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salvete amica mea

@silver-lily-louise / silver-lily-louise.tumblr.com

Louise, late 20s, UK. Aroace, autistic, genderflux (xe/xem/xer or she/her). Halmaithor on AO3.
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"these jewish bloggers keep saying it's possible to talk about gaza without being antisemitic but keep saying everything i say is antisemitic so clearly they just don't want us talking about gaza"

it's actually really easy to talk about gaza without being antisemitic if you're not antisemitic, and really hard if you are antisemitic. hope this helps

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amaditalks

This was in reblog tags

And I think it comes down to this. The conversation in this moment could - and I would argue should - look like this.

  1. Israel’s response to Hamas’ October 7 attack is disproportionate and is causing overwhelming destruction and the deaths of innocent Palestinians, and must end.
  2. Hamas’ ongoing violence, dedication to the destruction of Israel and willingness to position all Palestinians as martyrs (whether they’re willing or not) is used to justify Israel’s actions and cannot go unaddressed.
  3. We need an immediate ceasefire and for Israeli and Palestinian leaders to a commit to a diplomatic negotiation process, beginning right now, to create a long term peaceful solution that protects the safety, security and sovereignty of Palestinians and Israelis alike.
  4. Those of us outside Israel and Palestine should be supporting those inside who are working toward those goals and insisting that our governments support those goals as well.

Instead the conversation has devolved into a referendum on the validity of Jewish Israeli identity, Jewish indigeneity in the land, Israel’s right to self defense and ultimately Israel’s entire existence, and all of those topics are intensely driven by and seeded with antisemitic ideas and ideology. There is no way to entertain any of them as an ongoing discussion without being mired down in antisemitism.

Palestinian autonomy and self-determination does not require the loss of the same for Israelis. Co-existence of autonomous Palestine and Israel must not only be possible, it is the only just end goal.

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All it means when people say “you’re speaking from a place of privilege” is that you’re likely to underestimate how bad the problem is by default because you are never personally exposed to that problem. It’s not a moral judgement of how difficult your life is.

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mrloveballad

^^^^^^ read it. say it out loud. keep repeating it until you understand.

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Using the bathroom in general is a human right and should be enshrined as such and I'm not joking. Too many groups of people are denied bathroom breaks or the use of bathrooms entirely--disabled people, blue-collar workers, children, homeless people, prisoners, students, the elderly. I'm surely missing other groups. Not using the bathroom when needed can cause serious, long-term damage, not to mention death. Free, clean, accessible bathrooms should be available everywhere. It's fucking cruel to deny someone the use of the bathroom, regardless of the reasoning. I'd rather every student in the world goof off and every homeless person make a mess and every worker "steal company time" than let one person suffer because they're denied the right to fucking pee in peace.

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fawndlyvenus

As someone who once had a school who tried to restrict bathroom breaks – due to apparent goofing off during classes – all it took for them to immediately change course was one super pissed off mom. Yes, my mom heard that, and charged right into the office to “have a word” with the principal, even going so far as asking to speak to the superintendent.

And let me tell you, it honestly takes that. People getting pissed and upset enough that people realize it’s not “just a small issue.” That it’s a human right and basic need that everyone should be able to do, with no stupid restrictions or paywall. If you think people shouldn’t be allowed to have free access and accommodations to bathrooms (making more bathrooms disabled friendly for example), then idk what to say besides please honestly rethink that mindset.

Everyone uses the bathroom, and everyone should have a bathroom to use.

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would you still love me if i was a worm? wait no sorry that’s stupid let me rephrase that would you still love me if I was of no value to you anymore? if I broke my vows by turning into someone you never agreed to be with if I suddenly couldn't be a wife couldn't be a mother if I couldn't clean the house and I couldn't put dinner on the table and couldn't have sex would you still love me? would I even be me, to you? do you love me or the things that I do? when wives get life threatening illnesses 1 in 5 husbands leave those don't seem like good odds so I'm just asking if I turned into a worm tomorrow and I could no longer provide you with anything at all, would the love remain? would you find a terrarium and fill it with mulch and keep me in the bedroom? would you spray me with water? would you keep me alive? would you throw me out onto the pavement? I think I would make you a house of popsicle sticks if you were a worm

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If a worker who isn't the owner says ANYTHING similar to "I'm not really supposed to do this but-" and then does something that helps you, under no circumstances inform the business, including through reviews. You tell them that the worker was polite, professional, the very model of customer service and why you like to go there. You do not breathe a word of the rulebreaking.

Employee-customer solidarity

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dykepuffs

Even if they don't- Your review can be the thing that wrecks someone up accidentally;

"Janie was so helpful when I wanted to buy a new washing machine on Friday, she stayed with me for half an hour and wasn't pushy at all, we had a good laugh about our cats' silly antics and she got Adam and Suzy to carry it to the car for me- 10/10 excellent service, I'd come back any day!"

-But Management has a policy that workers should spend no more than 10 focused minutes on any customer at a time, and that they should always try to upsell the insurance and the higher price model, so Janie was breaking policy.

-And they aren't supposed to have their phones on the sales floor, so now Janie is going to be quizzed on whether she was showing photos of her cat to a customer.

-Adam is a warehouse worker and shouldn't have been in the front-of-house at all, Suzy is a porter, and store policy is both to use a trolley to move heavy items, and that only the porters should do it, so now Janie is in trouble for pulling Adam off-task, Adam is in trouble for walking through the shop floor, and Suzy is in trouble for poor handling procedure. Maybe the store even has a paid delivery service that Janie was supposed to upsell as soon as you said "I can't put this in my car without help", so this was all against policy.

Your review should always be as bland as possible, "10/10, five star service, will shop here again, thank you to Janie at the Town Street branch" You NEVER know what was technically a rule-break, capitalism is not your friend, the review process is part of the panopticon.

FIVE STARS, TEN OUT OF TEN, VERY GOOD, NOTHING MORE.

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Hey everyone, please consider buying the 2024 itch.io Palestinian Relief Bundle- it's 373 games, game-making assets, tabletop roleplaying games, zines, and comics for a minimum of just 8 USD! They have a goal of 100,000 USD, and as of the time I'm writing this post, they have 8 more days to reach it.

Link will be in the reblog!

Amazing news!! They reached their goal of 100,000 USD! There is now a second goal of 250,000 USD! Remember, this is 373 games, assets, and comics for a minimum of 8 USD- a bundle of items which would normally be ~1,667 USD! Let's reach that second goal as quickly as we reached the first goal!

Fantastic news!!! The 250,000 USD goal has been met, and there is now a third goal of 500,000 USD! The deadline has also been extended, and as of the time I'm writing this update, there is 13 more days to reach their newest goal!

The money raised so far has already been incredible. Let's maintain this energy and continue to provide support for the PCRF!

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trilobiter

Something about the idea that voting for president only matters if you live in a swing state, and that all the people in blue states or red states can indulge themselves in principled nonparticipation because the outcomes are preordained, strikes me as akin to playing with fire.

Is it really coherent to say "both sides are awful, write in Mickey Mouse or burn your ballot or just stay home and get drunk, unless you live in Pennsylvania, in which case maybe consider taking one for the team and compromising yourself by voting for the lesser evil?" Is that really the message that will lead to a preferable outcome?

What it sounds like to me is a sign that 1) you take your local electorate for granted, and 2) you see avoiding the worst case scenario as somebody else's problem.

I remember when Florida was a swing state. I also remember when Pennsylvania wasn't.

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vaspider

For the love of fuck, vote in your local elections and don't fuck around with presidential ones either. States are in play now that I would never have dreamed of being 'swing' states. When I first started voting, PA absolutely was not a swing state. The district where I cast my first vote went blue for the first time I can remember last election.

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rosstmcd

Washington state, universally considered a safe blue state, has voted Democrat between 50.1% and 58.0% in presidential elections since 2000. Those are pretty healthy margins. But they are not insurmountable - Washington was reliably red up to 1984, by similar amounts - and they don't happen by magic. They happen because people fucking vote blue even though it's considered a safe state.

If enough people think, "eh, I don't have to vote, Washington is going to go blue no matter what," then guess what happens? The state goes red. And we don't want that.

Oregon is also considered by outside viewers to be super liberal. Then, when you zoom in on individual counties, it's like 90% red. A lower than average Democratic voter turnout in the larger cities could easily make the whole state as Republican as the bigoted Oregon town I currently live in. A higher turnout in rural areas could start making the state look like people think it does.

If you feel safe that your state is a "blue" state, look at the county maps and see just how few of them are actually as blue as you imagine.

As someone who has lived in rural Oregon and rural Kansas, I found rural Kansas less conservative. Do not trust in your state's reputation as one color or another. That reputation is often defined by a very small part of the map.

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bedbugbiting

My face is having uncontrollable spasms. Great. It hurts really, really, really bad.

I think part of why I have trouble explaining pain to the doctor is when they ask about the pain scale I always think “Well, if someone threw me down a flight of stairs right now or punched me a few times, it would definitely hurt a lot more” so I end up saying a low number. I was reading an article that said that “10” is the most commonly reported number and that is baffling to me. When I woke up from surgery with an 8" incision in my body and I could hardly even speak, I was in the most horrific pain of my life but I said “6” because I thought “Well, if you hit me in the stomach, it would be worse.”

I searched and searched for the post this graphic was from, and the OP deactivated, but I kept the graphic, because my BFF does the same thing, uses her imagination to come up with the worst pain she can imagine and pegs her “10″ there, and so is like, well, I’m conscious, so this must be a 5, and then the doctors don’t take her seriously. (And she then does things like driving herself to the hospital while in the process of giving birth. Probably should have called an ambulance for that one!)

So I found this and sent it to her. Because this is what they want to know: how badly is this pain affecting you? Not on a scale of “nothing” to “how I’d imagine it’d feel if bears were eating my still-living guts while I was on fire”. 

I hate reposting stuff, but I’ll never find that post again and OP is deactivated, so, here’s a repost. I can delete this later, i just wanted to get it to you and I can’t embed images in a chat or an ask. 

This is possibly why it took several weeks to diagnose my fractured spine.

Pain Scale transcription:

10 - I am in bed and I can’t move due to my pain. I need someone to take me to the emergency room because of my pain.

9 - My pain is all that I can think about. I can barely move or talk because of my pain.

8 - My pain is so severe that it is difficult to think of anything else. Talking and listening are difficult.

7 - I am in pain all the time. It keeps me from doing most activities.

6 - I think about my pain all of the time. I give up many activities because of my pain.

5 - I think about my pain most of the time. I cannot do some of the activities I need to do each day because of the pain.

4 - I am constantly aware of my pain but can continue most activities.

3 - My pain bothers me but I can ignore it most of the time.

2 - I have a low level of pain. I am aware of my pain only when I pay attention to it.

1 - My pain is hardly noticeable.

0 - I have no pain.

It’s also really important to get this kind of scale to people who have chronic pain, because chronic pain drastically lowers your perception of how “bad” any kind of pain actually is, and yet something like this pain scale is extremely user friendly. 

For example, if someone asked me how much pain I’m in at any given time, I’d say hardly any, and yet I’m apparently at a chronic 2.5, and it only goes up from there depending on the day. 

There’s also a similarly useful “Fatigue Scale”

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jedijenkins

I haven’t been below a 5 on this scale for 4 years 

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nerdgasrnz

Here’s the fatigue scale

Fatigue scale image desc:

10: can barely move; can’t talk

9: can barely move; can talk

8: can move, but can’t do much more than watch TV

7: can watch TV and play a game on my phone simultaneously

6: can do work on my computer lying in bed

5: can get around the house, but definitely couldn’t go out

4: can run a light errand

3: can get in my 10,000 steps, making my fitbit happy

2: can do three or more activities in a single day

1: going clubbing!

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eruvadhril

See also the Mental Health Pain Scale by Graceful Patient:

Mental Health Pain Scale transcription:

MILD

1 - Everything is a-okay! There is absolutely nothing wrong. You’re probably cuddling a fluffy kitten right now. Enjoy!

2 - You’re a bit frustrated or disappointed, but you’re easily distracted and cheered up with a little effort.

3 - Things are bothering you, but you’re coping. You might be overtired or hungry. The emotional equivalent of a headache.

MODERATE

4 - Today is a bad day (or a few bad days). You still have the skills to get through it, but be gentle with yourself. Use self-care strategies.

5 - Your mental health is starting to impact on your everyday life. Easy things are becoming difficult. You should talk to your doctor.

6 - You can’t do things the way you usually do them due to your mental health. Impulsive and compulsive thoughts may be hard to cope with.

SEVERE

7 - You’re avoiding things that make you more distressed, but that will make it worse. You should definitely seek help. This is serious.

8 - You can’t hide your struggles any more. You may have issues sleeping, eating, having fun, socialising, and work/study. Your mental health is affecting almost all parts of your life.

9 - You’re at a critical point. You aren’t functioning any more. You need urgent help. You may be a risk to yourself or others if left untreated.

10 - The worst mental and emotional distress possible. You can no longer care for yourself. You can’t imagine things getting any worse. Contact a crisis line immediately.

These are so important! SO SO IMPORTANT SHARE THIS AND SAVE IT TO SHOW YOUR DOCTORS!

This is the first time I’ve seen the fatigue scale, and HOLY MOLY that’s a revelation!!! These should be on all hospital and doctor office walls.

I’ve never seen the mental health one! or the fatigue one! I printed out the pain one and gave it to my GP. 

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Plaintext from the video: Please do not type out your DNIs like this. This kind of censorship is inaccessible to those with screen readers. Thank you.

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nymph1e

Also don't censor content warnings as it voids the whole point of a content warning. Saying kill and suicide won't damage your post's visibility, but saying k1ll and su*cide will stop people from being able to filter out content they don't want to see.

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