#mine ban convention

[mineaction]

Beyond Oslo - Taking stock of Gender and Diversity mainstreaming in the Anti-personnel mine ban convention.

Considering improvements in gender & diversity mainstreaming within mine action?

Our "Beyond Oslo" report analyzes the effectiveness of current strategies & explores potential paths forward.

The Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (APMBC) is a reference in gender and diversity mainstreaming. In its latest Action Plan, known as the Oslo Action Plan (OAP), APMBC States Parties committed to take a number of practical steps to integrate gender perspectives and the diverse needs and experiences of people in affected communities into all aspects of mine action and programming.

As the OAP enters its final year of implementation, this report provides an overview of the implementation of action points covering gender, diversity, and inclusion, with the intention to assess its impact and reflect on the way forward. Drawing on official reporting and statements made by States Parties, as well as on a survey conducted with key actors in mine action, this report outlines instances of progress achieved regarding gender and diversity mainstreaming, as well as challenges and areas for improvement that could be addressed in the next Action Plan.

Citation: Renata H. Dalaqua, Paula Jou Fuster and Hana Salama (2023) "Beyond Oslo: Taking Stock of Gender and Diversity Mainstreaming in the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention", UNIDIR, Geneva.

[catboymoments]

Not at all in lunasol's side, I have no idea who they even are.

BUT a friend of mine is currently facing a harassment campaign, got stalked at a transformers convention that happened the weekend before last, and people were taking pictures of their booth to further harass them.

So I kinda get why that person would be upset at someone they don't like or doesn't like them for taking a picture of their booth.

Oh absolutely I 100% should’ve never posted the picture or taken it in the first place but the reaction from their supporters and how they reacted even after I acknowledged that I was wrong and deleted the post was way overblown. I only knew them from that one “you are a minor who knows nothing of the world, brat” tweet and I was like “woah it’s that guy” and suddenly I’m getting death/doxx threats for like a week and people saying I should be banned and blacklisted from future jobs

[the-typing-dragon]

Ok but like why does every other class have relatively normal weaponry, the the Driller is over here speedrunning the Geneva Convention. Bro has flametrowers, ice throwers (which im sure would be banned if they were as powerful as the cryo cannon), sludge which I'm pretty sure counts as a bio weapon, literal microwaves to boil thing's internals, and repurposed mining equipment. Bro can cause frostbite and heatstroke at the same time and cause you to immolate on the spot.

[darkmaga-returns]

US military aid to Ukraine under President Joe Biden has exceeded $62 billion, the Department of Defense said on December 2. This amount was reached after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on the same day a new arms package for Kiev totaling $725 million from its stockpiles.

“The United States has committed more than $62 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of the Biden Administration,” the department said in a statement.

Blinken also announced the allocation of another $725 million military aid package to Ukraine, which included a new batch of anti-personnel landmines, even though Ukraine ratified the Ottawa Convention in 2005, which bans the use, stockpiling, and production of anti-personnel mines.

“Today, I am announcing the delivery of $725 million in additional weapons and equipment for Ukraine’s defense. The United States and more than 50 nations stand united with Ukraine,” Blinken posted on social media on December 2.

The arms package is the largest since April, when Washington sent a shipment worth $1 billion. In addition to mines, Ukraine will also be supplied with anti-tank, anti-drone and other types of ammunition, according to two US officials cited by Bloomberg. The outlet described Biden’s authorization for Ukraine to use American anti-personnel mines, just weeks before the end of the Biden administration, as representing a sudden change from a long-standing policy.

[lulu2992]

Uncovering the unreleased Far Cry 5 in-game Encyclopedia

The almost complete but unused in-game encyclopedia, reconstructed thanks to the oasisstrings file.

Please note that it’s still cut content, so some information might not be relevant anymore.

You can read the oasisstrings file here. Pictures from this encyclopedia were also extracted and posted by @xbaebsae here.

Part 4: Locations - Henbane River

Tanami Residence

Some idiot drove a dredge into Roy Tanami's property, damaging his bunker beyond repair. Out of options, Tanami swallowed his pride and joined the Whitetail Militia up north.

Vasquez Residence

Home of Mr. Vasquez, former employee of Nolan's Fly Shop.

Hollyhock Saloon

One of the first businesses to fall to Eden’s Gate when they banned alcohol in the county. No one knows if the owners moved or were taken.

Can of Worms Fishing Store

Rods and tackle a-plenty. Owned by Sherri Woodhouse, who does salvage runs for sunken treasure in her spare time.

Deep North Water Treatment Plant

Built in 2002 to treat the toxic water from decades of mining practices. Today, Eden’s Gate uses it to disperse Bliss into the water.

Misty River Gas

A local gas station by the water, owned by Mr. McDevitt.

McCoy Cabin

Home of Darby McCoy who joined the cult against his will. This cabin is both close to the water and the Misty River Gas, an ideal spot for the cult to run operations.

Peaches Taxidermy

Mable's a rough-edged taxidermist. She lives here with her pet cougar.

Barlow Residence

Residence of Dr. Phil Barlow. He was a pharmacist who joined Eden’s Gate.

McClean Residence

Residence of Travis McClean. He was a former Air Force veteran turned prepper. Like so many others, he and his husband are on the run from Eden's Gate.

Eden’s Gate Outreach Center

This was once a place to learn more about Eden’s Gate and the Father’s message. Nothing out of the ordinary, until it became what it is today.

The Pillars of Eden

An outdoor amphitheater and a place of worship for Eden's Gate.

Drubman Marina

The Drubman Marina began in 1992 as an oil sands prospecting venture. Hurk Drubman Sr. became rich, but ost the property in a divorce to his wife Adelaide. She has big dreams for the place.

Silver Lake Campgrounds

A place to camp with a nice view of the mountains, the water, and the Whitetail Mountain Rail Bridge.

Silver Lake Summer Camp

An old summer camp. It was forced out of business by Eden’s Gate about 8 years ago. The cult used this place to stockpile their goods while their bunkers were being built.

Howling Cave

A well-known wolf habitat. The cult frequently takes animals from here and sends them north to Jacob.

Taft Lookout Tower

An old firewatch tower built in 1945. The cult uses it as a checkpoint and surveillance location. As expected, it is heavily guarded at all times.

Raptor Peak

A mountain peak that's a favorite nesting spot for birds of prey.

Camp Cougars

The Resistance has set up a camp to use as a base of operations for attacks against the cult and rescue missions for those on the pilgrimage path.

Dire Wolf Basin

A smoking basin that Eden's Gate has claimed as their own. Also a place of worship for the cult.

Sabre-Tooth Springs

These hot springs and the nearby cave used to be a tourist destination. It's right next to a road, meaning this location spent little in advertising. Today, it only attracts the cult.

Eden’s Convent

The very first building set up by the Project at Eden’s Gate in Hope County. People came here for spiritual retreats and to learn the Word of Joseph. When they left, if they did, it was with a permanent smile on their faces.

Sacred Skies Youth Camp

Formerly a Christian youth camp that was shut down fifteen years ago when the population dwindled. Eden’s Gate quietly bought it ten years ago. They use the land for growing Bliss flowers while living on-site.

Joseph’s Word

A statue of Joseph Seed that was constructed almost overnight. It commemorates the Father bringing his Word to the world. It also houses a rare, one-of-a-kind manuscript that is sacred to Eden's Gate.

Purpletop Antenna

Eden's Gate controls the radio towers. There's no signal but Joseph's Word out here.

Dead Man’s Mill

A water mill left over from the gold rush heyday. Everyone in Hope County has a different version of how it got its name, but the most popular story is a man's suicide after the closure of the mines.

Mastodon Geothermal Park

A tourist attraction established in 1836. People used to come here to admire the unique geological landscape. Now Eden's Gate uses it as an execution site.

Chan Residence

Back in the day, the owner of the Sacred Skies Youth Camp lived here. The cabin now belongs to Jasmine Chan, a big game hunter who was recruited into Eden's Gate against her will.

Counselor’s Cabin

This used to be the counselor's cabin when the Sacred Skies Youth Camp was in operation.

Nature Cabin

It once belonged to the Sacred Skies Youth Camp. Kids would come here to learn about animals, or rest after hurting themselves on the nearby zip line.

Throne of Mercy Church

A gold rush era church run by Jerrod Wilson, a preacher and rival of Emmet Reaves in the late 1800s. The church survived until about ten years ago when the cult closed it down.

Administrator’s Cabin

This used to be the administrator's cabin when the Sacred Skies Youth Camp was in operation.

Boshaw Manor

The humble dwelling of Charlemagne Victor Boshaw IV, gentleman fire enthusiast.

King’s Hot Springs Hotel

Once a spot for the posh to "take the waters," a landslide triggered by an earthquake in 1917 closed it temporarily and made it a ghost hunter's gem. It reopened, only to close again in 1994. Eden's Gate has put it to good use.

Moonflower Trailer Park

Once the fanciest trailer park in Montana run by the Boshaws. When the economy dried up and the Boshaws did nothing to retain their tenants, people relocated to the Silver Lake trailer park in the Holland Valley.

Sinclair Residence

Frankie Sinclair dreamed of being a world class French chef. Only problem? He couldn't speak a lick of French. He worked at the King's Hot Springs Hotel until it closed in 1994.

Horned Serpent Cave

A sulfur cave that's part of the volcanically active landscape of the region. It was once an industrial site, but the cult has turned it into a mass grave for Angels who can serve the project no more.

Henbane River Station

Copperhead Rail was created in the late 1800s by Emmet Reaves. It was shut down in the early 70s after the last of the local mining industries dried up. This station has been abandoned ever since.

Grimalkin Radon Mine

Once a part of a radon spa chain, it shut down in the 60s. Guy Marvel fell in love with the aesthetic and figured it’d be the perfect place for his next movie masterpiece.

Lydia’s Cave

In 1912, some loggers saw a girl eating a goat with wolves. She was captured in this cave and brought to a doctor who named her Lydia. She escaped and was last seen deep in the wilds suckling two wolf cubs.

Whistling Beaver Brewery

This brewery and pub opened in the late 1880s. It closed in 1916-1918 for Prohibition and reopened in the 30s. Pushed out of the national market by artisanal beer, the brewery was struggling and quietly sold to Eden's Gate.

The Misery

A dredge that belonged to the Catamount Mining Company. When the mines dried up, they tried to get gold from the riverbeds, but failed and abandoned it. The Resistance tells horror stories about what goes on there now.

Faith’s Gate

A bunker under Faith's guardianship. It is shrouded in Bliss, ensuring that those who are sheltered here will not be frightened when the Collapse comes.

Feeney Residence

Home of Dwight Feeney, a prepper and chemistry aficionado who joined Eden’s Gate when they promised him an important role in the creation of Bliss.

Eden’s Altar

A place of worship for Eden’s Gate. The faithful gather to hear sermons about Joseph’s visions and plans.

Gethsemane Greenhouse

A building used to precisely control the growing conditions of plants. Whatever these plants were before, they are now Bliss flowers.

Lorna’s Truck Stop

Lorna Rawlings used her BINGO winnings to create the best place for hard-working truckers like her husband to refresh and refuel. The cult came to take the place. She said no. She hasn’t been seen since.

Henbane River Chalets

A tourist trap that was shut down by the cult. The lake view was also sought after as a filming location.

Aubrey’s Diner

One of the first places to close when the cult took over. Their grilled cheese was no good.

O’Hara’s Haunted House

A professional clown named Edward O'Hara bought a barn and turned it into a haunted house that was a Halloween tradition in Hope County. Edward himself disappeared, and people disagree on whether or not the cult got him.

Ghost Cat Mine

The old mine has been closed for decades but the headframe warehouse is still there, used by the cult to store their containers of Bliss.

The Last Best Resting Place

An old, overgrown graveyard left from the gold rush era.

Jones Residence

Home of Kanti Jones, a Blackfoot woman and ranger who used to work in Whitetail Park. She was forced into retirement when the park closed. She fought against Eden’s Gate, dying in a shootout in her home.

Nelson Residence

Home of Coyote Nelson. He tried to lay low and enjoy fishing and painting but his peaceful pastimes didn't save him.

8-Bit Pizza Bar

The presence of pizza and an arcade made this the most exciting spot for teens within a hundred miles.

Pepper Residence

Holly Pepper and her girlfriend Charlie were among the first locals to join Eden's Gate. They abandoned this house and were never heard from again. The cult turned the property into a grow op.

Hope County Jail

20 years ago, a riot caused a jail break and a bus full of escaped prisoners ran off the road somewhere in Holland Valley. Later on, the prison closed due to budget cuts. Today, the Cougar resistance takes shelter here.

Nolan’s Fly Shop

Nolan Pettis ran his fly shop and gave fishing tours happily for years, although he was never a famous outdoorsman like local celebrity Skylar Kohrs. The money for his shop dried up and he joined Eden’s Gate.

Johnson Residence

Bob and Penny Johnson struck it rich in cattle futures, then they lost everything. After such a fall from grace, Joseph’s cult seemed welcoming. They handed everything over. No one knows where they are now.

Bright Warden Radon Spa

A health spa shut down in the 60s. Eden’s Gate has been spotted going in and out of this mine, using it as a storage facility.

Prosperity

Founded by rail and lumber baron Emmett Reaves. As the industry dried up, the town died and people moved west to Fall’s End. What remains of the ghost town is now used by junkies and the homeless.

Abercrombie Residence

Home of Melvin Adams Abercrombie. He robbed a bank in the 1940s and got away with it. He used his money to build this property and to prepare for the total collapse of the global financial system.

McCallough’s Garage

Once owned by Steve McCallough. He tried to warn everyone about Eden’s Gate, and even had a getaway car and some supplies ready. One day, his shop got boarded up and Steve was nowhere to be found.

Jessop Conservatory

Dr. Rachel Jessop created this place to protect and research at-risk flora and fauna. After budget cuts gutted her funding, Eden's Gate bought her out and devoted the facilities to developing potent strains of Bliss flowers.

Harrison Lookout Tower

One of the towers built in the 1940s to spot forest fires. It was abandoned ten years ago when funding ran out and the cult bought the property. It overlooks the site of one of Clutch Nixon's legendary stunts.

Seeley’s Cabin

Residence of Dwight Seeley. He worked in the local mines and then got kicked out of his place when the cult took over.

Deer Tiger Mine

Established in 1912, this mine was closed down in the 70s. Eden’s Gate appears to use it for storage.

Puma Mine

Another relic of a bygone gold rush, the Puma Mine has been abandoned for decades.

Ancient Bison Tunnel

A closed-off tunnel. No one gets in. No one gets out.

[olderthannetfic]

(cw for mentions predatory behavior/grooming) I wish people understood how unsafe the furry fandom is for minors. I know that every fandom has that problem to some extent, but from my personal experience it seems to be much worse in the furry fandom. I was in it for many years as a young teen (age 13-16 ish) and literally ran away from it by the end. If you're into fursuiting at all you will be surrounded by adults in their 20s ish that are often dangerously and upsettingly immature for some reason. Despite how "sfw" the like to claim they can be, they aren't. The amount of times in which either I have or had witnessed someone else under 18 being intentionally shown p-rn either directly or through groups that call themselves "sfw" is revolting. Fuck's sake I once saw one of those "guess my age by my art" posts in which some grown adult went "I guess you're 15? Can you guess mine?" and attached nsfw art to their comment (the genitals were censored but STILL). facepalm with me, please. Attending irl events is another can of worms, really. Just hope that event runners keep an eye out for predators in the community and promptly ban them. Id like to think that there was a misunderstanding, really, but I once had to report an adult commissioner who took advantage of their commission contracts with minors to get flirtatious with them regardless of how much discomfort they voiced (I even had a video of the guy m-sturbating that he had sent to someone that was even younger than me that I would have happily provided as proof). And the convention runners didn't blacklist that guy. This isnt an isolated case either, registered sex offenders have been hard to blacklist from cons in the past. The problem here is the immaturity that adults who claim to be able to make a safe space for everyone have makes them really struggle to hold that promise.

--

I haven't hung out in furry spaces much. I do think that in-person events that are at least partly about sexual stuff are a minefield and many of them just ban everyone underage because it's easier.

Is suspect Furry spaces are suffering from a common problem that happens when something perfectly reasonable is seen as freakish and socially unacceptable. When banal queer sexuality is driven underground, it's harder to sort the consensual adult stuff from the predatory stuff. When half the priests out there have secret, forbidden but perfectly consensual adult relationships, it makes it easier for the predators to hide in the general atmosphere of secrecy.

People cry wolf so often about furry being scarybadcringeyuck that I'm sure a lot of furries just dismiss any challenge to anything.

--

Outside of furry circles, people usually just think of furries as a Weird Sex Thing, so they're unlikely to imagine children should be hanging out in those spaces.

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from Hakai Magazine:

Earlier this year, Leticia Carvalho, a Brazilian oceanographer and environmental policy expert, took the helm of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) as secretary general. The ISA, an intergovernmental body that governs what happens on the seafloor in international waters, is responsible for an area that spans more than half the planet.

One of the agency’s key roles is in deciding the future of deep-sea mining, a nascent industry targeting tennis ball–sized rocks called polymetallic nodules. Rich in cobalt, nickel, and other valuable metals, polymetallic nodules can be found in some areas of the seafloor, most notably in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, a vast tract between Hawai‘i and Mexico.

In a landslide victory, Carvalho unseated Michael Lodge, an English lawyer who had served as the ISA’s secretary general since 2016. Lodge’s tenure at the international body—which is tasked with the contradictory goals of both helping deep-sea mining get off the ground and keeping it in check—was marred by allegations of bribery, corruption, and of Lodge having an undue bias toward the mining companies the ISA oversees, all of which Lodge has vehemently denied. Many environmentalists and scientists welcomed the news of Lodge’s displacement.

In the wake of her win, Carvalho told Mongabay that she aims to rebuild trust in the ISA, and in Politico she said she planned to investigate the corruption and mismanagement allegations. But Carvalho’s term does not seem set to bring about the kinds of sweeping changes that would satisfy the 32 countries that have called for a pause on the development of deep-sea mining—including Canada, New Zealand, and Costa Rica—or those, like France, pushing for an outright ban.

For years after the ISA’s inception in 1996, environmentalists, mining industry representatives, and government delegates gathered at the agency’s seaside headquarters in Kingston, Jamaica, to develop the Mining Code—the set of rules and regulations that will govern everything about deep-sea mining from who is allowed to mine to how they will mine, and even the way the industry’s proceeds will be disbursed to, somehow, benefit all of humanity. For 25 years, deep-sea mining was a distant reality. Negotiations were easygoing, and those gathered in Jamaica would mingle at weekend retreats and dance parties.

All that changed in 2021 when representatives from Nauru, a Pacific Island nation, triggered a clause in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) known as the “two-year rule.” The move meant that, suddenly, the ISA had only two years to either finish the Mining Code or consider a company’s application to exploit the seafloor with whatever unfinished rules it happened to have in place.

Three years later, no company has yet applied for an exploitation permit. But the triggering of the two-year rule sparked a flurry of contentious debates over the legal and environmental implications of deep-sea mining. With so much still under discussion, Julian Jackson, an ocean governance expert from the nonprofit Pew Charitable Trusts who has closely followed the negotiations, says the Mining Code is still months—or even years—from being finished.

[occasionaltouhou]

Do you think Kappa made Lego traps (thought of mines originally) would be a much deadlier weapon to humans because of the whole "insane agony stepping on a Lego provides" sentiment? If the humans made a Lego mine somehow, would it be of usable and effective against Youkai? Should Lego weaponry be banned by the Geneva Convention in the context of combating the supernatural?

Many such questions to be asked

these are the real questions, and have been under fierce debate ever since the concept of a lego brick weapon was inadvertently introduced to gensokyo by sanae and a couple of 2005-era lego kits

[infinitemonkeytheory]

[L]et’s talk about what else Trump said about abortion yesterday. Because wow. 

In addition to spouting his usual nonsense, claiming that everyone wanted Roeoverturned and he just gave the issue back to “the people,” the disgraced former president tried to downplay how important abortion will be come November. Trump said the issue had become “very much subdued,” “very much tapered down,” “much less of an issue,” and a “very small issue.” He insisted, “I don’t think it’s a big factor anymore.”

Something tells me that the women going septic or being forced into hysterectomies don’t think abortion is “much less of an issue.”

[…]

Trump also talked about ‘post-birth’ abortion again, accusing Walz of supporting the murder of newborns and making clear that he won’t be losing the insane talking point anytime soon. You all know I think Harris should go on offense, and explain to Americans what Trump is actually talking about here: palliative care for fatally-ill newborns. 

I can’t imagine a more powerful message to voters than explaining that Trump is calling grieving parents murderers.

(emphasis mine)

So, does Trump even know what mifepristone is? And does it matter?

Based on his meandering reply, I’d say that no, he has no idea what mifepristone is. And to the second question, it does not matter. Though Trump and other Republicans have tried to distance themselves from the issue of abortion, going as far as not mentioning the word at all during the Republican National Convention last month, their plans are clear.

Project 2025, the far-right presidential-transition plan authored by Trump alumni, outlines the ways his second administration could implement a de facto national abortion ban. One of the proposals is to enforce the Comstock Act, a 19th-century law that would prosecute people who send abortion pills through the mail. Project 2025 also calls for the next Republican president to direct the FDA to rescind its two-decade-old approval of mifepristone. All the rambling can’t disguise that, if given the opportunity, Trump would go further to end abortion access this time around.

[beardedmrbean]

The Left Alliance and the Greens are now the only political parties in parliament which clearly oppose Finland withdrawing from the Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel landmines, the news group Uutissuomalainen reports.

A survey of parliamentary party group leaders found that the National Coalition Party, the Finns Party, the Christian Democrats and Movement Now are in favour of withdrawing, while the Social Democrats and Swedish People's Party are willing to discuss the issue.

The Centre Party did not respond to the question.

However, Ilta-Sanomat points out that the Centre Party's chair, Antti Kaikkonen, told the party newspaper Suomenmaa at the weekend that anti-personnel mines must be re-evaluated if the Finnish Defence Forces (FDF) demand it.

The debate on anti-personnel landmines was reopened at the weekend by the FDF's commander, General Janne Jaakkola. He told Finnish news outlet MTV the changed security environment is now different from when Finland joined the Ottawa Treaty in 2011.

Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) told Iltalehti on Sunday that the nation's foreign policy leadership is discussing the land mine issue. Defence Minister Antti Häkkänen (NCP) said on Monday that he launched a study on the need for anti-personnel mines already this past summer.

The government is currently finalising its latest defence policy report. The report is due to be submitted to Parliament during before the end of the year.

More resources for police

This past autumn, the government decided to increase the budget for the Interior Ministry by 19 million euros, of which around 11 million will be allocated to the police, in particular to fight street gangs, juvenile crime and the grey economy.

The additional resources are expected to be allocated to police departments in the capital region and in Central Finland.

Hämeen Sanomat is among the papers reporting that the number of police officers is expected to increase by just under 60 members next year.

Additional personnel have already been recruited for operational police tasks, in particular for criminal investigations, and operations targeting gang crime and cybercrime.

According to preliminary estimates, 310 new police officers will graduate from Finland's Police University College this year and 250 next year. The number of openings for police training was increased to 500 this year, up by 100 over previous years.

Over 100,000 foreign students

The news agency STT takes up figures published by the Finnish Education Employers organization (FEE) showing that there were more than 114,000 foreign students studying in the country last year.

The number of foreign students in vocational and other higher education and has doubled since 2014 and tripled since 2009. The number of foreign children and pupils has also increased in both early childhood education and other forms of primary and secondary education.

"The fastest growth has been in vocational education and training, where there were over 40,000 foreign students last year. The internationalisation trend is positive and necessary, as Finland needs immigration for work and education," FEE Managing Director Susanna Niinistö-Sivuranta said in a release.

The number of international teaching staff also increased at all levels of education during the past year, according to the FEE report.

Home purchase discounts

The new housing market remains stagnant, new houses and flats are selling poorly and builders are now more willing to negotiate discounts on list prices, reports Helsingin Sanomat.

According to the paper, there are more than 3,000 new homes for sale in the capital region.

Among the sellers interviewed by HS was Markus Heino, CEO of JM Finland, who said that right now it is difficult to sell new homes without negotiating over price.

According to Heino, how much can be cut from list prices is a case-by-case matter, depending on factors such as overall supply in the area.

"Some discounts are very small, others can be more than 10 percent," he told HS.

JM Finland has also adjusted its list prices, but Heino added that it is unlikely that the market will see big price reductions.

There are already small signs of an upturn in the market for older homes, and Heino said he believes this will soon be reflected in the new housing market, as well.

Cold and colder up north

A new record low temperature for this early winter season is possible in Lapland on Wednesday night or early Thursday morning.

The coldest temperature so far this season was -22.5 Celsius on 21 November in Utsjoki in the far north of Finnish Lapland.

A forecast carried by Iltalehti looks to chilling daytime temperatures in Lapland this week of 10-20 degrees below zero.

According to Foreca weather service meteorologist Joonas Koskela, if skies remain clear, part of Lapland may see the thermometer dip down as low as -25 Celsius overnight.

[azspot]

One of the consequences of American exceptionalism is that the U.S. government considers itself exempt from legal and moral standards accepted by other nations in the world. There is a long list of such self-exemptions: the refusal to sign the Kyoto Treaty regulating the pollution of the environment, the refusal to strengthen the convention on biological weapons. The United States has failed to join the hundred-plus nations that have agreed to ban land mines, in spite of the appalling statistics about amputations performed on children mutilated by those mines. It refuses to ban the use of napalm and cluster bombs. It insists that it must not be subject, as are other countries, to the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.

Howard Zinn

[mineaction]

10th Session, 21st Meeting of State Parties to Mine Ban Convention.

Twenty-First Meeting of the States Parties to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction.

Description

12. Consideration of requests submitted under Article 5

13. Consideration of matters arising from/in the context of reports submitted under Article 7

14. Consideration of requests submitted under Article 8

Failing the establishment of a cooperative dialogue and the resolution of the current status of non-compliance through the submission of an extension request by Eritrea by 31 March 2023, the 20MSP mandated the President of the Twenty-First Meeting of the States Parties to seek clarification and resolve questions related to compliance by Eritrea through the Secretary-General of the United Nations in accordance with Article 8.2 of the Convention and to report back to the States Parties at their Twenty-First meeting.

The President will report back to the States Parties on the implementation of this decision.

15. Election of the President of the Fifth Review Conference of the States Parties and of the Twenty-Second Meeting of the States Parties

The Meeting will be asked to agree that H.E. Ly Thuch, Senior Minister and First Vice-President of the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) be elected to preside over the Fifth Review Conference of the States Parties.

The Meeting will be asked to welcome the offer made by Japan to preside over the Twenty-Second Meeting of the States Parties.

The Meeting will be asked to welcome the offer made by Zambia to preside over the Twenty-Third Meeting of the States Parties.

16. Duration and matters pertaining to the preparations for the Fifth Review Conference and the Twenty-Second Meeting of the States Parties

The Meeting will be asked to agree that the Fifth Review Conference take place in Siem Reap, Cambodia from 25 to 29 November 2024.

The Meeting will be asked to agree that the First Preparatory Meeting in advance of the Fifth Review Conference take place on 20 June 2024 in Geneva and that the Second Preparatory Meeting in advance of the Fifth Review Conference take place on 18 September 2024 also in Geneva.

17. Any other business

18. Consideration and adoption of the final document

19. Closure of the Twenty-First Meeting of the States Parties

The Meeting will be asked to take decisions on the requests for extended mine clearance deadlines which will have been or may be submitted by Eritrea and Ukraine.Delegations will be given the opportunity take the floor on matters that have not been covered otherwise by the meeting.The Meeting will be asked to consider and adopt its final report.The meeting will be closed by the President.

[your-god-empress-lavender]

Henrow blorbo

first off, ohmyfuckinggodyouaresocoolllllllllllllllll

secondly, what ya workin' on currently? <- is deathly interested, yes please please please info dump if you have the spoons

- Ryan

Bonjour my furry friend. At the moment i'm mostly working on getting a job so that i can afford rent, but when i'm not doing that, i'm working on designing some new N-substituted 5MeO-tryptamines (in order to avoid being banned for breaking tumblr TOS, i can't say exactly what for, but if you look up 5MeO-tryptamines, you should see). So far i've only managed to make things that make me super sleepy (and maybe a tiny bit inebriated), so presumably my body is mainly metabolizing them into melatonin. I also have been working on working through the details of making a rocket engine which relies on both muon catalyzed fusion and z-pinch fusion (mostly because even though i know it's way above what i'm probably capable of, i just love space so much i desperately need to see it for myself and i figure that since rockets are so absurdly expensive, the only way i'll end up in space is if we can get a whole new generation of ultra-efficient rockets (for example, given p-N14 fusion, if we manage to get 1% or more (i don't really expect more than 0.1% max, but still) of the hydrogen fusing with nitrogen, we'd be able to put 150 tons on the moon from earth with only using about enough fuel to fill a small car (instead of needing a skyscraper sized rocket to send maybe 30 tons)). Now, if it were as easy as my calculations show it to be, i can't imagine how there are any rockets flown that aren't fusion, but seeing as i haven't even made a working proof of concept yet, i'm not in a position to criticize the thousands of aerospace engineers who are working on conventional chemical rockets. I love fusion because it's simultaneously so easy (i live pretty close to an old uranium mine where i can actually pan some uranium out of the creek near me, then use that uranium to make a neutron source (B10(α,n)) which is really just fusion between helium and boron, happening at room temperature because of how high energy the α particles released by uranium are) and so absurdly difficult (without catalysts like muons, it requires absurdly high temperatures and pressures that almost always take more energy put in than they can give out). Anyway, i've also been sorta working on studying a material that a while back i got way too excited over and may have called a room temperature superconductor (almost certainly not the case), but in an attempt to make it more pure and study it for real i've been trying to work on the exact calculations of its composition and finding a better way to heat it up to high temperatures (i might just put it in a flat-bottomed flask, especially since it finally warmed up enough for me to go back outside where the fumes released by its production won't make folks mad).

And then there's the biological experiments, currently with electroceutical tissue modifications since most of the other projects i have planned require me to have a gene printer capable of reliably printing genes thousands of base pairs long and i'm not sure when i'll be able to build that. The most recent thing i've been working on is really exciting because if it works it means that i've successfully done something that has never been done before to a human body (and given the long lasting pain in that part of my thigh, it seems very possible it is working), but i'm hesitant about sharing what the project is because i don't really want folks putting gap junction blockers, calcium channel blockers, and sodium channel blockers into open wounds without knowing how to do it safely and correctly to get the desired results and not just a really messed up wound. If/when this experiment turns out well, i might give directions in private, but i'm still somewhat hesitant due to the risks inherent in this (the biggest and most likely is literally giving yourself a form of cancer, something i'm not eager for others to risk). Soon i might try chemical dedifferentiation of skin cells (thinking on my back or upper arms) followed by some mildly dangerous experiments to test how reliably i can make it turn into other cell types. And while i haven't made good work on it in a while, i've also been trying to make something similar to shimmer from arcane (ideally not addictive or harmful to the user, but most importantly the quick energy burst, decreased pain, and increased regenerative abilities (obviously it won't be anywhere near as dramatic as in the show, so calling it shimmer may not really make sense, but it is where i got the inspiration)).

Then i suppose there's the battery project i was talking about in my last post, and i'm also trying to learn how to make alcohol under my desk (i mean, it's super easy, it just doesn't taste great). There might be a few more things i'm working on but rn i'm super eepy and have talked about a lot already. If this seems like i'm doing a lot or impressive, also note that i'm actively failing out of college (for my own pride: the material is super easy and mostly i already know it, i just can't stand wasting so much of my time doing homework that doesn't help anyone or anything) and not yet working a job, so i have a lot of time and so much free brainspace to think about and do all this. I also work very slowly on each thing because i keep bouncing back and forth between all of them and almost always end up adding new projects before i've finished the old ones and so i almost never see a project all the way through to completion (at least some of the bio projects are just sitting in my body and i am just waiting to see how they turn out in the next 2-3 months, so those necessarily will see completion, even if it's failure). I really hope i see the fusion rocket to completion because if i don't think i'll ever be able to see the earth from afar or the moon from up close.

[aeide-thea]

sigh

up in the middle of the night (or, really, rounding the corner of it now) rereading old fic (from a fandom i was never actually in, about a canon i never actually read, because if we're gonna go full Deep Internet we might as well go all the way, i guess) about a, hm, partially queerplatonic polycule and also somebody being nonbinary in a way that somewhat maps onto the way i'm nonbinary—

(or, i don't know, i stopped feeling confident about claiming that language for myself sometime around the time i first saw theyfab discourse happening in the distance and no one in my social vicinity deigning to acknowledge it even long enough to push back at it, so like, these days i mostly just feel like no language assigned or aspired-to is really mine to use, honestly, but i guess 'genderqueer' feels like a modest enough assertion i can probably safely make it: genderqueer, agender, what even is a gender anyway—)

but it really is just like. i wish i could have the experience you're supposed to have in your, like, early- to mid-twenties really, where you live with a bunch of people you have, like, ambiguously queerplatonic relationships with and get to be casually nakeder than conventional norms allow and be, like, a shirtless genderless person around other people and get that reinforced for myself. but of course instead it's like. i missed the boat on the possibility of that experience just like i missed the boat on the rest of life, and i live with my father which is—a grab bag of nice/comfortable/mediocre/stifling but mainly for the purposes of the current conversation just not a plausible environment in which to push nudity taboos and attempt to reframe bodily meanings; and so what i get instead is to flop around in the middle of the night like an unevolved magikarp feeling crazy and melancholy and reading fic where imaginary people make unconventional impossibilities possible for one another because they love each other and it's, like, an updated version of that pathetically tragic anecdote abt the woman calling the gay bars just to listen down the phone and know they were out there…

like honestly i probably would want top surgery really, or at least, to like. wave a wand and have—no tits? smaller tits? something, anyway, sometimes—but i also want people's perception of my self not to depend on my making that happen? i don't know. it's like. my ugly little tits are ugly and i never wanted to sprout them in the first place but it's also like. sux that all roads to social gender acceptance/affirmation regardless of direction involve active cosmetic modification of my own body. like actually that was a major part of the concept/constraint i wanted to get out from under.

i don't know. the things i want seem unreasonable and impossible no matter what camp you ask and i feel gadfly-maddened and oversensitive and despairing about the whole tangle of it (never mind any other aspect of my (non-)life). like it's no fucking wonder i spend so much time as a disembodied word-utterer on the disembodied internet. language my truest tongue of my truest body. heart-sea and heart's ease and heart's blood-without-blood. (found myself thinking here abt heaney's ban-hus (blood-holt, dream-bower) and went to look it up and was poured right back into the problem and then back out of it again. (woman-)body as wordless geography, limned and unlimbed by words.)

gender of the day: poiesis. (ἡ ποίησις, of course—the feminine article, which transcribed becomes he: a meaningless homograph, to be sure, but then so too am i a queerly-drawn thing; and anyway even a wildly-strung cat's cradle is still a cradle, the dots of it connected to hold a meaning like any other constellation…)

[eretzyisrael]

Embedded explosives in the ground are pretty much the definition of landmines. The Jenin terrorists are burying landmines in their own town, where their own people could be killed.

If the mines can be triggered by a person, they are considered illegal under the 1997 Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention.

It sure looks like many of these IEDs can indeed be triggered by someone stepping on them. Here is a relatively small one being detonated by the IDF.

I have yet to see a condemnation by any NGO or state about Palestinians putting their own people at risk of being blown up by these IEDs. 

Israel's clearing of the mines is considered a bigger crime than the mines themselves. 

Which tells you a lot.

UPDATE: The "State of Palestine" acceded to the 1997 Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, which proves yet again that the only reason they signed these conventions was to be accepted as a state, but had no intention to actually do anything to adhere to the various conventions' rules. (h/t Ian)

[vindieselsfacebook-blog]

Meaning/references behind every Gilmore Girls episode title - Season 1

Hi friends! In today's edition of I'm avoiding work and obsessing because I'm banned from rewatching until September (self-inflicted), I wanted to share my latest deep-dive project: making a clear, concise list of the meanings and references behind each episode title. I'm going season-by-season and filling in references when I catch them.

Some titles (especially in season 1) are quite obvious and literal, but many are clever references that emphasize themes and symbolism happening in the plot or character relationships. I like trying to figure them all out and wanted to share in case I have some wrong or people have caught references I've missed or didn't know writers may have spoken about, etc. ASP has such a deep well of pop culture knowledge, I enjoy mining it.

Masterlist: Season 1 Season 2, Part 1 Season 2, Part 2 Season 3, Part 1 Season 3, Part 2

My notes: - As always, please correct anything I've gotten wrong and share your own insight! - Many of these notes are pulled from and/or learned via annotatedgilmoregirls.com - an absolute icon! I claim no author originality. I'm just the one to compile/edit them. :) - So many of these seem deceptively straightforward... I'm almost convinced there must be sneaky references I'm missing with Kill Me Now, Forgiveness and Stuff and Christopher Returns especially... - This was the first time I realized the exact reference in Concert Interruptus and it's hilarious. I love when they get a little naughty/cheeky. - Looove the contrast between the happenings in Star Crossed Lovers and Other Strangers vs. S6's Written in the Stars. :')

Season 1

Pilot A “pilot” is a test episode for an intended TV series, an early step in series development, much like pilot studies serve as precursors to the start of larger activity.

The Lorelais' First Day at Chilton Lorelai and Rory both deal with Rory’s first day at her new school.

Kill Me Now "Kill me now" is a relatively common, ironic/humorous response to bad news or to a situation that the sender considers so bad that they would rather die than endure it. Likely how Lorelai feels about the idea of Rory’s golf date with Richard.

The Deer Hunters The title references The Deer Hunter (a 1978 war drama film co-written and directed by Michael Cimino about a trio of Slavic-American steelworkers whose lives were upended after fighting in the Vietnam War) as a joke about the deer hitting Rory’s car on her way to school.

Cinnamon's Wake Cinnamon is the name of Babette’s cat. A wake is a watch or vigil held beside the body of someone who has died. Possibly also a reference to the book Finnegan's Wake by James Joyce (an experimental novel with a reputation as one of the most difficult works of fiction in the Western canon due to its linguistic experiments, stream of consciousness writing style, literary allusions, free dream associations, and abandonment of narrative conventions).

Rory's Birthday Parties Rory has both a party thrown by her grandparents and a party thrown by her mother for her 16th birthday.

Kiss and Tell A common colloquialism referring to Rory’s first kiss with Dean. Possibly a reference to Kiss and Tell, a 1945 American comedy film starring a teenaged Shirley Temple. In the film, two girls cause their respective parents trouble when they start to become interested in boys. The plot interestingly involves an impulsive, secret elopement and accidental pregnancy drama.

Love and War and Snow Perhaps a reference to ”All is fair in love and war", a common proverb attributed to John Lyly's Euphues. “Love” referring to Lorelai’s blossoming romance with Max, “War” referring to the Revolutionary War reenactors and “Snow” of course refers to our first introduction to Lorelai’s love of snow and her insistence that good/important things have always happened to her on the first snow of the year - a theme that repeats throughout the series.

Rory's Dance Rory takes Dean to her first high school dance.

Forgiveness and Stuff This episode deals with multiple themes of forgiveness - Lorelai forgiving Rory for staying out all night with Dean, Emily and Lorelai forgiving each other for their fight about Rory and Lorelai being uninvited to the Christmas party, Lorelai forgiving Dean, and Lorelai dealing with lingering issues with Richard and how he raised her, perhaps forgiving him in a way.

Paris is Burning Paris Is Burning is an iconic 1990 documentary film directed by Jennie Livingston chronicling the ball culture of New York City and the African-American, Latino, gay, and transgender communities involved in it in the 1980s. This is the first episode where Paris gets a more humanizing backstory and causes trouble by outing Lorelai and Max’s relationship to distract from her own issues.

Double Date A common term for a date where two different couples go out together.

Concert Interruptus The title is a play on “coitus interruptus”, the technical term for the pull-out method of birth control. In the same way, The Bangles concert in the episode is interrupted when Madeline and Louise withdraw or “pull out” of the proceedings.

That Damn Donna Reed The Donna Reed Show is an American sitcom which aired on ABC from 1958-1966 starring Donna Reed as middle-class housewife Donna Stone. Although it was the first sitcom to focus on the mother as the central figure in a domestic comedy and paved the way for female-focused TV, it was commonly critiqued by feminists in the 1970s as presenting an idealized view of domesticity.

Christopher Returns This episode marks Christopher’s first visit to Stars Hollow and his seemingly first big return to Lorelai and Rory’s lives, much to the chagrin of every sane fan.

Star Crossed Lovers and Other Strangers In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare refers to the main characters as “star cross’d lovers”, meaning that their relationship is destined to fail no matter how hard they try. The phrase comes from astrology, meaning that the stars are working against them. The title is also a reference to the 1970 comedy film Lovers and Other Strangers, in which a couple’s upcoming wedding shines a spotlight on the marriage problems of their family members. “Star crossed lovers” can refer to multiple relationships facing troubles in this episode - Rory and Dean, Luke and Rachel, Lorelai and Max, Lorelai and Chase (the weird guy her parents try to set her up with), and of course, the lovers in the story behind the Founders Firelight Festival. This is especially endearing when you remember that, in contrast, the episode in season 6 when Luke and Lorelai go on their first date is titled “Written in the Stars”.

The Break Up: Part 2 This episode is the first to pick up exactly where the previous episode left off (Rory running home to Lorelai’s arms post-break up with Dean) in a kind of to-be-continued way, explaining the “: Part 2” in the title. There is also an episode of the classic 1970s sitcom The Jeffersons titled The Break Up: Part 2 where the Jefferson and the Willis families debate about getting Lionel and Jenny back together and George accidentally sets his son up with a sex worker. Perhaps a stretch to think it could be a reference, but ASP is a big sitcom nerd so it’s not out of the realm of possibility.

The Third Lorelai We are introduced to Richard’s mother, Lorelai “Trix” Gilmore; Lorelai’s namesake and therefore the third Lorelai in the Gilmore family.

Emily in Wonderland The title is a reference to the children’s book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, commonly shortened to Alice in Wonderland. It’s an analogy for Emily finding Stars Hollow just as peculiar as Alice found the nonsensical Wonderland.

P.S. I Lo… The title references either (or both) the popular 1934 song PS I Love You, written by Johnny Mercer (recorded many times throughout the years by Rudy Vallée, Bette Midler, Bob Dylan, Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra and more) or The Beatles’ 1962 song of the same name, the B-side to their debut single Love Me Do. The title also suggests not being able to bring yourself to fully say “I love you” and both Lorelai and Rory deal with their individual commitment issues - Lorelai struggling to commit to Max and Rory regretting not being able to tell Dean she loves him.

Love, Daisies and Troubadours The title refers to the ongoing plot points weaving together and coming to a head in the finale of season one. Lorelai, Rory, and Luke are all struggling with love - what it means to them, committing to it, and figuring out how to express it, which is what the town troubadour has come to represent (according to Rory) as he faces his first rival in the town. Rory reunites with Dean and finally is able to say “I love you”. Max sticks a bandaid on his floundering relationship with Lorelai with the romantic gesture of 1000 yellow daisies. Daisies can symbolize love, fertility/motherhood, and the return of someone’s affections, while the yellow color is cheerful, vibrant, and a sign of being quick-witted.