rubbleandrock

I miss when library books used to have little paper pockets inside with a list of all the people who borrowed it and when... I hate that this is now exclusive knowledge of librarians. I do care that a miss Mariana borrowed this book in 1985 and then Dario in 1997. They're my brothers and sisters

but really, there's a million reasons why it's an issue for users and staff of the public library to have immediate access to a record of who has borrowed a specific item and when.

and that's not even about keeping the information "privileged" to the library staff, these days they don't even keep a digital record of an item's history of borrowers; once you return a book, there isn't a list of everyone thats ever taken that book out that your name gets added to (though they probably take a tally of how many times it is checked out for circulation statistics).

i think the card system is a remnant of a culture that could only exist in the world before the internet as it exists today, where this identifying kind of information wasn't always readily at your fingertips, even for those at the "information professional" level.

don't get me wrong here, i do understand the nostalgia factor to it as being part of a different time, but i think it's always important to understand why this kind of system has its flaws and has been (at least in north america) taken out of practice

bear in mind that US public libraries spent most of the past twenty years fighting off lawsuits that they were prohibited from disclosing to the public because when 9/11 happened the federal government wanted a list of every person who read certain books and the librarians had a really bad feeling about where that kind of policy would end up going, for some reason.

not keeping the records in the first place is a way for the libraries to protect themselves when they stand up for your privacy.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_FBI_has_not_been_here.jpg

This was a thing in multiple libraries. We really want to protect your freedom to access information.

Reindeer photoset, as promised.

You’ll need to click on Rudolph to see the whole thing.

also just a general rule of thumb: when nationalized/public service industries are striking, they ARE striking for YOUR benefit, ultimately. bus drivers are the ones who fight against capitalist upper management trying to shut down bus routes that "don't generate enough profits" or trying to generally set up a worse (public!) service for the sake of """"efficiency""""" and """"""cost optimization""""""" (read: pay less people and overwork them to give YOU, the public, a much worse service or commodity).

it's like this in schools, hospitals, public transportation, literally everywhere. the striking workers care for the public' needs more than the bosses will ever do. sure they want better work conditions which is (should be) enough of a reason to support strikes in general, but by supporting striking workers, you ultimately support your own quality of life. it's all intertwined

Pandolf, resignedly and against his will, donned this embarrassing hat to wish everyone a happy Christmas. ♥

Freddie Mercury Riding on the Shoulders of Santa Claus at The Forum in Inglewood, 22nd Dec 1977

Paul Bench

Stargate Atlantis | S05E16 ‘Brain Storm’

Delicate Crocheted Patterns Splice and Embellish Susanna Bauer’s Dried Leaf Sculptures

Public service announcement.

Blue/purple lips and fingernails is a symptom of low oxygen in lighter skin tones.

In darker skin tones you're looking for grey or white lips and fingernails. Other places where this may be not evidence is the tongue and gums.

Figured since everyone gets taught what low oxygen looks like on lighter skin. Everyone should know what it looks like on dark skin too.

-fae

When I was about 20, a slightly younger Black woman had a bicycle accident in front of me. Although she clearly had a bad head injury, she could get up, and in her confusion in distress kept insisting that she wanted to keep cycling to class. I wrapped her in a blanket and tried to keep her sitting down, and was on the line with 911 while trying to keep her calm and in one place, and she kept getting more upset and distressed as she overheard me saying things like how much she was bleeding. So I was trying to do this chipper act on the phone to 911 to stop this injured woman from panicking too much, in a wild teeth-gritted HELP US PLEASE HAHAHA way.

The 911 woman asked me if she was blue, and I looked at this young woman and what came out was “well, in normal life she is a person of color!! and now her mouth is grey, which I don’t think it normally is! Ahahaha!” And the dispatcher was like, tell me more about this, is it blue? And I’m going, “technically no! But it is not a great color! Help us now!” while the student was crying saying WHY ARE YOU SAYING THIS ABOUT ME, and I was trying to explain that it did not look like the right color to me, while assuring the student that I wasn’t judging in the least but she actually looked quite unwell, etc.

To conclude the story, soon enough she went on the ambulance and they said it was very serious but all fixable, and some of the responders said I’d behaved correctly and done things Right, possibly because I was in a state of high tension myself at that point.

I later went and obsessively read about low oxygen in people of color, came up with a better script and endlessly tried to replay the conversation along a better script so that I’d be ready next time.

Unfortunately this formed a core memory. My mind frequently returns to it and the horrible assessment of this student turning more and more cold and grey, while a woman yammered in my ear about whether she was blue and how blue she was, and what I should have said instead, and what I should have done instead, and whether I could have optimised this 5 second exchange to get an ambulance faster. It’s the kind of thing where you’re dreaming, and you turn left and walk into it again, and even though you practiced the Good New Script you’re in a nightmare and can’t express it properly. Or you wake up at 3 am with someone’s mean comment ringing in your ears and you turn over AND THEN ANOTHER THING: you weren’t very fast or clever in that situation with that one 911 dispatcher, were you? It feels pretty bad to not be equipped to respond well, when someone is hurt.

I was just a bystander in a situation that resolved in half an hour, but not having this knowledge firmly in my pocket when I needed it has burned it into my head in an uncomfortable way. You, however, can read this post and remember it, if it’s helpful for you. and if it helps you, then you’ll do better than me, and the people around you will be safer. You can have it the comfortable way! I hope it rests comfortably in your head and does good there.

Dinosaurs 🦕🌿, leaf artwork by Raku Inoue

At the start I think a lot of locals was upset by the burnings. It was a big expensive decoration for the people that some vandals just burned down for shit and giggles, and tbh at the time a bit asshole move. But over time everyone I know in Gävle look forward to see if anyone manages it. Everyone would be disappointed if it was made easy though. And it is definitely prestige in successfully defending the Goat. My grandmother would cheer for the Goat and Gävle if it survived, and the arsonists if they managed to get away with a burning. (especially if it was in an innovative or fun way) While quite a few think it's a bit harsh punishment to get caught, you can't really remake national laws for just a goat. Burning down other peoples property very much is arson. I think if it was fully consequence free it would loose it's magic. The very fact how hard it is, how illegal it is and you risking jail for it is now a part of it.

My favorite defense team was 2018. Armored knights.

source

“Where you been all day?”

“Fishin”

Women may want you but the fish refuse to live in fear anymore.

What kind of fight do you bring this to

A swordfish fight, obviously

So many god damned porn bots!!!

Can I interest you in a

.

…

a…

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crabonated beverage?

How to tell when your pun has reached both of its intended demographics

They fucking killed a gnome in my yard

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