Im still here I guess

Scientists in China have developed a more efficient form of solar desalination that uses 47.4% less energy than alternatives. After the first year of testing, the scientists believe that at scale it would be able to desalinate water more cheaply than producing bottled water.

Second off we all know by this point that wikipedia on the whole has some biases in particular when it comes to Jews (and if you didnt know...now you do!), and it was refreshing to see that looking through the edit history, it seems good effort to protect from and revert politically oriented vandalism. Kudos to the people monitoring that page! That being said...im in the mood to be a petty bitch so point and laugh at this very silly vandalism

Pedestrian traffic lights

Starting off with the difference between formerly Eastern German traffic lights (upper images) and formerly Western German traffic lights (lower images):

The city of Erfurt had some additions, like an umbrella or a heart:

Same sex love in Marburg (upper image) and Frankfurt (lower image):

Traffic light lady in Bremen:

Karl Marx light in Trier:

Face of Friedrich Engels in Wuppertal:

Elvis in Friedberg (Hessen):

A sparrow (for the Golden Sparrow film awards) in Gera:

Winemaker in Bad Dürkenheim:

Mainzelmännchen (mascot of the public broadcasting service ZDF) in Mainz:

Otto Waalkes (German Comedian) in Emden:

Town musicians of Bremen in Bremen:

A miner in Pirmasens, Rheinland-Pfalz:

Bishop in Fulda:

Source: Saarbrücker Zeitung

NAIROBI, KENYA

I couldn't figure out why I couldn't find a still image of the green light. Wanna know why? (It's adorable.) THE GREEN LIGHT ACTUALLY WALKS. It has a full walk cycle. I found a video of it on YouTube.

LAGOS, NIGERIA

Doesn't seem to have them. Instead they have raised pedestrian bridges to go over traffic.

LUBUMBASHI, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO

Lubumbashi has us all beat, everybody. We can go home. First of all, it's another animated signal. Second of all, it's a giant robot:

STOP:

WAIT:

And then the whole top turns at the waist and you can GO:

Since it was placed earlier this week, community members have expressed anger about the Lake Theater and Cafe’s marquee advertising screenings of Christopher Nolan’s new film “The Odyssey.”

The south-facing marquee reads “Before there were the Jews, there was… The Odyssey.”

The reference has concerned many in the local Jewish community, specifically because of the current political environment in which the Jewish community faces heightened criticism — and bigotry — following escalating violence in occupied Gaza, and many feel that the marquee is antisemetic and ahistorical.

Bob Horenstein, The Jewish Federation of Greater Portland chief community relations and public affairs officer, said the federation has received dozens of messages from concerned community members. The Review also received many emails expressing concerns and many people have posted on social media about it.

“There’s drawing attention, and then there’s being offensive … What I wrote to (Lake Theater) yesterday was, we’d received over three dozen (email and calls) at least that members of our community feel very unsettled by the sign and I said we do not know the reason behind the choice of language, nor are we suggesting that there is necessarily any ill intent,” he said. “But to understand that, given the current climate of rising anti-Semitism, any reference to ‘the Jews’ is immediately suspected, rightly or wrongly, of having nefarious intentions, and that we would respectfully urge you to remove the current language and simply promote the movie.”

Jordan Perry, the general manager of the Lake Theater, said the marquee text would be taken down.

In a text message, he said the point of the remark was to push back on what is constituted as antisemitism and said he was surprised by the negative reaction it has received.

“My intention is never to influence opinion or fan flames, but to say: it’s okay to raise eyebrows, though I hope my messages reflect a depth of understanding others find in themselves but not always in the world around them,” said Perry by text message. “Through the media I consume, I believe modern-day antisemitism is exaggerated, mostly as a defense for Israel’s actions in the Middle East and its involvement in our politics, and my intention in referencing Jewish people on the marquee was to prod at everything being seemingly antisemitic with a statement that couldn’t possibly be construed as antisemitic.”

He added: “My intention was not to offend anyone, but rather to push back culturally back on what constitutes antisemitism, to signal, in solidarity, that it’s not about ‘the Jews,’ that it’s about Israel, and Palestine, and Lebanon, and Iran, and AIPAC. This is my ‘humor,’ this was the point, intentionally subtle, of what I put on the marquee.”

Perry added that the marquees reflect his personal views, not those of the business, and are “meant to connect with open-minded members of the community on a personal level, not as a business, and anyone coming to the business should only expect good food and drink, a relaxing environment, friendly staff, with a sort-of cynical guy sometimes behind the register who also runs food and cleans toilets.”

Rabbi Eve Posen, of Congregation Nevah Shalom, connected the marquee with accusations by members of the U.S. Congress that Israel is committing genocide in Palestine and said that a member of the community’s car was recently vandalized with swastikas.

“None of the individual moments, taken on their own, would necessarily warrant a public reflection. We live in a world where people disagree. We debate policy. We challenge history. We confront acts of hatred. But when these moments come one after another, layering upon one another in the span of a single day, they tell a story that is impossible to ignore,” Posen wrote via social media.

She also felt that there was no good reason for the Lake Theater to bring up the Jewish community while advertising the new film.

“The statement is historically false. More importantly, it raises a painful question: why invoke Jews at all? A clever movie promotion could have celebrated one of the oldest stories ever told without unnecessarily positioning Judaism as an afterthought or a comparison. In a moment when antisemitism is already at historic levels, casually inserting Jews into a narrative where we do not belong doesn’t feel harmless. It feels like another reminder that our story is somehow expendable, that our history can be rewritten or diminished for the sake of a punchline,” she wrote.

The north-facing marquee also referenced the new movie with the message, “Do you watch TV w/ subtitles? We’ve got The Odyssey w/ subtitles! (Not always, but sometimes).”

Many people commented that the story of The Odyssey – Homer’s original Greek epic passed down through an oral tradition – isn’t definitively older than evidence of Israelite tribes in ancient Canaan.

Body Horror: Things that cannot happen in real life. EX: The Thing, stomach mouths, eyes on hands, etc

Gore: Fresh injuries, often severe. EX: Severed leg, gutspill, deep gashes, etc

NEITHER: Healed injuries and burns, congenital differences, missing appendages, etc. If I could theoretically go to the store and see that character browsing the isles- It isn't body horror or gore. That's just a person. *AND the amount of people that tag, not just fictional characters, but real human beings as body horror is staggering. Its not solely a fandom issue, ableism and bigotry against anyone that looks sufficiently "different" is prevalent in real life and has devastating consequences.

I see this comment fairly often. And probably somewhere around 99 times out of 100, the person saying it is a Culturally Christian Atheist who is trying to say that they view the Christian concepts of “belief in a higher power” and “faith in and submission to a specific deity” as abhorrent…

But what is actually communicated to non-Christians includes:

“I think that all other religions are just reskinned versions of Christianity with a different name plate on the Christ Figure.”

And:

“I hate your culture for no other reasons than displaced trauma and lack of education on my part.”

And I’ve recently been seeing this comment repeatedly on my “Missionaries Are Inherently Xenophobic” post, and basically just auto-blocking the people making the statement.

Because it’s so ignorant. It ties into the Christian worldview that “Culture” and “Religion” are two distinct things that are almost modular, in that you can swap out the “Religion” module with any other and have no effects on the Culture. (9 times out of 10, these types also insist that Culturally Christian holidays are also secular…)

So, sure. Let’s take this statement and run with it, just to demonstrate what it actually says to those of us who aren’t Christian.

~~~

I hate all religions equally.

So, yes, I do hate Judaism just as much as I hate Christianity. Nevermind that means I’m in ideological agreement with Nazis, I hate this ethnoreligion which has never done me personal harm, and has been persecuted for thousands of years. To me, Judaism is Just A Religion, and I don’t understand, and don’t WANT to understand that it is also a persecuted minority whose culture gets routinely outlawed by people like me. Since I don’t understand that, seeing a visibly Jewish person on the street with their modest garb and hearing their foreign language, I am revolted. I hate Judaism, and I hate JEWS, just as much as I hate every other religion, equally.

So, yes, I hate Sikhism just as much as I hate Christianity. Nevermind that I’ve almost certainly never met a Sikh, and I don’t know that they don’t seek converts, so they’re also an ethnic group, the mere fact that they have a Religion that comes with that ethnic group means that I hate them. Their religious beliefs with which they’re raised as part of their culture–honesty, equality, fidelity, standing up to oppression–are Evil because it’s a religion, and need to be wiped out. Seeing a Sikh man, with his Religious turban and beard, as they give out free food to everyone in need at a Langar… well, it fills me with disgust and rage, and I wish to rid the world of this Religious Practice, observed by people who are different than me. I hate Sikhism and I hate Sikhs, just as much as I hate every other religion, equally.

So, yes, I hate Shintoism just as much as I hate Christianity. Nevermind that my understanding of Shintoism is almost certainly bastardized by my Western conceptions, their beliefs in venerating nature and respecting their ancestors are Religious and therefore Evil, and need to be wiped out. Seeing a Shintoist leave an offering to the Kami, engaging in ritual cleanliness, and marking major life events with solemnity fills me with disgust and rage. I hate Shintoism and I hate Shintoists, just as much as I hate every other religion, equally.

So, yes, I hate the Druze faith just as much as I hate Christianity. Nevermind that they are a small ethnic group who are prohibited from proselytism from their founding; I don’t care. To me, they’re Just Another Abrahamic Religion and I Hate Abrahamic Religions, even if there are so few of them. They have a Religion, and I Hate All Religions Equally.

So, yes, I hate the many and myriad beliefs of the First Nations, just as much as I hate Christianity. Nevermind that they were persecuted and marginalized by Christianity, which tried to wipe out their beliefs, way of life, and identities, I hate their Religions, even if those religions are tied to their ways of life. Nevermind that the residential schools, which had the stated goal of “Kill the Indian in the Child,” have mass graves of children. I refuse to recognize that this puts me in ideological agreement with Christian missionaries. After all, I Hate All Religions Equally, and if mass graves of children is the price to pay for a world with one fewer Religion in it, then so be it.

I considered [doing a segment on Islam], but Islamophobia from New Atheism/Christian anti-theist-types is a feature, not a bug, starting with how they view Christian culture as normative, which includes “traditional” Islamophobia (Richard Dawkins being perhaps the premier example). As such, they’re used to defending against (accurate) accusations of Islamophobia (some of them will even cheerfully own up to it), and I thought that I would take a different approach and pick smaller, non-proselytizing religions to make the point.