Zs

Human. She/her.

[Caitlin Johnstone @caitoz]

Yeah yeah, the journalists are Hamas. The journalists are Hamas, the hospitals are Hamas, the UN is Hamas, the peace activists are Hamas, the demonstrations are Hamas, telling the truth is Hamas, human empathy is Hamas, objective reality is Hamas. It's all Hamas.

[Quattro (Weiss's Husband) @QuattroMKII]

In all of human history, there's only been *3* major nuclear disasters, that being Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima.

Of these, only Chernobyl remains dangerous, largely due to Soviet incompetence during the initial design of the facility and the response to the disaster.

Most of Fukushima has been cleared as 'safe' by the Japanese government starting 2022. The difference in background radiation levels around Fukushima prefecture compared to other major Japanese cities is so marginal, it might as well not exist.

In the decade between Fukushima and today, more radioactive material and pollutants are put into the atmosphere through fossil fuel burning and lithium mining/processing than through the operation of all the nuclear power plants around the world, combined.

I am not pretending that the mass adoption of nuclear power is "going green". It factually is.

[UFO *REAL* @marmarmarmam]

People in the comments saying shes wrong for throwing the fetal remains away when another lady was arrested for burying her remains and other women have been arrested for flushing them. wtf is a woman who miscarries supposed to do with the remains??

[Sony Thăng @nxt888]

Let me tell you a story, Hanan.

I’m Vietnamese.

In 1954, the Western powers, fresh from centuries of colonial conquest, decided Vietnam should be cut in half.

Not because the Vietnamese asked for it.

Not because it was just.

But because it served imperial interests.

The North would go to us, the ones who had bled to defeat the French.

The South would be handed to a U.S.-backed regime we never chose.

They called it a "compromise."

They called it a "solution."

They said we should accept it, and there’ll be peace.

That half a country is better than none.

That resistance would only bring needless suffering.

But we refused.

Because Vietnam is not a bargaining chip.

We are not a parcel to be divided by strangers and called free.

And when we resisted, they called us unreasonable.

They called us terrorists.

They said we were the problem.

Sound familiar?

What you just said about Palestinians—that they should have accepted UN Resolution 181 and been grateful for half a homeland—is exactly what they told us.

And we proved them wrong.

We fought not because we hated peace.

We fought because real peace cannot come from foreign dictates, settler violence, and forced partitions.

We fought because no people should be told to accept half their dignity so someone else can sleep at night.

We fought because Vietnam is one.

Not north, not south, but whole.

And we won.

Now you expect Palestinians to do what we never would.

To accept their homeland divided.

Their history rewritten.

Their future stolen.

To say yes to a plan they never agreed to.

Written by people who did not live there.

Giving away land that was never theirs to offer.

You call that a missed opportunity.

We call it resistance to dismemberment.

Palestinians said no because they knew what we knew:

To accept a settler’s map is to erase your own.

So don’t talk to me about Resolution 181.

Talk to me about the villages wiped off the map.

Talk to me about the mass graves and refugee camps that followed.

Talk to me about the families still holding the keys to homes they are forbidden to return to.

Vietnam refused partition. And today we are whole.

Palestine did the same. And for that, they are still being punished.

But they were right to refuse.

Just like we were.

Just like the Algerians were.

Just like the South Africans were.

And one day, like us, they will reclaim everything that was stolen.

Because memory is stronger than force.

And the land never forgets who it belongs to.

[derek guy @dieworkwear]

I have a simple theory for this.

Any time this question is asked, people point to cultural or moral reasons (e.g., the declinist view of Western society or some other mumbo jumbo).

IMO, this is only because they lack insight into more important structural reasons, such as politics, economics, or institutions. Culture is certainly an important variable when discussing social outcomes. But it's often a black box used to explain variation that can't be explained by more important structural factors (and sometimes, culture emerges from structural factors!). And thus, when people lack insight into politics, economics, history, or institutions, they conveniently wave their hand and say "culture."

I have a simple theory for why we don't build stuff like this anymore: patronage.

These buildings didn't just pop out of the ground. They were funded through imperial or aristocratic patronage. That means they were funded by the state, church, or tycoons (e.g. New and Old Money).

This specific building below is Palais Garnier opera house in France, designed by Charles Garnier and built at the behest of Napoleon III. At the time, it cost about 36 million francs, which I believe is about $500M today. It took about fifteen years to build. The French state was fine with funding it because it projected imperial grandeur.

Certainly, we have expensive architectural projects today. But a lot of the money goes towards meeting code (e.g., structural integrity, seismic requirements, sustainability requirements). Labor is also more expensive now because you can't just exploit people (at least when there are unions). Land might also cost more, depending on the location of the project.

Building something like this today would cost considerably more than $500M.

And who would fund it? Can you imagine if the US government — currently already undergoing austerity cuts — spent something like a billion dollars on a building that only people in a certain city could enjoy? People would rightly lose their minds. You can't build something like this because 1) public scrutiny is higher, 2) we vote, and 3) this is seen as wasteful spending.

Of course, you could get billionaires to fund it. I have lamented that Jeff Bezos buys crappy designer dinner suits instead of using bespoke tailors, but some people lost their minds ("who cares?" "he's rich" or "he can do what he wants").

I'm not suggesting that we make a law preventing Bezos from spending money how he likes. But thus far, he has poured about $15 billion into Blue Origin. Can he spend $1 billion on building beautiful public libraries, theaters, or museums? They can be in this Beaux-Arts or Baroque architectural style, if he likes.

People ask "Why did humans stop building like this?" They should follow-up with: "How were these projects built? Who funded them? And why don't more billionaires today support artisans, craftspeople, and public work projects?"

FWIW, I have made this argument before and if you'd like to read it, you can check out this thread:

https://t.co/ycFWRLUOdh

[Echo 🔆 @TheEcho13]

Weight loss advice is based on studies conducted on men and applied to women.

When female hormones enter the picture, science suddenly finds it ‘too complicated’ and ‘too expensive’ so they study men, apply the results to women, and pretend it’s universal truth.

As a result, the recommendations women receive are often based on male physiology and when they don’t work, the blame is placed on women.

Not the research. Not the bias. Women.

Science has historically neglected female bodies. This isn’t controversial, nor is it a theory. It’s how medical research has operated for decades. The research is deemed ‘done’ because it’s been ‘done’ on men.

The studies are male. The standard is male. The failure is assigned to women.

[RobinGardens @RobinMelz]

@JamesLucasIT Because people are too busy working to survive end-stage capitalism to indulge in & develop the skills for pursuits like this...pursuits the right consistently decry as worthless, namely the arts & humanities.

[trout mask (original) @BranPuffin]

Invariably anyone who asks this really doesn’t like the answer

[Dermot Devlin he/him @castleDD]

Motability cars are NOT free.

How do I know? I cannot afford the upfront costs for the vehicle I need and it would completely wipe out my PIP to get one, which I can't afford to live without.

I don’t drive, so stop the lies.

Motability cars are NOT free.

[Richard Medhurst @richimedhurst]

No one actually believes "death to the IDF" is antisemitic.

They are just having a meltdown because they can no longer control the narrative.

People have had enough of Israel and its lawlessness.

[sebastian castillo @bartlebytaco]

they make an appalling $40k a year, which means that a 24% bump would get them a little shy of $50k, which is still underpaid for the labor sanitation workers do

[Tom London @TomLondon6]

Dear Chief Rabbi

I am a British Jew but you do not speak for me

What was said at Glastonbury was not “Jew-hatred”

It was directed against an ARMY which is perpetrating a GENOCIDE on unarmed civilians in Gaza

All decent people should call for an end to GENOCIDE right NOW

[sarah @sahouraxo]

BREAKING:

Israel has just killed Dr. Marwan Sultan in Gaza.

They dropped a bomb on his home, murdering him, his wife, and their children.

He wasn’t a combatant.

He was a doctor who devoted his life to saving others.

[MS.JAZZY @MsJazzybelle]

You’ll lose your mind if that trash juice falls on your foot but ppl who work in waste management don’t deserve a raise??? Stfu

[one dozen rats at a keyboard @PanasonicDX4500]

About once every thirty to forty years every city is forced to go through a "Surprise, the garbage collectors are actually the foundational bedrock of your society!" week and unfortunately it's now Philly's turn

[Shiba 🩷💛🩵 @ShibaLee_]

Anyone asking, yes there is a black American sign language because, yes, even the deaf schools were segregated

[Sarah @Sal_feeko]

Bob Vylan is not the story.

Kneecap is not the story.

Gary Lineker is not the story.

Dawn French is not the story.

Ms Rachel is not the story.

Action Palestine is not the story.

Glastonbury is not the story.

GENOCIDE IN GAZA IS THE STORY.

[𝒥𝒶𝓈𝓂𝒾𝓃🐷 ABDUL FOR SENATE @jasminpigemoji]

The idea that the women he victimized were “prostitutes” and not sex trafficking victims is insane and disgusting.