#the world is huge and diverse!!! | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

seagullcharmer · 6 months

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gosh. thinking abt a little book i saw at a secondhand store the other day....... it was a girl's book with notes from her friends telling her how much they loved her and how sweet and kind she was. all the notes were dated some time in 1950. in the back cover was a note saying betty had died age 15 in early 1951. and it just,,,, those were real girls and real teachers who loved this girl so much. heartbreaking to find it in a store, but also so tender to get a peek into some other person's life...

#libra.txt #all the notes were addressed to 'joanne' so i'm curious who betty was. but ultimately it's none of my business #irl death #< i guess? just in case #i always get so sad seeing notes and photographs of real people and their families and friends #but also i'm very nosy so i love getting to see into other people's lives #there have been so many people doing so many things!!! they all lived their own lives!!!#the world is huge and diverse!!!#but even my local community is huge and diverse!!!!!!!#i love pondering humanity

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deepseacityunderground · 6 days

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i think that veganism as a political movement has a lot of interesting things to say about how food agriculture has been shaped by consumerism and the way its alienated the average westerner from food production especially around meat. its a cruel cruel industry for everyone involved and it sucks.

unfortunately it also overwelmingly falls victim (like a lot of other socially progressive political movements lol) to a complete inability or perhaps a refusal to engage with rural indigenous communities especially in the global south. which is ironic because (like a lot of other socially progressive political movements) much of their theoretical framework for reforming society Depends on rural indigenous communities especially in the global south ^.^

#this isnt just about how a lot of rural indigenous communities cannot survive on a vegan diet altho that is part of it #but its also more importantly about how a lot of the global north cannot survive on a vegan diet without exploitation!#and a lot of my issues with veganism as a political movement stems from the fact that ive never heard of a vegan solution to #food production that isnt reliant on restructuring imperialist foodways but just Making them Vegan Now #meanwhile you look at historic examples of widespread adoption of veganism and vegetarianism #and theyre almost all in subtropical fertile regions with a huge diversity of native grains and fruit and veg #i guess the uk is a good example of it because the uk already imports so much fruit and vegetables #the uk as an island in a temperate/subarctic position cannot grow the amount of food required to feed their population on a vegan diet #this goes for a lot of europe and north america in fact. so if the whole world was just gonna switch to a vegan lifestyle #the global north would largely be fed by the global south (as it is now)#perpetuating systems of oppression of both land and people in the global south. not much would change on that end #this is largely because a lot of vegans are these super alienated super priviliged white settlers from the suburbs #and they project their alienation onto others #anyway i think about the politics of veganism a lot for someone who will never be vegan (due to geographical and ethical concerns)#probably because until recently my family and others in my area have relied on hunting for food

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pirates-and-ninja-lover · 2 months

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fuck politics btw <3

#why is the most horrible political party expected to get so many votes???#like they want to take away people's rights #they are racist #they actively and publically hate on everyone who isnt a straight white christian conservative cis man #they hate our neighbouring country and would love to start an actual war #they claim that “the homogeneity of our nation is our biggest strength”#just say youre a racist nationalist and shut up #yes we have been having more immigrants #yes we are becoming waaaay more racially diverse #nobody cared about the immigrants until they werent white #racial diversity is a GOOD THING #sharing out culture is a GOOD THING #people from around the world moving here is a GOOD THING!!!!!#and yes women and lgbtqa+ people DESERVE FUCKING EQUAL RIGHTS #its 2024 and gay people still cant have families here!!! thats outrageous #how are thes people getting SO MANY VOTES???#wtf is up with my country and why is everyone so extremely conservative #the election is in 2. days.#im so terrified #gotta start learning german and just fucking run #like im genuinely terrified of loosing my basic human rights #we have the highest rent/household prices in the EU #78% of people are MIDDLE AGED when they can finally afford to move out of their parents house #we have huge inflation #our food prices are higher than germany and belgium but our min wage is around €600 a MONTH #the amount of violence on women has gotten up #we have the worst corruption and worst justice system in the EU #our education system is starting to fail #the medical system is horrible and we have the 2nd highest mortality rates in the EU #theres men protesting for the “submission of women” EVERY WEEK. AND THEY'RE PLANNING TO SPREAD THE PROTESTS TO MORE CITIES

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cparti-mkiki · 1 year

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shut the fuck up. no it's not. no you're not. jesus christ. they really believe it!!!

#OHIO IS NOT A COUNTRY - do you genuinely think there is #a history a diversity of languages and culture in your state that's superior to that of. any mid sized country?#my posts #yanqui tag #there's people in the thread trying to explain that every single goddamn country in the world has subdivisions & huge regional differences #but like lol

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floralovebot · 1 year

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man people who racebend characters of color are REALLY showing their asses in how they think we're all interchangable and see us as a checklist for "Getting A Good Grade In Woke :)" rather than just... acknowledgment of the existing natural diversity of planet earth and the different ways people make life of it.

its insensitive to reimagine disneys tiana as asian, not because asian people dont face racism or cant enjoy cooking or didnt exist in 1920s new orleans- but because tiana is the first and still only black disney princess and was written and designed as such. her race informs and deepens her writing and her struggles, her love for her dad and specifically wanting to validate a jim crow era black man's sacrifices for his family, her connection to him and her community through her cooking when they all struggle to keep food on the table. similarly mulan shouldnt be rebranded as african american, not because black women couldnt exist in china or never crossdressed to join the army or dont face misogyny- but because mulan is a folk hero of historical chinese legend and as mulan, specifically cannot be divorced from that background. (also, frankly? the early white princesses arent really as well written for the most part, and their culture of origin is virtually never taken into account aside from visuals in their development, if that).

thats what ticked me off so bad about the monster high reboot. nb frankie was so cool and an asian draculaura was so fun but then they just... took away the black girl? and by extension, her sisters and thus ALL the black girls and like, dude not cool? nothing wrong with her being latina but being afrolatina is a different experience than being african american. afrolatinas deserve rep but that doesnt mean they shouldve taken clawdeen from african american girls. then there was some back and forth as to where specifically draculaura's family is from, and lagoona's origins vary from source to source dolls vs movie vs tv too and you just really feel the lack of effort and cohesion in the writing rooms. it really is just all just numbers on a chart, quotas to be filled there.

even with shows like winx where its ambiguous at times and kind of a raceblind take at others, theres so little for ANY of us that redesigning without that in mind becomes poaching. why would you take when ive been given so precious little? why would you want to change this one gift from people like me that lets me know i'm seen and loved? sure, other people deserve to have that too but if they want to borrow then take those who have so much they wont even miss it?

asdfghjkl sorry for the essay, i guess i had a breakthrough in how to put why this specific issue gets to me.

YESSS THANK YOU

Like it's so fucking weird to me!!! And GOD I wanted to say something about gen3 Clawdeen but I wasn't sure if I was "right" or if it was my place to say but exactly!! Being afrolatina is wonderful and they deserve representation too but it is still ultimately a different experience from being black american and they shouldn't have taken that away from black girls! I'm glad that mixed kids have her as rep now but they shouldn't have taken her away!! They very easily could've made a new character to fill that role instead!

AND YES to the winx point!! At the end of the day, it doesn't matter that some of the girls races or ethnicities are more ambiguous, they still have Canon races and people shouldn't be taking that away and giving it to someone else. That's not how representation works! Ever! Like if someone redesigned Aisha to be asian, that wouldn't make me happy or give me More representation. All that would be doing is taking away representation from black people! Same thing with Musa, Flora, Nabu, etc.

It also feels So fucking scummy when a white person's excuse is just that they Personally didn't see a character as their canonical race/ethnicity and that's why they changed it?? Like I don't give a shit if You personally don't see Nabu as an Indian man. That doesn't change his blatant coding. Same with characters like Flora who are more ambiguous. It doesn't matter if You Personally don't like her being Latina. She is. Fucking deal???

#and don't worry about it!! i loved seeing this!!#i get so worried whenever i get new asks when i post about racism ajldhgl #and about tiana like holy shit that blew me away #SO much of her story is tied into blackness!! you CAN'T erase her being black without taking away a fundamental aspect -#of her story and the intention of her character #and that's a big reason why even with more ambiguous characters like the wi.nx it's still wrong #they were created with the Intention of giving the show and kids watching it more diversity #you CAN'T take away their race without taking away a huge part of their character and purpose #it just feels so 'i don't see color 😊' like ajkghddlajgh #UGH #answered #AND DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON POCAHONTAS HOLY SHIT?????#that was a real person!! she was real!! they based this on real life and they were so fucking racist and wrong about it!!#amonute has been done so fucking wrong by the world and to then just erase her being indigenous... like how insensitive can you get

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fieldmoths · 11 months

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i wish i could concisely explain my sims world but i’ve been fleshing the same one out for almost 2 years. where do i even begin

#i’m 5 gens in and it would be more but i slowed down lifespans and made life stages longer with a mod #so now i can really focus on their little lives #and it’s all one huge family. they started from quiverful fundies and then a bunch of the kids managed to escape and now the whole world is #populated by the descendants of this one insane couple #i use random townies to expand the family bc i like all the family trees criss crossing #but i think a lot of the line will die with this generation. not everyone is having kids #and i’m making unrelated sims for new townies so i can have more genetic diversity #my game used to be ONLY about this family but i’m done working #through that stuff in therapy so now it’s more varied #for example one sim. lil. she was banned from her family for killing her brother in self defense. but TWIST he was the serial killer who had #been terrorizing the world for months. BUT she killed hin in front of their nephew so everyone was mad at Her and not really him bc he was #already dead #(oh btw they’re all vampires)#so she decided to leave the area and start over completely #and cured herself of vampirism and then got herself bit by a werewolf #she keeps in contact with quite. a few of her cousins but her parents and aunts and uncles not so much #her grandparents are all dead and they were the OG crazies bc she’s only third gen #but like her dad is literally dying of a fatal disease and he hasn’t even told her. she’s just being invited to the mourning party #my bestie and gf love hearing about it it’s like a soap opera

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bearberrythief · 1 year

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Is there a mod for the witcher 3 that adds some people of colour to the world? the only npcs that aren’t white are in the heart of stone DLC and there’s two (2) that aren’t hostile (yikes). Even in big cosmopolitan Novigrad or the multi ethnic Nilfgaardian army there’s not even like one or two brown faces in the crowd. This is something I’ve been keeping an eye out for since I first played the game and so far I haven’t come across anything. Honestly I’m half considering learning how to mod just so I can make it happen, but if there’s something already out there or someone working on a project I would love to know about it!

#witcher 3 #tw3 #tw3 next gen #witcher wild hunt #the witcher #dont even think about being like oh its set in fantasy medieval poland blah blah blah #you know people traveled right>#especially in big trading cities people came from all over #and like theres definitely long distance trade in witcher world #I don't think i should have to historically justify wanting to see some diversity in a fantasy rgp ya know?#frankly its a huge oversight in the game and they didn't do a great job correcting in heart of stone #what with the whole most of the ofieri kidnap and try to kill geralt thing

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folkling · 8 months

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Windbrook Save 2.0 (In collaboration with @cowboycid and @bobnewbie)- Feat. a family by @oshinsimss

DISCLAIMER: While this is a CC free save file, it is pack and kit heavy. To give more context, this save utilizes ALL EPs, GPs, and SPs (except My First Pets) as well as ALL KITS (except Bust The Dust and Poolside Splash) While you may not own every pack or kit that I used, the save file is still playable. Everything missing will be substituted.

What's new in 2.0

Willow Creek has new homes, rentals, and one new retail lot

Newcrest has been built (restaurant, gym, retail, and generic lots)

Magnolia Promenade has been built, while somewhat finished, still needs work

Every lot that's finished (including commercial) and families have descriptions, stories, jobs, etcetera

New townies from @simsontherope and @cowplant-snacks

Families from @bobnewbie

A special family, The Westfalls made exclusively by @oshinsimss

Special collaboration with @cowboycid

Other worlds are still empty, I do plan on building new worlds

SCREENSHOTS AND MORE INFO BELOW

SPECIAL THANKS

First and foremost I want to thank my good good friend @cowboycid for collaborating with me on this project. I'm so happy we met when we did because I was starting to lose light. You inspired me to keep going, and for that I appreciate you DOWN. You're a real one sis, no tea. Hugs and kisses for ever. I also want to thank @bobnewbie for coming through with families. You don't understand just how life saving they were. I didn't get a chance to use all of them, and my original concept for the save fell through due to time constraints, but I'm thankful to have had access to the diverse array of families you made for the save. A huge thank you to @oshinsimss for taking the time to create a beautiful family, The Westfalls, exclusively for Windbrook 2.0, I love them so much. Also a big thank you to @cowplant-snacks and @simsontherope for their townies. Without them, the townies would just be... ugh, you know. So, thank you for having them available on the gallery. I also want to thank @anthonydaydreamer for just showing up for me through this whole process. Like, you just get it boo! Hugs and kisses! Finally a quick apology to those I intended on sending preview copies of the save. Time was not on my side near the end, things took more time than I thought. Honestly, I needed to get this project off my computer ASAP. I really hope you guys understand. Big hugs and kisses. Thank you everyone for all the kind words and support over these past few months, your words kept me going, even if I didn't feel I had anymore left to give. This save is a love letter to you all, the simblr community.

Thank you, honestly, truly.

*terrain replacement in screenshots by K-hippie, you don’t need it, it’s just for screenshots + updated download link to include The Westfalls made by @oshinsimss for Windbrook 2.0 - please find more info here*

*updated download as of 10/11/23*

Download (SIMFILESHARE)

TOU: Don't upload any part of this save to any platform without explicit permission, thank you.

#windbrook save file #ts4 save file #ts4 #sims 4 #the sims 4 #sims 4 save file #thesims4

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fatehbaz · 1 year

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A team of Indigenous Yucuna women in the Colombian Amazon are rescuing and documenting the remaining oral knowledge on bees and their roles in the ecosystem, along with the traditional classification system of diverse bee species. With the help of nine elders, they are documenting and sketching tales and songs to gather bee names, characteristics, behaviors, roles in their crop fields and the places where bees build beehives. [...]

Je’chu [...]. “He is [...] our grandfather,” narrates Carmenza Yucuna Rivas, leader of the Miriti-Parana Indigenous Reserve in Colombia, located in the Amazon Rainforest. [...] “Beehives [...] give us the opportunity to create chakras [food gardens typically using an agroforestry model with divers plant species] [...]. They let us have something to cultivate [...] in the first place.”

To rescue and document the remaining oral knowledge of the origin of bees in their culture and their importance to their ecosystems and territory, Carmenza is leading research about these species with 36 women from the 12 communities part of the Indigenous reserve. [...]

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Since the second half of 2020, Carmenza and her colleagues have been going to each of the communities and speaking to elders to gather information, such as tales and songs that talk of the origin of the bees. They also draw [...]. Each of them has taken the task of sketching the stories on paper to describe the insects.

Their aim is to classify the bees according to the cultural system of the Yucuna-Matapí, Tanimuca-Letuama, and Tuyuca-Macuna peoples, including their names, characteristics, and the places where they build the beehives.

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Carmenza describes one by one the most relevant bees in the territory. The munumunú are the Melipona, that is, the bees that produce honey; the mapa or mapachara are the ones that produce the wax that is used for healing and rituals; the mapakayuna are small and live next to the crops to guarantee their productivity; and the jiñuna “are a great species,” says Carmenza. They live in the Yavarí coconut trees on the river shore where they build huge yellow beehives. [...] Carmenza says that even with the research process and its results, the findings and daily learnings keep surprising them. [...]

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“We’ll take all this knowledge to schools so that teachers can share it with the kids and show them the tales, the drawings, and the classifications and talk about the value of bees in culture. But also, so that they know that bees aren’t beings without importance,” says Carmenza. “They care for us without realizing it. They, through the pollination of trees and flora, help the world breathe.”

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Headline, images, captions, and all text published by: Astrid Arellano, as translated by Maria Angeles Salazar. “Indigenous women record age-old knowledge of bees in Colombia’s Amazon.” Mongabay. 8 February 2023. [Originally published by Arellano as “El origen de las abejas: la importancia del conocimiento ancestral indígena para salvarlas en Colombia” at Mongabay’s Latam site on 12 August 2022.]

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alfs7 · 2 years

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#2021 #M #UNIABROAD #Choosing the best cities in Europe to study can be challenging. Europe offers not only many different cultures and weather #but also some of the most prestigious universities in the world. This makes it an attractive option for students #especially those with a specific goal. To assist you along the way with your research #this Article provides information about the best cities in Europe to study.#London #London is a global hub of knowledge and learning; Jam-packed with brilliant students from every culture on earth #the capital punches above its weight in the international rankings. It is by far the most culturally diverse place in Europe.#Academically the UK has a multitude of high-ranking universities and over 30 #000 courses on offer to choose from.#London is pure magic- From history and culture to fine food and exceedingly good times London has it all.#Paris #There’s no denying Paris is huge. People from all over the world flock to the aesthetic streets of Paris #making it a melting pot of cultures. As one of the most popular study-abroad destinations in Europe #Paris is home to many international students. It has many well-established programs making it not only a beautiful place to study but also #Brimming with priceless troves of art #decadent cuisine and rich history there are endless things to do here.#Barcelona #If you’re a person who believes in “good vibes #” Barcelona is full of them.#This coastal city has centuries-old universities as well as modern colleges offering a wide spectrum of educational institutions for you to #more than 1 #300 start-ups have already been established here.#Sunny blue skies #stylish Mediterranean vibe #and quirky architecture define Barcelona. It is one of the most popular destinations to study abroad #the hype is real – Barcelona is such a refreshing place to live and study.#Dublin

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saturngalore · 3 months

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afrofuturism🪐

☆ one ~ solange hair by darknightt (tsr warning) ☆ two ~ loretta hair by @simtric ☆ three ~ bahati braids by @sheabuttyr ☆ four ~ isonoe hair by octetsica ☆ five ~ binah braids by @sheabuttyr ☆ six ~ cornrows & curls hair by @leeleesims1 ☆ seven ~ indie hair by @sashima ☆ eight ~ loc petals by @shespeakssimlish ☆ nine ~ mnemosyne hair by octetsica ☆

mini dedication essay to black simmers and ts4 creators below! pls read if you have the chance! <3

this edit is a small homage to afrofuturism and the various unique black hairstyles (and especially the black creators of most of these hairs) that i have downloaded and admired over the years! some of these are old and some of these are new.

to me, afrofuturism means constantly honoring/reclaiming/challenging the past while constantly creating/dreaming of a better society/world/future. a society/world/future that embraces and empowers all of our differences, ingenuity, aspirations, and unique lived/cultural experiences. a society/world/future that does not limit us through the various systems of marginalization and oppression (racism, homophobia, transphobia, fatphobia, sexism, xenophobia, ableism, classism, colorism, etc.) that often affects how we, as black people, live today.

blackness is so diverse and intricate yet it's always been a struggle to find my culture within a game that's known for being so limiting, bland, and extremely eurocentric when it comes to hairstyles, clothing, food traditions/events, etc. black simmers have always had to figure out how to make this game more inclusive and make it resemble either more like how our ancestors lived, how our current lives are, or how we would want our lives (and even our children's lives) to look like in the future no matter how dystopian the real world look and feel now. fortunately, these hairs and their uniqueness bring a huge sense of culture and style to this game. they have always inspired me and made me feel extremely proud to a part of the lovely african diaspora (and the ever-growing black simmer community).

in a way, being a black simmer and cc creator usually means that we are often digitally creating our own worlds as afrofuturists to varying degrees (whether we know it or not) every time we open our game, make our sims, make houses, and/or make black cultural cc. also, now i know that cc making is not easy to do and is extremely time-consuming so this post is also just me giving all black cc creators especially those who create for free their well-deserved flowers! here are some other black cc creators who created cc that have greatly impacted my game since i first started playing sims 4: @/leeleesims1 @/simtric @/hi-land @/yuyulie @/sims4bradshaw @/ebonixsims @/xmiramira @/sheabuttyr @/qwertysims @/oplerims @/sleepingsims @/shespeakssimlish and so many more im forgetting probably (im too shy rn to tag ppl but i greatly appreciate y’all fr i hope y’all telepathically get this message somehow 😭).

last but not least, i am hoping that this inspires somebody to keep creating or start creating regardless of what they think their skill level is! somebody will absolutely fall in love with your work and/or your art/work will 100% change someone's game forever <333

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afeelgoodblog · 7 months

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The Best News of Last Week

🌍🌡️ - Climate Prophecy: The Forecast Is 100% Chance of 'Cool'

1. No cases of cancer caused by HPV in Norwegian 25-year olds, the first cohort to be mass vaccinated for HPV

Last year there were zero cases of cervical cancer in the population that was vaccinated in 2009 against the HPV virus, which can cause the cancer in women. The HPV virus is extremely common, basically everyone comes into contact with one version or another of the virus in their lifetime.

The vaccine was given to girls only out of an abundance of caution, they were the most likely to contract cancer from the viruses, and because there was limited supply.

2. ‘Every square inch is covered in life’: the ageing oil rigs that became marine oases

Built decades ago, California’s offshore oil platforms are home to a huge diversity of marine life. According to a 2014 study, the rigs were some of the most “productive” ocean habitats in the world, a term that refers to biomass – or number of fish and other creatures and how much space they take up – per unit area.

3. Vaccinations may have prevented almost 20 million COVID-19 deaths worldwide

Vaccinations estimated to have averted 19.8 million COVID-19 deaths worldwide in their first year, according to the latest Imperial modelling study.

In the first year of the vaccination programme, 19.8 million out of a potential 31.4 million COVID-19 deaths were prevented worldwide according to estimates based on excess deaths from 185 countries and territories.

4. Global climate policy forecast predicts ‘well below 2°C’ Paris Agreement climate goals will be met

They report only a 10% probability we exceed 2°C by 2050. Temperatures are expected to peak between 1.7°C and 1.8°C, which is consistent with the “well below 2°C” objective of the Paris Agreement in Art. 2.1c.

5. Young driver fatality rates have fallen sharply in the US, helped by education, technology

Crash and fatality rates among drivers under 21 have fallen dramatically in the U.S. during the past 20 years.

Using data from 2002-2021, the report says that fatal crashes involving a young driver fell by 38%, while deaths of young drivers dropped even more, by about 45%.

6. A Virginia woman was feeling sad. Her doctor prescribed her a cat.

7. Remote workers report saving $5,000 to $10,000 a year

What value would American workers place on the privilege to work from home?

In a 2022 survey by FlexJobs, 45% of remote workers reported saving at least $5,000 a year. One in 5 reported saving $10,000 a year. The savings average out to about $6,000 a year. The poll reached 4,000 workers in July and August of last year.

Three years into the remote-work revolution, research increasingly suggests that telework is a commodity, a job descriptor worth thousands of dollars in potential savings and improved quality of life.

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That's it for this week :)

This newsletter will always be free. If you liked this post you can support me with a small kofi donation here:

Buy me a coffee ❤️

Also don’t forget to reblog this post with your friends.

#best news of last week

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headspace-hotel · 8 months

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There's a plentiful supply of nature and ecology writers that criticize "Anthropocentrism" and tell readers that we shouldn't consider ourselves more important than other life forms, and then they write things that are like "We evolved to live in Nature in a Natural environment...Long ago humans lived as hunter-gatherers instead of farming and domesticating animals...But when civilization was created, man unnaturally subjugated and modified plants and animals...Bringing them under human control for his own benefit...Man replaces natural ecosystems with artificially created "post-natural" environments...Now humans live in an unnatural environment that is separated from Nature...and i'm like buddy. do you even hear yourself

Since I have access to a bigger library now, I've explored "deep ecology" and "green anarchism" and "Biocentrism" a bit more and what i've seen is still kinda silly. The writers have very thoughtful theory and philosophy of diverse subjects relating to morality, society, power, and liberation, but...they just don't know very much about Nature.

I mean several things by that: first, they're not clear on the boring, practical details of things like food systems and the way construction alters ecosystems, second, they don't try to clearly define what "nature" is, and third, they act like "nature" has a clear definition anyway.

Now nature is pretty much undefinable anyway, a couple possible definitions are "all things that exist, have existed, or are possible in the universe" and "the thing that a forest has that a parking lot doesn't." You can say "biodiversity," but every space has biodiversity, and it's not clear how much biodiversity a space is "supposed" to have, we're just going on vibes. And the vibes are right, in a way; I visited an old-growth forest and it was DIFFERENT than any place i'd ever been in a way that is hard to describe. A flourishing, biodiverse ecosystem is different than a parking lot, a lawn, a monoculture field of corn. They say it's good for your health to be "in nature." What does that mean? At what point does a place become "nature?" How many trees does it have to have?

Something that is so painful to me is when people write "Human activities" as a cause of biodiversity loss. This is an act of cowardice. WHICH human activities? Name them.

A lot of nature and ecology writings treat humans like they have an anti-biodiversity force field that emanates from them. They write like lands on Earth are each contested between two inversely proportional forces, "Nature" and "Humans."

Without any more information, this is ethereal bullshit on par with crystals having energies. I am totally perplexed at the lack of curiosity about the specific causes and details of "human impacts." The division of habitats by so many roads and relentless speeding of cars with no way for wildlife to cross...the dumping of massive amounts of poison into soils and water...the wounding and disturbance of topsoil...these are the "human activities," but we can imagine a world without such destruction, and we can create that world.

Too many essays and papers talking about Nature non-specifically, an Idea of Nature, a Concept that everyone just intuitively knows. Nature is...you know...wildness! and trees! and...well, you know, NATURE!

And we do know! When we step out into the parking lot surrounded by low, squarish buildings and blaring signs and the stink of car exhaust, we know that something is very wrong with this place! Even we find these horrible un-places harsh and unwelcoming.

But it is very hard to imagine something different, because the other type of place, the place that is beautiful and soothes the spirit and is full of life, is by definition the place where humans only go to visit, the complete opposite and inverse of a place where humans work and live! Wherever humans live, shop, eat, fulfill their daily needs, that place is Not Nature.

The huge mistake, is that we believe that it is necessary to have places that are Not Nature. We believe that for humans to exist, areas must be set aside where the very concept of Nature is utterly obliterated.

From this imaginary and dismal point of view, we have to carefully confine our own lives to places that are utterly poisoned, sterilized, made into a hostile wasteland, and leave all the rest of the living biosphere to itself in pristine preserves.

And in this imaginary and dismal point of view, the one that divides Earth into Nature and Humans, it is okay to poison and to sterilize and to destroy, because humans must live SOMEWHERE, therefore Nature must be utterly excluded from at least SOME of Earth.

BUT...WHAT IF EVERYWHERE IS NATURE? What if the dandelions in the cracks of the pavement, the lichens growing on the park bench, the wildflowers on the side of the road, the sparrows in the parking lot—what if they are all Nature just as much as anything else? What if they too are sacred? What if it is our responsibility to see the connectedness of all life and to care for all ecosystems, however broken and hurt they may be?

What if Nature is not distant and abstract, untouched in some pristine place, but always reaching out, digging into the crumbled concrete and gravel and compacted ground, clawing to return to us and bring us back home?

It does not take away from the value of the old-growth forest or the unplowed prairie if we open our eyes and see even the scraggliest patch of overgrown weeds for the powerful manifestation of Nature it truly is.

Nature is not a place or a thing. Nature is the Movement, the Endless Happening, constantly alive throughout all life, the way of all things being family, the way of all things taking care of each other, the way of all life being constantly transformed through one another. You breathe the breath of the trees of your home, you drink the water of the streams of your home, you eat the sunlight that falls on your home, grown in the soil where all things go to be transformed through death into a new form of life, fed by the mycorrhizal network, pollinated by the bees, wasps, flies, and moths, nourished by the bone, blood and manure of beasts, and ultimately the fertile river valleys where agriculture first began, were replenished by the rich silt that washed down the river, which came from the forests in the mountains that shed their leaves to make a feast for a million decomposing critters, which is how the rich soil is made.

In this way they all take care of you, and in return you are asked to Live—to take care of them in return, to live as part of the great family of everything alive, to live, to live

What are human activities...? Deforestation? Mining? Spraying pesticides? Building housing developments? But is that all? Are we inherently a "bad" and "destructive" species, or is our ability to acquire and pass down knowledge, use tools and novel behaviors, alter our surroundings, shape ecosystems, adapt our lifestyles almost infinitely, and persist in almost any environment, simply incredibly powerful for good or for evil?

First of all, what better way to demonstrate a contrast to anthropocentrism...than to compare the impact of humans alone to the impact of an ENTIRE KINGDOM OF LIFE, the fungi????? Of course all of Fungi are more important than one single species??? Wtf?!?!?

But also, we should not convince ourselves of our own insignificance and worthlessness to the biosphere, because in the same way that individual self-loathing can be a way to avoid the hard work of loving oneself and advocating for the love one deserves, collective self-loathing as a species is a way of avoiding the responsibility we have to other life forms.

How can this author not think of a single role Humans play in the ecosystem?? What species plants trees, saves seeds, documents rare plants, rescues injured animals and heals them, raises orphaned chicks, manages controlled burns, digs ponds, thoughtfully harvests in anticipation of future seasons, mercifully culls in understanding of suffering that cannot be fixed? What species writes a new chapter in the genome of the American Chestnut so it can be saved from extinction? What species mends the broken kakapo egg with sticky tape? What species addresses their own habitat with that fondest name of Home?

#nature #we are a keystone species #you are a caretaker #humans

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deadwasteland-dazaisfan · 4 months

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₊˚⊹ᰔ Valentine's day! ˖ ࣪ . ࿐ ♡ ˚ .

𐙚Synopsis: Valentine's day special!; 𐙚Pairing: fem!reader×dazai osamu&chuuya nakahara (separately) 𐙚Contain: headcanons, drabbles (?), sfw+nsfw, comfort, MDNI, hint of sex, rough sex, gentle sex, stimulation, oral sex, fingering, aftercare; 𐙚Author's note: (died after what is written above💀)... I tried to write this, but I don't know how well I did it. So... Once again, happy Valentine's Day to everyone! I'm a little late with this (っ- ‸ - ς)

DAZAI

•THIS MAN ADORES YOU

•Considering that in the past he had a great, great experience of various communication (and obviously not only) with girls, you are the luckiest in the world (or maybe not ...)

•Dazai is a man of different moods. You never know what will come over him at the most random moment. You even jokingly call him "Mr. Mystery," and he takes it as a compliment.

•He ALWAYS gives you gifts. Regardless of the situation. Regardless of whether it's a holiday today or not. Regardless OF WHETHER HE EVEN HAS MONEY (bruh, we all know that he has it; a former member of the Port Mafia without money? nope)

•His presents on ordinary days can be very diverse. But on holidays, he takes a particularly responsible approach to choosing gifts.

•Valentine's Day? RUN. HE WON'T LET YOU GO ALL DAY.

•He belongs to the type of men who like to do everything for show. HE BREAKS INTO THE AGENCY AND GRABS YOU, HUGGING YOU LIKE A PLUSH TOY

•You literally have to HIDE MONEY FROM HIM so that he doesn't buy up ALL THE FLOWERS IN THIS CITY.

•But it still doesn't help; HE STILL COMES WITH A HUGE BOUQUET, SMIRKING SMUGLY

•Usually he gives you white lilies, sometimes he can afford to buy roses or chrysanthemumsIn addition to flowers, you receive from him a gentle kiss on the cheek / forehead and a box of interesting sweets that you have never tasted

•Able to stay at home on holidays when you go to work. AND ALL JUST SO THAT IN A COUPLE OF HOURS HE COULD SPECTACULARLY APPEAR ON THE DOORSTEP OF THE AGENCY AND GIVE YOU A GIFT

•At such moments, he comes in a fashionable suit for a spectacular appearance

•You're always embarrassed, but he doesn't seem to care at all; JUST HAVE TIME TO ASK HIM NOT TO KISS YOU IN FRONT OF OTHERS, OH, HE'LL DO IT (just an idiot, what kind of man...)

•On February 14th, he congratulates you in the morning; if he is not a lazy ass, he can cook you a delicious breakfast, for example, toast, inside of which a heart is neatly cut out and fried eggs are filled it

•He tries to do everything for you as on ordinary days, and on this holiday (he just becomes even more clingy and cute)

•He will be too lazy to make you a valentine, but since everyone knows that you are a couple, everyone will congratulate you on the holiday, and Osamu will just (as mentioned earlier) give you a bouquet of flowers and sweets.

NSFW

•TURNS INTO A PERVERT AT 0:00 (okay, he always was and always will be)

•He will definitely go to the lingerie store, choose the most DEPRAVED UNDERWEAR (it will be open lace or something that will cover only the crotch and nipples)

•He'll give it to you in the evening

•No matter how embarrassed you are, trust me, he'll find a way to get you to wear it.

•When you find yourself in this depraved outfit, he will admire you for a long time until he finally breaks down

•There are two options for the outcome of events: HE WILL FUCK YOU OFF SO THAT YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO WALK FOR SEVERAL DAYS (not funny, it really is)

•Or it will be too, too gentle, will make everything carefully and too pleasant for you

•It all depends on his mood and the degree of excitement! Well, or for how many days have you refused his requests

•Anyway, in the end, he'll clean everything up, put you to bed, and fall asleep with you, cuddling you against him.

CHUUYA

•Loves and protects you like a diamond

•Grateful to you for everything, especially for being with him despite his dangerous work

•Does everything for you, just like for his favorite doll and princess

•He'll start congratulating you in the morning

•If it's a day off, you go to a nice restaurant where he will order you the most delicious dishes, a glass of wine and a dessert in the shape of a heart

•If it's a working day, he'll apologize for being busy and try to make you breakfast. If he doesn't make it, he'll at least order you something.

•GIVES YOU A LOT OF FLOWERS

•I SWEAR THESE ARE THE BIGGEST BOUQUETS IN ALL OF YOKOHAMA.

•These can be either burgundy, blood roses, or the most delicate and light flowers

•In addition, he will either leave you his credit card with a lot of money so that you can buy everything you want, or he will go shopping with you; If you can't go yourself, he will definitely find out what you want and buy it himself

•You like different shoes (almost all your shoes are heels)

•Therefore,he never skimp on buying you another pair (the HUNDREDTH PAIR)

•He even bought you a separate closet for your shoes.

•He's definitely not giving CHEAP shoes.

•They all cost as much as the agency's budget; on Valentine's Day he will give you something in this style; hearts and red!

•He will buy your favorite wine or open something from his collection

•At work, during a break, he will try to make you an origami heart, something like a valentine

•He'll leave work early to spend more time with you

NSFW

•GET READY.

•He'll kiss every inch of your body

•He will leave bites and hickeys on your neck, thighs, chest, even your stomach

•He'll really enjoy your moans

•He'll be very gentle, unless you ask him to be rude.

•He will do everything slowly and carefully, as if he is afraid that he might harm you.

•You're like a fragile doll in his arms.

•Passionate, sensual kisses are provided for you

•He knows how to please you, so he will use his tongue and fingers

•He will torment you slowly, pressing you against his back, while he gently massages your clit, listening to you whimper

•He enjoys the feeling of you trembling from his touch

•He will tease you and push you to the limit, and then stop abruptly; but it won't last long, and he will give you your sweet release

•Will make you cum first from his fingers and then from his tongue

•He will make sure that he has prepared you well by slowly inserting and removing two fingers from your wet hole

•He'll fuck you very gently

•If you don't ask him for anything, then yes; but if you ask him to be rougher, he will squeeze you into the mattress, face into the pillow, when he fucks you hellishly fast

•After any option, he will do everything necessary for you and him, and then you will fall asleep in an embrace

______________________________________

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xoxoemynn · 5 months

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I know it shouldn't surprise me, but it's frustrating af to step outside the fandom and read about OFMD's cancellation on more general entertainment sites and see the majority of reactions be along the lines of "oh well it was probably Taika being over it, he always gave me the ick anyway so, whatever," and then often devolving into comments about his personal life, or conspiracy theories that can be disproven if you use your brains for 30 seconds or maybe step outside and touch grass idk idk.

And this isn't me saying "omg how could you dislike Taika" bc truly unless you're being racist or antisemitic (which, let's be real, many are), I don't give a fuck what you think about him.

But the point remains that if you have a show that is all about celebrating queer joy and finding yourself later in life, that has a diverse cast of characters in terms of race, ethnicity, sexuality, and body type, that was WRITTEN by a diverse group of writers, that is receiving praise from critics and fans alike, that from all reports was one of Max's most successful shows despite them doing next to no promotion the first season, that had two successful seasons and the creator is on the record saying he had a plan to tell the entire story in three, and it gets CANCELED.

I don't give a fuck how you feel about Taika, or how you feel about OFMD. You SHOULD be concerned about that. Because your show is next.

And before you come at me with "it's just a show, have you seen what's happening in the world?" Yeah. I fucking have. And the arts matter. They have always mattered. It's how we've shared stories and fostered communities and passed down what's important to us as a society. And they've brought us joy. And I don't know about you, but I think we could all do with a fuckton more joy in our lives.

This is absolutely a huge loss, and unfortunately it's not going to be the last as streaming services continue to go deeper in crisis. If that doesn't concern you, idk, go enjoy yourself watching season 47 of The Bachelor.

#also truly if you're going to come on here and immediately start spouting the very nonsense I described above #kindly get fucked #and then do something productive with your life like calling your representatives or donating or going to a protest #you being a dick to people who are upset isn't going to do anything #your smug self-righteousness isn't going to save the world #the world sucks and people should be allowed to experience joy by watching a show where they feel represented #and anyway if you try it on this post or in my inbox I won't be engaging I'll just be blocking #so you're wasting both of our times #byeeeee!!!#ofmd

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jackoshadows · 3 months

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It's so confusing and weird that Bridgerton introduced in world racism both with Lady D and Simon in season one of the show and in Queen Charlotte and at the same time they also want the audience to accept that somehow Marina Thompson or the dark skinned Indian Kate Sharma has more privilege and power than Penelope Featherington?

Kate Sharma was also poor, so much more than the Featheringtons. She depended on Lady D to host them. The Sharmas were looked down on by the ton because Mary Sheffield married an Indian. The Sharmas were disowned and ostracized by the Sheffields.

Kate was also an unmarried spinster. No one was asking Kate to dance. As much as Kate wanted love and romance and to dance at a ball wearing pretty dresses, she got none of that. She was also the woman on the sidelines watching as others danced and fell in love.

Racism and colorism is also very much a thing in eurocentric notions of beauty considering the setting and characters of Bridgerton is 99% white.

We got so little of Kate's backstory, of who her parents where - we didn't even get their names!! - of the trauma (explained for both Simon and Anthony using flashbacks) that had Kate overlooking her own happiness for that of her sister.

Despite bragging nonstop about the diversity of Bridgerton the showrunners thought that the white Featheringtons needed more screentime in season 2 rather than the South Asian family.

And Kate was planning on going back to India and work as a governess to pay for her livelihood. Because, you know, there's more honest ways of being a 'working woman' than running the equivalent of the regency 'Daily Mail' dragging other women down. The modiste Madame Delacroix, Kate planning to teach and Sienna in season one are all working to pay a living. Black, brown and lower class women looking to alleviate poverty.

And considering how much harder Kate already had it as an outsider in the ton, it wouldn't have been easy with Penelope using her gossip rag to describe the unmarried Indian woman as ' a Spinster of a beast'. What did Kate do to Penelope to warrant this? Nothing. Just a way for Penelope to make money at Kate's expense.

That's the thing I dislike the most about the way the character of Penelope is written on the show - her victims don't deserve her vitriol and are often in much worse circumstances than her. From Kate Sharma to the unnamed seamstress who apparently lost all her customers because Penelope wrote falsely about their work in the her tabloid as a bribe for Madam Delacroix.

And I think that's what I find problematic about the writing of the show and even the discourse surrounding it - when characters like Marina Thompson (the poor black cousin who would have ended up destitute on the streets because of Penelope) and Kate Sharma arguably have it far worse than Penelope Featherington as per the show's writing and yet we are supposed to have the most sympathy for Penelope because her crush Colin didn't love her back and she's a curvy white woman?

I guess that's the difference between how I perceive this world and these characters as a woc and the majority white female audience for this show and it's such a huge disconnect for me. I guess this is also partly because the show has this badly written and 'strangely toothless racism' as Ash Sarkar beautifully put it. As in the racism is treated in this world as a little problem solved by handing out a few titles to black people instead of being a white supremacist ideology which treated black and brown people as inferior, serfs and slaves.

From what little we got from season 2, Kate Sharma definitely did not have it easy navigating the ton as a poor outsider and that certainly contributed to her poor choices. She is also put through the wringer, treated like the other woman, is miserable for several episodes, had to apologize again and again and nearly die before Edwina forgives her!

In contrast Penelope's actions have hurt so many and yet she gets a pass by both the show and a fandom that wants Colin to grovel before her because of a single offhand remark and because he didn't return her affections.

Also making it clear here that I am not comparing Penelope to the male characters who always get the better writing, flaws and all. I am comparing Penelope to the female characters of colour - Kate Sharma and Marina Thompson.

I mean, Marina Thompson gets so much vitriolic and sexist hatred for not having told Colin Bridgerton the truth of her pregnancy. How dare Marina hurt this privileged white man Colin Bridgerton. When she was desperate to not end up destitute on the streets or get raped by old white men. And yet Penelope gets a pass for hurting women like Marina and Kate.

It continues a trend of white female characters never being held to the same standard as female characters of colour. Daphne sexually assaults Simon in season one and that was not even addressed on the show. Male rape is apparently no big deal because Daphne wanting children is what's important. It's Simon who has to apologize and within one episode resolve his trauma and accept being a father. This is despite both Daphne and Penelope having more screentime and more writing that builds their character unlike the stick thin writing given to Kate Sharma in season 2.

So yeah, I will be checking into season 3 to watch the ten minutes we get with Kate Sharma since we got so little of her in her own season and it's so singular to get dark skinned south Indian characters in a period drama romance like this. It's just the way the writing on the show, the production and even the fandom treats it's characters, especially characters of colour has been disappointing to say the least.

#Bridgerton #Kate Sharma #Marina Thompson #female characters in Bridgerton #writing #fandom discourse

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