One final thought:

Folks here were boggling the other day at how immigrants to the US couldn't see the GOP for what it is.

But many in the West, often out of a "polite antisemitism" that fails to differentiate between Jewish cultural & Israeli political spectrums, have been living in cognitive dissonance: quick to identify & condemn far-right extremism on their home turf, while credulously supporting far-right extremism (*supported* by the GOP!) in another country.

So. That's how it happens.

Atheist note, though:

History will show this awful work to have been done by *secular* folk too.

There are some extreme Jewish traditions involved - messianics in N's far-right coalition government - & they're bolstered by a mass of US Christian Evangelicals who've been supporting this conflict for decades...

But Netanyahu is secular, & belongs to a movement that leverages Torah solely for territorial ambitions, with none of the grace of faith involved.

It is a sick, brutal thing to witness.

Reading about the latest range of war traumas today, from the killing of Oxfam-affiliate water engineers by IDF, to the destruction of olive trees & a woman harvesting them by WB settlers, to many dozens lately slaughtered in the north...

It is painful to know this will only end when the extremists win.

So many *here*, as there, do not a flying F about the lives shattered.

They're just not *people* to those who think fulfillment of violent prophecy is the best solution for all.

#Gaza #Israel

As a teen, I thought I was going to be a physics professor. Loved the heck out of the citizen science involved in astronomy research as well. Thought we were on the cusp of something extraordinary online.

Today, many life dreams later, I came across this video, which doesn't just correct info about a so-called exoplanet; it also depicts how mangled everyday #science info is (made worse by AI!).

We could've had such nice things.

#MediaLiteracy #ScienceLiteracy
#Space
https://youtu.be/EzrwL3W5wl4

I've been skipping through old #Zine uploads lately, and tonight's was a hoot: 1968, Yandro 184 - an issue filled with commentary on recent #SFF movies (2001, Planet of the Apes), #StarTrek episode commentary, new books by the likes of Ellison, and tons on fan culture with the usual drama around Worldcon, Nebulas, and censorship.

Just a delight of a reminder that the more things change, the more things stay the same! #Reading

Some choice bits screencapped below:

https://www.fanac.org/fanzines/Yandro/Yandro184.pdf

1 hour 30 minute meeting.
1 hour 30 minute meeting debrief.

🙃

I can't share details, but there were SO many details I'd love to see go into character studies for a story one day.

Peopling! Good gravy, why do we do it?

I came back from my first appointment to find a Christmas market is on in my apartment complex this afternoon.

Music and the occasional sales barker blasting.

🤦🏻‍♂️ This meeting at 1 is so doomed.

I have excellent agendas that work 90% of the time, but today every possible factor is working against me. I put up what meagre barriers I have for the laptop, and... we shall see how that works!

🙃 Waiting on a lady who keeps to Colombian time. We had an appointment for 10:30 and we messaged an hour in advance to confirm.

At 10:35 I got a nooo amor ya sali (no love, "just" leaving) and she's been "just" leaving for the last 15.

I laugh because this is typical. I almost get a heart attack now when someone is on time.

(But I have to be back for my meeting at 1pm, so tough ta-tas if I can't help her with a task we had scheduled in time!)

Today I have a meeting in which at least two members are going to try to run us well over time and off-agenda, AND another is going to be learning what we do from a quiet observer role.

This is going to be an excellent test of my managerial chops, to make sure not a second is wasted and all is elucidated well. :) I look forward to it!

:) I got out to my park today.

Didn't run! Had messages to send.

But, baby steps.

(Tomorrow I shall run. Then back to weight training this week. 🤞🏻💪🏻)

BC Canucks, are you doing okay, loves?

Are you checking in with folks?

Do you have everything you need for the next while?

Has the local government issued a canoe per household yet, or are you all just carving and resin-treating your own tonight?

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/environment-canada-rain-fall-warning-south-coast-1.7355933

Thanks for being with me in my low, all you beautiful ladles and jellyspoons.

My bipolar downcycles used to be utter agony, so I'm super glad they don't involve the same constriction of breathing & constant chest pain they used to when I was younger. But they still involve days of loathing any reminder of my existence in the world (for all the harm I think I'm causing by drawing breath) and some shutting-down-shop behaviours.

🫂💛 I just hope you all show yourselves the same grace you showed me.

I also want brownie points for not stopping at the bookstore or videogame arcade. Time to go home and finish an *easier* piece now, on the challenges of transitioning from a petroleum-based extraction economy, care of Colombia's super-tough challenges at present.

(Yep, that's still easier than the piece on war derangement I'd originally planned!)

Then maybe fiction? 🤞🏻 #Colombia

Today I was privileged to file writing of a type I used to roll my eyes at--but experience has taught me that *good* tourist journalism is important for changing attitudes away from exploitative travel practices.

Good heavens, do I love this city something fierce--and it breaks my heart to see folks visit to abuse it.

(If you visit for the first time without touching base, I will expect that you already know to treat the streets with a healthy level of respect for the *home* you're visiting!)

I do love the difference between writing styles for local articles and international papers, though.

The local announcement of a freshly transformed tourist zone goes into *great detail* about how it's safer to take out a camera there now, with no less than 20 police checkpoints around the beloved exhibits, but I have to use coded language when talking about safety in Medellín. 😅 The very mention of safety issues, even to say they've been dealt with, just doesn't go with this other pub's vibe.

I thought the hard part was going to be writing this darned piece for TimeOut.

Turns out the hard part is editing it down to the piddling word count I've been given.

Once I get started talking about all there is to love and do in Medellín, I can't stop!