at this stage i think its good to say, and i direct this to all of the trans women on this site:

you are loved. you are appreciated. your presence is valued.

ppl can do all they can to invalidate you, to drag you through the grime and do their best to make you nothing. and they can fucking try.

but it won't change the fact that we care about you. i care about you. and i appreciate you taking the effort to stick around in this world, especially as things turn awful.

big ass hugs for you girls.

we're still here 💙

If you read nothing else on my blog at least read this:

Jewish survival is beautiful, and amazing.

I know times right now are absolutely awful, and it can feel like the world is against us. We're seeing the Nazi marches, the targeting of Jewish businesses, harassment of religious Jews, and so much more at a much more severe rate than many of us have seen within our lifetimes.

But we've survived this before.

The most dangerous thing right now is to lose hope. To lose hope of a better future, to lose hope of any future. We have survived the pogroms, the Holocaust, the Inquisition, the many Middle Eastern anti-Jewish genocides and attacks, various expulsions and so much more.

I've reblogged someone else's post saying this before but I'm going to say it here again: every single Jew alive right now is a miracle.

So here's one thing I want to ask of you: Live.

Do it out of love for your fellow Jews, do it out of spite towards our enemies, do it so that there will be more miracles in the future.

Living is the greatest form of Jewish rebellion.

Living a proud Jewish life is even more so, but at the very least, please live.

Please please please don't give up on life right now. If you feel alone, reach out. Reach out to your fellow Jews, find non-Jewish allies to stand by your side, seek out supportive communities.

As a Jew, you are never truly alone. You have people who will love you like family if you just reach out, because we are one. One family, one nation, one soul. And we all care for each other.

Am Yisrael Chai 💕

if the ceo of tumblr saw the death threats i get he'd hurl

It has been ten years since russian invasion of Ukraine began.

I hope the CEO of Tumblr has a piano dropped on him from the top of a cliff

TRANS OHIOANS - START STOCKPILING YOUR HRT AND PLAN HOW YOU WILL BE ABLE TO CONTINUE YOUR TRANSITION CARE

Ohio has taken a page out of Florida’s book and is proposing to effectively ban adult transition care via the requirements of numerous specialists - a psychiatrist, endocrinologist, and a bioethicist.

Since most trans people get their HRT from nurse practioners via the informed consent model, this will create undue burden on both trans people and the medical system -- the bottlenecks will effectively ban transition care for adults. This is what has happened in Florida, and Ohio's rules look much more draconian and surveiliance-heavy. All trans healthcare will be reported to the state.

These new rules have not taken effect yet. Trans Ohioans should plan for the worst now.

The rules are open to public comment through 5pm Friday, Jan 19, 2024. The full copy of the rules and how to comment are below:

https://mha.ohio.gov/about-us/rules-and-regulations/rules/draft-rules/gender-transition-care

As a Floridian who saw the writing on the wall and fled his state (my clinic hasn't been allowed to fill HRT prescriptions since May 2023 now) -- do not delay on making preparations. If this is approved, the rules will likely catch everyone by surprise. Start talking with your providers now and plan out your options assuming the ban will take place.

Informed folks to follow on Twitter:

Alejandra

Erin

If you’re going to make the argument that Israel is settler colonialism then the best analogy would be Liberia, where freed Black slaves colonized West Africa. Traumatized people going back to their home continent and hurting the other people there. America, Australia and Canada are not appropriate analogies, not on the same moral grounds, because they involved white settlers going to another people’s land with the sole intention of exploiting it for profit.

And indeed, occasionally, people do make the Liberia analogy, when Jews protest that we can’t colonize our own homeland. But most people don’t make that analogy because they look at it like “Jews = White Europeans.” The discourse assumes that Jews are white European colonizers with no ties to Eretz Yisroel 99.9% of the time, and also completely ignores that almost every Jew who relocated to Eretz Yisroel was a traumatized refugee.

Liberia is a case where you can clearly empathize with both sides, both the freed Black slaves and the native population. The conflict looks like a tragedy more than a simple, clear-cut case of right and wrong. This empathy and this two-sidedness are cardinal sins in Israel-Palestine discourse. Which is why it’s still relatively uncommon to see people analogize Israel to Liberia. To do so would invite the unforgivable act of empathizing with Israelis.

Affirmations to read to your cat:

You are strong, capable, and wise without standing on my keyboard

You are respected and loved without standing on my keyboard

You are capable of accomplishing all things you set your mind to without standing on my keyboard

All things will come to you in time without standing on my keyboard

There is wet-food and toy-time in your future without any need to stand on my keyboard

Get off my keyboard

קאַלט ווי דער קאָסמאָס טוליען זיך קעץ צו צו זיי פּלאַנעטן מיט שטערן

(the answer is no. Elhaik is a joke)

How does the myth persist that the Six-Day War was started by Israel's neighbors, against all evidence

It was a "preemptive war" and Israel acknowledges this now, despite lying when the war broke out and saying they were under attack

Why do people believe it wasn't started by Israel, how does stuff like this get stuck in people's heads and go unexamined

Accusing Israeli leaders of killing children in the context of the Gaza war is not inherently a dog whistle to the antisemitic blood libel, because it has long been a tactic of anti-war activists to call attention to the children killed by the violence.

E.g. the old Vietnam War protest chant: "Hey! Hey! LBJ! How many kids did you kill today?"

Because of this, though, when it is used as a dog whistle, it can be really hard to spot, because of how much plausible deniability there is

Look for people saying "Killing babies is in their DNA" about Israelis or whathaveyou

just been waiting for this place to join the fediverse wtf happened

If you’re going to make the argument that Israel is settler colonialism then the best analogy would be Liberia, where freed Black slaves colonized West Africa. Traumatized people going back to their home continent and hurting the other people there. America, Australia and Canada are not appropriate analogies, not on the same moral grounds, because they involved white settlers going to another people’s land with the sole intention of exploiting it for profit.

And indeed, occasionally, people do make the Liberia analogy, when Jews protest that we can’t colonize our own homeland. But most people don’t make that analogy because they look at it like “Jews = White Europeans.” The discourse assumes that Jews are white European colonizers with no ties to Eretz Yisroel 99.9% of the time, and also completely ignores that almost every Jew who relocated to Eretz Yisroel was a traumatized refugee.

Liberia is a case where you can clearly empathize with both sides, both the freed Black slaves and the native population. The conflict looks like a tragedy more than a simple, clear-cut case of right and wrong. This empathy and this two-sidedness are cardinal sins in Israel-Palestine discourse. Which is why it’s still relatively uncommon to see people analogize Israel to Liberia. To do so would invite the unforgivable act of empathizing with Israelis.

"En Israël vivent une majorité de personnes réfugiées ou issues de familles réfugiées. Sionistes ou non, c’est la nécessité élémentaire d’habiter quelque part qui les a amenés là. Réfugié·es après la Shoah quand la plupart des pays leur fermaient les frontières. Réfugié·es devenus apatrides après la guerre de 1948 et les expulsions d’Égypte, d’Irak, de Syrie, du Liban, du Yémen… Ainsi, réduire l’ensemble des Israélien·nes à des colons pour justifier leur assassinat est une simplification de l’histoire de l’antisémitisme, de la persécution millénaire des Juif·ves et de ses conséquences. Aujourd’hui, la plupart des israélien·nes sont des sabra, né·es en Israël, c’est leur pays et iels n’en ont pas d’autres."