Yeah, This Squirrel Really Doesn’t Like Nuts.

Thinking about that guy that created a cleanroom in his local makerspace and built an entire gene therapy from scratch, making a virus that supposedly delivered the ability to digest lactose and then SWALLOWED IT LIKE A MAD SCIENTIST AND CURED HIMSELF OF LACTOSE INTOLERANCE, EATING TWO CHEESE PIZZAS TO PROVE IT

So I'm pretty much top tier terrified because the Amazon Rainforest is on fire. Like, that's seriously bad, isn't it??? How are we supposed to bounce back from this...?

Hey Anon! I’ve gotten a lot of asks about the Amazon forest fire situation so I’m going to address them all here.

The most concerning thing about the Amazon fires isn’t necessarily the fires themselves, but the reason that there are so many this year: This is almost certainly because Brazil’s current president is very anti-environmentalist, which has led to more clearing of the forest (which involves setting fires).

The fires themselves aren’t actually a new threat. People have been practicing slash-and-burn agriculture in the Amazon for a long time. What’s different this year is that there seem to be more fires than usual and they are impacting densely populated locations.

Something that I think is being glossed over by many of the images and headlines being passed around is that it’s very normal for there to be forest fires in and around the Amazon at this time of year.

Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research says that this is a record year for forest fires in Brazil since they started monitoring fires via satellite in 2013. 

However, NASA says that the overall fire activity in the Amazon basin as a whole is actually slightly below average compared to the last 15 years; fire activity has increased in Amazonas and Rondonia but has decreased in Mato Grosso and Pará.

A manager for Global Forest Watch has said that the fires this year are roughly equivalent to what they saw in 2016 (according to satellite images). Now, 2016 was also a bad year for forest fires, but it goes to show that this level of fire is not unheard of.

So, why are we only hearing about the fires this year if they’ve been this bad before? Probaby because ash clouds darkened the sky over the most populated city in Brazil, which is a big, dramatic, apocalyptic thing that tends to get people’s attention.

Although some meteorologists think the ash over Sao Paulo may have been caused by fires in Paraguay, not even in the Amazon, the air quality in populated areas has been so strongly affected that Amazonas has declared a state of emergency.

To be clear, it is still definitely bad that parts of the Amazon are burning and the fact that the fires are impacting air quality in populated cities poses very real human health risks. We should be speaking out about this, drawing attention to it, and donating to organizations that are working to protect the Amazon. But this is not necessarily an apocalyptic scenario.

And the good news? #PrayforAmazonia went viral on Twitter. Tons and tons of news sources are covering these fires in a way that Amazon forest fires have not been covered in the past. People are talking about Amazon deforestation and its potential impact on climate change.

This whole debacle is generating a lot of outrage towards Brazil’s presidential administration. Hopefully, this will lead to more international support for those who are fighting his damaging policies towards the Amazon and the indigenous communities that rely on it. By the way, I think it bears mentioning that last week an indigenous women’s march occupied a Brazilian health ministry building in protest of their president’s harmful policies.

Do you want to help? Donate! I really cannot stress how much small amounts of money can go a long way in situations like this.

Donate to SOS Amazonia, a Brazilian NGO working to preserve the Amazon (I can’t find any third party information on how reputable this NGO is, but I think this may largely be because of the language barrier-they’ve been operating since the 1980s)

Donate to Rainforest Trust which buys and protects rainforest land all around the world (4/4 stars on Charity Navigator)

And don’t forget to vote for politicians that prioritize environmental protection and can put pressure on Brazil’s government to clean up its act!

Photo Source: X X

Coronavirus

The world right now seems to be in a very precarious situation. The SARS-COV-2 (nCOV/Covid-19) outbreak has been labelled a pandemic. The NBA has suspended its season after Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz tested positive for the virus. As has Juventus player Daniele Rugani. Some sports games are being played without spectators whereas others have been delayed or outright cancelled. Coachella has been postponed and so has the new James Bond film. Donald Trump has issued a severely confusing travel ban or maybe not. The UK is moving past phase 1 and into phase 2 of dealing with the outbreak following an emergency COBRA meeting set to take place later today. Numerous high level officials are being tested and diagnosed. The UK’s health minister, in a shocking twist of irony, has the virus. Schools are being cancelled and millions of people are being quarantined. Stock markets are crashing, tourism is falling, airlines are failing, and we’re standing on the brink of a new world recession. And perhaps most heartbreakingly, actor Tom Hanks has also tested positive for the virus.

If you think all of that sounds scary, then I agree with you. It does sound scary. If you look at the numbers, they also look scary.

But it’s important now, more than ever, not to panic. Because panic buying is how we start accidentally buying too much toilet paper, for example. That’s not something we need. But getting hand sanitisers and toilet roll from a claw machine might be. As long as the joystick and buttons are wiped down between turns.

The reason this is happening is because there is a lot of misinformation being spread on the internet. And the media are not adhering to the oath they’ve taken to only provide people with the truth. This is not helping anyone and if anything, is only causing further spread of the virus. When I was a journalism student, I took this oath and now I’m going to give you some Coronavirus facts.

Those who are more likely to be infected with Covid-19 and suffer more severe cases are those with preexisting conditions such as diabetes, asthma, COPD, cystic fibrosis, HIV/AIDS, cancer, heart disease, cardiovascular disease or otherwise compromised immune systems as well as those over the age of 70. If none of this applies to you, please still be wary.

Over 80% of all reported cases are mild.

It’s important to practice good hygiene, not touch your face and wash your hands for 20 seconds with soap and water or a high alcohol content hand sanitiser to protect not just yourself, but your parents, grandparents and those around you with preexisting conditions.

Other ways to prevent catching or spreading the virus include coughing or sneezing into a tissue and discarding it, and coughing or sneezing into your elbow.

And an interesting fact, if you joke morbidly like me, that you have the Coronavirus when you have a cold, then you might not be lying because coronaviruses are one of a few different viruses that cause the common cold.

And now for some good Coronavirus news. It’s looking like life is ever so slowly returning to normal in China, where the virus is believed to have peaked and the number of cases is dropping off. South Korea also believe their cases of the virus has peaked. Also, after a nearly two month closure, Shanghai Disneyland is finally beginning to operate again. Just the shops and restaurants for now, but the park is likely not to be too far behind.

If we all do the right things, this could peak soon for the rest of us. But until then, it’s going to get worse before it gets better so please do not panic, but instead be wary. We at YFHA$ will still be right here.

-Mod Rowlf

(Who is reposting this because there is no need at all to mention racism in the comments, come on people)

It has been hard for me to talk about how what is going on with Israel and Palestine is affecting me personally, but I grew up in Gaza and most of my family still lives there. My father did not survive the bombings last week and I have not been able to contact my younger sister in days. I am try to being understanding that most people do not have personal connections to what is happening and therefore are justifying their silence, but is heartbreaking to see this misinformation being spread. What’s happening there is a genocide, not a war. It is not antisemitic to support Palestine, it’s not even antiemetic to criticise Israel. There is no grey area or neutrality regarding this, and it is so easy to find resources that will educate you on the subject. It is my people and my home being destroyed so I will never be silent about this, but I please urge everyone to get informed and start speaking up and finding ways they can help.

decolonizepalestine has tons of information on Palestine’s history/propaganda that has been spread throughout the years

UK citizens can email their MP asking for a ceasefire

US citizens can call/email their local government officials asking for a ceasefire

Jewish Voice for Peace also has many resources for ways for US citizens to get involved, including protests

Donate to Palestine Children’s Relief Fund

Donate to Medical Aid for Palestine

Donate to help get food and hygiene kits to Gaza

in recognition of World Down Syndrome Day on March 21

not a dream, csa tw, sexual assault, rape, sexual violence, abuse tw

there is a really repulsive continuous gang rape of a minor case going on in Croatia right now and some time this week I might write a lengthy post about it and I will count on all of you to spread the information and share it because things are being covered up and the perps, sons of influential people, seem to be getting away with abusing a 15 year old child for over a year, there were tapes and evidence and all of it has disappeared now and their families are trying to frame it like the boys are the victims but the public isn’t having any of it

the court is though, the court is literally failing this young child

the victim’s ex boyfriend lured her into a house where a large number of his friends waited for them, she was then raped by a 19 year old and told that the whole thing was filmed and if she tried to tell anyone, the tape would be released and spread and everyone would know “what a sl*t she was”, then she was beaten, and over the course of a year she was beaten multiple times, raped repeatedly by at least 5, reportedly the number could be over 7 boys, some of them younger adults, some minors, she was threatened, filmed without her consent, psychologically abused, blackmailed, and finally a few weeks ago she opened up to a school counselor after she was sent there for what was cited as ‘deviant behavior’

some people are blaming her, saying she provoked them, or that she should have spoken up sooner, some people are saying the whole year only counts as one rape because she didn’t report it, some are saying she set the boys up in a trap, some are saying she is of loose morals, etc, but most people are horrified and most people want the boys and men to be held responsible for what they’ve done to her

not the judge in the case, he literally let them all go and said that he knows what he was doing

and then

and then, listen to this

when the whole thing got out because the police were fucking fed up and were trying to get the bastards but some more influential people were stopping the investigation from going further and evidence was starting to go missing and one of the police officers leaked it to a brave reporter (and now the two face bigger charges apparently than these rapists, and everyone who shared photos of the rapists could be jailed too), the judge got protection after he was threatened for setting the criminals free

not the girl, she didn’t get any kind of protection awarded to her despite living in a really small town with all of her abusers, just the judge

so

fuck them

fuck all of them

i want this story to blow up not just in croatia

i want foreign media to write about it

i want people to hear about it

i want the rapists’ faces plastered on every newspaper, every social media, i want them to be punished, i want their families who paid for the evidence to disappear to be punished, i want this judge punished, i want everyone who insulted and threatened and abused this girl to be punished

and i will do literally anything i can, ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING, to see this story spread everywhere

because so far, no one got any justice for the young  victim and she deserves to feel safe and protected and accepted and loved again

Look at them squiggles.

romanticizing mental illness is dangerous and misleading

Scotland has created an official tartan for Scottish Muslims: blue for the Scottish flag, green for Islam, w/ five white lines representing the five pillars of Islam, six gold lines representing the six articles of faith, and a black square representing the Holy Kabah. 

If you’re not Scottish, you might not know how big of a deal this is. Quoting Attire’s Mind: “This is a signal that they are not only just a full part of Scotland now, but family. Clans, as defined by tartans, are large scale families, and the totality of them encompass the family of the Scottish people. “ 

Very informative thread -source