Straw-cleaner - Smiling Through It All

More than 60% of the global population that are classified as the Phase 5 famine/catastrophe level of food insecurity and starvation are in the Gaza Strip right now, and that percentage is projected to increase to 95% by Februrary

Begging people to stop reblogging this AI trash from “The Phantom Painter” on Instagram (instagram.com/phantom.painting). I’ve been seeing it on my dash more and more often from people who are otherwise anti-AI and either can’t tell it’s AI or don’t care because it looks cool.

This is the kind of shit that is VERY CLEARLY trained on the works of existing talented artists’ with distinct styles and this asshole is selling prints and making a profit off of stealing other people’s hard work.

Don’t give people like this money or attention and they will go away.

Please, if you’re going to buy art prints, buy them from an actual artist.

please consider how you engage with aaron bushnell's death. you may react to it as you will, but it's crucial to remember that his death was specifically a call to action. it was not meant solely to shock but to draw attention to a vast moral hypocrisy: that to many, a soldier dying in a campaign backed by the U.S. government is noble, even if the soldier kills innocents to do so, even if the cause is morally bankrupt--but this? this is insanity. a man taking his own life, on his own terms, in an attempt to help others while hurting nobody else, is somehow less rational and more horrifying than the mass killing of civilians.

of course aaron's death was horrific. but as he said beforehand, it is realistically no more horrific than what's happening in gaza. if we can't stomach this, then why can we stomach children being bombed? thousands being starved? for all that self immolation is, it brings death in a matter of minutes. it is a fraction of the amount of pain, fear, and grief that people in gaza are experiencing. it's just that we are able to quantify it. and this tiny, quantifiable sliver of horror is still so unbelievably awful. how can anyone bear to think about anything else when this horror is happening a millionfold in palestine? this is the question aaron bushnell was asking. and he wanted you to face it, head-on, watching him burn to death.

I've been seeing people make fanart. minimalist graphics to sell on t-shirts. to commodify his death, to mythologize it not a day afterwards, is not only in poor taste but a hindrance to his message. the answer is not commodification, nor is it defeatism, nor is it rejoicing in his death. if you want to honor aaron's legacy, take action. channel your horror and your outrage into making a material change. this wasn't about him. this was about palestine. remember that it was always about palestine.

Having someone/something to catch you when you fall is why we live in a society. It's why we share the cost of running the society.

When times get tough, don't look out only for yourself or see the world only through your own experiences.

Realize a lot of great, smart, talented people can lose their housing. And have. Many times.

Stop the judgment.

The Christian population of Gaza is now something like ~1000 people. Given Israel's average, the whole population can be wiped out in 2-3 attacks.

Obviously this isn't a solid prediction but can you imagine?

My husband's extended family is part of this 1000. They are the only branch of the family that has been living in Gaza. Can you imagine that their presence can be totally obliterated?

A whole Palestinian ethnic group, the oldest Christians in the world, with its people, churches, culture and traditions - all can be disappeared in no time? And then we will tell our kids "there used to be..."?

dont u love wikipedia

For more information and to support the WGA please:

Follow their official social media on all platforms and only trust statements from the union itself, and articles they promote (be wary of other articles).

Read up on the issues being fought for (there are articles supported by the union in their linktree)

Be vocal in your support and inform others in your communities.

Stop using ChatGPT and other AI tools, even for fun.

The IDF uses extensive facial recognition with a growing network of cameras and mobile phones to document every Palestinian in the West Bank. Starting in 2019, Israeli soldiers used the Blue Wolf app to capture Palestinian faces, which were then compared to a massive database of images dubbed the “Facebook for Palestinians.” Soldiers were told to compete by taking the most photos of Palestinians and the most prolific would win prizes. The system is most extreme in the city of Hebron, where facial recognition and numerous cameras are used to monitor Palestinians, including at times in their homes, instead of the extreme Jewish settlers living there, who routinely express genocidal threats against the Palestinians. The IDF claimed that the program was designed to “improve the quality of life for the Palestinian population.”

Antony Loewenstein, The Palestine Laboratory: How Israel Exports the Technology of Occupation Around the World

go here and let me know what your short term top artists from spotify (within the last 4 weeks) are in the tags!