#human rights day 2022

[llyfrenfys]

Today is Human Rights Day (Diwrnod Hawliau Dynol). I was nearly 3 when S28 was lifted & 13 when equal marriage was introduced. In 10 years equality improved. 10 years later, they stall. Esp. for trans people like me. Trans rights must be enshrined in law before 10 more yrs pass.

[lifecarelogistic]

Happy Human Day 2022

When a man's rights are threatened, it means that every man's rights are diminished and therefore we all have to defend him. Happy Human Rights Day!

[filaantrocrowdfunding]

Why Human Rights Day is Special This Year

As soon as we hear the word “HUMAN RIGHTS“ we all reminisce about our eighth-grade history class when our history teacher taught about “MAGNA CARTA“. Magna Carta was the first official legal document to be issued detailing human rights to the common masses. It was issued in June 1215 as the first document to put into writing the principle that the king and his government were not above the law. It sought to prevent the king from exploiting his power and placed limits on royal authority by establishing law as a power in itself.

In today’s 21st-century world, we have advanced a lot in terms of human rights. At the turn of this millennium, we have seen dictators being persecuted, democracies being re-established, civic rights being issued, free and fair elections being held, etc. But on a darker note, human rights is still a fight for some and winning the fight is a lot harder for them.

Take the example of India, the world’s largest and most culturally vibrant democracy is constantly slipping down in the World Human Rights Ranking. Based on the data from 2019, India was ranked 119 out of 165 countries. It was ranked 90 out of 157 countries in 2013.

According to the recently published data in 2020, India ranks 111 globally in terms of the Human Rights Index. On a similar note, India dropped to a new low globally in terms of World Press Freedom Rankings. According to the World Press Freedom Index, released in May 2022, India’s ranking dropped to 150th position from last year’s 142nd rank among 180 nations.

So at this crucial hour, the question arises, how to protect human rights in India?

SPEAK UP FOR WHAT YOU CARE ABOUT

Everyone has a story to tell. Make sure you tell your story about the things you care for in the right way and right manner. Advocacy is also dubbed as the invisible pillar of democracy. Join hands with a local human rights group or start your own human rights advocacy group. Be the changemaker, don’t just sit and hope for it, be the person who initiates the changes in society.

2. VOLUNTEER OR DONATE TO A GLOBAL ORGANISATION

Oxfam International and UNICEF are two of the leading nonprofits that support human rights around the world. With outreach programs in more than 90 countries, Oxfam helps empower communities to escape poverty and find resilience from natural disasters. On a similar note UNICEF works to protect human rights, but with a focus on children. Their mission is to ensure kids have safe access to clean water, education, healthcare, and play (the right to creative expression!) in almost 200 countries. You can also join some local human rights NGOs or create your own human rights group.

3. STAND UP AGAINST DISCRIMINATION

Around the world, including in the United States, one can witness the basic rights of people being stripped away. Some of these violations are as severe as we’ve seen in history, like freedom from slavery and torture, and the right to free speech. Others are the ones we find ourselves fighting for every day in our communities, like freedom from discrimination and the right to a fair trial. You can and you should stand up against such discrimination at any cost.

Human Rights are a crucial part of a person’s life. India is constantly falling in terms of the global human rights index at the cost of economic progress. It is high time we ask ourselves what is more important: economic and materialistic progress or progress in human rights.

[djevelbl]

I'm tired of trying to rummage through the dwindling search results just so I can maybe find something new to read — I've been in the fandom for years, I partially grew up with it, it's basically part of my identity, it carried me through some of my worst years as of now, and it's horrible to see it slowly die day by day. It's no one's fault — after all, I get why people would want to leave, and why they'd want to erase every trace of having loved these characters, the internet isn't forgiving once you've fucked up; there's no nuance and no mercy, so I get it.

But I'm not ready to leave yet. I don't think I'll ever be.

I want to keep growing alongside these characters, I want to live as they do and smile when they do — cry and laugh and feel whenever they do. Yet now I have to come to terms with the death of this fandom, the one that saved me (for as dramatic as it sounds) and the one that cradled me when I needed a hug. The one that made me feel a little less alone in what I loved, the one I wanted to explore until I died.

I have to come to terms with it's death, I have to come to terms with the fact that one day I won't have any new stories to read. I don't think I can do that without breaking.

The thing is: there's no other fandom that has grabbed me this hard — this fandom felt so versatile, so malleable; we could write about space the same way we could write about fantasy and superheroes and its canon. We could write about the olympics and dance academies and slam poetry, and no one would bat an eye; it feels harder to do all of this with other characters. I haven't found anything to fill the void this fandom is leaving, and I fear I never will — I know it's only been months, but I thought this would last forever! I thought I'd keep growing alongside it and I know this must sound stupid, some random person on the internet mourning an online community of all things, but it helped me: I felt held and accompanied whenever I opened a new book, I spent days imagining what my favorite characters would do in whatever story I was thinking of writing next, I started so many books that I'm not sure I'll ever finish writing, and somehow I don't mourn those the way I mourn the fandom as a whole. I felt seen in a way I never quite did in real life, because in the community there were other people who shared the same passion for the characters that I did, and I didn't have to explain it all to them so they could understand — they already did! They created and lived and grew up with it the same way I did, and for once I hadn't felt like the odd one out of the group, the one with the weird interests that no one cared about because they were inaccessible to others.

And now it's fucking dying. And now I gotta mourn it all

I feel aimless, like I'm just drifting through the motions — I never had much going on, still don't have a lot going on (hell, I probably have even less going on right now) and I know that doesn't help me in moving on. Maybe I need to start going to therapy again, maybe this is just the denial in the grieving process — but I'm tired. I finally had a taste of how it was like being within a big community that understood me and got what I liked and enjoyed the same things as I did, and I don't wanna go back to being isolated in my interests.

And to think this whole... I don't know man, thing spawned out of not finding many books I wanted to read. I feel dumb. I feel pathetic. I'm sad and angry and so heartbroken. The null sleep I got through the night is probably not helping. I should go to sleep I think

[pikkish]

So I know that 2022 isn't actually canonically when classic Doom takes place, it was printed in one of the port manuals without ever being confirmed by any of the original team, but I think it is infinitely funnier if that is when it takes place, because that would mean Hayden was alive through the events of classic Doom, and he still decided to everything he did. My man you saw the consequences and you still made the decisions you did. This is very much your own fault.

[fishermod]

https://www.theverge.com/2022/2/25/22949293/tumblr-nycchr-settlement-adult-content-ban-algorithmic-bias-lgbtq

For those who don't remember, here's the lawsuit two years ago where Tumblr (or specifically Automattic) settled with the New York City Commission on Human Rights regarding Tumblr's terribly implemented porn ban targeting LGBTQ folk more than it should. Here's an excerpt detailing what the NYCCHR ordered Tumblr to do:

The settlement gives Tumblr 180 days to hire an expert on sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) issues and provide related training to moderators. It must also hire someone with experience in this area as well as expertise in image classification, who will review Tumblr’s moderation algorithms to see if they’re more likely to flag LGBTQ content. As part of an overall review, Tumblr will reexamine 3,000 old cases where a user successfully appealed a takedown, looking for patterns that could indicate bias.

Now, on a totally unrelated note, here's the complaint page for reporting discrimination to the NYCCHR. Completely unrelated to what's going on right now or the rest of this post, I swear.

[edited since it looks like the link broke somehow]

[edit #2: again, for unrelated reasons, here's a link to a post about the San Francisco equivalent]

[reasonsforhope]

"The first modern attempt at transferring a uterus from one human to another occurred at the turn of the millennium. But surgeons had to remove the organ, which had become necrotic, 99 days later. The first successful transplant was performed in 2011 — but even then, the recipient wasn’t immediately able to get pregnant and deliver a baby. It took three more years for the first person in the world with a transplanted uterus to give birth. 

More than 70 such babies have been born globally in the decade since. “It’s a complete new world,” said Giuliano Testa, chief of abdominal transplant at Baylor University Medical Center.

Almost a third of those babies — 22 and counting — have been born in Dallas at Baylor. On Thursday, Testa and his team published a major cohort study in JAMA analyzing the results from the program’s first 20 patients. All women were of reproductive age and had no uterus (most having been born without one), but had at least one functioning ovary. Most of the uteri came from living donors, but two came from deceased donors.

Fourteen women had successful transplants, all of whom were able to have at least one baby.  

“That success rate is extraordinary, and I want that to get out there,” said Liza Johannesson, the medical director of uterus transplants at Baylor, who works with Testa and co-authored the study. “We want this to be an option for all women out there that need it.”

Six patients had transplant failures, all within two weeks of the procedure. Part of the problem may have been a learning curve: The study initially included only 10 patients, and five of the six with failed transplants were in that first group. These were “technical” failures, Testa said, involving aspects of the surgery such as how surgeons connected the organ’s blood vessels, what material was used for sutures, and selecting a uterus that would work well in a transplant. 

The team saw only one transplant fail in the second group of 10 people, the researchers said. All 20 transplants took place between September 2016 and August 2019.

Only one other cohort study has previously been published on uterus transplants, in 2022. A Swedish team, which included Johannesson before she moved to Baylor, performed seven successful transplants out of nine attempts. Six women, including the first transplant recipient to ever deliver a baby back in 2014, gave birth.

“It’s hard to extract data from that, because they were the first ones that did it,” Johannesson said. “This is the first time we can actually see the safety and efficacy of this procedure properly.”

So far, the signs are good: High success rates for transplants and live births, safe and healthy children so far, and early signs that immunosuppressants — typically given to transplant recipients so their bodies don’t reject the new organ — may not cause long-term harm, the researchers said. (The uterine transplants are removed after recipients no longer need them to deliver children.) And the Baylor team has figured out how to identify the right uterus for transfer: It should be from a donor who has had a baby before, is premenopausal, and, of course, who matches the blood type of the recipient, Testa said...

“They’ve really embraced the idea of practicing improvement as you go along, to understand how to make this safer or more effective. And that’s reflected in the results,” said Jessica Walter, an assistant professor of reproductive endocrinology and infertility at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, who co-authored an editorial on the research in JAMA...

Walter was a skeptic herself when she first learned about uterine transplants. The procedure seemed invasive and complicated. But she did her fellowship training at Penn Medicine, home to one of just four programs in the U.S. doing uterine transplants. 

“The firsts — the first time the patient received a transplant, the first time she got her period after the transplant, the positive pregnancy test,” Walter said. “Immersing myself in the science, the patients, the practitioners, and researchers — it really changed my opinion that this is science, and this is an innovation like anything else.” ...

Many transgender women are hopeful that uterine transplants might someday be available for them, but it’s likely a far-off possibility. Scientists need to rewind and do animal studies on how a uterus might fare in a different “hormonal milieu” before doing any clinical trials of the procedure with trans people, Wagner said.

Among cisgender women, more long-term research is still needed on the donors, recipients, and the children they have, experts said.

“We want other centers to start up,” Johannesson said. “Our main goal is to publish all of our data, as much as we can.”"

-via Stat, August 16, 2024

[navramanan]

i dont see the point of human rights laws or courts when states will not oblige by them when they dont feel like it, and when there'll be no consequences when theyre found guilty

[attheexactlyrighttimeandplace]

I tried to be cheerful and keep my message positive because the goal was to encourage people to vote, but this last response was the straw that broke the camel's back (no pun intended since I say this as an Arab).

I'm not American and honestly I didn't understand 80% of your message about your electoral system. This shouldn't be a problem: I should mind my own business quietly, not understanding any of your fucking useless, perverse American political mind games.

Jill Stein is on the ballot and she's the only sane option at this point. That you can still nitpick about her level of commitment and her ability to win, without even trying to make her win, says everything there is to say about your stupidity!

What a privileged life you have to be able to not care about the consequences of your choices on the rest of the world! And you really like rubbing it in our faces!

This is not possible for us. The stakes - a world war is looming with a new almost certain genocide but this time throughout the Middle East - of this American presidential election are too great for my continent, my country, my region, my religion, my culture and my family ! I'm totally trapped in your quagmire and I can't escape it, even if I don't want to be involved.

You have no idea what it does to our minds:

to see you weigh the options as if it were a consumer choice, the same one you make between spinach and broccoli. You don't like the menu: Trump nor Biden, but you still feel powerful like rich people because you eat at the restaurant (democracy reserved for whites and as an exception poc living in Western countries), so it's your right to critique each meal/option in detail. Maybe your restaurant is small, not famous, cheap (you'll suffer from racism or discrimination), but you still feel proud of your privilege of putting your interests first and letting someone else pay for you. So the taste of this meal will be forgotten as quickly as the new massacres you heard about on the radio on your commute to school or work. You're just going to turn off the radio and continue your daily life

Seeing you pretend that this is democracy, because if your rights are protected, everything will be fine.

To see you pretend that your trans rights are more important than our lives, as the pathetic and shameless TheRogueFeminist reminded us earlier in this thread (I'm not even tagging this empty shell who pretend to be a human being).

To see you pretend that Biden didn't act like a serial killer butcher, cutting up entire human beings, from babies to the elderly, reducing them to limbs, smashing their heads until their brain matter was out of their skulls.

To see you pretend that Biden is not doing this with the American bombs paid with your taxes, making YOU responsable for his actions!

Seeing you pretend that what happens in the Middle East, in Russia, in China, in Africa will never have direct effects on your lives, because "America is never at war, America is in shopping malls" while others suffer the consequences of the wars your government chooses to lead on your behalf.

You know what? This time, you'll have to give a damn. I have two updates on what the Biden election means for your precious lives, so superior to ours:

First, Biden “the least bad option” is in the process of militarizing the whole american society, as explained in this Antiwar article about conscription:

Friday both the U.S. Senate Armed Service Committee and the full U.S. House of Representatives approved different proposals to expand and/or make it harder to avoid the requirement for men ages 16-26 to register with the Selective Service System for a possible military draft.  The House vote was 217-199.

And it's not just about guys this time:

The Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) approved a version of the NDAA that would expand Selective Service registration to include young women as well as young men. This version of the NDAA will now go to the floor as the starting point for consideration and approval by the full Senate.

There is also a worse version of the proposal where enlistment is automated to track everyone who tries to escape enlistment:

Also on June 14th the full House of Representatives approved a different version of the NDAA that would make Selective Service registration automatic while keeping it for men only.

Combine all the worst of these proposals and imagine what Biden, the protector of your dear American democracy, will do to you at the end of the year, after his election, considering this draft came during his mandate and it is he who pushes for wars with Russia and China through NATO and the EU :

Floor amendments are still possible in the Senate before it approves its version of the NDAA. But as of now, it seems likely that competing bad proposals with respect to expansion and/or attempted enforcement through automation of Selective Service — one from the Republican-majority House to try to make it automatic, and one from the Democratic-majority Senate to expand it to women — will be included in the House and Senate versions of the NDAA and go to the eventual House-Senate conference committee to sort out in closed-door negotiations late this year, after the elections.

No matter how much he doubts the practicality of this technical solution to meet the Biden administration's need to "enable planning and engagement in endless, unlimited wars,  without needing to consider regard for whether young people will volunteer to fight them".

the author's conclusion of this article said:

Young people should continue to resist draft registration and keep the draft out of the policy arsenal of the warmongers. Allies of young people and of their resistance to the draft should lobby members of Congress who oppose endless, unlimited, undeclared wars to reintroduce and push for hearings on the Selective Service Repeal Act.

If you think World War III isn't around the corner, that means you're really out of the loop in terms of current events.

In the following video (I can't post the short clip of the video I wanted to share in this thread, so I added the link to Twitter), Serbian President Vucic literally breaks down over the possibility of a nuclear confrontation between the West and Russia before the end of this year.

We are talking about a Western head of state who has been present at all NATO and EU meetings on war and peace and who is aware of all the intelligence on the subject. In this interview, he is about to fall off his chair from fear, because he knows we are heading towards a global nuclear war that will be fought on every continent.

The link for the complete video:

“We are heading for a major catastrophe and it seems that the train has already left the station and can no longer be stopped. No one in the West is talking about peace anymore - only more war. The West thinks it can win and take out Russia. I think the West is wrong. Both sides now believe it is existential for them, so I don't think they will find a solution other than war and everything, everything is at stake. In Europe, the leaders act as the big heroes, but they are not honest and do not tell their citizens that they will all pay a big price if it comes to war.”

So keep your condescension to yourself and start campaigning for Jill Stein!

to be honest it would make me a lot more comfortable if you guys would show a little concern about trump running for president again. Do not inbox me and say you don’t like joe biden omg i already know. but can we show a little concern. about donald trump. being the republican candidate for president. for the third election in a row.

[twnenglish]

World Human Rights Day 2022: Dignity, Freedom And Justice For All

Humans place the highest value possible on human rights. Human beings won't have much of an existence if there are no human rights. The need for human rights is just as essential to us as breathing for a living thing. In terms of rights, everyone in our world is on an equal footing.

Every person has certain rights in his or her family, place of employment, government, and society for daily existence; these rights are established by regulations and mutual agreement. People shouldn't be treated differently based on their language, race, colour, gender, religion, or other beliefs, as well as their property, politics, or other factors. Because of this, human rights were established.

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Let us inform you that every year on December 10th, World Human Rights Day is observed to defend human rights. However, many people are unaware of the significance of human rights, what they are, why they are so vital, or why everyone should be aware of it.

The purpose and significance of marking World Human Rights Day in 2022 will therefore be discussed in length in this essay.

How Did The Celebration Of World Human Rights Day Begin?

Human rights are those that apply to everyone without exception due to caste, sex, nationality, language, religion, or any other factor.

Not discriminating against any human being is a human right. Every year on December 10th, people all across the world mark Human Rights Day. A set of universal fundamental principles governing the humanitarian outlook and the interaction between the state and the person have been created by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

Human rights primarily encompass the rights to life and liberty, freedom from slavery and torture, the ability to live a life of dignity and equality, the ability to work and receive an education, among other things.

The date was chosen to commemorate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the first worldwide declaration of human rights and one of the founding milestones of the new United Nations, which was adopted and proclaimed by the UN General Assembly on December 10, 1948. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10 of that year.

The right to a decent life and to live equally was included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was formally ratified by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1948. The Indian Constitution has given this right some additional protections.

The United Nations made the decision to observe World Human Rights Day in 1950. On September 28, 1993, India's human rights laws went into effect, and on October 12, 1993, the National Human Commission was established. However, December 10 was officially designated as Human Rights Day on December 10, 1948, when the UN General Assembly recognised the proclamation.

World Human Rights Day 2022 Theme

Each year's Human Rights Day celebration has a different topic. In order to make Human Rights Day celebrations more meaningful and inspiring, the United Nations selects a fresh topic each year.

Previous themes have been Youth Standing Up for Human Rights (2019), Recover Better (2020), Equality (2021), etc. Dignity, Freedom, and Justice for All will be the focus of Human Rights Day in 2022. On December 10, 2023, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights will mark its 75th anniversary.

This year, we will begin a year-long campaign to highlight the UDHR on December 10, 2022, Human Rights Day. According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which was created as "A common standard of success for all peoples and nations," all people are entitled to civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights.

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world human rights day 2022, world human rights day 2022 theme, what is human rights

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[robertreich]

How Wall Street Priced You Out of a Home

Rent is skyrocketing and home buying is out of reach for millions. One big reason why? Wall Street.

Hedge funds and private equity firms have been buying up hundreds of thousands of homes that would otherwise be purchased by people. Wall Street’s appetite for housing ramped up after the 2008 financial crisis. As you’ll recall, the Street’s excessive greed created a housing bubble that burst. Millions of people lost their homes to foreclosure.

Did the Street learn a lesson? Of course not. It got bailed out. Then it began picking off the scraps of the housing market it had just destroyed, gobbling up foreclosed homes at fire-sale prices — which it then sold or rented for big profits.

Investor purchases hit their peak in 2022, accounting for around 28% of all home sales in America.

Home buyers frequently reported being outbid by cash offers made by investors. So called “iBuyers�� used algorithms to instantly buy homes before offers could even be made by actual humans.

If the present trend continues, by 2030, Wall Street investors may control 40% of U.S. single-family rental homes.

Partly as a result, homeownership — a cornerstone of generational wealth and a big part of the American dream — is increasingly out of reach for a large number of Americans, especially young people.

Now, Wall Street’s feasting has slowed recently due to rising home prices — even the wolves of Wall Street are falling victim to sticker shock. But that hasn’t stopped them from specifically targeting more modestly priced homes — buying up a record share of the country’s most affordable homes at the end of 2023.

They’ve also been most active in bigger cities, particularly in the Sun Belt, which has become an increasingly expensive place to live. And they’re pointedly going after neighborhoods that are home to communities of color.

For example, in one diverse neighborhood in Charlotte, North Carolina, Wall Street-backed investors bought half of the homes that sold in 2021 and 2022. On a single block, investors bought every house but one, and turned them into rentals.

Folks, it’s a vicious cycle: First you’re outbid by investors, then you may be stuck renting from them at excessive prices that leave you with even less money to put up for a new home. Rinse. Repeat.

Now I want to be clear: This is just one part of the problem with housing in America. The lack of supply is considered the biggest reason why home prices and rents have soared — and are outpacing recent wage gains. But Wall Street sinking its teeth into whatever is left on the market is making the supply problem even worse.

So what can we do about this? Start by getting Wall Street out of our homes.

Democrats have introduced a bill in both houses of Congress to ban hedge funds and private equity firms from buying or owning single-family homes.

If signed into law, this could increase the supply of homes available to individual buyers — thereby making housing more affordable.

President Biden has also made it a priority to tackle the housing crisis, proposing billions in funding to increase the supply of homes and tax credits to help actual people buy them.

Now I have no delusions that any of this will be easy to get done. But these plans provide a roadmap of where the country could head — under the right leadership.

So many Americans I meet these days are cynical about the country. I understand their cynicism. But cynicism can be a self-fulfilling prophecy if it means giving up the fight.

The captains of American industry and Wall Street would like nothing better than for the rest of us to give up that fight, so they can take it all.

I say we keep fighting.

[pickingupmymercedes]

Of thorns and blooms - Lewis Hamilton

request: "Can I request a Journalist reader, who lewis has his eye on and she interviews him and smexy antics ensue after the gathering. She wears a light up floral crown which lewis finds so cute and when they they celebrate an anniversary, he gives her an actual crown." - @omgsuperstarg

pairing: Lewis Hamilton x Fashion Journalist! Reader!

wordcount: +3K

a/n: It took me sooo long to get the tone to this one right, but I hope it was worth the wait.

As always, I'm open for feedback, come say hi!

______________________________________________________________

Y/n adjusted her dress for the hundredth time as she waited for the next person she would interview, the humidity in the air boiling them all in the enclosed paradise the famous steps of the MET. The buzz of the Gala was like a living entity. And tonight, she wasn't just a fashion journalist, she was a guest, courtesy of a hand-delivered invitation from Anna Wintour herself.

A small proud smile played on her lips. It had been a long road, from the early days working in college fashion blogs to the owner of her own digital media platform. She had conquered every step on the ladder the had envisaged for her career, and the MET Gala was the cherry on top.

Her gaze swept the red carpet, catching a flash of black that snagged on her breath. Lewis.

They'd met a few times before, most notably for his iconic Vanity Fair cover in 2022. Shot in pink, in none other than Valentino, it had been a bold choice, and she had made it justice in the interview. I was a peek into the soul of a man who rarely had let himself be seen that way. It was raw, honest, and had garnered her more praise than any piece she'd ever written.

On the human level there had also been something else, a connection beyond the professional aura, but it had remained just that – a spark.

Over the years, they'd stayed in loose contact. She would congratulate him on a good race, he would message whenever he read one of her articles, a selfie once, holding her printed fashion annual he'd found at an airport in Dubai.

It felt like a secret language, a shared appreciation in their vastly different worlds.

And that night, he looked…untouchable.

A vision in a custom Burberry creation. Although not far from the usual black, his overcoat was anything but ordinary, adorned with hand-embroidered floral motifs that shimmered under the camera flashes, the thorns in his necklace a powerful statement. Heritage and resilience.

As Lewis neared her corner of the press pen, a small smile tugged at the corner of his lips. His eyes scanned the crowd, and when they landed on her, a flicker shone within them. He diverted his path slightly, heading straight for her.

"Y/n!" he boomed, his voice surprisingly warm for someone who always tried to maintain his stoicism.

"Sir Lewis Hamilton" she replied, offering a professional smile. "Looking sharp."

He chuckled, a low rumble that sent a shiver down her spine. "You clean up nice yourself, Voltaire."

"Voltaire?" she raised an eyebrow, amusement dancing in her eyes.

“Your floral crown. You quoted Voltaire on gardens being the only art that imitated nature in your preview of the met" He gestured towards her head, where a crown of intricately woven white flowers sat, each petal tipped with tiny LED lights that cast a soft glow. "It looks incredible by the way."

Her smile widened. "Maria Grazia Chiuri and I had a blast designing this piece. We wanted to honor the history of the floral crown, worn for centuries, but with a modern twist."

Lewis leaned closer, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "You always manage to find the hidden meaning, don't you?"

She met his gaze, the intensity surely not lost to her. "Fashion is all about meaning, Lewis. It's a language, a way to express ourselves." His gaze holding on to hers as she continued “Your statement in this Burberry. It's a powerful one”

He tilted his head, a playful glint in his eyes, but just as he was about to answer back a microphone was thrust in front of them. A reporter, eager to get a quote looking impatient.

"Mr. Hamilton," the reporter began, "your outfit is quite…unexpected. Can you tell us the inspiration behind it?"

Lewis straightened his shoulders, slipping back into his professional persona. He launched into a detailed explanation of the Burberry design, his voice smooth and practiced. Y/n listened, captivated by his words and by the way his gaze flickered back to her every few seconds, a silent promise of something.

When the interview ended, the reporter scurried away. Lewis turned back to her; his smile warm. "They only gave me a few minutes," he said with mock disappointment.

"Well," she teased, "perhaps you could tell me the "real" story later," she finished, mirroring his playful tone.

A slow grin spread across Lewis's face. "Perhaps" he replied winking, a gesture that would have sent a lesser woman reeling. "I’ll find you later." He gestured towards the throng of celebrities and socialites milling about.

As Y/n wandered into the museum, she navigated the wave of guests with small talks and greetings alike. Her platform had gained traction over the past months, and her presence was becoming increasingly sought-after. But tonight, the glamor felt secondary as the show stoppers stood behind glasses of exhibitions.

As she stood and admired one of Balmain’s first collections, a familiar figure caught her eye. Lewis, leaning casually against a pillar, a glass of champagne in his hand. He was alone, just observing her, a smile breaking across his face as he saw she had noticed him, he made his way towards her, his movements graceful.

"There you are," a low rumble in his chest. "I thought I'd lost you."

"Hardly," she replied, a playful glint in her eyes.

"So," he began, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper, "tell me about this secret language of fashion."

"Where do I even begin?" she laughed, a genuine, carefree sound. "Every stitch, every embellishment, every cut – it all tells a story. A story of who you are, where you come from and how you want to be perceived."

The conversation flowed easily, a back-and-forth about the art of fashion, their contrasting worlds, and the subtle messages woven into every outfit. Lewis, she discovered, was surprisingly well-versed in fashion history, his knowledge going beyond the surface. He spoke of iconic designers, groundbreaking trends, and the evolution of style through the ages, his voice filled with genuine passion as he recounted how he had learned so much from her own words.

"You know," Lewis said, his voice softer now, "you're not like anyone else I've ever met."

" This one is not gonna cut it" she asked, her heart skipping a beat.

"Right…" he said, his gaze locking on hers. "But I meant it though. You look at the story behind people. That’s rare."

His words hit her like a sucker punch, laying bare a truth she hadn't dared to public admit. She had always craved for connection with people, and fashion, she had discovered, was her way to reach for those who held their stories and dreams in their eyes and heart.

Heat rose to her cheeks, and she looked away, breaking the intense eye contact. "Perhaps you see the same," she whispered, her voice barely audible.

He leaned closer; his breath warm on her ear. "Tell me about your dreams, Y/n. What stories are you trying to tell?"

And then, when she couldn’t avoid his gaze on her anymore, when the silence of his question had almost drowned her, a booming voice cut through the air. "Lewis! There you are. We have to get going."

Lewis sighed, pushing himself away from the wall. "Right" he said, a touch of regret in his voice before he turned abruptly to Y/n, as if he had just decided to take a jump "I have a proposition for you."

Intrigued, Y/n raised an eyebrow. "A proposition? Do elaborate, Hamilton."

He leaned in again, close enough for his lips to brush against her ear. “Are you, by any chance, willing to pass on those other after parties and come to mine?”

Y/n seemed to be taken aback, but just like before, when she was about to answer him, he shot her a look “I’ll text you the details. I’d love to know your stories.”  And with a final lingering look at her, Lewis offered a charming smile. "Until later."

The afterparty held a low-key energy, a contrast to the frenzy of the Met. Y/n found herself at Lewis's expansive New York City apartment, surprised by the choice of venue. It wasn't the club she'd thought of, but a tastefully decorated space that felt more like a home than a celebrity crash pad.

Lewis had introduced her to a motley crew of people. Some of his friends, but mostly, a mix of young, up-and-coming designers, photographers Y/n knew by reputation, and even a couple of journalists she had came across an article or two. The air buzzed with conversations, a refreshing change from the interactions of the Met.

As the night wore on, the crowd thinned. Y/n found herself gravitating towards a corner where Lewis stood, deep in conversation with someone she remembered to have seen at some shooting before.

"That's Kelly," Lewis said, noticing Y/n's approach. "A design prodigy. Just landed a gig with Channel"

Kelly's smile widened as Lewis introduced them. "It's an honor to meet you, Y/n," she said, her voice brimming with excitement. "I've been a huge fan for a while now."

They chatted for a while, the struggles and triumphs of breaking into the fashion world. Looking at the young woman's vibrant energy, Y/n couldn't help but feel a sense of pride in the platform she'd created.

But as Kelly was whisked away by another group, a comfortable silence settled between Y/n and Lewis.

He gestured towards an empty stool beside him. "Mind if I steal you for a bit?"

Y/n accepted the invitation, a playful glint in her eyes. "Only if you answer a question for me first."

"Shoot," he said, taking a swig from his drink.

"This isn't exactly the afterparty I expected," she said, gesturing to the relaxed setting. "Why here?"

Lewis chuckled, a low rumble that made her feel inadequately naïve "Maybe this is the real me," he said. "The part that doesn't crave the constant spotlight."

He leaned closer, his voice dropping to a conversational whisper. "I thought you'd like this kind of party. I like to distance myself from the buzz when I can"

Y/n nodded, a smile playing on her lips. "A safe space."

"Something like that," he replied, his gaze lingering on her for a beat too long.

"So," Lewis began, breaking the building tension "I’m still waiting to hear about your dreams"

And so, for some ungodly pull, at a rather uncomfortable stool, she opened up to a man she had never really expected to create any kind of connection. Maybe, exactly because she never so that coming, it felt so easy to tell him her most guarded hopes.

She spoke of her platform as a way to democratize fashion, to give a voice to those who felt unseen, unheard. She spoke of empowering individuals to express themselves through who they really were, regardless of social status or bank balance.

As Y/n talked, she noticed Lewis's eyes gleaming with genuine interest. He wasn't just listening politely, he interest genuine, his questions insightful and thought-provoking. And she wondered if it was really that unexpected to find this depth hidden beneath him.

"That's incredible" Lewis said, his voice filled with admiration. “You’re giving people the tools for them to tell their stories."

"Exactly" Y/n said, a sense of understanding as he smiled with her. "It's about self-expression, about telling the world who you are."

A thoughtful frown etched itself onto Lewis's face as she leaned into the counter. "You know," he said, pausing mid-sentence, "you're quite a puzzle, Y/n."

Y/n raised an eyebrow, amusement dancing in her eyes. "Me? A puzzle?”

"There's this incredible fire in you" he continued, his voice low and husky, "a passion for giving others a voice. But then there's this… " he trailed off, gesturing vaguely.

"What?" she scoffed playfully. "I always thought I such was an open book."

Lewis chuckled; a dark, sexy sound that surely didn’t go unnoticed. "You talk about empowering others, yet I get the feeling there's a whole story you haven't shared of where that desire comes from"

Their connection had been simmering throughout the night, unspoken words hanging heavy in the air. Now, with Lewis's gaze holding hers captive, it threatened to tip over.

The conversation around them seemed to fade away, swallowed by the growing awareness between them. Y/n felt his unspoken questions echoing in her mind, a challenge she couldn't ignore.

As the night wore on, the guests gradually dwindled. One by one, they bid farewell to Lewis, leaving him and Y/n alone amidst the empty bottles and scattered laughter.

Y/n found her gaze drawn to him again. He stood by the window, bathed in the soft glow of the city lights, his profile sharp and captivating. The urge to break the silence, to bridge the growing gap between them, became overwhelming.

She rose from the stool, her movements deliberate, and walked towards him. He turned, his surprise evident in his eyes.

"Everyone's gone, I should go" she said softly, her voice barely a whisper.

"Don’t. Please" he replied, his gaze still locked on hers. "I’d love if you could stay and"

He didn't get to finish his sentence. Y/n cut him off, stopping just inches away from him. The air crackled with electricity, the unspoken desire a tangible force between them.

She glanced at the faint outline of his abdomen in the fabric of his Dior shirt, her fingers tracing invisible circles on the soft fabric. Then, in a bold move, she let her nails lightly scratch across his chest, sending a jolt of heat through him.

Lewis's breath hitched. He pulled her closer by her waist, his eyes burning into hers.

Their lips met in a heated kiss, a clash of urgency and teeth. Lewis's hands roamed freely over her back, his touch numbing her to the surroundings. He was hungry for all of her.

Y/n found herself caught in the current, her own desire rising to meet his. His lips traveled down her neck, leaving a trail of hot kisses.

A dark part of her, a voice fueled by the intoxicating aura of him, entertained the idea of becoming just another name on his long list of conquests.

But then, as his hand reached for her thigh, a wave of clarity put an end to the haze. This wasn't a one-night stand she craved. This connection, potent and undeniable, deserved more.

Y/n broke the kiss, her breath coming out in ragged gasps. "Lewis," she whispered, her voice husky.

He stared at her, confusion, concern and desire evident in his eyes.

"Dinner first," she said, a playful smirk gracing her lips. "Then maybe we can explore this mystery you see in me."

A slow smile spread across Lewis's face, the heat in his eyes softening to amusement. "Dinner it is," he agreed, his voice raspy. "But consider this a warning. I don't give up easily."

Sunlight danced across the Aegean Sea, glowing through the large round window of the yacht's cabin. Y/n stood before the vanity, applying a final touch of lipstick, her reflection a picture of contentment.

Five years. Five years since that MET and Lewis's afterparty, a whirlwind that had swept them off their feet and turned their world upside down.

A soft knock at the door startled her. "Come in," she called out, her voice filled with a hint of anticipation.

The door creaked open, and Lewis stepped inside. He was a vision in his crisp white linens, his hair free from the braids.

But it was the velvety box in his hand that held her attention.

"There you are," he said, a playful glint in his eyes as he walked towards her.

Y/n watched him through the mirror, her heart still skipping a beat whenever he was around. He stopped behind her, his warmth radiating through her back.

"What's that?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.

"A little something for my favorite fashion journalist" he replied, his breath tickling her ear as he leaned close.

He opened the box, inside, nestled on a bed of white satin, lay a breathtaking piece of jewelry – a floral crown crafted from delicate diamonds. Each petal was meticulously designed, some adorned with tiny thorns, others bursting into bloom.

It was both graceful and powerful. And it wasn’t quite a necklace, nor quite a tiara. It was a piece of art.

"Lewis," she breathed, her voice filled with awe. "It's…incredible."

He took the crown from the box, his touch gentle as he held it up to the light. "Anne Wintour helped me design it," he admitted, a hint of pride in his voice. "She said it reminded her of your outfit at the Met Gala, all those years ago."

Y/n held her breath as she looked at the jewelry. The floral crown, a memory of their initial spark, now reimagined with diamonds. The strength and beauty of their love that had blossomed despite adversity.

"The thorns," he said, her voice barely a whisper, "they represent the challenges we've faced, the distance, the different worlds..."

"And the flowers," he finished after clasping it to her neck, his voice husky with emotion, "represent our love, always blooming, even in the face of those challenges."

He adjust it to her skin, his touch gentle. "It's meant to be worn by someone who sees the world differently, who tells stories with every thread" he said, his gaze holding hers.

He cupped her hand in his, his eyes brimming with love. "Someone who wears her heart on her sleeve," he continued, his voice low and husky.

She turned and their lips met slowly, a lingering kiss that spoke volumes of their love and shared journey.

"Happy anniversary, Y/n," he whispered, pulling away but not letting go, his eyes shining brighter than any star.

"Happy anniversary, Lewis" she replied, the diamond floral piece catching the sunlight and reflecting a thousand tiny rainbows in their eyes.

______________________________________________________________

TAGLIST - @saturnssunflower @xoscar03 @chocolatediplomatdreamerzonk @happy-golden-hour @vicurious28

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If you’d like to be added to my taglist you can leave a comment or send me a dm/ask.

[swagwomon]

Regarding the decision on the Tickle v Giggle case, I would like to remind everyone that:

Australia has a population of 26.7 million, of that 26 million, 13.9 million are female (as of 2024).

1 in 4 Australian women have experienced physical/and or sexual violence since the age of 15.

In Australia, intimate partner violence contributes to more death, disability and illness in women aged 25 to 44 than any other preventable risk factor.

On average, one woman is killed every nine days by a current or former partner, this number should equate to 26 women this year. However, at least 58 women and girls have been victims of femicide in Australia this year (as of August 27, 2024).

1 in 3 Australian women and girls have experienced physical violence since the age of 15.

1 in 2 Australian women and girls have experienced violence, partner emotional abuse or stalking since the age of 15.

Around 1 in 4 men in Australia aged 18 to 45 say they have used physical and/or sexual violence against an intimate partner.

Men in Australia made up 86% of all homicide perpatrators in 2021-2022.

Men were the perpetrators of 93% of all sexual offences in Australia in 2021-2022.

The biggest threat to the safety and dignity of women and children in Australia is men.

Instead of protecting women and girls, Australia has instead decided that same-sex spaces for women and girls are discriminatory, and MUST accomodate any male who wishes to invade. That biological sex, and I quote directly from the summary of the case (which can be found on the Federal Court website): 'is changeable.' It is not.

It is unconscionable that a male Justice can make a decision likely to set a legal precedent affecting millions of women and girls. It is unconsionable that this decision is being celebrated and positioned as a win for 'human rights' rather than yet another example of male class solidarity and the virulent misogyny of this country. This case, and many of the cases Australia has seen these past few years, are nothing but endorsements of male privilege.

Don't be fooled: this was not about an app. This was about a man's desire to exert his privilege over women. And he won.

What a gross betrayal of women's rights and safety.

[reasonsforhope]

"In drought-stricken areas, communities facing water shortages, or even in residential and commercial buildings eager to improve their environmental footprints, atmospheric water generators represent a new frontier in water production.

While it might sound like a tidbit from a science fiction movie, even the driest places on earth have moisture in the air that can be extracted and used for everyday necessities like plumbing and drinking. 

Unlike traditional dehumidifiers, which also pull moisture from the air, AWGs utilize filtration and sterilization technology to make water safe to drink. 

And while there are plenty of AWG companies out there — and the science itself isn’t novel — AWGs are becoming more efficient, affordable, and revolutionary in combating water scarcity in a myriad of communities.

Aquaria Technologies, a San Francisco-based AWG startup, was founded in 2022 to help provide affordable and clean drinking water in areas most affected by climate change. 

Using heat exchange and condensation, Aquaria’s generators draw air into their systems, cool that air below its dew point, and as it condenses, capture that water and filter it for consumption. 

As the cycle continues, the generator’s refrigerant vaporizes and goes through a process that cools it back into a liquid, meaning the heat transfer cycle repeats continuously in an energy-efficient and self-sustaining system.

“I’m sure you’ve had the experience in the summer, you take a glass of a cold drink out of the fridge and then water droplets form on the side of the bottle,” Aquaria’s co-founder and CEO Brian Sheng, said in a podcast episode. “That’s actually condensation.”

Sheng continued: “The question is, how do we create condensation? How do we extract water out of the air in large volume and using little energy? That’s what our technology does. We have created both active and passive cooling methods where we use special materials, and we’ve created heat exchange and recovery systems and airflow design, such that we’re maximizing heat exchange, and then we’re able to extract large volumes of water.”

Aquaria has created a number of generators, but its stand-alone model — the Hydropack X — can replace an entire home’s dependence on municipal water, producing as much as 264 gallons of potable water per day. 

Other models, like the Hydrostation, can provide water for up to 1,500 people at parks, construction sites, or other outdoor public areas. The Hydropixel can make 24 gallons of water per day for a seamless at-home application, requiring a simple outlet for power. 

“Atmospheric water generators present a groundbreaking solution to the global challenge of clean water scarcity, leveraging the humidity present in the air to produce potable water,” the company’s website explains.

“This technology is versatile, functioning efficiently across diverse climates — from arid regions to tropical settings. From rural communities in developing countries to advanced cities facing unexpected droughts, atmospheric water generators have a wide range of applications… transforming lives and providing secure, clean water sources.”

Considering an estimated 2.2 billion people lack access to clean water globally — including in American cities like Flint, Michigan, or Modesto, California — innovative solutions like AWGs are vital to maintaining the basic human right to clean water. 

The World Economic Forum has begun to dip its toes into this technology as well, implementing public and private partnerships to introduce AWG units in Arizona’s Navajo Nation, where the machines produce about 200 gallons of clean water per day.

“When combined with an appropriate level of community engagement and triple-bottom-line business (people, planet, profit),” a blog post for WE Forum said, “this model can be a powerful stopgap solution where few exist today.”

Similarly, according to New Atlas, Aquaria has a partnership with developers to supply its technology to a 1,000-home community in Hawaii later this year, relying entirely on atmospherically generated water.

The company also has a “Frontier Access Program,” which partners with water-related NGOs, community project developers, and sustainable development groups to deploy this technology in areas most in need.

Regardless of their use cases — in homes, in communities facing water shortages, or at aid sites navigating natural disasters — AWGs have a minimal environmental impact. Sourcing water “from thin air,” requires no plastic bottles, no large-scale plants using up loads of energy, and no byproducts that can harm the environment."

-via GoodGoodGood, August 27, 2024

[dearly-somber]

sharp teeth | m.list

pairing. wolf shifter!jungkook x human!reader (f)

sum. Jungkook—a love struck puppy pining for Y/N’s affection. Y/N—an oblivious, hard-headed tsundere too thick to realize a shifter likes her. What could go wrong?

genre. slow burn, pining, mutual pining, eventual romance, shifter/werewolf!au, suggestive at times, eventual smut, i2l (idiots-to-lovers), f2l (friends-to-lovers), fluff, humor, found family, established relationship, high school!au, university!au

total w/c. 23,227 including drabbles)

overall rating. 13+

collection. mini-series

a/n. Main Series and Drabbles are finally in chronological order, woo-hoo!

Available to read on: AO3, Wattpad

Listen to the <Sharp Teeth> playlist on Spotify!

© dearly-somber

started. June 30th, 2022. finished.

🌕🌔🌓🌒🌑🌘🌗🌖🌕

Main Series

It’s An Affectionate Thing | Jun 30th, 2022

Naked | Jun 18th, 2022

Yours | Jun 30th, 2022

Warm | Jun 30th, 2022

Purr | Nov 8th, 2023

RBF | Oct 30th, 2023

Because It’s Soft | Feb 26th, 2023

stand still (i’m sniffing you) | Feb 19th, 2024

Twister | Sept 16th, 2023

Haircut | Nov 30th, 2023

Heat Stroke | Jun 10th, 2023

Body Art | Jun 23rd, 2024

I Like Me Better | Jul 6th, 2024

Oh No! | Aug 3rd, 2024

The Moon Will Sing |

🌕🌔🌓🌒🌑🌘🌗🌖🌕

Drabbles

Sharp Teeth | Jun 30th, 2022

Feel The Burn |

In My Bed |

20/20 Vision | Jan 28th, 2024

Y/N’s parents meeting the pack |

Jungkook staying at Y/N’s house |

Girl Talk |

Whine, Whimper, Weep | Sept 26th, 2023

‘cause your love, is my drug |

Graduation | Jul 11th, 2024

Drugs, Sex, and Al•Co•Hol |

Soft Blankets, Cold Days |

All The Right Ways |

Y/N meeting JK’s parents |

Do It Again |

Y/N reacting to Jungkook’s tattoos |

In My Bed, Pt.2 |

Birthday Boy | Sept. 1st, 2024

Cuddling With Your Partner |

Love You Like That |

🌕🌔🌓🌒🌑🌘🌗🌖🌕

Extras

What’s The Prob? Dog. — First Draft.

What’s The Prob? Dog. — Second Draft.

What’s The Prob? Dog. — Third Draft.

[fatehbaz]

Some updates from the past twelve-ish months:

-- Late 2022: Portland and its mayor (Wheeler) started a major push to ban "street camping". Headlines in major media outlets also described "Portland's first sanctioned mass homeless camp" and how "Portland moves forward with $27 million plan to build mass shelters". In December 2022, Portland-area authorities used the so-called "aggressive landscaping" tactic, installing hundreds of hostile architecture boulders to prevent sitting/sleeping. Also in December, homeless advocates and Disability Rights Washington advocates attempted to halt Spokane's (Washington) clearing of a major camp for hundreds of people, and a federal judge sided with advocates to put a temporary restraining order on the sweep.

-- January 2023: Even in the immediate aftermath of historic cold as far south as Miami and Monterrey, sub-freezing temperatures across the Deep South, and sub-zero-Fahrenheit blizzards sweeping North America for a week or longer around Solstice/Christmas 2022, convenience stores "in Texas, California, New York use classical music to shoo homeless".

-- By March 2023: "Portland Mayor Wheeler unveils first location for city-run homeless camp".

-- April 2023: San Francisco and Mayor Brand announce a major "five-year plan" costing over 600 million dollars "to cut the number of unsheltered homeless in half". (Not a plan to put people in homes or find stable housing, but just to technically put them under the roof of shelter, keeping them out of sight, therefore qualifying them for the strange designation of "the sheltered homeless".) At the same time, San Francisco opened a "long-term homeless shelter on Treasure Island", pushing homeless people onto an isolated island mostly composed of concrete and asphalt.

-- Summer 2023: In May, the city of Phoenix (Arizona) began its project to clear and eliminate its largest homeless camp, known as the Zone, a refuge for hundreds of people. During the record-breaking heat of the summer of 2023, Phoenix cleared the camp systematically, block by block. At the beginning of September 2023, as "Phoenix breaks heat record as city hits 110F [110 degrees Fahrenheit] for the 54th consecutive day", the city cleared the block of the camp where most seniors and the elderly lived.

-- January 2024: About one week ahead of winter holidays (Solstice/Christmas), the City of Edmonton pursued plans to sweep 130 homeless encampments as part of what has been described as a "shocking" eviction plan. In January, the city was clearing camps amidst sustained deadly severe weather, during a polar vortex event with temperatures of negative 50 degrees Fahrenheit and daytime highs of negative 25F. When a court case presented by Coalition for Justice and Human Rights tried to slow the sweeps, a judge sided with them and shut down the evictions.

-- March 2024: Florida's governor signs a new law. NPR describes: "law that seeks to move unhoused people off public property altogether and into government-run encampments".

-- April 2024: The U.S. Supreme Court begins hearing a case from Grants Pass (Oregon) with major implications and potential to incite nationwide "banishment race" and "homelessness crackdown". Lower courts have previously said that city policies (like Grants Pass, Boise, and others) were "cruel and unusual" for fining and/or jailing people for sleeping on public land if no adequate accessible shelter is available. But now?