger lots and acreage properties. In the wake of the pandemic, there has been a noticeable shift toward homes that offer more space, both indoors and outdoors. This trend has bolstered the appeal of Jimboomba, where expansive properties are readily available.

Affordable Prices Compared to Urban Centers

Despite its growth, property for sale Jimboomba remains relatively affordable when compared to Brisbane and other major urban areas. This affordability attracts first-time homebuyers and investors looking for value in a competitive market. The potential for price appreciation further cements Jimboomba as an attractive option.

Growing Rental Market

Jimboomba has also seen a rise in rental demand, driven by its livability and family-friendly amenities. Investors are capitalizing on this trend, as rental yields in the area remain competitive. For those considering property for sale Jimboomba as an investment, this growing rental market is a key consideration.

What to Consider When Buying Property in Jimboomba

Lifestyle and Community

Jimboomba is known for its strong sense of community, supported by local events, parks, and recreational facilities. Prospective buyers should evaluate how these lifestyle factors align with their personal preferences.

Future Growth Potential

The future of Jimboomba looks promising, with ongoing development projects aimed at boosting the local economy and infrastructure. Understanding the potential growth trajectory is crucial for making a sound investment decision.

Property Type and Purpose

Whether seeking a family home, a rental property, or a large acreage lot, Jimboomba offers diverse options. Buyers should clearly define their objectives and budget before exploring the market.

Tips for Navigating the Jimboomba Real Estate Market

Research Local Trends: Stay updated on market trends and property values in Jimboomba to identify the best opportunities.

Engage Professionals: Work with experienced real estate agents who have in-depth knowledge of the local market.

Inspect Properties Thoroughly: Ensure the property meets your requirements and is in good condition, especially for acreage lots where maintenance may be higher.

Consider Long-Term Benefits: Focus on properties with potential for value appreciation based on location, amenities, and future developments.

Conclusion

The appeal of property for sale Jimboomba lies in its unique combination of affordability, space, and lifestyle benefits. As the suburb continues to grow and attract attention, it presents a wealth of opportunities for buyers and investors alike. By understanding the market trends and considering key factors, individuals can make informed decisions and unlock the full potential of Jimboomba's thriving real estate sector.

Investing in Jimboomba is not just about acquiring property—it’s about embracing a lifestyle that blends rural charm with modern conveniences.

[moremyceliumnetworks]

https://gofund.me/92cc9c56

My name is Areej Salem, I am twenty-eight years old, I fell in love two years ago, then we planned to get married until the path we always dreamed of was completed.

 Muhammad and I got married on November 3, 2023, and after five months, God surprised me with the most beautiful gifts..

I had learned that I was pregnant, I would give birth to my first child and I will have a happy family,

During the journey of weakness and fatigue within pregnancy, Muhammad and I began preparing the baby’s things, buying clothes for him, and searching for suitable furniture until the seventh of October came to destroy everything we dreamed of for our child and our future.

The war began and fire broke out from every direction, and the Zionist indiscriminate bombing of civilians and defenseless people began, I was then in the eighth month of pregnancy, and I was suffering from strong panic attacks that I experienced with every strong bombing close to our house, I clutched my body and held myself tight, I was thought that i lose my baby many times just because of fear! After that, I suffer from uterine contractions that stay with me for days.

 Within a few days, Israel decided to displace us from our homes in the north of the Gaza Strip to its south, During the air, land and sea bombardment, we got our car, heading towards the south, until naval boats attacked us with a shell that hit our car from the roof, So I put my hand on my womb to protect my fetus and prayed to God a lot to grant me sight for my child, safe and sound.

Thank God, we miraculously survived, and on the second of December, that is, within two months of the war, I gave birth to my little boy, “Adam,” in a small room containing three beds, without the minimum sanitary necessities, and in which there were many displaced people fleeing their homes to health centers to take refuge in them, with a lack of food ,Sanitation, hygiene, and a lack of equipment and tools needed for childbirth, These were the most difficult hours of my life, until I felt like my soul had left my body. After three days I spent in labor pain, Adam came to enlighten my heart and my life and give our future meaning and existence.

Now... the war is still going on, but our lives are also going on, but! Without a home, it was destroyed by the Israeli occupation, also without food, medicine, or even milk to feed my little baby.

Your life continues, but in order for us to live like you, you must help us, so that I can provide a healthy environment for Adam, and for me and my husband, Muhammad, to live a decent life. Every amount, even a small one, will make a difference!

 Fear fills our hearts, as death is very close to us, so we ask for your support and attention to find a safe way.

 Your donations will make a difference in our lives, and we are incredibly grateful for your support.

 Follow my instagram account for full story https://www.instagram.com/arij.raji?igsh=YzAwZjE1ZTI0Zg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr