Just a belated note to say, I have graduated!! This past May, I graduated with a bs in environmental science, policy, and management, with a minor in water sciences! I’m very excited to start my career in watershed management, and am looking forward to whatever educational opportunities come next. At the moment, I’m not planning on doing grad school, but that may be in my future eventually.
All this to say, this studyblr may be slowing down from here on out. It won’t be going away completely though, as I plan to queue up things from my likes, and whatever else that’s relevant that crosses my dash.
If anyone has questions about studying hydrology or environmental sciences in general, my inbox will always be open! I’m always excited to chat with fellow nature nerds!
You know the parable about how the foolish man built his house upon sand and the wise man built his house upon rock and it’s always about having a sturdy foundation well there is also the fact of location which is that the sand probably used to be rock except it’s been eroded to sediment because it’s a FUCKING FLOODPLAIN
flood Plain perfec t size for put town in to b\uild! inside very Soft and Comfort town safe happy put town in Floodplain. Put Town In Floodplain. no problems ever in flloodplain because good Shape and Support for town roads weak of big town citizens. Afloodplain yes a place for a town put town in floodplain can trust floodplain for giveing good place for town. friend flood
if you ever find yourself thinking “wow I scraped the bottom of the barrel with my energy with that and came out okay!” that’s the devil talking. you did not come out okay. you borrowed energy from the future. you will repay it if you don’t rest and replenish the borrowed energy first.
WIZARD PSA: Chronomancy might be weird and confusing, but one of the few solid rules of the discipline is keep your promises. Time is a library, and you don't want to meet the librarian.
I need you folks who are going back to school to understand this, sleep deprivation is not something to be proud of. You are being fed capitalist propaganda to make you believe that working yourself to the bone is a good and smart business model from a young age. If all you do is “get 3 hours of sleep” because you’re studying, you’re just gonna burn out quicker, forget the information you’re trying to cram, and cause your brain to cannibalize itself.
Do not compete by making unhealthy habits. This will only fuck you up in the long run.
Keep studying. Keep planning for that liberal arts degree. Keep attending your classes. Keep studying, because someone needs to know this information and have those skills so we can rebuild. Your degree and field of study is being attacked because of its significance for humanity. Your degree needs you. Your colleges need you. Our future needs you.
OK so I don't usually bring personal stuff to this blog but I am being hunted for sport by my book club for the way I read my books and I just want to check how badly I have misjudged what is "normal" in this situation lol
When I put down the book I'm reading...
I use a designated bookmark to mark my place
I use whatever is to hand to mark my place (receipt, scrap paper, cat etc)
I put my book face down, open on the page I'm at
I dog-ear the page I'm on
I don't mark my place and just find where I was the next time I pick it up
Voting ended onNov 23, 2024
So far I have been called "unhinged", "profoundly disturbed" and a number of variations thereupon for my habit of just... closing the book. Which I guess isn't what everyone else is doing. Apparently.
Also please, if you have very strong feelings about this, yell to your heart's content - I can direct you to an entire book club of people who will yell right along with you 😅
Senators are going to vote on whether or not we should continue to send aid to Israel on Wednesday, November 13th. Call them, bombard their phone lines with calls. Every fucking day. We have a chance of doing something about this.
if you're scrolling tumblr right now because you're struggling to complete a project or assignment, take a moment to do the following:
get up and grab a resealable plastic (ziploc) bag
fill it with warm water from the sink
it will probably be somewhat difficult to fill it with warm water from the sink. youre taking a break. don't worry about it. trying to fill up the plastic bag full of warm water even though it's silly and slippery and soaks your hands. it's part of the fun
when it's full, go show someone. tell them you filled a bag with water. when they touch it, they won't expect it to be warm, and they'll tell you "ooh, it's warm!" you know this though. it's a little surprise for them
enjoy the warm water bag with them. it's fun. it probably won't spill if you sealed it well. hold it with your hands. press it against your face-- it's relaxing. jiggle it around a little bit. feel the nice, plasticky-warm texture. it's the warm water bag. it's the bag filled with water and it's fun
when you're done, take a pin or other sharp object (a pen works, but pins are best!) and bring the bag back to the sink. poke a hole in the bag with the pin. the water probably won't come out very fast. poke more if you'd like. maybe try dragging the pin across the bag and see if you can make a cut. poke many holes in it. it's fun!
throw the bag away when you're done. youve just relaxed with the bag of warm water
congratulations! try to go do your project again and you might find it easier. and if not, you've made a few water-bag based memories, or at least had a laugh or two :)
“I hate both choices in this election; what’s the fucking point of voting?”
So long as a fascist demagogue has a coin flip of a chance of winning, the Republican Party is going to keep nominating fascist demagogues and sycophants because that’s what their voters want and they are eager to vote for it. The Democratic Party will be forced to attempt to court swing voters who think the fascist demagogue “is a strong leader” and “has some good ideas” and “isn’t afraid to speak the harsh truth.”
Until fascist demagogues consistently lose elections by large margins, you will never get another set of options. It’s going to be this over and over and over again until the elections results change. Or there are no more elections.
"Kamala Harris has earned an eleventh-hour show of support from Palestinian, Arab and Muslim community leaders."
Kamala Harris has earned an eleventh-hour show of support from Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim community leaders.
On October 24th, a collective statement titled "Arizona Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, and Progressive Democrats and Community Leaders Statement on Presidential Election" was published.
The 100+ signees include current or former leaders of Palestinian, Arab and Muslim organisations, the leader of Phoenix, AZ's largest mosque, Jewish activists and other elected officials. All of them have been listed at the bottom of this post.
You can read the whole statement here but I've also copy-pasted it's entire contents below.
Read. The Whole. Thing.
It is concise and will only take you a few minutes. While you read, recognise that these words are not representative of every single person belonging to these demographics. Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims are not a monolith, and have a right to feel any way they do about this election. To those who do not belong to these groups - refrain from adding your personal commentary in the tags, and understand how excruciating of a place this statement must have come from for both the authors, signees and the communities they represent.
---
Arizona Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, and Progressive Democrats and Community Leaders Statement on Presidential Election
As Democrats and leaders in the Palestinian, Arab, Muslim and Progressive communities in Arizona, we the undersigned make the following statement, published on 10/24/2024:
This past year has been very difficult for all of us. With over 42,000 Palestinians killed by Israel using American-supplied weapons and no end in sight despite all our struggle for a ceasefire, we approach the presidential election heartbroken and outraged.
We know that many in our communities are resistant to vote for Kamala Harris because of the Biden administration’s complicity in the genocide. We understand this sentiment. Many of us have felt that way ourselves, even until very recently. Some of us have lost many family members in Gaza and Lebanon. We respect those who feel they simply can’t vote for a member of the administration that sent the bombs that may have killed their loved ones.
As we consider the full situation carefully, however, we conclude that voting for Kamala Harris is the best option for the Palestinian cause and all of our communities. We know that some will strongly disagree. We only ask that you consider our case with an open mind and heart, respecting that we are doing what we believe is right in an awful situation where only flawed choices are available.
In our view, it is crystal clear that allowing the fascist Donald Trump to become President again would be the worst possible outcome for the Palestinian people. A Trump win would be an extreme danger to Muslims in our country, all immigrants, and the American pro-Palestine movement. It would be an existential threat to our democracy and our whole planet.
When we think of Trump in power again, we recall that even a genocide can get much worse. Trump just said that Netanhahu must “go further” in Gaza while criticizing Biden for “trying to hold him back.” His biggest donor, Miriam Adelson, who demanded in 2016 that Trump move the US embassy to Jerusalem if elected –– which he then did –– is now telling Trump to allow Israel to annex the entire West Bank. Netanyahu, Ben Gvir, Smotrich, and the entire far right in Israel want Trump to win and grant Israel total free reign. We cannot give them what they want.
Trump must be defeated. The only way to defeat him is to elect Kamala Harris.
Voting for Harris is not a personal endorsement of her or of the policy decisions of the administration in which she served. It’s an assessment of the best possible option to continue fighting for an end to the genocide, a free Palestine, and all else that we hold dear.
We are deeply frustrated that Harris has not yet met our movement’s demand that she break with Biden, defy the powerful extremists enforcing the status quo, stand with the majority of Americans, and pledge to uphold US law and international law and condition aid to Israel. Still we believe there are clear reasons to hope that we can win positive policy change with a Harris administration and a Democratic Congress.
Multiple media reports state that Harris’s national security advisors are open to re-evaluating policy and conditioning aid to Israel. On October 13th, the same day the administration threatened to re-evaluate military support if Israel did not improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza and reduce civilian casualties in the next 30 days, Harris tweeted: “Israel must urgently do more to facilitate the flow of aid to those in need. Civilians must be protected and have access to food, water, and medicine. International humanitarian law must be respected.” In Michigan the other day, Harris expressed clear empathy for the suffering of the people of Palestine and Lebanon and the impact of this devastation on Arab Americans. She pledged to do “everything in her power” as President to end the war in Gaza, end the suffering of Palestinians there, and achieve “a future of security and dignity for all people in the region.”
Beyond Harris’s statements, we know that her decisions as President will be shaped by the larger Democratic Party coalition that includes a growing force pushing for Palestinian human rights. Our Arizona Democratic Party passed a resolution calling for a ceasefire in January. Every single member of Congress who has publicly called for a ceasefire in Gaza or for an arms embargo is a Democrat. The major national unions, civil rights groups, and progressive organizations that have called for a halt to military aid to Israel are all working to elect Harris.
On the other hand, the Republican Party coalition offers zero opposition to unconditional support for Israel and zero support for Palestinian human rights. Instead Republicans urge the US to join Israel in bombing Iran, call to “bounce the rubble in Gaza” and “kill ‘em all,” and would likely support the Israeli far right’s drive to annex Gaza and the West Bank.
What about a third party? Many in our communities believe this is our best option. Unfortunately, there is not a single third party member of Congress or even state legislator in America. In our electoral system, no third party candidate can win this election. But voting for them could make Trump president.
The polls show the presidential election is extremely close and that it will be decided by 7 swing states, including Arizona. While voting 3rd party may be strategic in non-swing states as a protest of the current US Israel/Palestine policy or as a step to qualifying the Green Party for public funding in future elections by winning at least 5% of the national vote, doing it in Arizona or other swing states in such a close election could bring disaster.
Some argue that if Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim voters and our allies vote for a 3rd party candidate and intentionally throw the election to Trump, taking credit for defeating Harris, it will prove our power to decide a close election and “punish Democrats” for complicity in genocide. Unfortunately, this is not how power, politics, or change works in our country. When Ralph Nader helped throw the election to Bush in 2000, he was rejected by millions for whom he was once a hero, banished ever since to the political margins. When Jill Stein helped throw the election to Trump in 2016, she remained relegated to the political fringe, becoming less powerful not more. If our communities ally with the Green Party to defeat Harris, we risk marginalizing ourselves as they did by alienating the tens of millions of voters who support the cause of Palestinian freedom and are fighting to defeat Trump by electing her.
Instead, by helping to elect Kamala Harris, we can say, “Despite it all, we gave you another chance and helped put you in office to defend democracy and uphold our highest American values. Now uphold them: end the genocide and secure Palestinian self-determination. We will fight every day to hold you to it.” If Harris and Democrats win, we will wage that fight with more allies among the American people, Congress, and the White House than ever before. If they don’t deliver, we will have a mandate and mass support to hold them accountable through every nonviolent tool of democracy, including protests, resignations, civil disobedience, primary election challenges, and even potential mass noncooperation. It’s a difficult path, but the one that offers the most hope.
The first step –– and our best choice in this horrible situation –– is defeating Trump by electing Harris. We urge you to join us.
Signers (affiliations listed for identification purposes only):
Maher Arekat, Founder, Palestine Community Center of Arizona
Usama Shami, President, Islamic Community Center of Phoenix
Fadi Zanayed, Vice President, American Federation of Ramallah, Palestine - Arizona
Shams AbdusSamad, Secretary, Maricopa County Dem Party; ADP Exec Cmte Mmbr - At Large & SCM
Samir Mufarreh, Palestinian American Christian Community Leader
Jordan Harb, Lebanese American Youth Leader
Stephen Mufarreh, Attorney, Palestinian American Christian Community Leader
Misaal Irfan, Pakistani American Community Leader
Samara Hamideh, Palestinian Youth Organizer
Mohamed El-Sharkawy, Palestinian American and a Muslim leader
Ala Rumah, Syrian American Activist
Dina Hamideh, Coordinator, Arizona Palestine Film Festival
Salauddin Choudhury, Bangladeshi Community Leader; DNC Delegate CD 5; LD 14 SCM
Hani Hani, President, American Federation of Ramallah, Palestine - Arizona
Dr. Navid Khan, Pakistani American Community Leader
Deena Mufarreh, Chair, American Federation of Ramallah, Palestine - Arizona
Syed Nasir Raza, Progressive Pakistani-American Community Leader; AZ Progressives
Ashraf Elgamal, President, Arab American Organization
Salina Imam, Charity Program Leader
Sawsan Tannous, Chair, American Federation of Ramallah, Palestine - Arizona
Saher Afzal, Pakistani American, Arizona Education Association member, and Exec board AEA local
Nathan Mufara, Chair, American Federation of Ramallah, Palestine - Arizona
Dr. Jaffrey Khazi, Community Leader
Hashim Hamid , Palestinian American Community Elder and Retired Businessman
Ameena Arekat, Palestinian American Health Care Worker
Mo Al Hwan Bahu, Palestinian American Christian
Deanna Dabbah, Former President, Arab American Anti-Discrimination Cmte, Fountain Hills, AZ
Dr. Hazem Jabr, Palestinian American Dentist
Jack Saba, Syrian American Entertainer & Democratic Voter
Ramzi Arikat, Palestinian American Business Owner in Phoenix
Shaikh F Shams, LD13 PC & State Cmte Member, Bangladeshi American Community Leader
Hussein Jabr, Palestinian American Doctor
Md Ibrahim Faisal, Bangladeshi American Progressive Democrats
Dean Dabbah, Community Activist, Fountain Hills, AZ
Mazen Arekat, Palestinian American Business Owner
Sujat Jamil, Bangladeshi American Progressive Democrats
Rocky Francis, Iraqi American Businessman
Hazem Arekat, Palestinian American Businessman
Arif Mahmud, Volunteer
Qumrul Ahsan, Precinct committee member LD13
Shahriar Anwar, LD13
Menassa Abinader, Lebanese American; Owner, Mejana Restaurant
Charlotte Hosseini, Sedona Resident ; Concerned citizen and voter
Tan Jakwani, Muslim Community Leader
William Havel, Iraqi Refugee
Jennifer Loewenstein, Jewish Voice for Peace - Tucson ; Arizona Palestine Network (AZ PAL)
Jessica Burke, Jewish Community Member & Progressive Activist
Bob Lord, Former Arizona Congressional Candidate, Jewish Community Member
Rachel Port, Jewish Voice for Peace - Tucson
Laurie Melrood, Jewish Voice for Peace - Tucson; LD 20
Rep. Mariana Sandoval, LD 23
Rep. Quantá Crews, LD 26 ; State and Precinct Committee Person
Martín J. Quezada, Former State Senator
School Board Member Patti Serrano, PC and State Committee Member LD 13, 2020 Delegate
Kai Newkirk, Co-Chair, Arizona Democratic Party Progressive Council
The thing you cannot get morons to understand is that much like you marry a family, you vote for an administration. We have one leader of that administration who is the boss, but as a single individual they cannot possibly read all proposals, attend every meeting, and draft every recommendation. You’re voting for the leader’s hiring power to install a functional secretary of education, secretary of housing/urban development, secretary of state, secretary of health and human services, secretary of defense, labor, agriculture, on and on. All of those roles and all the people who work under those executives have the capacity to do enormous good or deal enormous damage.
The consequences of a loss or a win are not limited to any single individual person’s moral or intellectual qualities. There are legions of people behind and with them who drive this country’s policy. You do actually have to be serious about more than whose ass in which chair.
My science education nonprofit, Skype a Scientist (you might know her, creator of the squid facts hotline and matcher of classrooms + scientists) has secured absolutely no grants to support general operations for 2025. But! We're selling advent calendars to fund our program! They absolutely rule. They can save our nonprofit asses. If we sell 5000, which I realize, is so many, we can fund our program for 2025. Then I can offer a bunch of programming for free. Running a nonprofit is a weird job.
Every day, counting down to frankly whatever you want (it's usually Christmas, but man, maybe you want to count down to Halloween, that's fine by me) scratch off the sparkly sparkly iridescence and reveal a fact about frogs! We have 24 top-notch frog facts here.
You should get one for every kid in your life, then get one for all the adults who still let themselves access joy in critters.
Btw you can be intensely critical of the Democratic party and recognize that it is full of aged out of touch moderates who are refusing to meet the urgency of the moment,
and also recognize that voting for Democrats is extremely important because it allows things like the confirmation of Justices and prevents the literal fascist party from gaining more power and that harm reduction is an important end in itself
These things can coexist
Politics is a long game. Being disappointed and angry today does not obviate your responsibility to participate
