Patrizia Beck

multilingual bookworm who is very much in love with Rome & London

[Patrizia Beck @Trish204]

@FreddyLA7 Wenn ihr in Ohio seid und Natur bzw ne entspannte Atmosphäre und gute Brauerei sucht, empfehle ich Yellow Springs.

[Jon Elder @BlackLabelAdvsr]

The World Cup has transformed the United States into the world’s most overwhelming Discovery Channel special.

And the visitors are not coping.
In the absolute best way possible.

Here’s what they’re uncovering:

Public restrooms you can actually use without paying.

Water that shows up at the table for free.

Unlimited refills on coffee, soda, and sweet tea.

Chips and salsa arriving before you even ask.

Warm bread served with dinner, no extra charge.

Ice in every drink like it’s a basic human right.

Air conditioning that’s standard everywhere—not a climate crime.

Parking right next to the building you’re visiting.

Drive-thrus that deliver food straight to your car.

Ranch dressing available by the jug.

Tex-Mex that defies description and demands to be experienced.

Dentists who actually fix things.

And Buc-ee’s… which simply breaks language.

Then they discovered American grocery stores.
Five colossal ones within a single mile, each the size of an airplane hangar.
A single refrigerated aisle offering every cut of beef, pork, lamb, veal, and poultry known to humanity—at 10 a.m. on a random Tuesday.

The Germans stood motionless in the meat section for nearly an hour.

Silent.

Rebooting.

Suddenly, the lack of passenger trains makes perfect sense.

Why bother with trains when the roads are wide enough for the vehicles we actually drive, parking lots stretch like small nations, and decent airports dot every city worth going to?

The Germans are now smuggling ranch dressing home by the bottle.

The Dutch tasted queso and temporarily forgot how to form sentences.

The Japanese are documenting H-E-B like it’s the Sistine Chapel.

The Czechs have been spotted openly weeping with joy in West, Texas.

Welcome to America. 🇺🇸

The greatest country on Earth.

[Massimo @Rainmaker1973]

Ten-year-old Juliana survived a terrifying encounter with a nine-foot alligator by using a clever survival technique she had learned at Gatorland theme park.

According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the girl was wading in Lake Mary Jane when the large alligator suddenly seized her leg and attempted to pull her underwater. In the midst of the attack, she recalled the advice given by Gatorland staff: covering an alligator’s nostrils forces the animal to open its mouth and release its grip in order to breathe.

Juliana quickly shoved her fingers into the reptile’s nostrils. The alligator immediately loosened its hold, allowing her to break free. Nearby adults rushed to her aid, pulling her from the water and summoning help. She was taken to the hospital, where doctors treated her with stitches. Thankfully, she made a complete recovery.

The story gained widespread attention due to the young girl’s remarkable calmness and quick thinking under extreme pressure. Gatorland representatives praised her actions, highlighting how wildlife education can prove lifesaving in real emergencies. Juliana’s experience stands as a compelling reminder that knowledge and composure can overcome even Florida’s most formidable predators.

[Benny Johnson @bennyjohnson]

The National Mall celebrated the launch of ARTEMIS II right.

Beautiful tribute to NASA.

[J.K. Rowling @jk_rowling]

Today's ruling by the IOC means a welcome return to fair sport for women and girls, but I'll never forget the scandal of Paris 2024, when people who consider themselves supremely virtuous and progressive publicly cheered on men punching women.

[William Meijer @williameijer]

Message from a German friend:

Germany is over. If you have time, read the following post from Reddit. Bear in mind, Germany's only resource was always education and good institutions.
r/DePi

Experiences as a teacher at a school with a high proportion of refugees - it is even worse than you think

Hello everyone,

I studied mathematics and am currently working as a secondary school teacher in the Ruhr area, partly due to the current precarious labor market situation. The proportion of refugees at my school, as at many other schools here in the region, is quite high.

Most refugees are taught in separate integration classes, as integration into regular classes is simply not possible due to the desolate level of education. I teach two such integration classes several times a week and just wanted to share my experiences with you here. Even before starting my current job, I was extremely critical of the current migration, but my experiences in the teaching profession make my worst fears at the time seem like a benevolent utopia.

For context: A large proportion of the integration classes consist of Marrocans born in Spain, but Syrians, Afghans and Roma are also strongly represented. The rest is a wild potpourri of Ukrainians and refugees from other Arab or Muslim countries such as Lebanon or Somalia. One class consists mainly of younger students between 11 and 13 years of age, the other class consists mainly of teenagers around 16 years of age.

Now a small summary of my observations:

In about half of the classes there is no significant literacy in their own language, just over half understand, even after years in the local school system, in about as good a German as I understand Mandarin.

At least in math (I can only judge the other subjects to a very limited extent), the level of education is an absolute fiasco, even among older students. Truly the simplest arithmetic problems (5+6 or 7-4) are already very difficult. The cause often seems to be cognitive, because even if I illustrate the numbers with objects, many students are unable to solve corresponding tasks.

It is currently Ramadan. Ukrainian students who do not fast must leave the room if they want to have a drink or eat. On the one hand, this is a rule imposed by the classes themselves, but on the other hand it is also tolerated or even actively supported by large parts of the other teaching staff and the social worker.

Some male students refuse to sit next to female students for religious reasons. This is also tolerated.

Fights are commonplace and that is no exaggeration. In fact, there is at least one fight almost every day.

There are no properly maintained school folders or generally a careful handling of school materials. Most come to class wearing only the clothes they wear on their bodies.

About half of the class with the older students is always delayed by at least 10 minutes at the first lesson, or sometimes 20 or 30 minutes. Even after the breaks, the class is actually only 10 minutes late each time.

During Ramadan, also tolerated by other school staff, a good proportion sleep regularly in class by placing their head on the table.

Female students are regularly labeled with highly obscene terms. The punishment of such statements either does not take place at all or is so restrained that repetition is encouraged.

On parent-teacher conferences, 90 percent of parents, even after several years of residence in Germany, can only communicate via interpreters.

A few days ago, some students proudly told me what new cell phone models their siblings and parents have, which, mind you, receive almost exclusively transfer payments.

Female colleagues generally have it more difficult than my gender counterparts, who are usually at least rudimentarily respected.

Some students often do not show up at school for months without apology.

A rejection of other religions is very clear in many situations.

For group work in other subjects that spans weeks, the results have a scope that can be achieved by those with normal abilities within five minutes.

There is no mixing with other students. You like to keep to yourself. Even among refugees, groups usually form according to their respective origins.

With all the negative impressions, there are a few positive experiences. A handful of students are actually making an effort and progress. These students are also the only reason why work doesn't seem completely pointless.

I myself try to counteract this to the best of my ability, but this is hardly possible if there is no support from the staff and the school administration. I have already capitulated on some points because a corresponding commitment only breaks your nerves without changing anything.

Many of the older students are leaving our education system anytime soon, and with that, the state is losing pretty much the only way to exert any influence. I fear that the situation in other schools often looks little better. This leads us to send school leavers into the wild year after year who neither write, read nor master the most basic primary school mathematics. Such people are not fit for any kind of work and are doomed to languish in our welfare system for life.

Muslim and African students, in particular, often have an absurd number of siblings by German standards. If one assumes that this reproduction rate will not break with the current generation, but perhaps even increase given the fantastic conditions here in Germany compared to their countries of origin (not for locals, but certainly for people from countries with a per capita GDP of $800), the problems are compounded exponentially.

I lack any imagination as to how the catastrophe that lies ahead could be averted in any way, and this is increasingly frustrating me. Just wanted to share this with you. Thanks to those who stuck with it until the end of the text and gave themselves my whining.

[Office of Nuclear Energy | US Department of Energy @GovNuclear]

MAKING HISTORY 🚧: @TerraPower’s Natrium advanced reactor project in Kemmerer, Wyoming, just received a construction permit from the @NRCgov.

It’s the first commercial non-light-water power reactor construction permit to be approved by the NRC. https://t.co/Rsjh7n01gW

[Patrizia Beck @Trish204]

@RichardGrenell Sorry, but I have to disagree: the biggest one is him continuously calling his own people stupid and lazy, and tells them they should give him their private money because the insanely high taxes he gets aren't enough to fund the imported terrorism.

[Patrizia Beck @Trish204]

🤣🤣🤣 Honey, Brexit?!

[BBC Breaking News @BBCBreaking]

Starmer says UK needs "deeper links" with EU, and that Europe must be "ready to fight" - watch live https://t.co/Ix2G0kJB8C

[J.K. Rowling @jk_rowling]

I remember the first time I ever saw this footage. It's stuck with me ever since as an incredible example of human goodness.

[Patrizia Beck @Trish204]

Herdenschutz statt Wölfe jagen! 🐺
https://t.co/b3kikrLMCB

[Patrizia Beck @Trish204]

@jk_rowling 🤣🤣🤣👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

[Patrizia Beck @Trish204]

Germany seems to LOVE being the laughing stock of the world. 🤦🏻‍♀️

[Julian Reichelt @jreichelt]

Hahahahahahahaha!

[Patrizia Beck @Trish204]

Not to mention what they had to endure since! Glad to see they are finally getting justice!

[BBC Breaking News @BBCBreaking]

NHS trust "violated dignity" of nurses by allowing a transgender woman to use female changing room, tribunal rules https://t.co/CBCRgkDxy4

[Quite Interesting @qikipedia]

The phrases: ‘shut up’, ‘dirt cheap’, ‘dog tired’, ‘dinner-party’, and ‘brace yourself’ were all first recorded in the works of Jane Austen.

[Patrizia Beck @Trish204]

If only all of those lying or simply parroting idiocy would be forced to retract their statements and apologize publicly. In prime time / on the first page.

[JD Vance @JDVance]

While much of left has lied about this case, it turns out ramming a law enforcement officer with a car causes injuries. Who knew!

[Octavia Evans @OctaviaEvans_]

“I will smack the shit out of you I promise”

Those were the words of a man who thought he and his friend had the right to be in the women’s toilets when my friends and I confronted them.

Women are not people who wear make up or dresses, they are adult human females and they deserve single sex spaces. Not sure why he thought making a physical threat would convince us otherwise.

[Roshana 🦴 @RoshanaMN]

As an Iranian & liberal, I don’t know how to say this any clearer:

Stop making the Iranian revolution about who YOU like or don’t like politically in the west.

U either support freedom from a murderous oppressive regime or u don’t; & if u do just support Iranians. That’s it.

[John Cleese @JohnCleese]

The BBC's way of reporting on the protests in
Iran is to quote a statement by Khamenei that
the protestors are vandals trying to please Trump

What on earth are thinking of ?

Shameful

[Patrizia Beck @Trish204]

Is there gonna be an option for streaming from outside the US? *hopes*