#life under stochastic threat

[edenfenixblogs]

Let’s put some numbers to Jewish fear right now.

In news that I’m sure will thrill all antisemites, it would take startlingly little effort to foment widespread violence against us and cause another genocide of the Jewish people.

I have had many fellow Jews express to me how overwhelming it is to see the rising antisemitism. I have seen many Jews express fear at being drowned out of public, online, and IRL spaces due to dangerously violent vitriol.

I have also seen people who claim to advocate for Palestine—especially western leftists—openly mock Jews who express this fear.

Finally, I and my fellow Jews have often expressed that, while we wholeheartedly support Palestinian freedom and self determination, it is exhausting to have to say so repeatedly, especially when we are trying to advocate for ourselves. This is not due to any latent or widespread hatred of Muslims, Arabs, or Palestinians. It is because we are an extremely maligned and marginalized minority that is fighting to be heard against strong, hostile forces that at best wish we’d shut up and at worst want us eradicated from the planet.

There is a disconnect about how much harm people can do to Jews by spreading antisemitism and refusing to dismantle their own internalized antisemitism—and everyone has internalized antisemitism. It is one of the oldest forms of prejudice in the world and is found in almost every single culture. It is as, if not more, pervasive than white privilege. Yes. You read that right. And if asked to elaborate, I will provide numbers on that to the best of my ability. For the purposes of this post, however, I want to focus on the global distribution of religious groups only.

Specifically, this disconnect is between Jews who are fully aware and feel the affects of this damage and goyim who simply do not comprehend our marginalization.

To help, let’s put some numbers to this. In this post, I’ll be using the Pew Research Center’s survey and findings on the Global Religious Landscape. This is the most recent data from a reputable source that I could find which surveyed every world religion at the same time. While the Jewish population has grown slightly in the intervening years, so have most (if not all) other religious populations around the globe. I wanted to use figures measured at the same time to avoid bias for or against any religious group.

For the purposes of this post, I will not be discussing folk religions or other religions. This is not because they are not important. This is because they are not a monolith and individual folk religions and other religions may have even fewer adherents per religion than Judaism. I am currently only focusing on religions and religious groups who have more adherents than Judaism.

In descending order of adherents, there number of people in the world belonging to these groups:

2,200,000,000 (2.2 Billion) Christians

1,600,000,000 (1.6 Billion) Muslims

1,100,000,000 (1.1 Billion) Religiously unaffiliated people

1,000,000,000 (1 Billion) Hindus

500,000,000 (500 Million) Buddhists

14,000,000 (14 Million) Jews

Reduced to the simplest fractions there are:

1100 Christians for every 7 Jews

800 Muslims for every 7 Jews

550 Religiously unaffiliated people for every 7 Jews

500 Hindus for every 7 Jews

250 Buddhists for every 7 Jews

Combined, there are 6,400,000,000 non-Jewish people in religions or religious groups (including religiously unaffiliated people).

This means that for every 7 Jews there are 3200 people in religious groups who outnumber us.

Jews are 0.2 % of the global population.

When we tell you that hate is dangerous, it is because…

It would only take 0.21% of 6.4 Billion people to hate us in order to completely overwhelm and outnumber every single Jewish person on the planet. In other words, only 67.2 out of every 3200 people.

And given how violent and aggressive people have become toward us in recent weeks, that doesn’t seem far off.

No, most Christians, Muslims, Atheists/Agnostics, Hindus, and Buddhists do NOT hate Jews.

But if even 0.21% of them do hate us, Jews are at a legitimate and terrifying risk of ethnic cleansing and genocide.

It is not possible for Jews alone to fight this rising tide of hate. There simply aren’t enough of us. And many of us are too scared to tell you the truth: if you don’t vocally and repeatedly stand up for Jews (and not just the ones you agree with) you will be complicit in the genocide that follows. Police your own communities.

Nobody acting in good faith is asking you to abandon Palestinians or their fight for self determination and equality in their homeland. All we are asking is for you to learn about antisemitism, deconstruct it in yourself, and loudly condemn it when it occurs in front of you. We are asking you to comfort us and not run away when we are scared or even angry at you. Because a lot of us are angry with you, because we are extremely scared right now and many of you are not helping us. Many of you are actively and carelessly spreading dogwhistles that further the global rise in hatred against us.

You can support Palestine AND avoid Islamophobia WITHOUT making antisemitism worse. But you can’t stop antisemitism by staying silent in the face of it. And if you don’t speak up, you will get us killed. Silence, in this case, is quite literally violence.

Many of us have armed guards posted at our synagogues and schools and community centers because of this. I certainly had times where my synagogue and school had to have armed security for our safety.

The only reason more of us haven’t died already is because we have millennia of experience in confronting this kind of hatred and guarding against it.

But in pure numbers, if you don’t speak up for us now, we don’t have a chance at survival without support.

So, what can you do, specifically?:

* Make a stand or public statement about condemning antisemitism without mentioning another group. Acknowledge Jewish fear, pain, and current danger without contextualizing it in someone else’s. It could literally be something as simple as “Antisemitism is bad. There’s never a reason for it. I won’t tolerate it in presence in real life or online.” If you cannot bring yourself to publicly make this statement, you should have a serious look at yourself to understand why you can’t.

* Learn about the six universal features of antisemitism and the many, various dog whistles affecting the global Jewish community

* Do not welcome people who espouse rhetoric that includes any features from the above bullet point in your community unless you are able to educate them and eliminate that behavior.

* Check in on your Jewish friends, regularly and repeatedly. Do not wait for them to reach out to you. They are scared of you. Even if you don’t have the emotional space to have conversations about antisemitism. Just send a message once in a while, unprompted, “Jfyi, antisemitism still sucks. I support you.”

* Redirect conversations about which “side” is “right” to how to attain peace. Do this by saying that this line of argument is not conducive to peace, and link to a well-respected organization not widely accused of either antisemitism or Islamophobia that is devoted to achieving a peaceful resolution, increasing education, or providing humanitarian aid to relevant affected groups—including Jews, Israelis, Palestinians, Muslims, and Arabs. You can find over 160 such organizations at the Alliance for Middle East Peace https://www.allmep.org/

* Look to support experienced groups without widespread and verifiable claims of prejudice against either Jews or Muslims or Arabs or Palestinians. Many of these organizations can also be found at the AllMEP link above. Avoid groups on the shit list as well as unproductive and harmful movements.

* Do not default to western methods of political demonstration. Specifically, protests are not useful in attaining peace in western nations at this time. Israelis and Palestinians can and should protest to the best of their abilities in Israel and Palestine so as to pressure their own governments. However, protests in western nations have proven to be poorly regulated and to further the spread of bigoted rhetoric and violence against Jews, Muslims, Arabs, and Palestinians. Furthermore, there are nearly as many Palestinians in the world as there are Jews. It is extremely easy and common for the voices of bad actors and bigots on all sides to completely drown out Jewish and Palestinian voices and concerns at these events.

* Spend more time listening and learning than speaking and acting. Anyone who tells you this conflict is simple is someone who is lying to you. Take the time to learn the ways in which your actions and words can get people hurt before joining the fray.

* Stop demonizing Zionism as a concept, even if you disagree with it. Understand that it is a philosophy with many different movements that often conflict with each other. The Zionism practiced by Netanyahu and the Likud party is NOT representative of most Zionists or interpretations of Zionism. It is an extremist form of Zionism known as Revisionist Zionism.

* Don’t deny Jewish indigeneity to the levant. It doesn’t help Palestine and hurts Jews by erasing our physical and cultural history as well as erasing the Jews who remained in Israel even through widespread diaspora.

* KEEP THE HOLOCAUST OUT OF YOUR MOUTH

Things That Are Always OK

* Denouncing Antisemitism loudly and publicly

* Denouncing Islamophobia loudly and publicly

* Telling your Jewish and Muslim and Arab friends you support them and won't abandon them

* Elevating the work of respected, widely accepted people and organizations devoted to attaining peace for all, rather than just one group of people.

* Develop media literacy

* Understand what aspects of the current western leftist movements Jews are criticizing, rather than assuming our criticisms are motivated by hatred for Palestine or Palestinians.

* Expressing sorrow for civilian deaths regardless of religion or nationality.

* When you are not Jewish and you share a post about antisemitism from a Jewish person, please say you’re a goy. This isn’t because you’re not welcome to share. This is because it is indescribably comforting to know we aren’t just talking amongst ourselves and screaming into the void. Let us know you are supportive of us. It doesn’t mean that you or we hate Palestine or Palestinians or that we oppose their full and equal rights in our shared homeland.

#antisemitism #leftist antisemitism #israel #Palestine #Zionism #anti zionisim #jewish muslim solidarity #Jewish goyim solidarity #media literacy #responsible advocacy #direct action #life under stochastic threat #I dare a goy to reblog this challenge

[brumeraven]

🍂: We'd Been Called Angels || mech pilots, DID, burnout?, commoditization?, trauma?, balteus has taken down 2 of my headmates already but surely I'm different

We'd been called Angels, once. Seraphs, in the days when we'd been the last seal on the book of Revelation.

Then, we'd won. The world hadn't ended. But it also hadn't changed. Nature abhors a vacuum, and mankind couldn't live with itself without the threat of the Beasts.

Some I suppose had feared no one would know what to do with the Seraphs after the apocalypse. Not the cynics, though; they knew to fear instead that someone would know exactly what to do with them.

They'd been right.

We'd been called Angels, once. Now it was just SPs. Cheap, disposable things a quarter the size of the ones who'd saved everything.

nations were willing to sacrifice us to preserve their way of life from the Beasts. They'd been no less willing to throw us at each Other as well.

The discovery of Flux had made it easier to stomach. No more bad optics of mangled children pulled from the porcelain shards of wrecked control pods. The whole process was sterile now

Humane.

Routine.

Just a cheap S-Link inside the SP, the pilot's consciousness plucked out of the Stream at the moment of mission failure and tucked safely back in their body. No muss, no fuss, no dead children weighing on their consciousnesses.

And then there was the added benefit of years more field experience. We didn't die now, we learned, immortal weapons that sharpened themselves further with each deployment, valuable assets in the Cardinal Wars.

The body was safe somewhere they called home, curled up in a Boat. I was Adrift. Nowhere.

The Stream, as if it were some gentle thing. A misnomer.

I was nothing immersed in it, tossed about by currents, unfamiliar emotions and memories flowing and ebbing, stochastic and sudden.

"You know the drill. Again." Handler's voice pulled me under, down to some hellhole, ass-end of the continent. It could've been anywhere; the briefing seemed lifetimes ago.

"Bring them hell, 117." A call sign? An ID number? Or just the number of times I'd been sent to kill Him?

The sun was warm on my skin, and I stretched my six wingblades, feeling stiffness in their joints, as if this was the first time they'd been moved.

And then, there He was, a bare 100 meters away. Just a man. More than a man. That Man. The Fluxsaint I'd been sent to kill.

At the sight of Him, the Chorus raised their voices. Some snarled in rage, some sneered in defiance, some simply became Still or cried softly. And some few tried to snatch control away.

I pushed them all down, the countless others. I was still here, still alive, still fighting.

"You, again?" He sounded tired. Concerned, even. Closer now, only 20 meters, a fragile thing I could have stepped on. He loomed over me, Crook in one hand, stretching out the other as if to lay it gently upon my steel. "How many tries has it been? How many times have I hurt you?"

Metal groaned as my body moved in fits and jerks, and I realized I was sobbing in a body that could make no other sound.

Please tell me. I've lost count.

His touch was certain, tender, one thrust cleanly through the S-Link. He'd done this the same number of times, after all.

I'd been called Angel, once, I thought.

Now I was a disappointment. A memory of pain and failure. One more voice lost in the Stream, sobbing quietly in a distant corner of a metal body that strode again to a destruction it was allowed to forget.

~🍂

#empty spaces #microfiction #mech pilots #DID #burnout #commoditization #trauma #balteus has taken down 2 of my headmates already but surely I'm different #fiction #writing

[pokemonbiologyirlthetabletop]

Rockruff & Lycanroc (#744, #745)

Rockruff (#744)

Lykanthropos familiaris (Rockruff)

Abilities:

Keen Eye, Vital Spirit, Own Tempo, Steadfast

Rockruffs are a pure rock-type dog Pokémon that average at 1’08 feet tall and weigh 20.3 Ibs. They have in impeccable sense of smell, to the point where they’re known for remembering anything they’ve smelled once.

Habitat: Rockruffs are found in Australia, but like the dingos of our world, were brought there by humanity a long time ago—estimated to be maybe 8,000-9,000 years ago. So, late enough that Tasmania split from the rest of Australia, which is why Rockruffs are not found natively in Tasmania. Unlike the dingos of our real world however, Rockruffs can even be found in the forests of Southeast Australia. But they generally prefer more arid climates.

Life Cycles: Rockruffs have fairly standard lives as a dog Pokémon. They are born between May and August (winter) to litters ranging widely from 1 to 10, but 5 being fairly standard. The pups will stay in their den for the first 3 weeks of their lives, then leave it completely with their parents at around 8 weeks old. These dens are typically under rocks or in abandoned burrows.

Rockruff pups will stay with their parents until around 10 months old, where they will then leave the pack and start their own lives. Rockruffs in particular will form small packs, often sibling packs, for a couple years until they evolve into Lycanroc. While reproduction cannot occur before reaching level 15, they also cannot reproduce until around 2 years of age.

The mating season for Rockruffs and Lycanrocs is between March and June, though individuals in tropical climates can mate at any time of the year, but litters are once per year. Once the mating rituals have completed, eggs will appear in their burrows. The gestation periods for these eggs is 60 to 70 days, and the Rockruff/Lycanroc pair will take turns defending their eggs from egg thieves during that time period.

By and large, the biggest threat to Rockruffs are territorial disputes, giant spider Pokémon, giant snake Pokémon, large bird Pokémon, and stochastic events such as falling from cliffs, wildfires, or mass floodings.  

Behavior: Rockruffs are quite friendly as pups, even making for excellent starter Pokémon for new trainers. Be aware, though, that Rockruffs become increasingly more aggressive as they get older, but to a trainer or its family it will remember the love that is there and continue to be steadfast in its loyalty. The temperament behavior change in Rockruffs can be too much for some trainers to handle, and this leads to many being abandoned by their unfit trainers.

As a show of affection, Rockruffs enjoy rubbing their rocky neck manes against the object of their affection, but this hurts! A lot!

Rockruffs hunt in packs and are very persistent predators, capable of outlasting prey much larger than themselves and wearing them down through running. To train themselves for combat and hunting, Rockruffs will run around a lot, or as humans like to call it “they have the zoomies.” This is an excellent behavior for anyone who wants an energetic Pokémon!

Diet: Rockruffs are carnivores that can eat more omnivorous diets, like rice, pizza, carrots, potato chips (you know, things we feed our dogs and probably shouldn’t) but really, you should be feeding your Rockruff a proper carnivorous diet, or at least suitable Pokémon food. In the wild they eat moderately sized animals like wallabies,  Komalas, and invasive Bunnelbies, Numels, and Mudbrays.

Conservation: Threatened (in the wild), Least Concern (Captivity)

Climate change, habitat loss, and the killing of Rockruffs and Lycanrocs (to prevent livestock deaths) are the biggest reasons that wild populations are declining. This actively includes the massive wildfires that have been decimating Australia over the past several years.

Relationship with Humans: Rockruffs are a common starter Pokémon in Australia. Though they have been introduced into predominately white (read: settler) communities of Aotearoa (New Zealand) and other parts of Tasmania, conservationists require these Rockruffs and Lycanrocs to be spayed/neutered. Unfortunately, this does not stop bad trainers from releasing their Rockruffs/Lycanrocs into the wild, where they do untold amounts of ecological damage on the local ecosystem. Conservationists and local rangers have to work hard to keep feral Rockruffs and Lycanrocs out of the wild and relocate them to more suitable habitats.

Like the dingos of our world, Rockruffs and Lycanrocs are culturally significant to many of the indigenous cultures of Australia.

Classification: The genus Lykanthropos is a believed to share a common ancestor with other dog Pokémon, but it’s uncertain where this connection falls on the family tree. The evolutionary relationship between the different dog clades continues to elude scientists.

Lycanroc (#745)

Lykanthropos lykanthropos dieslapis (Lycanroc- Midday form)

Lykanthropos lykanthropos vesperalapis (Lycanroc- Dusk form)

Lykanthropos lykanthropos noxlapis (Lycanroc- Night form)

Abilities:

Keen Eye, Sand Rush, Steadfast (Midday)

Tough Claws (Dusk)

Keen Eye, Vital Spirit, No Guard (Night)

General Information: Lycanrocs are a pure rock type species with three separate forms depending on the time of day (or, more specifically the amount of sunlight it receives) when it evolves. These three forms, its Midday, Dusk, and Night forms, all weigh the same average of 55.1 pounds, but while the Midday and Dusk forms average at 2’7 feet tall, the Night forms stands on its hind legs like a werewolf and reaches 3’7 feet in height. Importantly, only Rockruffs with Own Tempo as its ability can evolve into Dusk form Lycanroc.

Habitat: Lycanrocs are found in the same environments as Rockruffs, which is all of Australia natively.

Life Cycles: Lycanrocs have the same life cycles as Rockruffs.

Behavior: Once they evolve from a Rockruff, Lycanrocs become independent hunters… well, depending on the form. See, Night form Lycanrocs are nocturnal predators that hunt alone, Midday Lycanrocs also hunt alone and do not form packs as a measure of avoiding conflict, but Dusk form Lycanrocs will form packs with each other. Now, Dusk form Lycanrocs are the rarest of the three forms, but they’re able to find each other during the twilight hours and cooperate. Because of their cooperation, they’re able to take down prey that is significantly larger than themselves, such as Kanghaskhan. This puts them in a different ecological niche from their Midday and Night counterparts, who also have separate niches by being diurnal and nocturnal respectively.

Midday Lycanrocs are even tempered and prefer to avoid conflicts. Nighttime Lycanrocs are voracious and hard-headed who like to tackle their problems head-on, who only respect those they like. Dusk Lycanrocs are largely even tempered, but in combat or in a hunt they become quite vicious, and this dynamic shift in personality often makes them the more temperamental for trainers to work with. However, Dusk Lycanrocs can pack bond, and this is hugely important for household and trainer dynamics. In general, the only time Midday and Nighttime Lycanrocs pair up is for mating and raising Rockruffs… which can last an entire year. It’s not uncommon for some to skip mating cycles so that they have a year alone to themselves before raising another litter, especially in situations where resources are plentiful and pup survival is high.

Diet: Meat. Lycanrocs will hunt moderately sized prey like Diggersby to megafauna like Kangkaskhan. Overall, while Rockruffs eat small to medium sized prey (if they work together) Lycanrocs eat medium to mega-sized prey (if they work together).

Conservation: Threatened (in the wild), Least Concern (Captivity)

Relationship with Humans: Lycanrocs have had a long-shared history with humanity for tens of thousands of years, and it’s believed that werewolf legends derived from ancestral Lycanroc populations when they still thrived on the mainland of Eurasia. Scientists are unsure what caused Eurasian Lycanrocs to die off entirely, but many believe it may have been a combination of factors including humans, climate change, and being outcompeted by other Pokémon. These infringements simply do not exist to the same extent in Australia, where they have been living peacefully for thousands of years now alongside humanity.

Classification: Lycanroc’s three forms each have a subspecies modifier, but the base species Lykanthropos lykanthropos is what defines the genus. Dusk form Lycanrocs are ultimately more likely to mate with other Dusk form Lycanrocs, and this seems to be a case of internal speciation at work via different social patterns, though the effects are quite early in the process and interbreeding remains frequent.

#rockruff #lycanroc #midday lycanroc #dusk lycanroc #night lycanroc #evening lycanroc #nighttime lycanroc #pokemon #pokemon biology #pokemon biology irl #pokemon biology irl tabletop #pokemon biology tabletop #pokemon tabletop #tabletop #ttrpg #pokemon sun and moon #pokemon ultra soon and ultra moon #gen 7 #pokemon gen 7 #gen 7 pokemon #Pokemon Scarlet and Violet #gen 9 pokemon #pokemon gen 9 #New Pokemon Snap

[mirandamckenni1]

Libs of TikTok Is Doxxing the BDSM Community TW: mention of b_mb threats, violence in schools, bullying (incl. incidents that lead to loss of life), homophobia, transphobia and doxxing. ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ ▼▼▼ SUPPORT AND SUBSCRIBE ▼▼▼ Subscribe to my channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/EvieLupine My Patreon: https://ift.tt/qywE8Vh & For 1:1 Chats, Advice & Video Calls: https://ift.tt/l4PBuMr Twitter: @EvieLupine Watch me LIVE on Twitch! https://ift.tt/qcAQ2s0 Looking to meet kinky people? Try Feeld*: feeld.pxf.io/9gLNnQ Want Even MORE BDSM Education? Check Out Dom Sub Living*: https://ift.tt/JsotgYT https://ift.tt/vAl3khn FREE resource Library: https://ift.tt/mXoYRi2 My BDSM Merch Store: https://ift.tt/dAKq2px Business Inquiries ONLY: [email protected] [DO NOT SEND YOUR PERSONAL QUESTIONS HERE] ▼▼▼ RELATED VIDEOS ▼▼▼ Is LibsofTikTok a Terrorist?: https://youtu.be/IX47pSwAgZo?si=ZgaAA-AQ-JhBdh-P The Feminist to Far Right Pipeline: https://youtu.be/-CxiPdXuwgc?si=Fdmgnca3hCa9yZj4 Is LibsofTiktok a Stochastic Terrorist?: https://youtu.be/vkdM4tBGQjo?si=SW-4Ad2HiG2fvryA Kink at Pride: https://youtu.be/a80YckoqmnQ Full Interview with Chaya: https://youtu.be/XL-40gDBRx0?si=W_DI2t2ebNHfWN2N ▼▼▼ VIDEO INFORMATION ▼▼▼ FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. All of my videos are intended to provide safety information for adults that choose to engage in these activities as well as combat stereotypes and misinformation. In addition these videos may contain educational commentary on queer issues, pop culture, and news items. No portion of my content is meant to be used for gratification, nor is it intentionally salacious. PLEASE DO NOT HARASS, BULLY, MAKE MEAN COMMENTS OR THREATS TOWARDS ANYONE IN THIS STORY. These are simply allegations and my personal opinions, not to be interpreted as fact. Sources are provided on screen. 00:00 - introduction 01:00 - who is Chaya Raichik? 08:25 - why is she attacking kink? 11:05 - what happened. 20:35 - the truth. 26:05 - the aftermath. 31:00 - final thoughts. ▼▼▼ EVERYTHING ELSE ▼▼▼ Art by: @animositi on Instagram Credits/Attribution (Music): Artist: Audionautix Website: http://audionautix.com/ Track: Transportation Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://ift.tt/uPLnhaH) All content used falls within fair use guidelines for education and commentary purposes. * = affiliate link ▼▼▼ P.O BOX ▼▼▼ Evie Lupine 4233 SE 182nd Ave # 357 Gresham, OR 97030 via YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGPCOqsJcJ8

#IFTTT #YouTube #Youtube

[nikolasfuturist]

Each week Nikolas Badminton, Futurist Speaker, summarizes the top-5 future looking developments and news items that I find to be inspiring, interesting, concerning, or downright strange. Each day he reads through dozens of blogs and news websites to find those things that we should be aware of.

In Exponential Minds’ Future Trends – McRobots Destroy Cashiers we look at McDonald’s shares hitting an all-time high, MEGAPROJECTS, lessons from Amazon’s Whole Foods acquisition, DNA captured splitting for the first time on video, and the future of fashion.

McDonald’s hits all-time high as Wall Street cheers replacement of cashiers with kiosks

McDonald’s shares hit an all-time high on Tuesday as Wall Street expects sales to increase from new digital ordering kiosks that will replace cashiers in 2,500 restaurants. Cowen raised its rating on McDonald’s shares to outperform from market perform because of the technology upgrades, which are slated for the fast-food chain’s restaurants this year. McDonald’s shares rallied 26 percent this year through Monday compared to the S&P 500’s 10 percent return. See more at CNBC

The World’s Future MEGAPROJECTS (2017-2040’s)

A documentary on eight of the most ambitious mega-projects currently under development around the world, featuring: Istanbul’s building boom (Turkey); the Mission to put a human on Mars; the effort to develop Lagos (Nigeria); Africa’s unprecedented clean energy opportunity; the project to probe the nearest Earth-like exoplanet; Atlanta’s stadium of the future (Georgia, United States); India’s effort to modernize its highways; and China’s unprecedented One Belt One Road, “New Silk Road” initiative.

The big lesson from Amazon and Whole Foods: Disruptive competition comes out of nowhere

I doubt that Google and Microsoft ever worried about the prospect that a book retailer, Amazon, would come to lead one of their highest-growth markets: cloud services. And I doubt that Apple ever feared that Amazon’s Alexa would eat Apple’s Siri for lunch.

For that matter, the taxi industry couldn’t have imagined that a Silicon Valley startup would be its greatest threat, and AT&T and Verizon surely didn’t imagine that a social media company, Facebook could become a dominant player in mobile telecommunications.

But this is the new nature of disruption: disruptive competition comes out of nowhere. The incumbents aren’t ready for this and as a result, the vast majority of today’s leading companies will likely become what I call toast—in a decade or less.

Note the march of Amazon. First it was bookstores, publishing and distribution; then cleaning supplies, electronics and assorted home goods. Now Amazon is set to dominate all forms of retail as well as cloud services, electronic gadgetry and small-business lending. And its proposed acquisition of Whole Foods sees Amazon literally breaking the barriers between the digital and physical realms.

Read more at Vivek Wadhwa’s Blog

Scientists Capture DNA Replication On Video for the First Time

Scientists have captured video footage of DNA replicating for the first time. The video reveals that the process is more chaotic than once believed and prompts new questions about how the cell prevents mutations.

This video shows replication of individual pieces of double stranded DNA. This is the first time individual steps in DNA replication — arguably, the fundamental process of life on Earth — have been observed directly.

Each glowing strand is a piece of double helix growing by replication at the left-hand end. They move at different speeds and stop and start. Dark gaps in the line are single-stranded DNA where one polymerase failed to attach (the fluorescent dye only binds double-stranded DNA).

Some surprises come out of being able to observe replication directly. For example, the two polymerases involved in replication (one for each strand) aren’t coordinated. They stop and start at random, but overall they move at the same average speed, so everything works out. This stochastic model is quite different from a smooth-running, coordinated machine usually imagined.

The future of fashion

The fashion industry’s impact on technology has not yet surpassed its high point of 1804 with the invention of the mechanical loom. As the world’s first programmed machine, the Jacquard loom revolutionised manufacturing, predating and inspiring Babbage’s inventions, and forming the basis for modern computing.

In the intervening centuries, the fashion industry, now valued at $2.4 trillion, has not relied on research and development to stay competitive and today’s manufacturing would be familiar to any 19th-century Luddite.

“We make a shirt the same way we did 100 years ago and it’s insulting,” according to Kevin Plank, founder of sportswear brand Under Armour. But this is set to change. Mr Plank, among others, is asking: “How can we use technologies to make a better product and produce it more efficiently?”

Read more at Raconteur

              The post Future Trends – McRobots Destroy Cashiers appeared first on Nikolas Badminton, Futurist Speaker.

#IFTTT #WordPress

[edenfenixblogs]

I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to adequately explain to goyim how insane it feels to be Jewish right now.

Like, our entire world is just shattering and everyone else is just…living their lives. I feel like I’m inside a tornado being spun around constantly. But it’s so high above everyone’s heads that they can’t even register that I’m there.

#jumblr #antisemitism #life under stochastic threat

[edenfenixblogs]

I have told the one (1) real friend I have out here that I plan to move home because the antisemitic isolation has gotten so bad.

If I were a pettier person, I wouldn’t tell anyone else until I’m already closed on a house back home. And when they’re like “why are you moving?” I’d say “antisemitic isolation from most social groups.” And when they ask “Why didn’t you say anything?” I’d say, “Because you’re the ones who did the isolation.”

I won’t. Cuz that won’t actually solve anything. It’ll just make people who don’t think they’re antisemitic go “oh? Eden? Yeah that was super weird how she called us all antisemites and then left. She must’ve been a Zionist or something cuz I didn’t even say anything about Palestine to her.”

Like…I know. You didn’t say anything to me. You didn’t ask how I was doing. You certainly didn’t acknowledge Jewish pain in any way, beyond liking one (1) post a few months ago. Most of you muted me on here. Most of you don’t respond to unrelated information or posts in group chats about genuinely nonpolitical topics. None of you are ever “free” to hang out. You don’t support me when I’m sad. Fine, maybe that’s not what you do. That’s ok. My emotions aren’t your responsibility. You don’t offer distraction. You don’t offer an ear. You leave me on read when I see you online.

I see the statistics that seem to say “most people think their friends hate them but they actually really like you!”

But I don’t think this applies to Jews. Especially leftist Jews tbh. But I do wonder if the antisemites who hate their Jewish friends even KNOW that they hate their Jewish friends.

Like, I wonder what they’d say if they were asked “Do you dislike Eden?” Because I think they’d say no. I think they’d say that, maybe, I’m a little much right now. I’m a little too intense. Maybe they’d say they like me a lot but just want this all to die down before we hang out. Or maybe they’d say that they did used to like me but I’ve recently made them uncomfortable.

But that’s not friendship. When someone you care about enough to call a friend is literally an emotional wreck for months, regardless of the reason, and you have not at any point attempted to be there for them in any meaningful way (and I mean, at all. Hanging out once. Calling once. Asking how I’m doing once. Saying “antisemitism is bad” even once. Taking me up on my offer to discuss anything about current events if they have questions. Politely declining my offer to discuss current events because you find it all too stressful. Letting me know that you care about me as a person but the current crisis is too much for you to think about right now, so you’d rather not bring it up. Literally ANY of these actions and a million others that would take you hardly any effort at all.) then you clearly don’t think of me as a friend, actually. You do hate me, actually.

Because what kind of person does that to a friend. What kind of person abandons us like this? It’s like they might as well just say “we like you so much, but like…not when you talk about or experience life as a Jewish person.”

They might as well just say “she’s fine enough to be around. Too bad she’s a Jew.”

Or, maybe, being isolated from people for 5 months is really distorting my perspective and none of this is true or valid.

But I can’t help but feel…being isolated for 5 months is very much reinforcing my points.

I’m officially done trying to make plans with any “friends,” except the one person who ever replies to me.

I basically said “if anyone ever wants to hang out, let me know” and that’s the last I’ll say to basically any of them about making plans.

What’s the point? I don’t want to beg people to spend time with me.

That said, when I called one of my best friends back home to tell her I was moving back, I told her the isolation was really getting to me. I told her that I was feeling like maybe nobody ever really liked me all that much and that I’m hard to be around and that being Jewish at this time and experiencing pain publicly was just the final straw to them excluding me. Maybe I’m just fundamentally unlikable.

But she told me that was dumb and I’m dumb for saying it. And she’s seen me at my best and my worst.

Idk. This post is long and personal and weird but I’m trying to be vulnerable and document how I’m feeling during this time. I think maybe I’m prone to look back on this when this current I/P flare is over and think to myself, “maybe I was just making a big deal out of nothing.” I want to have a record of how I’m feeling. Because at this moment when I’m living through it, it feels cataclysmic.

Like..I’m not even concerned about any of my “friends” finding this cuz I’m pretty sure they’ve all muted me anyway.

#antisemitism #leftist antisemitism #digital ghettoization #social isolation #life under stochastic threat #personal

[edenfenixblogs]

Sorry you have to deal with so much antisemitism. I hope that you find support with your family and friends. I am sorry that this support is necessary, because no one deserves antisemitism. I hope you will remain safe, healthy, and happy despite this hatred. I support you.

I’m not exaggerating at all when I tell you that being able to connect with you and people like you who are actively unlearning antisemitism are maintaining my faith in humanity. As long as there are more people like you in the world and there are people who turn a blind eye, we will survive—together. Bless you. Thank you.

#goyim (affectionate) #Jewish goyim solidarity #antisemitism #leftist antisemitism #life under stochastic threat #ask me stuff #jellymarbles

[edenfenixblogs]

Praying that spring brings renewal and new life and an and a renewed commitment to protecting the lives of others. Trying to find beauty in small things and strength within myself. As someone who is so intensely focused on maintaining friendships (something about me that will never change), I’m leaping into spring by knowing that the true friends I have will remain. And that I must learn to stop letting the “friends” who have let me down keep disappointing me.

I want to keep giving them chances to show that they aren’t who they’ve proven themselves to be. But I can’t keep hurting myself like that.

So here’s to new beginnings.

Here’s my bullet journal spread for the month. I have to keep letting myself be vulnerable, but I can’t stop seeking new positives either.

#the Jews are tired #bullet journal #life under stochastic threat #bujo #March Bujo

[edenfenixblogs]

Help

Help

Help

Help

Help

Help

#the jews are tired #anti zionisim #antisemitism #Zionism #leftist antisemitism #targeted harassment #i/p conflict #i/p #jewish muslim solidarity #life under stochastic threat

[edenfenixblogs]

Why do I post so much about antisemitism?

I post about it exactly as often as I experience it

People think antisemitism isn’t real

People think antisemitism isn’t that bad

People think antisemitism is justifiable as long as it is directed toward “bad” Jews. Like any other form of bigotry, it is always bad. Candace Owens has terrible anti-Black, extremely racist opinions. It’s still not OK to hurl racist insults at her. Isis and Hamas are terrorist organizatjons committing terrible crimes against humanity while invoking Islam . It’s still not ok to insult Islam while talking about them or to be racist and Islamophobic toward Muslims or Arabs. Netanyahu is an actual monster whose actions are destroying lives in Palestine, Israel, and worldwide. Jewish West Bank settlers are being extremely hostile, racist, and terrible. It’s still not ok to use antisemitic conspiracies, tropes, or insults against them. Ever. And it’s certainly not ok to use them against ordinary civilians who happen to share a race or religion with the worst people who share those identities.

I want to show all the ways antisemitism hurts.

I want to show how the damage from antisemitism lingers long after the first moment its experienced

I want people to understand that even if I don’t support Netanyahu or the Likud government or the broad actions of the IDF or the indiscriminate bombing of Palestine or the subjugation of Palestinians (and to be very clear—I do not support these things) I’m still allowed to be upset about the global hatred toward Israel right now based solely on the fact that I am Jewish. To say that makes me a supporter of colonialism or genocide is antisemitic. Why? Because half of the Jews in the entire world live in Israel. If half the Muslims in the entire world lived in America or half the Christians in the entire world lived in Japan, then everyone started calling all Christians or Muslims in that country evil/colonizers/oppressors and saying that they should lose protection and citizenship from those places, then it would make sense for all Muslims or Christians around the world to be very upset by that. Not because the Muslims or Christians in those nations are always perfect. But because, hey, seeing that people are perfectly ok condemning half everyone with whom you share a religion will cause you to be sad. And empathetic. And because obviously condemning that many people for anything as if they are all equally responsible is fundamentally wrong. Especially if your only basis for that condemnation is someone’s religion and where they live.

My trauma response is to fawn. To be aggressively kind and complimentary to show I’m not a threat. That I don’t deserve to be hated. That I promise I’m not worth your aggression. This is unhealthy for me personally. This is a bad way to live. This is a disservice to my fellow Jews who don’t deserve to experience antisemitism, regardless of any of their other actions. Instead, I am laying my pain bare for you all to see. I am using my pain to educate you. I am using my desire to help you to keep me patient while I try to educate you while experiencing an endless barrage of hatred all day every day. That hatred is not all violent or aggressive. Very often that hatred is neglect, erasure, and the revocation of societal privileges until I behave in an acceptable manner. But sometimes it is aggressive and violent as well.

People say that I am making a genocide “all about me,” but I’m not. You are. Why do your actions in preventing and fighting an ethnic cleansing on the other side of the world involve causing me emotional pain, social isolation, and ethnoreligous erasure? The problem isn’t that I’m speaking up. It’s that you’re too busy speaking over me to listen to what I’m saying and to stop being harmful.

Because I have the emotional capacity to be patient and to engage when many of my Jewish peers do not. I have the position of relative safety where I can post about these things without facing actual physical harm. Many of my Jewish peers do not. While I would never speak on behalf of other Jews’ opinions, I will certainly speak FOR my fellow Jews. For the dignity, respect, safety, love, and community they all deserve.

Because when this conflict is over or even just calmed down enough to not be at the top of the zeitgeist anymore, I don’t want any of you to have the excuse of saying you didn’t know what you were doing or the harm you were causing. You know. I’m telling you. Repeatedly.

Because despite everything I’ve just written, I know most of you won’t even listen until I confirm that I do support Palestinian self determination, citizenship, equality, and indigeneity. Which I do. I support all those things. I shouldn’t have to in order to avoid antisemitism though.

Because most people in my life have pulled away in this time and if I don’t share my pain here I’ll explode.

Because I have nobody else non-Jewish to share this with. You’ve isolated me. I’m alone. You did this. I could have been marching with you. But you hate me too much to let me fight for a cause we both believe in alongside you. And you aren’t even aware you hate me at all, because it’s so ingrained in you.

#antisemitism #leftist antisemitism #I/p #life under stochastic threat #there’s no excuse for antisemitism #ever #Zionism #anti zionisim #Israel #Palestine #Jewish Palestinian solidarity #jewish muslim solidarity #Jewish goyim solidarity

[edenfenixblogs]

If you consider yourself an activist but consider it inconvenient when your Jewish friends experience prolonged pain do to antisemitism and don’t shut up about it for your comfort? You’re not an activist. And you’re not a friend.

#antisemitism #life under stochastic threat #now I know who woulda turned me over to Nazis #and I gotta be real #it’s not who I expected

[edenfenixblogs]

Just some stuff I saw yesterday. Maybe if I post it all at once, people will get a sense of how overwhelming it all is.

#antisemitism #life under stochastic threat #jewish muslim solidarity #I/p #supporting Jews doesn’t mean hating Palestine #see Jews as human challenge

[edenfenixblogs]

Just a random Jewish person, who's been looking at your blogs, you're absolutely amazing. I'm so so sorry for the hate you've been getting from Anti-Semites.

Happy Chanukah btw! <3

Thank you so much. It’s been so scary. I’m sending you strength as well. I’m grateful for you and our community and this message.

Happy Chanukah!!!

#life under stochastic threat

[edenfenixblogs]

Truly it seems that some people want to push Jews to the absolute edge until we break and finally scream just so they can point at us and say “look. I told you all Jews are secretly angry and hate us and want violence!”

#leftist antisemitism #life under stochastic threat

[edenfenixblogs]

Another hot take: EVEN IF you are actually not an antisemite and ARE just anti-Israeli government, stating that still causes more collective harm than good.

#anti zionisim #Zionism #antisemitism #life under stochastic threat