genzforbettergenerations

[genzforbettergenerations]

Happy Autism Acceptance Month!

#autism acceptance month #autistic pride #actually autistic #listen to autistic voices #nothing about us without us #red instead #light it up red #light it up gold #do not support autism $peaks

[genzforbettergenerations]

Voting Blue in Alabama!

#my first thought was definitely “in ALABAMA?!?!?!?!” (bc she's a democrat) but my second thought was “HELL YEAH!” #your vote matters!!! #us politics #good news

[genzforbettergenerations]

As relentless rains pounded LA, the city’s “sponge” infrastructure helped gather 8.6 billion gallons of water—enough to sustain over 100,000 households for a year.

Earlier this month, the future fell on Los Angeles. A long band of moisture in the sky, known as an atmospheric river, dumped 9 inches of rain on the city over three days—over half of what the city typically gets in a year. It’s the kind of extreme rainfall that’ll get ever more extreme as the planet warms.

The city’s water managers, though, were ready and waiting. Like other urban areas around the world, in recent years LA has been transforming into a “sponge city,” replacing impermeable surfaces, like concrete, with permeable ones, like dirt and plants. It has also built out “spreading grounds,” where water accumulates and soaks into the earth.

With traditional dams and all that newfangled spongy infrastructure, between February 4 and 7 the metropolis captured 8.6 billion gallons of stormwater, enough to provide water to 106,000 households for a year. For the rainy season in total, LA has accumulated 14.7 billion gallons.

Long reliant on snowmelt and river water piped in from afar, LA is on a quest to produce as much water as it can locally. “There's going to be a lot more rain and a lot less snow, which is going to alter the way we capture snowmelt and the aqueduct water,” says Art Castro, manager of watershed management at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. “Dams and spreading grounds are the workhorses of local stormwater capture for either flood protection or water supply.”

Centuries of urban-planning dogma dictates using gutters, sewers, and other infrastructure to funnel rainwater out of a metropolis as quickly as possible to prevent flooding. Given the increasingly catastrophic urban flooding seen around the world, though, that clearly isn’t working anymore, so now planners are finding clever ways to capture stormwater, treating it as an asset instead of a liability. “The problem of urban hydrology is caused by a thousand small cuts,” says Michael Kiparsky, director of the Wheeler Water Institute at UC Berkeley. “No one driveway or roof in and of itself causes massive alteration of the hydrologic cycle. But combine millions of them in one area and it does. Maybe we can solve that problem with a thousand Band-Aids.”

Or in this case, sponges. The trick to making a city more absorbent is to add more gardens and other green spaces that allow water to percolate into underlying aquifers—porous subterranean materials that can hold water—which a city can then draw from in times of need. Engineers are also greening up medians and roadside areas to soak up the water that’d normally rush off streets, into sewers, and eventually out to sea...

To exploit all that free water falling from the sky, the LADWP has carved out big patches of brown in the concrete jungle. Stormwater is piped into these spreading grounds and accumulates in dirt basins. That allows it to slowly soak into the underlying aquifer, which acts as a sort of natural underground tank that can hold 28 billion gallons of water.

During a storm, the city is also gathering water in dams, some of which it diverts into the spreading grounds. “After the storm comes by, and it's a bright sunny day, you’ll still see water being released into a channel and diverted into the spreading grounds,” says Castro. That way, water moves from a reservoir where it’s exposed to sunlight and evaporation, into an aquifer where it’s banked safely underground.

On a smaller scale, LADWP has been experimenting with turning parks into mini spreading grounds, diverting stormwater there to soak into subterranean cisterns or chambers. It’s also deploying green spaces along roadways, which have the additional benefit of mitigating flooding in a neighborhood: The less concrete and the more dirt and plants, the more the built environment can soak up stormwater like the actual environment naturally does.

As an added benefit, deploying more of these green spaces, along with urban gardens, improves the mental health of residents. Plants here also “sweat,” cooling the area and beating back the urban heat island effect—the tendency for concrete to absorb solar energy and slowly release it at night. By reducing summer temperatures, you improve the physical health of residents. “The more trees, the more shade, the less heat island effect,” says Castro. “Sometimes when it’s 90 degrees in the middle of summer, it could get up to 110 underneath a bus stop.”

LA’s far from alone in going spongy. Pittsburgh is also deploying more rain gardens, and where they absolutely must have a hard surface—sidewalks, parking lots, etc.—they’re using special concrete bricks that allow water to seep through. And a growing number of municipalities are scrutinizing properties and charging owners fees if they have excessive impermeable surfaces like pavement, thus incentivizing the switch to permeable surfaces like plots of native plants or urban gardens for producing more food locally.

So the old way of stormwater management isn’t just increasingly dangerous and ineffective as the planet warms and storms get more intense—it stands in the way of a more beautiful, less sweltering, more sustainable urban landscape. LA, of all places, is showing the world there’s a better way.

-via Wired, February 19, 2024

#finally feeling some hope #this needs to be done everywhere!!! #cities need more green spaces!! they should be added wherever/whenever possible! & should include only native plants! #after taking intro to environmental science last spring I've been even more depressed about the future of the earth #impermeable surfaces not only cause flooding but the flooding picks up any chemicals (gas; oil; etc) on the paved areas and #contaminates the groundwater; rivers; etc. it also causes erosion and other bad stuff #seriously I took environmental science and US history 2 (reconstruction to now) in the same semester & yeesh that was depressing

[genzforbettergenerations]

#keep eyes on sudan #sudan

[genzforbettergenerations]

"jk rowling does holocaust denial" is something that in 2004 would have been worldwide headline material for how shocking it is but in 2024 is frankly so expected that not a single person ive talked to has anything to say except "oh shes doing that now?"

#fuck jkr

[genzforbettergenerations]

hey y'all! good news - i found a used elecreic wheelchair that is suited to my needs. this means i won't have to raise nearly as much as expected. the current owner offered to drive it down to me sometime next week so i need the money by sunday!

the chair is $925 and then i need an additional $100 for the delivery.

$315/$1025

ppal | vmo | csh app

without this wheelchair i will be unable to continue attending my doctors appts and other activities so it's really important that i get it asap! thank you 🫶🏽

#boost

[genzforbettergenerations]

If You’re Gonna Make Something Wheelchair Accessible, Don’t Make it a Thing

Here’s some examples awkward accessibility being a thing:

Your at a hotel that has a lift to get you from one sub-floor to another, but the lift can only be unlocked and operated by one specific person that the hotel now has to go find. Sure, they’ve made the entrance to the sub-floor is accessible, but now it’s a thing.

The buses are wheelchair accessible but the driver has to stop the bus, take 30 seconds to lower the goddamn ramp, move passengers out of their seats, hook up the straps and then secure you in the bus. Sure, they’ve made the busses accessible but now it’s a thing.

The restaurant has an accessible entrance, but it’s past the trash room and through the kitchen. Sure, the restaurant is accessible, but now it’s an insulting thing.

Here’s some great examples of accessibility not being a thing:

The train to the airport pulls up flush with the platform. I board with everyone else and sit wherever the fuck I want. Riding the train is accessible and not a thing.

In Portland, I press a button the side of the streetcar and a ramp automatically extends at the same time the door opens. I board in the same amount of time as everyone else. This is not a thing.

I get that it is difficult to design for wheelchair accessibility, but folks need to start considering the overall quality of the experience versus just thinking about meeting the minimum requirements.

#accessibility #disability

[genzforbettergenerations]

#this is how we lost roe v wade #vote like even more than you think is at stake (it is) #vote! #us politics #I don't want biden in office but at least with him we know that in 4 years we can vote someone better in #SO vote for your actual choice in the primaries but vote blue in the elections #I'm so serious. unless everyone who voted for biden in 2020 voted for one of the other democrats or a single 3rd party candidate (unlikely) #it's biden vs trump again #do people realize that in terms of the judicial branch if trump wins we might very well have a 7-2 (or worse) court on our hands?? #but with younger justices who will be on the court for YEARS????

[genzforbettergenerations]

the flour massacre is ongoing. it is everyday. it was not an isolated event. it was not even the first time israel shot at and killed palestinians going for aid (they do it whenever they allow aid through). in fact, they did the exact same thing yesterday morning. just because smaller-scale murders go under the radar for lack of shock factor doesn’t mean they’re not happening continuously.

#free palestine

[genzforbettergenerations]

hello! I have a Question about masking. when should we wear a mask? is it only when we feel sick or is it always? is it inside or outside too? if ur vaccinated but were told to only wear when sick is that bad? literally almost no on in any area around me in my state wears one except when sick and I feel unsure what to do. genuinely everywhere I go there’s close to no one. I feel afraid to wear one all the time bc judgement. but what do we need to do? I’m disabled and disability justice is important to me but since no one else wears one my friends do not think it’s needed and thinks comfort matters more bc it’s very humid here. I feel like wearing one is the right thing to do, but idk how to explain that to others or to start again and shake the fear. ppl assume ur sick when u wear bc that’s what we’re taught is the right time to. /gen

Genuinely, ty for trusting me to answer this. If you're outside or inside a public area, or inside with people who don't mask, it's best to be wearing a mask. Even when you don't feel sick! Not only can you have covid without feeling sick, but you can also carry lots of viruses without feeling sick and so can others. (Also other people don't always tell you when they're feeling sick unfortunately.)

As for the question about vaccinations, yeah, that's bad. You were lied to. People who're vaccinated can still spread covid without feeling sick and can still catch it and get long covid or die. All the vaccine does is make you a little safer if you catch it, it doesn't replace masking.

Masking is very scarce in a lot of places, so I understand that. In my area so many people don't mask and it's scary! I also understand being scared of judgement; especially from family and friends. But you're right, masking is the right thing to do and disability justice is important. And masking is especially important if you're already disabled; you're higher risk for covid fucking you up (by giving you long covid or generally worsening your disabilities/giving you more).

Since I've already explained WHEN you should be masking (if you have more questions, ask, I don't mind at all.), lemme see if I can help you out with the rest. To shake the fear, I'd suggest starting wearing your mask when you're alone to get used to wearing it more. You'll probably have to bite it and do it afraid anyway, because its a pandemic and masking is a necessity (if you can), but you can still get ready first.

To explain it to your friends, put it simply. "I discovered the vaccine doesn't replace masking, so I'm being safe." or "I realized masking keeps all of us safer during the pandemic, especially disabled people, so I'm going to keep doing it."

They may argue with you, especially since they may feel bad for not masking. You don't have to argue back with them. You can offer to send them articles about it or explain your thoughts but you don't have to justify masking!

If people think you're sick, they'll probably ask and you can explain or they'll avoid you, which may work to your advantage because social distancing from people who don't mask is good too.

If part of this doesn't make sense or you have more questions, ask me! I'd love to answer and have a lot of info on the subject if you want it. Again, thank you for trusting me to answer and I hope this helps. <3 Stay safe!

[genzforbettergenerations]

it’s so late it’s early here so this isn’t worded as well as I’d like but I keep thinking about how much harm is caused by people being unwilling to accept that some things cannot be solved, reversed, fixed, cured, or moved on from. So many people just cannot or will not wrap their minds around something that both (requires care/compassion/support/effort to address) and (will not ever cease to need this ongoing attention).

Sometimes things happen where the effects are genuinely permanent— trauma, grief, acquired disability, chronic illness, etc. there is no finish line to get to after which it’s over. there is no point where there is some return to before this need existed. there is only after. there is only trying our best to live with it as well as we can.

To deny this is to tell people living these lives that any support or compassion is temporary and unstable. It denies the possibility of of genuine relationship and community with people whose lives have fundamentally changed.

#disability #chronic illness

[genzforbettergenerations]

Terfs after they get butch women kicked out of womens bathrooms for looking too much like a man, call cis women men because they don't fit a white western beauty standard, say people who've had mastectomies (which are mostly cancer patients) are mutilated, reduce women down to their anatomy, act like trans men are clueless little girls who can't think for themselves, say women are naturally worse at sports and quiz shows and beauty pageants than men, flash a fake bush in parliament with children present, rile up so much bullshit about trans athletes that now there's laws being made where little girls have to have genital inspections, and throw intersex people under the bus at every opportunity

#fuck terfs

[genzforbettergenerations]

how you can help palestine

*i regularly update this post with any new info i find so please always reblog the original post*

Donations

donations currently reaching gaza:

‼️ help buy e-sims for people in gaza

donate to get food packages to gaza - care for gaza

palestine children's relief fund

world food programme

donate direct aid to gaza - ehab rida (longtime activist and volunteer, has been carrying out donations and humanitarian projects in gaza since 2021)

donate to ahmed (@/90-ghost on tumblr)

he is born, raised and based in gaza. please help him reach his goal of $50K to get his family to safety across the rafah border into egypt. as of right now… it’s $7.5K per person to evacuate gaza.

help journalist yousef escape gaza to treat his cancer

help mohamed evacuate gaza to get treatment for himself and his daughter

mohammed is a friend of ahmed (90-ghost) and is a haemophilia patient. him and his family are currently living in a tent on the streets of rafah.

help gaza’s children

support palestinians: buy a keffiyeh from the last and only factory in palestine - hirbawi

secondary donations:

emergency relief for gaza - pious projects

palestine red crescent society

save palestine - islamic relief canada

send medical supplies to gaza - palestinian american medical association

click to donate - arab.org

help bring down israel's weapon trade - palaction

donate for the recovery of hisham awartani - gofundme

one of the three palestinian students shot by a racist in vermont for wearing kufiyas and speaking arabic. hisham’s injuries have left him paralysed from below the chest.

Petitions

international cultural workers to strike from german cultural institutions for their complicity in oppressing palestinians and promoting genocide - strike germany

petition to investigate war crimes committed by israeli military

demand ceasefire - amnesty international

open call for immediate ceasefire

american government call for immediate ceasefire

american government to stop funding israeli military

ceasefire and increase humanitarian assistance - oxfam au

petition to get canva to address their pro-israel stance

invoke the genocide convention to call for ceasefire in gaza - world beyond war

suspend israel from international sports - diem25

UK to expel israeli ambassador - change.org

gaza healthcare workers for nobel peace prize - change.org

teachers around the world demand ceasefire - teachers for palestine

president whitten: reinstate samia halaby retrospective NOW - action network

location specific petitions

gaza call for lasting ceasefire - oxfam (UK)

end israeli occupation - parliament uk (UK)

email your MP - medical aid for palestine (UK)

protect gaza civilians - islamic relief (UK)

stop fuelling genocide - action network (USA)

@ biden: call for ceasefire now - move on (USA)

ceasefirenow.com - jewishvoiceofpeace (USA)

call congress and demand a ceasefire - uscpr (USA - they provide a script of what you should say, so don't worry about it)

note: you can call everyday. they tally the number of calls per issue. so more calls = higher chance for them to take action. p.s. you mainly go to voicemail so don’t worry about phone call anxiety. fight through it just this once please.

australia call on israel to stop attacking palestinians - apan (AUS)

immediate ceasefire and increase in humanitarian aid in gaza - actionaid (AUS)

email your MPs - stand with palestine (AUS)

‼️ australian senate to investigate australian citizens in the IDF for war crimes allegations - fpm (AUS)

‼️ arms embargo on israel - cjpme (CANADA)

sign to send letter to MP for ceasefire - nccm (CANADA)

ceasefire now! - ijv (CANADA)

ceasefire and allow aid to enter gaza - oxfam (CANADA)

call on your local mayor and council to demand ceasefire - LeadNow (CANADA)

cessez-le-feu et un couloir humanitaire - le mouvement (FRANCE)

écrivez aux député-es et sénateurs-trices - association france palestine solidarité (FRANCE)

write to your député - assemblée nationale (FRANCE)

skydda civilbefolkningen i gaza! - mittskifte (SWEDEN)

singaporeans call for immediate ceasefire (SIN)

contact your elected reps and demand a ceasefire (GERMANY)

write to the EU demanding a ceasefire (EUROPE)

template of letters you can send (EU)

guide on how to contact your MPs in EU

p.s. if the template is outdated, just use it as a guide and add a few sentences here and there that reflect the current situation. i can’t find any recent templates so :/ at least this is something

multiple actions you can take to help palestine - plant een olifbloom (NETHERLANDS)

includes: links for donations, emails to MP, emails to media, links to petitions and demonstrations

den haag, maak nú werk van vrede in israël/Palestina - the right forum (NETHERLANDS)

māori call for palestine - ourActionStation (NZ)

special visa for palestinians in gaza with family in NZ - NZ parliament/pāremata aotearoa (NZ)

deem israeli actions as war crimes - NZ parliament/pāremata aotearoa (NZ)

basta ao genocídio em Gaza! - awaaz (BRAZIL)

globo e grande mídia, parem de desumanizar civis palestinos - the intercept (BRAZIL)

Campaigns

‼️ justice for palestine

reach out to countries to back up south africa’s invoke genocide convention at the ICJ

‼️ international criminal court

submit evidences of israeli war crimes

friends of al-aqsa

❥ UK-specific

urge your MP to speak up for palestine

hands off al-aqsa

stop administrative detention

petition for UK to stop arming israel

❥ International

boycott puma — email them to end their partnership with israel

boycott coca-cola

palestine action

join the resistance

islamic relief canada

urge your MP to rally for ceasefire

decolonise palestine

poster campaign to raise awareness on the war crimes being committed against palestinians

text/call campaign for people living in USA

text CEASEFIRE @ 51905 to call for a ceasefire

text RESIST @ 50409 to send a letter to your representatives to pass HR3103–a bill that prohibits tax dollars from going to israel

download 5Calls app to contact members of your congress | (more info)

fax campaign for people in the USA

go on this website to send 5 free faxes per day

here’s a link to a pre-written fax copy you can download to send (the first link on the linktree)

here’s a video that explains how to fax your senator (it’s very easy and all you need is a valid email address)

‼️ BDS movement

get involved in boycotting companies associated with israel

please let me know if you have any more links. i will add them in. and please reblog the original post!!

UPCOMING PROTESTS

PALESTINIAN LITERATURE READING LIST

#important #palestine

[genzforbettergenerations]

We warned you this is where this is going.

#important #transphobia #west virginia

[genzforbettergenerations]

HAAAAAANK!!!! HANK IT'S NOT A BOOSTER! HANK! THIS YEARS COVID SHOT IS A WHOLE NEW VACCINATION SERIES THAT GIVES YOU RESISTANCE TO STRAINS THAT HAVE EMERGED SINCE 2021 , HANK!!! IT'S AN UPDATE, NOT A BOOSTER!!!! HAAAAAAAAAAAAANK!

#so this is how I learn it's an update not a booster 🤔 #as someone who generally keeps up with covid stuff the government is seriously not doing its job to tell us these things #get vaccinated #keep masking #stay at home if you're sick #take precautions #if you get sick warn people that you've seen in the past couple days #I had no idea it was an updated vaccine #everyone keeps referring to it as the booster #the news is saying that it's the ''yearly shot'' [so it's like the flu shot: updated every year] but that's not actually getting the info #across since the covid vaccine has only been around for under 3 years and has never had a yearly update before #just file this under more proof that everyone wants us to think covid is over [despite the fact that IT. IS. NOT.] #covid isn't over. it's never been over. #do y'all have any idea how many people I know are sick right now? how many people have been sick in the last 2 weeks?? #just yesterday 3 people I know got sick [1 confirmed covid [after not masking once]; the other 2 I didn't get much info on] #and it's not just covid. it's the flu & RSV & pneumonia & multiple at once & more #I'm so sick of this #especially as someone who became chronically ill & disabled after a virus in 2016 #I had hoped mine & others stories would serve as a warning #I saw a post recently: ''your immune system is not a muscle. it does not require exercise.'' #getting sick more often doesn't increase immunity. at best it just means you're sick more often [who likes being sick??] #and at worst it means a lifetime of chronic illness and disability or death #I'm so tired

[genzforbettergenerations]

Hey, you are not an embarrassment for not knowing how to do certain household chores/basic self-care. They do not come naturally to us. A lot of it takes practice! Maybe you had a neglectful guardian. Maybe you had one that was very coddling and never thought to teach you. Maybe you haven't lived in a place where these things were available to you or needed. Doesn't matter. It's okay to not know and far more common than you might realise.

That said, this website provides very simple instructions on how to do everyday tasks such as making your bed, using a washing machine, cooking different foods, washing dishes, taking a shower, etc. All you have to do is use the search bar to find the task you're struggling with, and it'll come up with what you need + other related how-to's:)

If you're having trouble navigating it, let me provide you with some examples:

How to clean dishes by hand

How to make your bed (with visual demonstrations of each step!)

How to fold clothes (with visual demonstrations of each step!)

How to take a shower & dry yourself off (also provides ways to shave beards, armpits, legs and genitals)

How to shave legs, armpits, beards, pubic areas, etc. (a more in-depth guide)

How to mop the floor

How to sweep the floor

How to swallow pills

How to make small talk

How to make eye contact in different situations (or how to avoid it while still looking natural)

It's also perfectly okay if these don't help or aren't appealing to you. Unfortunately, nothing helps everyone.

#resource

[genzforbettergenerations]

#''but masking will ruin their childhood!'' ok karen well I know from personal experience that becoming disabled after a virus will #like ACTUALLY make their childhood significantly harder so- #undescribed #keep masking #covid isn't over #and neither is the flu or rsv or any other virus!