Latest Posts by straw-cleaner - Page 4
Eurovision is allowing Israel to participate despite its ongoing genocide against Palestinians.
Boycott Eurovision.
Do not watch it. Do not support it.
Duolingo Sucks, Now What?: A Guide
Now that the quality of Duolingo has fallen (even more) due to AI and people are more willing to make the jump here are just some alternative apps and what languages they have:
"I just want an identical experience to DL"
Busuu (Languages: Spanish, Japanese, French, English, German, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, Polish, Turkish, Russian, Arabic, Korean)
"I want a good audio-based app"
Language Transfer (Languages: French, Swahili, Italian, Greek, German, Turkish, Arabic, Spanish, English for Spanish Speakers)
"I want a good audio-based app and money's no object"
Pimsleur (Literally so many languages)
Glossika (Also a lot of languages, but minority languages are free)
*anecdote: I borrowed my brother's Japanese Pimsleur CD as a kid and I still remember how to say the weather is nice over a decade later. You can find the CDs at libraries and "other" places I'm sure.
"I have a pretty neat library card"
Mango (Languages: So many and all endangered/Indigenous courses are free even if you don't have a library that has a partnership with Mango)
"I want SRS flashcards and have an android"
AnkiDroid: (Theoretically all languages, pre-made decks can be found easily)
"I want SRS flashcards and I have an iphone"
AnkiApp: It's almost as good as AnkiDroid and free compared to the official Anki app for iphone
"I don't mind ads and just want to learn Korean"
lingory
"I want an app made for Mandarin that's BETTER than DL and has multiple languages to learn Mandarin in"
ChineseSkill (You can use their older version of the course for free)
"I don't like any of these apps you mentioned already, give me one more"
Bunpo: (Languages: Japanese, Spanish, French, German, Korean, and Mandarin)
Guys, stop being crap to creators. You aren’t hurting Amazon. You’re stealing from writers.
https://t.co/tQNM37KsB0
imo half of dems are just unintelligent and the other half would rather this entire fascist death cult of a country move even further right than budge left at all
The disabled community fucking NEEDS to rally for Palestine. Israel is creating millions more of us. They are permanently disabling people, robbing them of their ability, their agency, and giving no support. Disabled Palestinians are dying not just from violence but from neglect due to lack of resources, which is violence itself. We have to support these people, people who haven't even been able to come to terms with the fact that their limbs are missing, they're severely traumatized, they can't move without pain, they've been so focused on just surviving. There cannot be a single Palestinian left without physical and/or mental trauma. And there are absolutely no resources being given to them, they're being actively withheld.
Please give anything you can offer. Money, coping mechanisms, resources, information, emotional support, e-sims, you could probably even donate any disability aids you don't use anymore to refugees in your home country. I know a lot of us are unable to protest right now. Sharing information is also extremely important. There ARE things we can do. Protesting is only one aspect of activism. Sending emails, making phone calls, directly supporting Palestinians in one of the ways I said above.
Just like covid is a mass disabling event, a genocide is a mass disabling event. Please do not forget this and remember, you CAN make a difference.
(BTW this is not one of those "you should care about them because they're like us!" things, everyone should care about Palestinians because they're human beings. The point of this post is to discuss what we as disabled people can do to support people who are suddenly disabled without help. Becoming disabled is not easy even with support and healthcare.)
https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/gaza-is-starving
The beauty of Gaza and its people, 20 October 2020, photographed by Motaz Azaiza.
I'm finally reading South Africa's application to the ICJ against Israel and damn they really came with those receipts!! Must read document if you not only want to understand how Israel is committing genocide, but the situation in Gaza more generally also
Christmas Eve at the Church of Nativity, Bethlehem, Palestine 1951
George Rodger
I hate that tumblr has eroded the usefulness of the term “TERF” & uses it as shorthand for “transphobe” or “transmisogynist.” Those words were created because there was & is a need for them.
Here to interrupt your regular Christmas programming: in the last 24 hours, Israel has committed 25 massacres, killing 250 Palestinians in their homes and bringing the total of Palestinians directly killed by Israel in Gaza to 20,674.
how much do you think copaganda has influenced mens' idea that women are always believed about abuse and have it easy?
when I was younger I watched SVU to imagine a world where the cops didn't call my mom hysterical for reporting a violent rapist (with a criminal record including rape) violating a no-trespassing order, my own father. those men in uniform believed everything he said and I will never forget that day or the fact that most women don't even try to report rape because of how the cops react, or how the rapist will react.
passages that make you whisper "oh my god"
2023 Nativity Scene at the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church, Bethlehem, Palestine
"In Gaza today, God is under the rubble. He is in the operating room. If Christ were to be born today, he would be born under the rubble. We see his image in every child killed and pulled from under the rubble. In every child in incubators," writes Rev. Munther Isaac of the church.
Munther Isaac's Christmas message from Bethlehem. It's in English so there's no mistaking who needs to hear it. Please don't ignore it.
"We will be OK. Despite the immense blow we have endured, we, the Palestinians, will recover. We will rise. We will stand up again from the midst of destruction, as we have always done as Palestinians. Although this is, by far, maybe the biggest blow we have received in a long time, but we will be OK. But for those who are complicit, I feel sorry for you. Will you ever recover from this? Your charity and your words of shock after the genocide won't make a difference, and I know these words of shock are coming, and I know people will give generously for charity, but your words won't make a difference. Words of regret won't suffice for you. And let me say it; we will not accept your apology after the genocide. What has been done has been done. I want you to look in the mirror, and ask: Where was I when Gaza was going through a genocide?"
joyous day! longer than yesterday! sending kisses to the brave golden sun across the cold december skies!
Having someone/something to catch you when you fall is why we live in a society. It's why we share the cost of running the society.
When times get tough, don't look out only for yourself or see the world only through your own experiences.
Realize a lot of great, smart, talented people can lose their housing. And have. Many times.
Stop the judgment.
pacing is more important than runtime always. obviously
when i say the perfect movie length is 90min im an enlightened scholar criticizing the recent trend of not being able to correctly pace films resulting in 120min of what couldve been an email with no aesthetic value either to justify it. when people say "i cant watch 2h of the same thing" they are barbarous tiktokphiles incapable of being interested in smth for more than 5min unable to reason and that should be put to death on the stake
does anyone else feel completely fucking insane thinking about the sheer volume of claims that have been proven baseless but are still repeated as fact by people in power. like i know "gaslighting" isnt a useful word when it comes to public officials but i dont know how else to describe the feeling of constantly being told that reality isnt what it is
Repeating my COVID surge PSA: there is a major surge underway in many places right now. In the US, estimates are that we're seeing higher covid levels than 90% of the pandemic, with 1 in 35 people currently infected, so eg a gathering of 20 people has a 45% chance of having an infectious person present (source, posted 12/18/23 so they're already a couple days old and expected to rise through early January). It's common for people to be infectious without/before becoming symptomatic, and rapid tests miss a lot of cases.
You can protect yourself and your loved ones by declining invites for overly risky situations, wearing a well fitting high quality mask when you're sharing air with others (kn-94, N95), and following the People's CDC safer indoor gathering guide as much as you can
Saying that you don’t need to care about Palestine because you/your ancestors have some sort of background of oppression that many people are not well informed about and because the general population does not spend their time advocating for your people, you don’t need to advocate for Palestine or learn about its history with Israel is what makes you part of the problem and is the reason modern day genocide are able to happen and be facilitated for so long
Children saying "I'd rather be dead" is not normal. Children crying "is this a dream?" is not normal. Children wondering "am I being taken to the cemetery?" is not normal.
We can all reckon the lasting psychological effects of this genocide on these children, but also remember that to many of the children of Gaza, this is the second, third, or even fourth Israeli aggression they had to live through.
Almost 50% of Gaza's population are children, over 10,000 of which have been murdered by Israel since October of this year.
A report just came out from a Palestinian hostage saying he was strapped with bombs and sent into a Hamas tunnel, with Israel prepared to blow the tunnel up with his body if fighters were found inside and yet people are still making the “Hamas uses human shields” arguments that have been confirmed to be a myth with no supporting evidence
yemen is the poorest nation in the arab world. but in two weeks time, it did what no oil or gas- rich arab nation could do. by seizing three ships and costing i****l more than 2 billion by forcing its ships to go around africa, yemen showed up.