Kokio

[efoxgirl]

Today's hearing is beginning. Namibia is starting off

[efoxgirl]

Namibian representative has a kufiya draped over her shoulder

[efoxgirl]

Mentioned Germany committing the first genocide of the 20th century in Namibia, and is now talking about the similarities between Namibia and Palestine

[efoxgirl]

Pointing out that an ICJ ruling helped Namibia's liberation. Other nations had also mentioned this in their presentations

[efoxgirl]

Addressing the Palestinians directly with a message of hope, now passing it over to their second speaker

[efoxgirl]

Namibia is focusing heavily on apartheid

[efoxgirl]

Namibia is asking the court to set a strict time limit for the unconditional end of the Israeli occupation. Also acknowledging Israel's history of defying the UN and the ICJ

[efoxgirl]

Norway is next. I don't know their stance

[efoxgirl]

Talking about severe use of force in Gaza, illegal settlements, displacement and destruction of homes and so on

[efoxgirl]

Talking about Hamas violating international law and needing to be held accountable, but that this does not justify measures taken against the civilian population

[efoxgirl]

Discussing the possibility of this being a de facto annexation as it's been allowed to continue indefinitely

[efoxgirl]

Norway's representative has been mentioning several previous ICJ rulings that are comparable to the current hearing

[efoxgirl]

Quoted Netanyahu to prove that Israel's goal is annexation

[efoxgirl]

second speaker for Noway is up and talking about Norway's full support for a two state solution

[efoxgirl]

Discussing at length the process of Israel joining the UN and their responsibilities as a member state

[efoxgirl]

Mentioning that the Israeli occupation has already been defined as illegal, quoting a Security Council resolution from 1980

[efoxgirl]

Oman's delegation is up next

[efoxgirl]

Accusing the international community of failing Palestinians in achieving their dream of having a free state, and mentioning the severity of the genocide happening in Gaza

[efoxgirl]

Calling for an immediate and unconditional end to all actions, policies, and laws that prevent the Palestinian's right to self-determination

[efoxgirl]

"There is no legal justification for continuing the occupation and denying the right of self-determination"

[efoxgirl]

10 minute break, Pakistan will be first after the court resumes

[efoxgirl]

Pakistan is now presenting

[efoxgirl]

Discussing Pakistan's history of supporting Palestine, and stating that these hearings offer hope to the Palestinian people

[efoxgirl]

Stating bluntly that this is not, if it ever was, a military occupation. It is annexation

[efoxgirl]

Talking about how France previously withdrew over 1 million settlers from Algeria, and that this outnumbers the number of Israeli settlers in the OPT

[efoxgirl]

Talking about the unique status of Jerusalem and how it is holy to all 3 Abrahamic religions, but Christians and Muslims have not had full religious freedom in the city

[efoxgirl]

Discussing support and the necessity for the two state solution

[efoxgirl]

Pakistan just called out the US for voting in favour of ending South Africa's occupation of Namibia in the past, but not doing so for Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories

[efoxgirl]

Drawing parallels between the Namibia case and Palestine

[efoxgirl]

Just stated that if the ICJ refrains from issuing a ruling they will be signaling to other powers that they too could possibly get away with illegal occupation

[efoxgirl]

Indonesian representative is up now. She is wearing a kufiya

[efoxgirl]

Quoting Natanyahu when he stated that no one, not even the Hague, could stop Israel

[efoxgirl]

Did air quotes while mentioning the "rule-based international order"

[efoxgirl]

Stating that the argument that an ICJ ruling would undermine the peace process is null because "there is no peace process to undermine"

[efoxgirl]

"Negotiation with someone holding a gun to your head is not a negotiation"

[efoxgirl]

"Never again means never again"

[efoxgirl]

Indonesia is finished, and I hope I can find a recording of that presentation later.

Qatar is presenting now

[efoxgirl]

"For 75 years the lives of the Palestinian people has been treated as an exception to the rules of humanitarian law"

[efoxgirl]

"Recent events did not occur in a vacuum"

[efoxgirl]

"the so-called peace process is dead"

[efoxgirl]

Talking about how the war in Gaza is being used as a cover for an increase in illegal settlement activity

[efoxgirl]

"Before October 7th Gaza had already been described by the UN secretary general as 'hell on earth' today it is indescribable"

[efoxgirl]

Just spoke about Israel murdering journalists and members of human rights organizations. I don't think I've heard any other delegation mention that

[efoxgirl]

Qatar has finished their presentation by telling the ICJ that the whole world is looking at them, and they hope they take this historic opportunity to end the injustices against the Palestinian people.

Throughout Qatar's presentation the representative followed several comments about Israeli crimes, and other points, by mentioning that more information is included in the folders that Qatar provided the court. I don't know how large the folders are, but it sounds like at the very least Qatar provided more information for every breach of international law they observed, and they also included arguments from other states where the same conclusions were drawn. They came very prepared.

That's the morning hearing finished, afternoon hearing is in 2 hours with presentations from the UK, Slovenia, Sudan, Switzerland, Syria, and Tunisia

[ciearcab]

how do you live?

[sanacibo]

[ID: A realistic digital painting of a grey heron. Colorful red, green, and blue parakeets and white pelicans fly towards the upper left. The heron bends its head down and around and catches the wing of one of the pelicans in its beak. The heron stares at the viewer. The background is yellow orange. The shading is detailed but unblended with hard edges. The signature "@/ciearcab" is overlayed near the center of the image. End ID]

[inkskinned]

the problem is that being single is seen as the consolidation prize, and not the natural neutral state of being-a-person. at the end of the movie or the book or the poetry, there is a person waiting for you at the altar, and they love you. if the play is a comedy, everyone gets married. the metaphor is about how you are not-whole. the metaphor is about how everyone is going to be happily-ever-after. the metaphor is that romantic love is the most important resource on the planet, not just all-love. all-love is not a thing, that is a disappointment. the treasure is not the friends we made along the way. the treasure is the girl you landed.

the metaphor is that you cannot be alone, that means you are broken. are you getting over someone? that is acceptable, you can be getting over someone, but not for long. you must be single because you would rather not be single. you must be single and looking to not-be-single. you must want to date, eventually.

friendship and community are never seen as being equal-to or even-better than romantic connection. that person is your one! you need to find them. you need to hunt through the sand particles until you can shift out some kind of gem. this is regardless to your own experience of the beach and the sun. you need to be somewhere with someone.

if you are taking this time alone to heal, that is so sad. everyone gives you this little pitying look. the understanding is that you are not actually happier than you were before you were single. it is seen as a sort of pity - oh, you are choosing yourself, making yourself the priority? - that isn't quite right. you must mean that you are making yourself ready for the right person. you are just laying the bed better this time. open up your heart. you'll find them, we promise!

what do you mean you're really-truly genuinely-very happy? you are probably misremembering what it was like to be in a relationship. and besides, once you meet your person, that time will look grey and bland and wasted. your person is the only way for you to see in color. so what if you have taken this time - for the first time in your entire life - to actually-for-real do the fucking work. you can be proud of yourself, sure. but the way we need to know that you got better is that you get a partner. you're healed enough for the next bad part!

people don't choose to be single, they just say they're choosing to be single - they actually mean "nobody wants to date me." it doesn't matter how many people you have gently rejected or how many times you've talked it over carefully in therapy. what matters is that you are single, and by all accounts - that means you are something worth our pity. your successes and life all seem pale in the sunlight. sure, you have done amazing things and finally found your way in life. what matters is that there wasn't a person in the room with you while you did it.

you want to tell them - that's the whole thing. i didn't know how to be alone in the room. i didn't know how to handle the silence. every moment was so sharp, and i kept choosing the wrong way to close the door. i have spent my entire life in the empty well, living in the ricochet of someone else's cruelty. for once i have built myself a ladder. for once everything i taste is all mine, every bite of sunshine and laughter. i have learned how to sleep out in the open with my memories. recently, they have started to purr.

your father rolls his eyes. listen. this isn't about you. i just want a grandchild in my future.

[aforlorngazeintoyesterday-deact]

we need to destigmatize dropping out of college I am so serious. like dude if u realize that is Bad For You then you can just Leave. I am so fucking serious. just stop. there are other options and you don’t need to force yourself through shit you can’t do and go into debt. i promise you can just Not.

[dr-mooseman]

also goes for grad school, internship, residency...

[aurpiment]

Shout out to the ten primate species, four bat species, elephant shrews, and the Cairo spiny mouse. Nobody else gets it

[oarfjsh]

[sheep-venom]

werewolf youtubers be like “lycan subscribe” but fungus/alga symbiote youtubers be like “lichen subscribe” but also ions or neutral molecules bonded to a central metal atom or ion youtubers be like “ligand subscribe” thanks ill be here all week 

[sheep-venom]

i ran the whole marathon on this one and you let it flop. i did so much googling.

[effectiveresistance]

We heard some Wet’suwet’en Chiefs were visiting Six Nations territory Tuesday. We appreciate the energy and determination the Wet’sutwet’en have shown towards defending the land and lives of their people. We wanted to welcome them to the area.

We cannot be out west with you, but we are with you from here.

In the night of July 31, 2022 several small groups enjoyed the cool evening and – where opportunities presented themselves – took small actions against local rail infrastructure. We see rail as a colonial imposition, forced upon the territories of Turtle Island (and beyond) to expand colonization – and eventually industrialization and destructive extraction. An attack on rail is an attack on those things, and rail is everywhere and indefensible – so it is also an opportunity that is available to most.

Using various methods such as connecting copper wire between fish plates, smashing hot wheel equipment with hammers, and kicking large rocks into track switches we had ourselves a low stress evening which ultimately endangers no one but ourselves, but does create several annoyances for operators.

You, dear reader, can do any of these things too! We can slowly erode this system, as water will do even to rock.

We remember the rail blockades of 2020. We remember the slow build. The energy. We remember people stepping on to railways and wanting to know what was next: wanting more. They were ready to take a stand for the Yintah. For its people. And against our genocidal government and corporations.

We think it will look different – but believe we can get there again. The same way in which the hottest of fires can overwinter in a tree trunk only to burst forth when the time is right, making way for new life and a new world.

We stand with the Haudenosaunee taking back their land.

We stand with the Wet’suwet’en defending their land.

Welcome to the territories of the Haudenosaunee, Missisaugas, Huron-Wendat, Chonnonton, Erie & Petun people.

- A Love Letter To The Wet’suwet’en (And Their Allies) Who Fight For The Land

[kyaa-a]

@animangacreators​ challenge #2 ⇢ spring 2022

➥ spy x family 

❝With proper watering and pruning and careful maintenance the world can remain a beautiful place.❞

[lycaniums-room]

*makes another silly little poster*

[catadromously]

the more things change…

[ba1laur]

dino sore

[ratsarecute4]

My favourite thing about (most) Germanic languages:

Norwegian: due (pigeon), drue (grape)

Danish: due (pigeon), drue (grape)

Swedish: duva (pigeon), druva (grape)

Dutch: duif (pigeon), druif (grape)

Afrikaans: duif (pigeon), druif (grape)

Frisian: duif (pigeon), druif (grape)

German: Taube (pigeon), Traube (grape)

A few notable outliers: English, Scots, Icelandic

[asmeesh]

You and your canine heart

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Madeline Can’t Afford To Live With Her Illness. She May Choose To Die Instead

For the past 20 years, the 54-year-old Vancouver woman has amassed $40,000 in debts trying to treat myalgic encephalomyelitis and other ailments. When her money runs out, she says a medically assisted death may be her only option.

Madeline was eight when her body started to rebel against the things she wanted it to do. She remembers being struck with blinding pain in her legs. She crumpled to the floor in the hallway of her family home and sobbed. Her parents took her to a doctor, who delivered a possible diagnosis: Her right leg was shorter than her left, and her spine curved from scoliosis. She never received treatment or therapy, and she does not know why. Madeline, who wanted to be an actress when she grew up, got used to dancing on sore legs.

Just before she started grade 5, she got mononucleosis. After that, she kept getting sick—colds, ear infections and coughs that dragged on. In her mid-teens, Madeline began to struggle with fatigue and weight gain. After high school, she moved to Quebec to study theatre. There, a new symptom arrived: chronic diarrhea, which sent her running to a toilet up to a dozen times a day.

Once she graduated from university, Madeline felt like her career as an actress was beginning to take off. She met with an agent and got her first professional headshots—black and white images showing off her impeccably straight teeth and dark eyes. She moved to British Columbia and starred in community theatre. That’s when she got mono again. Her health spiralled downward: body aches, an endless series of bladder and ear infections, exhaustion.

A doctor suggested a diagnosis: chronic fatigue syndrome, or myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME). It’s a poorly understood condition that some researchers believe arrives in the wake of a virus like Epstein-Barr, which can cause mono. It’s unclear why ME only occurs in some people and what, if any, genetic factors contribute. With ME, the body never seems to recharge to full strength, leaving a person struggling with debilitating exhaustion; postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), which causes light-headedness; a racing heart; and other symptoms. With no cure or treatment, ME leaves many people confined to their homes; one study found that a quarter of people with ME are home-bound and, of those, about 15 percent are also bedridden.

In the two decades since her diagnosis, Madeline has not set foot on stage. Unable to work, she receives provincial government assistance for people with disabilities. But the money falls short of what she needs. Each year, she has fallen thousands of dollars further into debt.

Today, she is among the more than 1.4 million Canadians with disabilities who live in poverty. Many, like Madeline, receive some government support; despite that, 40 percent of Canadians with disabilities live below the poverty line. And people with disabilities often need more basic goods and services just to survive—things like mobility aids, home care, accessible housing and transportation, prescription drugs and health care services, not all of which are fully covered by Canada’s publicly funded health programs.

There is, however, one government-funded service available to some people living with disabilities: medical assistance in dying (MAID). Last year, the Canadian government voted to expand MAID laws to include people suffering with illness whose death is not imminent, like Madeline. This has put her in a quandary: She has government funding to die in comfort, but not enough to live at the same standard.

Continue Reading.

Tagging: @politicsofcanada

[queern-bn]

From discussions I’ve had with MAID practitioners here in Manitoba, this change to the legislation around Medical Assistance in Dying was not necessarily pushed by MAID advocates themselves, but by the government.

The new legislation basically preys upon people with disabilities and severe long-standing mental illness, many of whom already feel like a burden to their loved ones. The government won’t provide a livable income to people who can’t work, because it’s actually cheaper for them to just let people live miserably until they decide being dead is better than living in poverty.

Many disability rights activist groups are strongly opposed to this change, and for good reason. MAID is an important service, but it should not be accessible to just anyone, and should not take the place of comprehensive support systems for those in need.

[hrefnatheravenqueen]

It’s eugenics. Pure and simple. Supporting the right to die is one thing. But when the government is making MAiD easily accessible while not providing enough support to help disabled people live comfortably, they are essentially encouraging disabled folks to off themselves legally.

It’s not a choice if you’re not given the opportunity to live a good life. Provide support to ensure people can lead safe and comfortable lives without worries, and THEN if they still want to opt for MAiD, that’s an actual choice, and that’s ethical. Otherwise, what the government is doing is subsidizing and legalizing the killing of the disabled, and that’s eugenics. Period.

[dimir-charmer]

My grandfather, 91, had terminal lung cancer with colonies in his throat. He was absolutely, without a shadow of a doubt going to die within the next six to twelve weeks. He opted for MAiD, and that allowed his whole family myself included to be with him when he passed, on his own terms, in his own home.

The entire time he was sick, he got a level of care that is absolutely not being provided to the chronically ill in this country. He got oxygen delivered to his house, he had a cleaner come once a week, and he got compassion and understanding from doctors who discussed and were able to actualize treatment plans that improved and prolonged his life.

I’m glad that MAiD is available for people who have no other option. But there are lots of other options for people who are chronically ill but we’re refusing to support, and that’s nothing short of a fucking travesty.

[literarystarbucks]

SUPPORT STARBUCKS UNIONS

Upton Sinclair tries to go up to the counter, but the Starbucks is closed. Starbucks fired all their workers from this location for unionizing.

Hi everyone! It’s been a while. We here at Literary Starbucks have followed the news about Starbucks workers’ fight to unionize, and we want to use the platform we have to support them and uplift their voices. 

Starbucks workers across the nation have been unionizing their workplaces to ensure a more democratic, safe, and equitable environment for all employees. The first United States Starbucks to successfully unionize its workers was in Buffalo, NY, in December 2021. Since then, more Starbucks locations all over the country have voted to unionize!

Predictably, Starbucks is not thrilled about this, and has been actively union-busting. As linked above in the Upton Sinclair post, there are many examples of Starbucks closing locations that voted to unionize or firing pro-union workers, but Starbucks has gone even further. They have cut hours for pro-union employees, increased managerial presence in stores in order to monitor union activities, and, recently and abhorrently, claimed that Starbucks will support its workers who are seeking abortion services—but only if they aren’t part of a union.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has “accused Starbucks of more than 200 labor law violations spanning over two dozen types of unfair labor practices.” In addition to being morally despicable, Starbucks’ union-busting practices are actually illegal.

Literary Starbucks supports workers’ right to unionize and stands with the Starbucks partners who are unionized and/or fighting to unionize. We condemn Starbucks’ anti-union position. 

To read more about Starbucks employees’ efforts to unionize, please check out Starbucks Workers United. Headquartered in Buffalo, NY, SB Workers United boasts 180+ stores unionized already. Check out their FAQ for more information!

Here are ways you can support Starbucks workers’ unionization efforts across the USA:

Donate to the Pacific Northwest Starbucks Workers United (PNWSBWU) to, in their own words, “provide financial relief to Starbucks workers in the Pacific Northwest for income [they] lose as [they] take the collective actions needed to win the workplace [they] deserve.”

Donate to the employees of the College Ave Starbucks in Ithaca, NY, since Starbucks closed this unionized location!

Donate to Black Union Leaders in Memphis, TN, to support fired Black union leaders.

Sign the No Contract, No Coffee pledge to support the unionizing workers!

Shop the SB Workers United store! All proceeds directly support Starbucks employees.

SUPPORT STRIKERS! For example, a location in Buffalo went on strike yesterday! 

Attend a local “sip-in” rally at Starbucks to support unionization efforts. Here’s an example of a call for a sip-in—check out your local Starbucks stores to see if there is one coming up near you! And make sure you tip big!

Follow SB Workers United on Instagram for the latest news and updates.

Follow SB Workers United on Twitter for the latest news and updates. We pulled most of the donation links directly from that Twitter, so that’s the best place to check to see how you can best help!

Hell, follow us on Twitter as well. We’ll be retweeting stuff from @SBWorkersUnited, @VentiSolidarity, @JortstheCat, and other pro-union accounts to help raise awareness for Starbucks employees working to unionize.

The baristas were always an essential part of the Literary Starbucks mythos. Help support the real-life heroes working in Starbucks locations across the nation today!

In solidarity,

Jill, Nora, and Wilson

[fruitblush]

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[k-marcy2]

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