ysabetwordsmith (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-07-30 02:59 am
ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-07-30 02:59 am
Entry tags:
Juggling
I'm a fan of juggling. This video includes moves from very old Vaudeville routines, circus clowning, modern juggling, and more. Impressive.
ysabetwordsmith (ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-07-30 02:44 am
ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-07-30 02:44 amShanidar 1
Shanidar 1 is probably the most famous disabled person in history: missing an arm, blind in one eye, hard of hearing or deaf, mobility impaired, and more. He belonged to a Neanderthal family who exerted maximum effort to keep him alive, far beyond the typical lifespan of the time. Because he strove to survive, and they helped, his story lives on through his bones -- concrete proof that compassion, not brute force, is part of what made us human from the very beginning. The ability to care for each other, and to value people for themselves, not just for what they could contribute, made a difference in our survival.
( Read more... )
( Read more... )
ysabetwordsmith (ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-07-30 01:00 am
ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-07-30 01:00 amEntry tags:
Conservation
Munmuni Payeng Is Planting a Million Trees in Flood-Hit Assam
Munmuni Payeng, the 'Forest Queen of Assam,' stands resilient against the floods that have long tormented her homeland, Majuli Island. Inspired by her father, the legendary 'Forest Man' of India, Munmuni's mission is clear: plant a million native trees to combat the ceaseless erosion and displacement her community faces. Her efforts are marked not by grand gestures but by a steadfast commitment to reinvigorating the land and fostering a collective resilience. She enlists local communities, particularly children, in her crusade to transform despair into hope, believing deeply that "when you plant with a child, you plant for a lifetime." Munmuni's journey is a profound testament to the power of quiet revolutions, where environmental restoration becomes a tapestry woven with shared stories and seeds of solidarity.
Trees are a tremendous help against flooding. Some trees, such as mangroves, are actually ecosystem engineers.
Munmuni Payeng, the 'Forest Queen of Assam,' stands resilient against the floods that have long tormented her homeland, Majuli Island. Inspired by her father, the legendary 'Forest Man' of India, Munmuni's mission is clear: plant a million native trees to combat the ceaseless erosion and displacement her community faces. Her efforts are marked not by grand gestures but by a steadfast commitment to reinvigorating the land and fostering a collective resilience. She enlists local communities, particularly children, in her crusade to transform despair into hope, believing deeply that "when you plant with a child, you plant for a lifetime." Munmuni's journey is a profound testament to the power of quiet revolutions, where environmental restoration becomes a tapestry woven with shared stories and seeds of solidarity.
Trees are a tremendous help against flooding. Some trees, such as mangroves, are actually ecosystem engineers.
ysabetwordsmith (ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-07-30 12:52 am
ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-07-30 12:52 amEntry tags:
Genocide
Israel is not a lawful state
Heartbreaking testimonies gathered from medical staff, parents of children hospitalized for malnutrition and displaced Palestinians struggling to survive paint a horrifying picture of acute levels of starvation and desperation in Gaza. Their accounts provide further evidence of the catastrophic suffering caused by Israel’s ongoing restrictions on life-saving aid and its deadly militarized aid scheme coupled with mass forced displacement, relentless bombardment and destruction of life-sustaining infrastructure.
Even worse, the food aid stations are set up as bait, drawing out parents of starving children to be gunned down by Israeli snipers.
( Read more... )
Heartbreaking testimonies gathered from medical staff, parents of children hospitalized for malnutrition and displaced Palestinians struggling to survive paint a horrifying picture of acute levels of starvation and desperation in Gaza. Their accounts provide further evidence of the catastrophic suffering caused by Israel’s ongoing restrictions on life-saving aid and its deadly militarized aid scheme coupled with mass forced displacement, relentless bombardment and destruction of life-sustaining infrastructure.
Even worse, the food aid stations are set up as bait, drawing out parents of starving children to be gunned down by Israeli snipers.
( Read more... )
ysabetwordsmith (ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-07-30 12:47 am
ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-07-30 12:47 amEntry tags:
Politics
The enshittification of American power
There is no question that the last century, and particularly since the end of the Cold War, the world has been characterized by US hegemony exercised through its military and economic power, and control over financial institutions. But in a long article in Wired with the above title, Henry Farrell and Abraham L. Newman argue that under the Trump regime, the US is starting to follow the pattern of big tech entities like Google and Facebook and that this is eventually going to lead to a decline in US power and influence in the world.
This makes a disturbing amount of sense.
There is no question that the last century, and particularly since the end of the Cold War, the world has been characterized by US hegemony exercised through its military and economic power, and control over financial institutions. But in a long article in Wired with the above title, Henry Farrell and Abraham L. Newman argue that under the Trump regime, the US is starting to follow the pattern of big tech entities like Google and Facebook and that this is eventually going to lead to a decline in US power and influence in the world.
This makes a disturbing amount of sense.
ysabetwordsmith (ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-07-30 12:35 am
ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-07-30 12:35 amEntry tags:
Cuddle Party
Everyone needs contact comfort sometimes. Not everyone has ample opportunities for this in facetime. So here is a chance for a cuddle party in cyberspace. Virtual cuddling can help people feel better.
We have a cuddle room that comes with fort cushions, fort frames, sheets for draping, and a weighted blanket. A nest full of colorful egg pillows sits in one corner. There is a basket of grooming brushes, hairbrushes, and styling combs. A bin holds textured pillows. There is a big basket of craft supplies along with art markers, coloring pages, and blank paper. The kitchen has a popcorn machine. Labels are available to mark dietary needs, recipe ingredients, and level of spiciness. Here is the bathroom, open to everyone. There is a lawn tent and an outdoor hot tub. Bathers should post a sign for nude or clothed activity. Come snuggle up!
We have a cuddle room that comes with fort cushions, fort frames, sheets for draping, and a weighted blanket. A nest full of colorful egg pillows sits in one corner. There is a basket of grooming brushes, hairbrushes, and styling combs. A bin holds textured pillows. There is a big basket of craft supplies along with art markers, coloring pages, and blank paper. The kitchen has a popcorn machine. Labels are available to mark dietary needs, recipe ingredients, and level of spiciness. Here is the bathroom, open to everyone. There is a lawn tent and an outdoor hot tub. Bathers should post a sign for nude or clothed activity. Come snuggle up!
ysabetwordsmith (ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-07-29 10:45 pm
ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-07-29 10:45 pmEarthquakes
8.8 magnitude earthquake 133 km from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Kamtsjatka, Russia
4 hours ago
Tsunami alerts have gone out to Japan, Alaska, and various other places.
4 hours ago
Tsunami alerts have gone out to Japan, Alaska, and various other places.
stonepicnicking_okapi (stonepicnicking_okapi) wrote2025-07-29 08:01 pm
stonepicnicking_okapi) wrote2025-07-29 08:01 pmEntry tags:
News & Views: Strange grief
1. So the boys' father & Minor were in a car accident on Thursday (nobody was hurt) and it looks like I may have to say goodbye to my car (the original okapi, part of my username origin story). I know logically that it is just an object, a possession, a material good. It means much, much more to me than the insurance company valuation. I have had it for 19 years. I inherited it from my father when he passed away. He bought it and only had it for a couple of years before he died. He needed a minivan to accommodate his oxygen tank when he was going through his cancer treatments. The car was with me before I was a wife and mother, and we've been through a lot together. It's hard to grieve objects because I know it isn't very spiritual, but I am very sad tonight. It has been a good friend and don't want to say goodbye yet.
2. Work is okay. I took the boys to the library today. I am glad Minisculus still likes to read. Minor has lost his interest in reading.
3. I ordered Minsculus' school supplies from Target online and it was cheaper than the school PTA system. I don't like giving $$$ to Target but it saved me some money and a lot of stress. I will pick them up tomorrow at the store. I never buy Minor's supplies early because every teacher has their own thing and they will tell them the first week of school. School starts 25 Aug here.
4. July is flying by.
2. Work is okay. I took the boys to the library today. I am glad Minisculus still likes to read. Minor has lost his interest in reading.
3. I ordered Minsculus' school supplies from Target online and it was cheaper than the school PTA system. I don't like giving $$$ to Target but it saved me some money and a lot of stress. I will pick them up tomorrow at the store. I never buy Minor's supplies early because every teacher has their own thing and they will tell them the first week of school. School starts 25 Aug here.
4. July is flying by.
ysabetwordsmith (ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-07-29 04:01 pm
ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-07-29 04:01 pmConservation
Two new species of 'paintbrush-tailed' marsupials discovered in Australia: 'They are ferocious predators'
In a study, published in Ecology and Evolution, the research team released findings on two new species of kultarr (“cool-tar”), a carnivorous marsupial.
“Prior to this study, Antechinomys was considered to contain two species: A. laniger and A. longicaudatus,” wrote Cameron Dodd, lead author and a PhD student from UWA’s School of Biological sciences.
“With the description of A. auritus and resurrection of A. spenceri, A. laniger is now recognized as a species complex comprising three distinct taxa.”
In a study, published in Ecology and Evolution, the research team released findings on two new species of kultarr (“cool-tar”), a carnivorous marsupial.
“Prior to this study, Antechinomys was considered to contain two species: A. laniger and A. longicaudatus,” wrote Cameron Dodd, lead author and a PhD student from UWA’s School of Biological sciences.
“With the description of A. auritus and resurrection of A. spenceri, A. laniger is now recognized as a species complex comprising three distinct taxa.”
ysabetwordsmith (ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-07-29 02:52 pm
ysabetwordsmith) wrote2025-07-29 02:52 pmBirdfeeding
Today is mostly sunny and sweltering.
I fed the birds. I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches.
EDIT 7/29/25 -- I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 7/29/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
I found a cinnamon fern sprouting in the forest garden. :D I never know what will suddenly spring up from things I planted earlier.
EDIT 7/29/25 -- I did more work around the patio.
I've seen a pair of mourning doves.
EDIT 7/29/25 -- I checked the garden but nothing was ripe.
However, I think I've got a good start on my landrace zinnias. There is a nice cluster of purple and red ones where I planted the seeds gathered from the Charleston Food Forest last fall. :D Now I just have to hope that these do a good job of setting seed.
EDIT 7/29/25 -- I did more work around the patio.
EDIT 7/29/25 -- I did more work around the patio.
EDIT 7/29/25 -- I walked out to the north end of the yard today. The telephone pole garden has balsam, gladioli, sunflowers, and zinnias blooming. :D Naked ladies are putting up flower stalks nearby, but none have opened yet.
I picked a couple of blackberries from the late-fruiting bush. Wildflowers are blooming all over the prairie garden.
As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.
I fed the birds. I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches.
EDIT 7/29/25 -- I put out water for the birds.
EDIT 7/29/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.
I found a cinnamon fern sprouting in the forest garden. :D I never know what will suddenly spring up from things I planted earlier.
EDIT 7/29/25 -- I did more work around the patio.
I've seen a pair of mourning doves.
EDIT 7/29/25 -- I checked the garden but nothing was ripe.
However, I think I've got a good start on my landrace zinnias. There is a nice cluster of purple and red ones where I planted the seeds gathered from the Charleston Food Forest last fall. :D Now I just have to hope that these do a good job of setting seed.
EDIT 7/29/25 -- I did more work around the patio.
EDIT 7/29/25 -- I did more work around the patio.
EDIT 7/29/25 -- I walked out to the north end of the yard today. The telephone pole garden has balsam, gladioli, sunflowers, and zinnias blooming. :D Naked ladies are putting up flower stalks nearby, but none have opened yet.
I picked a couple of blackberries from the late-fruiting bush. Wildflowers are blooming all over the prairie garden.
As it is getting dark, I am done for the night.
badly_knitted (badly_knitted) wrote2025-07-29 06:18 pm
badly_knitted) wrote2025-07-29 06:18 pm
FAKE Drabble: The Best Bit
Title: The Best Bit
Fandom: FAKE
Author:
badly_knittedCharacters: Bikky, Ryo.
Rating: G
Setting: Early in the manga.
Summary: Bikky watches Ryo fixing a sandwich.
Written Using: The dw100 prompt ‘Crust’.
Disclaimer: I don’t own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.
A/N: Drabble and a half, 150 words.
( The Best Bit... )
badly_knitted (badly_knitted) wrote2025-07-29 06:09 pm
badly_knitted) wrote2025-07-29 06:09 pmEntry tags:
Doctor Who Drabble: Being Sociable
Title: Being Sociable
Author:
badly_knittedCharacters: Rose Tyler, Jack Harkness, Alien, Ninth Doctor.
Rating: PG
Written For: Challenge 944: ‘Pseudopod’ at
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
dw100.Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: Jack is getting himself in trouble again.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Doctor Who, or the characters.
badly_knitted (badly_knitted) wrote2025-07-29 05:57 pm
badly_knitted) wrote2025-07-29 05:57 pmEntry tags:
Double Drabble: Problem Solved
Title: Problem Solved – Follows ‘Trying to Communicate’
Author:
badly_knittedCharacters: Ianto, Jack, Owen, OCs.
Rating: PG
Written For: Challenge 876: Press at
torchwood100.Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: Ianto and Tosh come up with a way to communicate with the alien visitors.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters.
A/N: Double drabble.
pensnest (pensnest) wrote2025-07-29 05:01 pm
pensnest) wrote2025-07-29 05:01 pmEntry tags:
Sunshine Challenge #7
I seem to have skipped a couple, so may go back to them later.
Journaling: Life in fandom goes through ups and downs. Reminisce about the "wild ride" of your time in fandom or in other online communities.
It's not so much the Ups that matter. The exciting moments of being in a fandom—going to Trek cons, meeting people I knew only in writing (or hadn't known at all), having sparkly weekends and Camp Sparkle and some of the best laughs I've ever had in my life, going to concerts, and the highs of real feedback and the excitements of participating in challenges large and small, all those things—are why it's wonderful being a part of a fandom. The sadness comes when you fall out of your fandom and have not found anything to replace it, or else your fandom falls away. I fell out of ST:TNG fandom. Popslash fandom fell away from me. So these are the downs.
*
I have a new medication for diabetes now, the Jardiance having resulted in The Itch From Hell, of which I shall say no more except that when I stopped taking the medication, the itch stopped. (And the peasants rejoiced, etc.) So now I have something that will prod my pancreas instead, I hope.
*
Why Norwich celebrates Pride a month later than everybody else, I do not know, but it is so. I went into the city last Saturday, had tea and scone with a couple of my fellow knitters, and wandered out to explore the many stalls set out in the car park near the theatre. Didn't buy *much*, really. Three pairs of earrings and a couple of badges. (It's weird being the same age as old people.) I paused in town to have an early lunch of pasty and coffee, and met the beginning of the parade coming down the little lane I was in. Very glamorous, colourful, and fun. I even had the chance to say hello to a friendly and well-dressed dachshund.
It's nice to see *overt* tolerance being practised with pleasure and enthusiasm. Normal life is generally tolerant here, but in a passive way. But the city centre was *packed* with people in pride colours (and several in furry suits, who must have been very uncomfortable), either marching or waving and cheering.
Journaling: Life in fandom goes through ups and downs. Reminisce about the "wild ride" of your time in fandom or in other online communities.
It's not so much the Ups that matter. The exciting moments of being in a fandom—going to Trek cons, meeting people I knew only in writing (or hadn't known at all), having sparkly weekends and Camp Sparkle and some of the best laughs I've ever had in my life, going to concerts, and the highs of real feedback and the excitements of participating in challenges large and small, all those things—are why it's wonderful being a part of a fandom. The sadness comes when you fall out of your fandom and have not found anything to replace it, or else your fandom falls away. I fell out of ST:TNG fandom. Popslash fandom fell away from me. So these are the downs.
*
I have a new medication for diabetes now, the Jardiance having resulted in The Itch From Hell, of which I shall say no more except that when I stopped taking the medication, the itch stopped. (And the peasants rejoiced, etc.) So now I have something that will prod my pancreas instead, I hope.
*
Why Norwich celebrates Pride a month later than everybody else, I do not know, but it is so. I went into the city last Saturday, had tea and scone with a couple of my fellow knitters, and wandered out to explore the many stalls set out in the car park near the theatre. Didn't buy *much*, really. Three pairs of earrings and a couple of badges. (It's weird being the same age as old people.) I paused in town to have an early lunch of pasty and coffee, and met the beginning of the parade coming down the little lane I was in. Very glamorous, colourful, and fun. I even had the chance to say hello to a friendly and well-dressed dachshund.
It's nice to see *overt* tolerance being practised with pleasure and enthusiasm. Normal life is generally tolerant here, but in a passive way. But the city centre was *packed* with people in pride colours (and several in furry suits, who must have been very uncomfortable), either marching or waving and cheering.