#also more money for us means more money we can donate to folks who need it

[yourheartinyourmouth]

oh my gods y’all send best vibes possible

husbeast has a friend who thinks he can get husbeast a WFH job on his team making 60-65K or at least re-vamp his résumé and cover letter and help him find work in a similar role/salary and also maybe me too

please Hermes my man i need you now more than ever

[barabones]

I forget exactly where I saw the initial post asking for volunteers, but on July 10th, I reached out to the listed email. Jane, the organizer, got back to me right away and within an hour I was added in their discord.

Up until this point, I had been maintaining an average 8 ESims myself, so I already had experience checking in on them on a daily basis. The folks there helped me onboard with the spreadsheets for keeping track, and now it's very easy for me to catalog new ones I buy and record daily data usage. The whole process takes me maybe 20-40 minutes a day depending now on how many ESims actually need to be topped off.

Jane has been very up front with lots of the group's information, with frequent announcements about the groups current funds and amounts of daily ESims sent out. She and the others have been super helpful with getting funds to us when needed, and I've almost never had to actually spend any of my own money for any of this.

In the time that I've been volunteering, they figured out how to run a Business account with the Nomad ESim company. Which means that now and then they can just send 15 or so ESims my way, and I just catalog them and send the QRcodes towards Mirna and the Connecting Gaza folks. No more wasting time with the purchasing process, while getting a bit of a bulk discount on top of that.

We also share updates on whatever brand of ESims are most needed. When folks on the ground tell us that one network doesn't seem reliable, we are able to switch over for a while until either the networking issue is fixed, or we all pressure customer service enough to replace them for us.

There's also lots of complaining about new UI updates an general website bugs. There's surprisingly a lot of them and it's good to know other folks are getting info from customer service when things go wrong.

In August they made a meme channel

Anyways....

Lets get into some stats for myself. In 2 months (July 10- Sept12) I have:

Send off 171 ESims

Maintained around 60 active ones

Topped up these active ESims 139 times

Spend over $6400 donated dollars

I have multiple power users who have burned through close to 100GB. 2 of them have broken 200GB. These are most likely being used as hot spots.

Why am I sharing all of this? Mostly to show how easy it has been to make a marginal difference. I have helped at least 60 people stay connected with the outside world in just 2 months. Probably more if we assume some of the power users becoming hotspots for other folks. This is 20-40 minutes of my time a day, and I honestly regret not signing up to do this sooner.

I was specifically limiting myself to this workload because I wanted to test the waters. Those stats was me specifically not wanting to push myself and see what impact a normal person could make with 20 minutes a day. At this point I think I will be taking more advantage of Nomad's Tuesday discounts to really bulk up my numbers. It's pretty easy to buy 15 or so every Tuesday, and then send em over.

If you would like to join us in this endeavor, please reach out to Jane at cripsforesimsforgaza(at)gmail

We are specifically looking for people in European time zones, since a lot of us are in the Americas and that's quite a difference between us and Gaza. If not, that's no problem!

If you can't participate, that's totally fine, but please donate what you can! Folks like you are the ones who keep us going!

I hope this information has been useful in some way. Like I said, I wish I had heard about this group sooner, with how easy it has been to do. I can track my direct impact of what my daily time is doing for folks, and seeing the data be used up a little bit more day by day gives me hope for everyone in Gaza. Thank you for your time.

[faelapis]

Don't Vote in Eurovision.

the 2nd semi is about to happen. israel is competing. i want to start by acknowledging something: i hope my fellow eurovision boycotters, protesters and general #BanIsraelfromEurovision people know it's not like. impossible for israel to win this year.

at eurovision, you only need a minority of televote to "win" televote, when there are 26 entries in the final. nobody wins with outright majority, they win by being the biggest minority.

if there's 10% dedicated zionist viewers who will vote for israel just because it's israel, that probably outweighs the points that a lot of other countries will get. if you divide 100/26, you get an average of 3.8%. if there's 10% dedicated zionists, i hope you see how that's suddenly a HUGE percentage. (of course, eurovision votes are not even. some songs get 0.2% of a country's vote, some songs get 20%. but the point stands. you don't need majority support to win.)

yes, this means that, theoretically, a country that supports palestine 90% could still give israel televote points - because of the united 10% voting for israel, while the 90% votes divided among the other entries. and you can't vote against songs in televote.

i side with the bookies that it's not LIKELY. we are very unlikely to see "ukraine 2022" level televote numbers for israel. europeans are much more divided on the apartheid colonial state. and many will vote just for "whichever song they like best."

i'm only saying that, IF israel were to get a huge televote score, it doesn't mean the "majority" of europe supports them. quite the opposite. it just means you can't vote against entries. you can be deeply unpopular and win.

i'm also saying this because, in the likely event that israel gets at least top 10, please dont let the zionists spread it as "proof" that europe is behind them. their apartheid colonial regime is bleeding support every day. most pro-palestine folks are boycotting.

this is a silly song contest. do not feel hopeless because of it.

instead, focus your attention on helping palestine and boycotting the contest. do NOT vote. that's giving the EBU money, which is a zionist organization willing to disgrace the contest to let israel use it as a propaganda platform. they don't deserve your money.

boycott eurovision. no watching, no voting.

donate to the world central kitchen, whose aid workers were murdered by israel while attempting to help palestinians.

[vetted-gaza-funds]

hey i'm not sure who to go to for this, but do you have resources on vetting a specific gofundme? most of the "vetted" ones i see on here just link to a tumblr post as "proof." my friend is trying to convince me to donate thousands to a gofundme that has a "deadline" of overnight, to me it seems scammy. i thought people in gaza can't access money immediately? can't find any other info about the fund online.

tl;dr below

Re: how to check up on a specific fundraiser, a lot of organizations running verification efforts will keep a spreadsheet of fundraisers that you can search by name, campaign title, social media handles, etc. That’s what I do when checking campaigns that are new on tumblr, since sometimes they were verified by OOB or another org before making a blog here. You can check my pinned post for some links. You can also find websites and/or social media accounts for some of the verification efforts that will explain who they are and how they verify people.

The ones linking to tumblr posts as proof are doing so because certain users are known to be Palestinian Arabic speakers who are personally vetting fundraisers. el-shab-hussein, nabulsi, or 90-ghost vouching for a fundraiser means that they have spoken personally to the organizer, seen ID documents, cross checked socials/phone numbers, sometimes even called them on the phone in real time and heard the war planes overhead. Hussein and Nairuz keep a spreadsheet as well that is also linked in my pinned post. It’s the source for most verifications on this blog.

All I can say is that you’ll just have to read what you can about the person or organization who did the vetting and use your own judgment. That’s all the vetters are asking folks to do. If this is a fundraiser where you can’t seem to find a verification source at all, dm me at palms-upturned and I’ll try to see what I can find quickly since the deadline is so urgent.

Re: the deadline, off the top of my head I don’t know of a fund with an overnight/today deadline, but I have seen a lot of funds with multiple deadlines. Needing to raise x amount of money to evacuate a member of the family who is in most urgent need, needing to raise a certain amount by a certain day in order to ensure that an evacuating child can be accompanied by an adult family member, needing to meet the goal by a certain day to make sure that the whole family isn’t separated, or in Bilal’s case recently, because he was raising funds from Germany on a visa which was not renewed simply because he is Palestinian, and needed to meet the goal before potentially being deported to Palestine, where he would no longer be able to raise funds. It’s not necessarily unusual for people to set a very sudden deadline or even multiple ones. Emergencies are constantly happening and the banks and travel agencies are also trying to squeeze as much money out of people as possible.

When people set these deadlines and goal amounts, they are also trying to take into account things like how long it will take to access the funds and how much of a cut will be taken by all the third parties down the line. Honestly, if there’s something that needs clarifying, you can usually just talk to people. Ask the organizer or one of the users who have been keeping in touch with them and promoting the fundraiser with updates. These folks are trying to be as transparent as possible and stay connected with anyone who can help them. They’re not going to dodge your questions. And they can explain best what sort of time/money constraints apply to them specifically. It differs depending on the banking situation, number/age of family members, offers and/or ultimatums from the travel agency, etc.

But the truth is that you and me both don’t have the know-how to verify this sort of thing ourselves any more than we could verify whether or not someone has cancer or is living on the streets or any number of reasons people launch fundraisers. Any time you donate to a cause like this, you’re putting some amount of trust in the organizer, the platform, and the people promoting the fund. But never in my life have I donated to a crowdfund that has been put through such intense scrutiny and as many layers of verification as Gaza fundraisers right now. Platforms like GFM are requiring constant updates about every penny spent of raised funds, and it still doesn’t guarantee that people’s verified fundraisers won’t be nuked and refunded without any real explanation to anyone involved. I’ve had I think five or six donations to various fundraisers refunded back to me at this point when I didn’t even want a refund. Zionists are mass reporting Gaza funds and smearing both the families and the people who are verifying and promoting them. Scammers pretending to be Gazan are not going to have a remotely easy time of it. Things are engineered to be as difficult as possible for people actually in Gaza.

tl;dr— if you need help with finding an actual source of verification, since this seems to be an emergency, dm me at palms-upturned for assistance. Obviously can’t say if this campaign is legit without knowing which one it is. Otherwise, you can check my pinned post for a list of orgs/spreadsheets/master lists of verified campaigns that you can cross reference. If you need more info on who’s doing the vetting and how, find the website and/or socmed page for the person or organization. You can also usually ask organizers/the people helping promote their campaigns directly for clarification on anything that’s confusing. But considering the harsh discrimination against Palestinians on crowdfunding platforms like GFM and PayPal, and the extra scrutiny their fundraisers are subjected to, you’re at a pretty low risk of being scammed most of the time. Sudden deadlines aren’t uncommon because emergencies are happening every day and the banks and travel agencies are squeezing as much money as possible out of people.

[esoteric-chaos]

Lughnasadh Masterpost - Spoonie Witch Friendly

Lughnasadh, this holiday typically lands on August 1st in the Northern Hemisphere (February 1st in the Southern Hemisphere). 

Lughnasadh celebrates the arrival of the late summer season and the abundance of the first harvest.

Usually it a harvest of grain and corn, but in other areas it’s a fruit and vegetables for harvest. You’ll see the days begin to shorten from here.

This is a holiday that is more easy to feel disconnect from as most aren’t out there Stardew Valley style on their grandfathers farm. We either have a small garden of our own or everything is store bought. Or those who are gluten intolerant they also may find it harder to connect.

Celebrating and honoring the harvest is important. Even if we are not personally gardening we are offering thanks for natures prosperity in keeping us fed and healthy with each bountiful harvest.

But after this correspondence list I will give you a list of ideas of how everyone can celebrate.

Correspondences

Colours

Yellow

Orange

Gold

Green

Light Brown

Dark Purple

Tan

Herbal

Rosemary

Cinnamon

Mint

Basil

Garlic

Flowers

Sunflowers

Marigolds

Hydrangeas

Daisy

Dahlia

Zinnias

Yarrow

Roses

Honeysuckle

Oaktree

Apple tree

Edibles

(Anything within season)

Wheat, grains, bread

Corn

Apples

Berries

Peaches

Pears

Squash & zucchini

Tomatoes

Mead

Animals

Calves

Crow 

Pig 

Rooster

Salmon

Eagle

Lion

Squirrel

Stag

Lamb/ Sheep

Crystals

Citrine

Quartz

Amber

Malachite

Carnelian

Aventurine

Garnet

Tiger’s Eye

Metals

Symbols

The Sun

Wine & mead

Pentagram

Sunflowers

Corn

Wheat

Berries

Spiritual meanings & intentions

Prosperity

Success 

Gathering, harvesting

Giving, donating, sharing, charity

Thankful & grateful

Ancestors & heritage

Offerings

Blessings

The folk

Health

Career

Scents

Rose

Apple

Lavender

Cinnamon

Mint

Frankincense

Sandalwood

Coconut

Patchouli

Gods / Goddesses / Spirits

Demeter – (Greek)

Ceres – (Roman)

Isis – (Egyptian)

Luna – (Roman)

Dana – (Celtic)

Tailtiu – (Celtic) 

Cerridwen – (Celtic)

Parvati (Hindu)

Pomona (Roman)

Lugh – (Celtic)

Taranis – (Celtic)

Adonis (Assyrian/Greek)

Attis (Phrygian)

Mercury (Roman)

Osiris (Egyptian)

And many other harvest Gods/Goddesses

Need some suggestions to celebrate? I got you covered.

High energy celebrations

Abundance rituals

Visit a harvest festival

Harvest your garden

Bake bread

Baking pastries

Make jam or preserves 

Visit a farmer’s market

Create a large meal for the folk

Deity offerings

Create a money bowl (try rice in it just trust me)

Low energy celebrations

Healing bath ritual

Light a candle in honor

Prayer to Gods/Goddesses

Journal

Eat some fresh vegetables 

No spoons celebrations

Create a digital manifestation board (Try Pinterest) 

Eating fall themed pastries

Drinking apple juice or cider

Thank the harvest when you are able to fuel your body for taking care of you

Remember that it’s okay if you cant do much while you are unwell. That you come first and you simply existing is a blessing.

How you celebrate the holiday does not matter. You can choose to do any activity that feels right. These are only suggestions and remember that you're enough no matter what.

[lokavisi]

Alrighty, folks. We're re-sharing fundraising links again because I keep get various advice on how to best go about this. So let's fucking go.

Ok. So. For anyone that's not in the loop already: my beautiful darling wife is undergoing bottom surgery this November (2024). She has been absolutely blessed to be able to pay for the surgery itself. However, the recovery period for this surgery is 3 months long, which means she will not be working for 3 whole months. That's 3 months without her income. My personal employment situation is in a perpetual state of flux and confusion, so I can't guarantee that I'll be able to provide for us during that time. (Even if I did find more stable employment before then, I would most likely need to take the better part of the first month of recovery off so that I can help her. Which is also not helpful in regards to income.) We're not making enough right now to be able to save up money for her recovery period on our own, so here I am asking for help. We are hoping to meet our $4000 goal by the beginning of November so we know exactly what we're working with as we head into the recovery period. (This gives us about $1300/month which is the bare minimum we need to get by right now.)

I have two places you can go to help us out: our GoFundMe and my Ko-fi. In both places I am offering readings for donations, but there are some difference, which may be useful to keep in mind when donating and/or sharing the links around. I'll include that information below the line. Either way, all of the money is going towards our savings for her bottom surgery recovery. If everyone donates $1 and gets one other person to do the same and keep that chain going, I'm hopeful that we'll meet our goal. We appreciate whatever support you are able to give, even if it's just sharing the links around. Thank you. <3

- The GoFundMe is much more "generic" in appearance and good for sharing with folks who aren't necessarily into divination kind of things. There is a link on the page to fill out a Google Form specifically for rune readings if you'd like to donate here and still receive a reading. -The Ko-Fi has the readings much more on display, but still has the option for just simple donations and also has the goal number on display. I also offer oracle card and tarot readings here, in addition to runes, because it is easier to organize and take requests for readings on this platform. This is obviously better for sharing with folks you know are interested in readings.

On both pages just $1 gets you a single rune/card draw, so you can get a reading no matter how much you give!

[intersectionalpraxis]

i want to do everything i can to support palestine, but im unable to give money (im a minor and my parents refuse to get me a credit/debit card). i do my daily clicks on arab.org and spread information, but is there anything else i can do? sorry, i know its not your job to educate me, im just struggling to find anything i dont need a card to do

Hi! Thank you for reaching out! This is a post I stumbled upon a while ago below and I still reference here for those who haven't seen it. I'm not sure how young you are, but I just wanted to state this before you read this list of ways we can support -that no one is going to fault you for not being able to do everything. There are many things we can do that can cause a positive impact -especially boycotting, joining local actions if they are accessible to us, boosting reliable gofundme and donation links here, and staying informed/educated -they are all equally important as well.

There are also a lot of people who are still very apathetic and frustratingly so -do not care, so please know that everything you're doing -especially by not turning away from what is happening in Palestine and being silent on what is going on, and instead are looking for ways to make change -matters a lot.

I'm always here for questions, so I don't mind sharing resources and educational sources. I am also by no means perfect or an expert on everything -which is why I will reference platforms/pages of folks when I am talking about various interconnecting issues, systemically so, because that is their lived experience, not mine, and I do no speak on behalf of them.

On that note, (for people who are interested in learning more about Palestine), please do not ask any Palestinian person to 'explain' the systemic oppression they face. There are lots of resources online, and I have shared many -palipunk has a master list on their page for folks interested in starting to learn; Let's Talk Palestine on Instagram has mountains of educational posts, and there's also a quick beginner's course (which is free) on The Palestine Academy's website. Of course this is not extensive, but it is a start.

Thank you again, and wishing you all the best. And as always, free Palestine.

[tangent101]

I could still use a little bit of help...

As I'd mentioned before, I've been unemployed for a while now and am out of money. Fortunately, I've relatives helping me pay my mortgage... and I also just accepted a job offer! The not-as-good news is that Orientation for that position starts in three weeks, so I'm still scrambling to find a way to pay my phone, electric, internet, and other essential bills. And I'm also two months behind on the electric and phone at this point.

The finish line is just a little bit away! So if anyone can help out... well, hopefully I'll not need to ask again after this.

Please, spread this around if you can. I mean, we're a community here and I like to hope we're able to help each other when we can. And I'm asking just because I've only a couple hundred dollars left to me and have been making cheese quesadillas for meals as that's all I have.

If you have the ability to donate or contribute, you can use any of these below:

Paypal: https://paypal.me/Tangent101 Ca$hApp: $tangent101 Kofi: ko-fi.com/tangent101

Thank you for anything you can do to help.

Also, as an expression of thanks, I am going to post a Drabble (100 word short story) for every $50 donated to me. That Written? Kitten! website inspired me to write a Drabble and I figure I can write some more. It'll be various stories, not just LiS - so possibly Critical Role as well, or Stardew Valley, or any of a number of stories.

My bills are all due in 9 days.

Donated: $0/$1,500

Drabbles owed: 2 (my former flatmate gave me $100 last month so I added that into the Drabble pile. Hey, I didn't specify that it was just Tumblr folk who help toward the Drabbles so...)

[stevishabitat]

wodneswynn Hey, listen: We're not gonna get anywhere with this "socialism" stuff unless we can establish solidarity networks that provide. real, tangible aid. And I do mean "tangible" in the sense of "you can fill up a box with it."

Back in the old-timey days, when we didn't have things like a minimum wage or gov- ernment assistance, folks didn't think twice about paying union dues every month out of their meager paychecks. And in those days, when it was a regular, everyday occurrence for union people to get beat up or outright murdered for their union-ing, the unions still managed to win a lot of their fights. Reason for all that? The bigger part of them union dues I mentioned "went into a strike fund",

Time on a picket line means time off the clock. And as for me, in this economy, if I go a week without a check, my family don't eat. I go two weeks without a check, and we're homeless. And them's the brakes.

Rjenroses: In my community we started a co-op in order to, in part, purchase things with mass buying power (i.e, we can get things at wholesale if we order enough of them, so we can, for example, eat organic food for about what conventional costs a lot of the time.)

But we also set aside a little money each time we order, and that money helps pay for donation boxes... and the social network we created when we created the co-op means that if someone has a crisis, someone else probably has the answer. "This family just lost their job and can't afford to buy presents for their kids" may get a response of "Here are presents for every single family member" or it might end up with finding a job for the people looking for work, or both, because the co-op membership is diverse and represents a lot of people who are otherwise. very connected in the community.

When a part of town is out of power, it's usually possible to find a co-op member who can run for ice or bring a meal, or offer use of a washer/dryer for the evening.

We had one year where we were making donation meal boxes for a holiday, found out on the last delivery about a family in severe need, talked about it in the co-op group and ended up showing up at their house with not only a meal, but enough dry goods, paper towels, toilet paper, etc. for a month, plus a credit with the co-op for fresh fruits andveggies.

I cannot overstate the power of networking. in your community. This one started out. in a natural parenting group, but quickly spread beyond that, from college students to retirees. It's like a small town, only more open-minded. We started with about 20-30 families. There are now hundreds of people involved.

I had a trans kid land with me at one point and asked if anyone had size whatever clothes and within a few hours we had a box on my porch, within a couple days we had a bunch of things he needed.

The co-op keeps a lending library of tools and weirdly specific kitchen devices like an Æbleskiver pan, a food dehydrator, a capsule maker and a carpet cleaner. The kinds of things people need once or twice a year, but might not have the room to store.

We periodically do a buy of sensory toys and sensory bin supplies, for example, because we have a lot of autistic members and parents of autistic kids,I have bought socks from the co-op that were purple with unicorns farting rainbows on them. We recently got in Black History: flashcards and we've done a lot of Black Lives Matter and Hate Has No Home lawn signs. Pretty much if people want it and we can find it at wholesale, the co-op will order it.

It even spawned a side-business (more than one, actually, but this is the relevant one) of an online app for co-op managing, called http://managemy.coop so that other communities could take advantage of our experience and start out with an easier tool than the google spreadsheets we started out with.

Anyway... if you want to network within your community, this is a really, really good way of connecting with a broad cross-section of people.

nyshadidntbreakit: All that stuff about unions still applies, too. Unions have hardship funds. If you're a union member and you're broke, or you've been fired, or whatever, you can apply to the union for a grant to help you out. The binmen in Birmingham pulled off a months-long strike. recently thanks to the union paying their living costs. Unions force employers to pay decent pension contributions and have safe sick leave policies,

If you're employed, join your damn union!

solarpunk gnomes: You might check out http://www.transitionus .org/transition-towns too. They're trying to build resilient communities by getting neighbors to talk with each other about stuff.

[killian-whump]

Okay, so yesterday I was tempted to post something along the lines of "Colin! Come out and plaaaaay with us!" because I was missing him and wishing he'd do/post something or appear somewhere for us to enjoy his delightfulness... but I dunno, I just wasn't feeling it. Like, my vibes were telling me it wasn't the right time to summon Colin and doing so would be fruitless.

Turns out it wasn't time to summon Colin himself, it was just time to summon Dream Colin - who thankfully appeared without me needing to summon him, anyway.

And what a lovely dream it was!

To remind everyone who might not be following KW's Little Dream World, I have a tendency to have continuing dreams based in several different little worlds, where the premises are different and sometimes the cast of characters are different. This dream took place in a world where I'm part of a travel club that regularly goes on outings and adventures together, traveling to different countries and events together for a discounted price and the companionship of fellow friendly folks. Colin is a part of this group - but being famous, he basically has the "skybox" equivalent of a membership where he gets his own private room/transportation and most of us never actually see him (or his family when they join him) because he's very private and a bit reclusive.

So! Today's dream was about a little gala even being thrown to honor a couple members of the club who chartered a new deal going forward with an investor who would help fund our trips AND donate money to charity on our behalf in exchange for - okay dreams aren't very specific on the business end of deals, okay, but it seemed like a great deal for everyone and we were all happy.

The gala was fun, and the next day, we were making a cute little animated video to document the event. I was adding my parts to the video, and my animated self was re-living them in the dream as I went, when Animated Me suddenly spotted Animated Dream Colin arrive at the gala.

This isn't right, I thought. He wasn't there last night.

So Animated Me went over to investigate the situation as Real Me questioned the others around me to find out what was going on.

"Colin wasn't there. I would've noticed if he'd been there! What's going on?"

"No, he was totally there. Don't you remember?"

"What?! No! I couldn't have missed him!!"

"Oh, you definitely didn't miss him..."

And then the animated sequence took center stage again. I didn't know what to draw/do because I didn't remember whatever my friends were claiming had happened the night before, so I just... did what I would've done (well, what Dream Me would've done - Real Life Me would've just died on the spot) in the moment. I went over and introduced myself to Colin and said it was an honor to meet him and I was so glad he'd come to our event.

He was gracious and lovely, of course, and then extended his hand like a gentleman and said, "Shall we dance?"

And then there was a record scratch and the Real replaced the Animated once again.

"Okay, guys... I KNOW this didn't happen. I would not have forgotten this if it had happened. What the hell are you guys up to?"

"Are you SURE you'd remember it? Maybe the shock of it was so much you completely blocked it from your memory."

"I don't think that's how that works. In fact, I'm pretty sure that's not AT ALL how that works."

"Well, whatever... We all seem to remember it, so the problem's with you, not us."

And then the Animated resumed, but post-dance (which was a shame, but I suppose my mind can only be so creative and coming up with an actual "dancing with Colin" scene would've been a bit too much for it. I mean, was it a slow dance? A fast dance? The Robot? I guess we shall never truly know). Me and Colin chatted a little bit more, and then he left.

However, it was winter time and very snowy out, so we were all a bit concerned about him driving in the snow. He'd also expressed something about his tires going flat sometimes in the snow, so we were also worried about that. And it turned out he returned about 5 minutes after he left, saying his tires had gone flat and he'd had to call for a ride and it would be about 20 minutes until the car arrived.

Of course, I took this opportunity to chat with him some more, and when the car arrived, I offered to walk him out to it. He said that would be lovely, and we headed out into the snow and ice.

After a few moments of walking (I guess the car couldn't get into the parking lot because it was snowed in, so we had to walk across it to get to the car), I revealed to him that this was all a little strange, because it was supposed to be a recollection thing, a documentary about what had happened the night before, but that this was all new to me.

"Hmm," he said cryptically.

I side-eyed him majorly at that. "You're not going to say anything, because you're in on whatever this is they're doing, aren't you?"

And all he said back was, "Hmm."

At this point, I was pretty sure that this was Real Colin working with my Real Friends to create this little Animated Adventure for Real Me to enjoy as a thank you for brokering such a nice deal for us all. I was super touched and pleased by it all, and gave Colin a bit of a sideways "while we're walking" hug.

I then realized Colin wasn't walking, he was gliding, because he was wearing Flip Flop Skates. Like, Flip Flops on the top, but Ice Skates underneath. And I just started laughing and he seemed a bit concerned I was laughing at him, so I patted his hand reassuringly and said, "Never change, Colin. Never, ever change - because there's no one else quite like you and you're absolutely wonderful just as you are."

He got a bit embarrassed at that, in that adorable "quit saying nice things to me, but also please keep saying nice things to me" way he has that is so charming and delightful, and then he said, "Can you eat?"

I couldn't help but tease him a little when I answered, "Yes, I have been known to consume food on occasion." But I knew what he meant, so I added, "And I could go for some now, yeah."

Then he said his ride had mentioned stopping for dinner on the way home, and would I like to join and-

DINGLE DANGLE BING BONG DOODLE-OOOOOO

My alarm went off.

Another lovely Dream Colin Adventure ruined by Real Life 😭

But it was so much fun while it lasted!!! Thanks for coming out to play with me, Dream Colin!

Now let's hope the real thing pokes his head out and says "Hi!" to us sometime soon. I miss that lovely man.

[omgcatboi]

This post is for the poor / disabled fat trans folk out there who don't get surgeries be it by choice or not !

Pre/ no op fat transmen, pre/ no op fat transwomen, and pre/ no op nonbinary folk are the only three things keeping this world spinning.

There's something about growing into your transitioned body without surgeries that is so powerful and daring. Honestly, we need to see more trans people who embrace their bodies. Because surgeries are not something we can all get. We don't have the privilage. And it's soul crushing, until we see that one person who transitioned without those surgeries that are out of bounds for us. And we see how beautiful they are, how handsome they are, how attractive they are. And it gives us hope.

We need more no op fat transmen like me to post topless pics to show progress in our chest as it takes the form of moobs ! More no op fat transwomen who upload progress shots in cute bras ! More no op fat nonbinary folk with androgynous tubby bodies !!

And no! I don't mean ' surgery is bad ' I mean it's only something you can get if you're privilaged with the means, money, donations, support, and health that the rest of us DON'T HAVE AND NEVER WILL HAVE ! If you can get surgeries, and you are sure that's what you want 100% then sure, get them !! But this post is about those of us who can't.

We NEED more no OP fat trans representation! Because it saves lives, it gives hope to those of us who can't get surgery !

If you're no OP, post whatever you want! Don't let the stigma stop you ! If you are uncomfortable with posting, then don't ! You don't have to! Just know there are many out there like you ! In a world glamorizing procedures and pressuring everyone to get surgeries done it's easy for us to feel left behind , I know, but that doesn't mean we don't exist ! There's plenty of us out there and the world should know it ! Reach out and find others like you, others who either pass or don't on HRT or off it, those like us who also can't afford operations, reach out to us because knowing people like you exsist will help you feel seen!

Us No OP / Pre OP trans folk are always pushed aside to watch as celebrities glamorize to cis peoples standards. It's perfectly ok to get those operations, but it's just not something everyone has access to. And that's ok !! Don't beat yourself up over it! Remember that these are standards set up by gender construct! It's built to appeal to cis people.

You will get there eventually, one way or another, you can still be a MAN with big breasts, you can still be NONBINARY with or without lots of curves , you can still be a WOMAN with a flat chest !

Love your body for what you can make it, don't beat yourself up because of what you can't make it. You are still valid, and I love you for the person you are, and the person you can be !

We may not chose to be this way, but that doesn't mean we have to be miserable about it !!

[horce-divorce]

I think that anon belied a common misconception among many well-meaning people, too, that is actually worth addressing, wrt my donation posts: I DONT usually get money from strangers, and I DONT put those posts up with any expectations at all! Sometimes they don't work! Sometimes we get nothing for weeks on end, or just $5 here and there, and we go a month without everything that we need, and we make do with what we can find anyway.

But the thing is, when I do put up a post and I ask for money, I'm NOT asking strangers. I have a TON of connections near & far that I talk to online. I'm putting out a call to all of my friends, giving them an update, and saying, "hey if any of you is better off right now, we could use a hand!" often my friends are no better off than me, and they can't help. that's fine! Its hard times for everyone! that's why I know they don't begrudge me for asking.

In fact, a lot of my friends send me money WITHOUT me asking!! one of my IRL friends has learned to recognize when I need more help and I'm playing it down. They gave me $60 just recently, after I waffled for hours about taking their money, and finally told them I could get by the rest of the week on $30-50. Another friend, someone I've known since we were toddlers, sent me $80 out of the blue several months ago just bc she missed us and was thinking of us, and she had a little extra. Last time we talked to her, I mentioned how our food stamps got cut, & we'd be out for another week. She venmo'd me $30 labeled "pizza tears" before we even got off the phone (which I think was hilarious fwiw). A different friend recently heard that Bel and I wanted to go on a date to taco bell, and when I said we could do it for under $20, she gave me $50 and said "make sure you get the cinnabons!!!" Another friend bought me winter boots and socks this year as soon as i said i didnt have any- THE best, warmest, cosiest socks I've ever owned. Last year, one (1) of my tumblr mutuals covered my ENTIRE cost of post-op care for top surgery. I said "I'll probably need $$$" and they covered all of it! That same person has bought me groceries, meds, and gas on many other occasions, too. All of these people are folks I've known for years either thru tumblr or IRL.

Very occasionally, it's a newer mutual or even a stranger. One time, when I was still on Twitter and very early in my transition, I said something about how gender affirming my old high school Chuck Taylor's were and how I missed them so. My mutual from another COUNTRY immediately sent me $60 for gender affirming Chuck Taylor's. I haven't spoken to that person since Twitter went south, sadly. If youre still out there, I named my shoes after you, Bergamot & Jones, and I think of you every time I step outside. Another time, a guy who wasn't even my mutual sent me a bunch of binders and boxers for free. Sometimes even my old coworkers from my mall days pop up out of the woodwork and send me 20 bucks or something.

I have more stories like this. Not even just about money. Like that guy who saw me pop a flat tire in the mall parking lot and insisted on changing it for me.

I actually also never feel guilty about asking for what I need, or accepting it, and you shouldn't either. I don't like this idea that you need to grovel and be exactly This self-flagellating and full of hatred and remorse to ride and earn one (1) morsel of kindness. What do I look like, a Catholic? You dont have to apologize for wanting to stay alive. You didn't ask to be born, and you weren't the one that put a price on living!

You know what I do instead? Pay it forward. Yes, I ebeg often, yet I, too, will sometimes send $5, $10, $30 to people I care about whenever we wind up with a little extra. You can't save money as a poor person anyway, it doesn't work, so why cling to my last few pennies when someone else could use it right now? I've watched Bel give away his last $5 to a different homeless person twice since we've been living in the car. One time we stayed and had dinner with the guy and his dog. He was a hitchhiker named Ray and he was SO interesting to talk to.

There are studies that show that the most generous people when it comes to donating are NOT the people with the most money. It's the poorest ppl in the community who have been or are in your shoes, and who know how you feel, who pitch in when you need it most. Hence the community $20. The idea that panhandlers are expecting something from well-off strangers who can't empathize with us is like... kinda silly lmao, we know most of those ppl hate our fucking guts and want us dead, actually. (Are rich ppl really just that threatened by the idea of sharing that they see someone going "help please (generally speaking)!" And they immediately go "ugh, ME????? How dare you ask ME specifically for MY hard earned money?????" Idk it kinda tracks.)

I also use a jovial tone in a lot of my posts because I have to ask for help a lot, and it gets tiring to everyone to constantly hear "I'm soooo sorry for being such a needy piece of GARBAGE, AGAIN, I really hate that i have to do this, but..." because that's just The Friend Who Is Apogizing For Breathing. That doesn't feel good to hear any more than it does to say, no one likes that. And yes SOME people DO want you to feel that way about needing help- but its not going to be the people who will help you, I promise you that. Also, think about what you're saying when you talk about yourself like that. Why are you garbage? Because the cost of living is too high? Because your boss doesn't pay you a living wage? Because your landlord wrings you dry? Because you can't afford your meds or food? How is any of that actually about you at all? How does being hungry and wanting to live make you garbage???

Deeply unfortunately, you also tend to get more attention with a chipper tone and a preemtive "thank you" instead of an "oh God oh God oh God I'm so sorry I'm so fucking sorry, fuck!!!!" I also won't imply urgency where there isn't any. Sometimes we DO need money asap and it's like, we'll literally be stranded in the woods with no food if we don't get it. But other times, we need money, but like, we have time to figure it out. I save the urgency for the times I really need it.

Instead I focus on the positive: I DO have a lot of friends who care about me, all over, and even strangers who care about me, too! Those people have been keeping my ass alive for YEARS! They shouldn't have to do that! I shoudlnt have to beg to continue to use my own organs! But also, how cool are my friends for being the realest commies I know??? They're not going to just let me die out here. Why would I be sad about that? Why would I feel bad about people caring about me and wanting to see me pull through? Why would I apologize for proving that the human loving spirit is in fact alive and well? In the times when there IS less urgency, I think it's just nicer to my friends to make a lighter hearted post once in a while- you know, for the ones constantly seeing this stuff and helping me out. I think it's nice to acknowledge them in a positive way, instead of always being like "god im do sorry that im STILL BREATHING, i know you guys HATE that!!!"

Like. Idk if this is making sense. Remember that post where the person was telling their partner, "I'm just so worried that you'll think I'm stupid and want me to shut up," and their partner said, "Thats kind of mean, I wish you wouldn't think of me that way"? It's like that. If your friends and mutuals wanted you to shut up and die and feel guilty for living, they wouldn't be sharing your posts or donating to you, and it's kind of... mean? To get off on that foot. It's like we expect people to only help us begrudgingly. Thats not true at all! Donation posts are optional. Most people who reply to them do so because they're in a position to help and they WANT to, because it makes them feel good.

It's thanks to my friends that I am still alive to make all these delightful posts for them to read. They want me to stay alive because they like having me around. So i try to continue to be that presence in exchange for their love and suppport, and yes, i will incorporate that into my posts asking for help, especially if its a less time-sensitive ask. Idk like, re-framing a situation and focusing on the positive is a basic coping skill from many types of therapy and I hate to say this but it really is good for you. (Also fwiw I try to always say "thank you" to every individual who sends me money, each and every time. Sometimes they don't let me send messages back thru the pay apps, and sometimes I forget, but I try to every time.)

Plus, damn near EVERYONE needs help right now! Poverty and income inequality and chronic houslessness and chronic ILLNESS are all at ALL TIME HIGHS. Pre-covid 25% of the population was disabled. I wonder what it will look like next time we get a handle on those numbers?

So just to be clear, again: I don't expect donations to pull us out of poverty! If that were realistic, it would have already happened, ive been doing this for a decade. I don't expect strangers to have a stake in our situation, either. All either of us want is to be able to keep living our lives as best as we can for as long as we can- and a lot of our friends, and other people, DO sympathize with that. That's a point of pride for the community I've chosen for myself. I refuse to feel guilty about surrounding myself with caring, wonderful people who actually read my posts. That sounds like a pretty big win for me actually lmao.

AND I refuse to feel guilty and self-deprecating over circumstances that are out of my control and don't actually weigh on my character whatsoever. Being disabled isn't a character flaw. Being unemployable bc of my symptoms isn't something that's "wrong" with ME. Being homeless during an ALL TIME RECORD HIGH of homelessness ISNT something thats "wrong" with "me," and it's not something I would want anyone else to feel guilty over, either! These things don't determine who I am as a person or the impact I have on the people around me. Clearly I continue to have a positive impact and be a good friend, or asking my friends for help wouldnt be keeping me alive. I simply don't have enough followers to get that much money from strangers lol. And I have more followers than a lot of people (around 1500 currently).

So yeah, this is to everyone else who's ever felt horrifically guilty for asking for help online or otherwise: even if you dont have a lot of connections and you ARE asking for help from strangers, needing one another isnt a character flaw! The people who care will WANT to help anyway, period. It makes people feel good to know they can help. And yes it does make people feel better to hear a "thank you! we are still alive and happy to be here!" Over a "fuck God I'm so sorry I'm still alive and burdening you all so with my high cost of breathing!!!!" I'm so sorry that you have to have a body! Me, too, bud. It's rough, but it's gonna be ok.

Anyway needing help is morally neutral. Now im just thinking about the way the upper class has poor people at each other's throats for the perceived "selfishness" of needing help- because in a world where you are constantly burnt out from work, and the value of a dollar is so horribly out of proportion to the effort it takes to earn, sharing that hard-won effort with anyone else does sometimes feel like too much. Im thinking about the way hoarding wealth & resources & keeping them behind paywalls is seen not only as morally superior but a sign of objective intelligence and life skills, vs how the way sharing is construed as foolishness, the way needing help to stay alive is construed as greed, while the upper class that literally stays healthy and youthful and thrives on the blood, sweat and tears of the lower class gets to pat themselves on the back for being morally superior, individualist, and "not needing anyone." Kinda makes me sick when I put it like that!

Anyway. Again, needing help is morally neutral, especially in this economy, and I refuse to hate myself for circumstances that aren't my fault and for having people in my life who are invested in me and want to see me pull through. Everyone deserves friends like that, and I hope you find them.

[bees-with-swords]

Ohhh I read too many of the comments on that last post and now I need to commit violence. So many bad takes.

Listen. I agree that many vegans have absolutist moral philosophies about what is "good" and what is "bad." Some folks (in my experience a vast minority) are way too preachy about it.

That being said. At least they're trying? We clown on stupid vegans but we can't escape the idea that the core methodology (hey let's stop supporting industries which have historically been linked to animal abuse) makes sense! And things making sense make us uncomfortable! We don't want to admit that our existence in society does in fact contribute to a system that causes harm, so we pinpoint all the ways that veganism can cause harm too, to make ourselves feel better!

The issue with this is that most people who pick apart/clown on veganism... Aren't actually doing anything themselves? I know a lot of people who get pissed when others get on a high horse, but also get pissed at vegans who don't get on a high horse, because the very existence of someone who is genuinely trying to make sustainable choices is seen as a threat.

There's a lot of guilt involved, and most people try to turn it around to cast blame on everyone, there is no ethical consumption under capitalism so we don't even have to try, watch me debunk this point so I don't have to acknowledge that other points might be correct.

Dietary activism like veganism is, at its core, the use of privilege for good. I have enough money, I lack allergies, my disabilities don't affect me too heavily and I live in the right sort of place where I can commit to a diet which will hopefully make my contribution to unethical capitalist systems less pronounced. I'm not going to get mad at people for not having privilege, and you're not going to tell me I'm stupid for trying to use my privilege to make a difference. That's the perfect world.

The issue we get to is, ultimately, that on the internet everyone will get mad at everyone for using their money/privilege in a way that isn't good enough. You donated to the wrong charity, people are starving and you're spending extra to buy organic, why would you support art classes for kids when you could support xyz other issues that are MUCH MORE IMPORTANT,

There are bad actors and bad charities (looking at you PETA) in every situation. People tend to use that to paint everything in the same genre with the same brush (thrift stores are evil, make-a-wish charities are frivolous or scams, etc), and then use those painted genres to construct some sort of overarching hierarchy of "the most important" causes to fight for. Then when someone else is making an effort to alter their habits/donate their money/use their privilege for something, it can be attacked/dismissed as a misuse of resources to alleviate guilt ("there are more important issues, your money could be used for better things, why'd you choose to volunteer there," etc). This is a subconscious defensive reaction, I think it's because of envy! Someone else gets to make a difference but you don't have the resources to do the same, and belittling their impact makes you feel less envious. We feel guilty that we've been forced into a system where there is no ethical consumption, and we are envious that someone else can alleviate their impact.

There's a lot to be said about envy. A lot of points have been made about how it relates to privilege and money, not all of which I agree with. But identifying your feelings as envy, saying "I wish I also had the resources to make my consumption under capitalism slightly more ethical," is a very important ability. People who can't identify their own envy end up giving it more say in their lives than it deserves, rather than treating it like the unconstructive brain worm it is.

Tl:dr, don't shame people who are actually trying to make a positive impact. Veganism DOES require privilege but that does not mean it is a tool of the bourgeoisie. The majority of us are all just doing their best.

[themarvelhorse]

Hi, Marvel! Hope you're doing well. Was wondering if you knew of any good causes or charities that could use more attention from folks wanting to make the world a little better.

Hello! I hope this isn't too late especially since this time of year has lots of groups and institutions asking for donations and stuff.

First off, thank you for contacting me! I appreciate you reaching out and believing that I would know a good answer to this! Bless you anon, I hope you're well too!

Second, uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Admittedly I can't quite say for sure which causes or charities could use more attention. I don't like to tell people who to vote for politically even though I secretly hope they do vote for one party over another. It's satisfying enough knowing that they'll vote.

But to that point, I would like to at least provide what you may need to know!

The Small Change Fund might be what you're looking for, but its very Ontario and environmentally focused right now.

CanadaHelps is a fundraiser dedicated to streamlining the donation process, which could go a long way if you don't know where to send your support.

This can probably give a general overview of who's doing fairly well I suppose.

Charity Watch and Charity Navigator I believe are both decent places to check if you're not sure about how well said charity is spending your goodwill, they're US focused mind you.

Charity Intelligence is Canada focused version of those American charity accountability orgs, gives grades based on their need for funding and other metrics too!

It's hard to really pin down and say who to donate to, causes or charities or otherwise. The world is handling some difficult circumstances right now, and everyone seems to need help. I know a local food bank received more donations than in the past few years, but that doesn't mean stop donating. Inflation (and oligopolic grocery corporations) have made it so they really need more help.

So your local food bank could be a good place! Or maybe another organization working towards a problem you've heard about recently?

I know the American Red Cross has had its scandals in the past, but the Canadian Red Cross seems alright, as do other Red Cross organizations in countries facing challenges of their own. You could also donate to their international version, like the main ICRC one. Hard to go wrong - the Red Cross has helped in Canada with covid response (and even "post covid" with the failing provincial health system), and they support climate change action and the like. Funds are always needed before disasters to adequately respond to them when they do happen.

You could also always donate to the Sustainable Development Goals. Despite what people say about the UN and how useful it is, I truly believe its better that it exists than otherwise. Setting the SDGs is a start to making things better. The UN can be a tool for colonialism, but I'll paraphrase Romeo Dallaire - the UN can be a force for good, but how good it is depends on the member states. Its voluntary, so projects at the UN rely on member states' money, or yours. Or your vote and voice if you tell your reps that you want them to help implement the SDGs. Think Elon Musk refusing to donate $6 billion to end world hunger.

Sorry, a bit ranty there. The SDGs are good because you have your choice of goals, or can split your donation evenly among them. It covers almost every basis of improving society/life on earth for everyone.

Your home region may also have an organization dedicated to improving democracy. The Democracy Engagement Exchange, Democracy Watch, Fair Vote Canada, and Apathy is Boring are all great causes to support, you may likely have something similar wherever you are!

I mention those because at its core, I think we have a lot of undemocratic stuff going on. Which worsens or outright causes all the other problems. Did you know Canadian food banks were supposed to be temporary? The organization Food Banks Canada is trying to eliminate the need for them. Policies like those that support affordable housing are needed. So when we have a policy failure, we have a political failure, a failure of democracy when people either don't vote or feel like their vote doesn't matter, or they don't have the time to participate. You may even want to donate to a political party you believe in. They do need your money to do what they say they'll do. It's like tumblr - kinda funny that they're trying all these things to make money, but the only other ways to keep it going would be to collect and sell your data, show more and more ads, and do all kinds of dumb stuff. If parties get donations, that's less they need from rich people/corporations that have it in order to campaign and win elections and stuff. You could donate to a party that has a lot more minority representation - that'd be even more likely to get widespread support for that minority group too.

ACORN Canada is a neat organization that supports low-moderate income Canadians, there might be something there for your region!

I'd say donate to climate change orgs - 350.org, David Suzuki Foundation, Sunrise Movement, the Climate Reality Project...

Truth is, there's lots of what feels like repetition. A lot of these orgs in the same field are competing for donations. They say things like they'll run ads to advocate for change, and more money lets them spread that influence (and ofc do other things). But like, why? Why can't they just pool money for this kind of work? Wouldn't that be more effective? I don't know honestly. I haven't worked for an NGO in any such way that I'd have insight. Wish I did...

(Sorry, gotta get back on track)

Leadnow is pretty neat since they cover a lot of the things I mentioned, all in one - equity, just society, environment, democracy. They ask what their members want them to focus on, and try to facilitate advocacy campaigns around it. They're also struggling to hit their fundraising goals this year.

Also consider donating to your local marginalized group. Spend money at their businesses and the like too! It can go a long way.

Another organization that facilitates the stuff we need to address all these other issues is the Tamarack Institute. Again, Canadian, but take a look and see if your region has something similar! They work on building better communities, which means resilience, climate action, ending poverty, helping youth, and addressing equity and inclusion. In that vein, the Community Tool Box is from the University of Kansas but is freely available to use (and donate to).

Oh, also can't go wrong with the Wikipedia donations of course.

I hope this isn't overwhelming - donor fatigue is a real thing, and its hard to feel like its worth it in the end. But it really does help~

I also realize I may not have mentioned many health care orgs, which you know is a concern for me since I've added my voice in the tags enough (what're u doin in my private but publicly available tag thoughts anyway HUH?! Jkjk I never realized this may come back to me someday lol). Truth is though, I'm not well versed in those - there's a lot and even individual hospitals around here need donations to fund what they do. It fuckin sucks.

In sum: Decide what you believe is important. Everyone from their own field will say their own thing is most important. It's hard to argue for or against it since I don't quite know every field. Causes that need more attention might be more local and need community support, or they might need funds to be more impactful even if the organization is big. But that's probably because the problem is big and doesn't get the attention it needs. Or it could cover so many other issues, or it may (appear to) be the core where the problem stems from. Its hard to parse, I know, but I do hope this helped in some way.

[somerandomg33k]

We haven't had a rambling vent post from me in a while. So here we go.

How am I feeling? Tired. Weeks ago, I was in a discord voice call with friends of mine. It was a while since we talk before just hanging out. One turn on her camera to show something. And since others had their camera on, I turn on my camera. And my friend said, "Jonathan, you look tired." I am always tired. It is a combination of working 60 hours a week and sometimes staying up until 2 am on weeknights playing Fortnite.

I do need to work 6 days a week and the ten hours or more days. But also, why I tend to work so much is to try to support my disabled friends. I have like five of them who are disabled, can't work, and always need money. But that is another thing that makes me feel tired. I see no light at the end of the tunnel for my friends. There will be no relief for them.

Right now, Johanna is about 200 in the hole and has no money for food for her and her trans-enby son. Phoenix is so far into the red that they don't want to look at their are afraid to open their bank account. And their teeth arche. They need a root canal. And they don't even know where to get the $150 co-pay for that procedure. NaztheNeko and Lynnaquinn can't seem to get ahead. They are asking for money, passing the hat around every two weeks for sure, almost every week. And I haven't even talked about Joey Fire Lame Deer's situation much. But it is starting to feel like even if I work six 12 hour days, that probably won't be enough money to be able to support all of my disabled friends.

Oh yea, I gave on my 24.5k of credit card a long time ago. I know my friends are concerned about me having as much credit card debt. Stop being concerned for me. I will always have $24.5k of credit card debt if that means that my friends can eat. "if you post their info, I will share the shit out of it." Yea, I have almost given up on that too. Either I don't post enough on social media for my donation posts for my friends to get traction. Or even if they do get traction, everyone of my friends and followers are probably as poor as I am. And most likely I am the only one of the few that will charge up their credit cards like I do. And maybe what most are willing to do is an one time donation. And I don't know how to convince folks that my friends need regular donations. Recuring donations. Like every month, or even every week. But how many people can I get to commit to making weekly donations to Johanna, Phoenix, Naz & LQ, and Joey Fire Lame Deer?

That is why I feel the need to put it on myself to work as many hours as I do for all of my friends. Because it feels hopeless for them anyway. I feel helpless when I can't give money to my friends.

And I know that if I frequently work 12 hour days, most of the time free at home will just be spent sleeping. My time in the morning is just to get dress and leave for work. Most nights, I should really just eat and go to bed. I generally give myself 2 hours, maybe of gaming time. But then, I am up until 2 am or later. And then sleep in until 8:30 am or more. Today, on this Saturday, I didn't get out of bed until like 9:30 am. And if I want to put in my 12 hours, I don't want to get to work at 10:30 am or later. And yet I do most days. And hate myself for that too. So it is either work less and make less money, or have less fun.

This is what Capitalism wants. Wants us to feel helpless and hopeless. Think it is impossible to change the system. Or just cause us to be so focus on keeping ourselves alive, we are too tired to fight to dismantle their system. And yet many many people defend Capitalism. "What is wrong with their being a small business owner?" Urg. I am just tired. And always tired.

[novumtimes]

REVOLT Reacts After Video Of Diddy Abusing Cassie Surfaces

REVOLT released a statement amid surfaced video of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs abuse against Cassie. REVOLT Reacts To Diddy’s Abuse Video REVOLT’s statement read, “We are deeply saddened and disturbed by the recent video circulation of our former chairman, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs.” “Even with his recent separation from REVOLT, it is still our duty to address this matter, and recognize the direct impact has on our staff, our audience, and the culture we represent,” the network stated.  Additionally, the platform stated they side with victims of abuse but did not explicitly name Cassie. “REVOLT stands in solidarity with all who have been a victim of abuse and remain committed to upholding the values and integrity our community expects from us. We vehemently stand against any form of domestic abuse and will always be a fearless advocate for truth and accountability.” What Else Has Happened Between The Company & Sean Combs? As previously reported, Combs parted ways with REVOLT in March, meaning he is no longer associated with the brand “in any form or fashion.” He reportedly sold his shares in the company for an undisclosed amount. His permanent separation occurred after federal agents arrested his alleged drug trafficking accomplice, per TMZ. However, Diddy had begun distancing himself from the company in Nov. 2023. He stepped down as company chairman after Cassie sued him for sexual assault, abuse, and trafficking that same month. Combs was hit with two more similar lawsuits after settling with his ex for an undisclosed amount. RELATED: REVOLT Reacts After Diddy Steps Down As Company Chairman Amid Assault Allegations Social Media Reacts To REVOLT’s Statement After REVOLT made their stance known, The Shade Room’s comment section was popping with reactions. @charlie.one.time stated, “Even with his recent separation… ‘meaning ‘let us remind these folks he ain’t with us anymore.” “It’s hard to believe he’s been doing this for decades and everyone is just now finding out….i can only imagine what Kim had to endure,’ @_simplyyyken stated. @1brotherjoshua added, “Diddy needs to just come out, admit he may have a substance abuse problem, take some classes & donate money to organizations that fight against domestic violence. Completely won anything wrong he’s done & begin his road to redemption & healing.” “Everybody know. Everyone around him know. Everyone with money tied up with him knew. Remember that” @officialsarahlaina said. @teagossipnews co-signed, “These allegations aren’t new. The companies decided to turn a blind eye just like his celebrity friends.” Meanwhile, the LA County District Attorney’s Office also recently spoke on the viral abuse video. Their statement revealed why they won’t be pursuing criminal charges against Combs at this time. Source link via The Novum Times