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stars for the foot of morning

May 16 '23

30to50feralcatgirls:

changelingsandothernonsense:

teal-deer:

changelingsandothernonsense:

New Ea-nāṣir lore just dropped and I don’t know how to feel about that. I hate the meme but the guy having thugs coming after him for bad copper sales is perfect.

Wait wait WAIT

As someone who hard agrees with all your tags re: tired of the meem

BUT who is also invested in antiquities

Is it possible for you to drop the new lore

So the building in Ur where the infamous tablet was found (1 “Old Street” Ur Excavations VII) was actually full of similar tablets, all detailing how badly this guy’s deals went. All of these tablets were collected and put into storage at the British Museum. Typically this kind of thing gets forgotten about, many of these tablets have been sitting there for a century, untranslated or partially translated.

The Nu Tabletum

This was recently partially translated and it’s incredibly fragmentary, but it’s a letter from the man himself reassuring a customer in Larsa about a bad shipment (a lot of goods were missing). He is upset that the customer sent thugs to collect (which is located in a different tablet). In turn, he sends his own to the customer’s home. They are to make offerings at the temple of Šamaš together to symbolically “smooth things over”. They are taking an oath.

He later goes on to blame the customer for the missing ingots. He (Ea-nāṣir) decided to employ a third party to deliver said ingots to the customer (all the way in the next city-state in the Sumerian cultural sphere). It seems like the third party either stole or got into a fight with the customer over the goods.

Ea-nāṣir now has to haul his ass to Larsa to deal with this personally. There’s a lot of “Why don’t you believe me?” “They don’t listen to me!” “Please don’t send-” going on in the tablet. But from what I can gather it looks like this peace offering (making an oath at the temple of Šamaš) broke down too. Everyone is blaming each other for the missing copper ingots and now the man himself has to take the three-day journey to sort out this issue.

We have a name for one of the thugs: Mr. Shorty (kurûm). He seems to be a bit scary.

The man from Dilmun got kicked out of the Merchant’s Guild for a reason, he’s had this problem before with copper shipments from Elam. Either he’s the world’s worst judge of character or he’s embezzling, and badly. This is his side hustle stage where he’s selling everything from used clothing to speculating (badly) on real estate. He may have dabbled in money lending too. He’s your classic failed finance bro.

my god if it turns out nasir was being slandered and is actually an upstanding guy it’ll be the biggest twist in recorded history

May 16 '23
May 16 '23

cryptotheism:

cryptotheism:

cryptotheism:

cryptotheism:

Your reaction to chatGPT instantly lets me know how easy it would be to trick you into thinking that you are haunted

“omg it’s literally alive!” Two beers, 45 minutes, deck of tarot cards, and I’m charging you 350$ for an exorcism.

“I read an article that it’s showing simple self-awareness” two days, mild preparation, hot and cold reading, I can get 60$ for joints laced with sacred sage

“I just spoke to an AI and I’m… rattled to say the least, come with me on this dark journey” twenty minutes. I’ve got to science it up for you, but I can get you to come back every week to “disentangle the psychological imprint” for 125$

May 16 '23
May 16 '23

end-otw-racism:

Timeline of OTW Hiring of a Diversity Consultant

We have been seeing some claims that OTW has already hired a Diversity Consultant. We wish that were true! At this point all that’s been done is appoint a volunteer to research diversity consultants 

Here is a timeline, as best we can construct, of this issue. 

June 2020

OTW first talked about hiring an external contractor in their June 2020 statement on racism, and said they would start researching options “in the coming months”

From this, we hope to build a long-term strategy that will include specific internal goals and structural improvements, which can be further divided into clear, actionable steps that we can incorporate into our upcoming Strategic Plan. As part of this, we will be considering various avenues including, but not limited to, reaching out to an external contractor or partnering with an advocacy group, and will be actively researching credible resources in the coming months.  We recognize that this careful approach will take time as we need to make sure any steps are taken responsibly and with a clear scope and objective, while also keeping up with the other duties and obligations of OTW governance. However, we believe that it is an important step to take in creating a stronger OTW for all.ALT


July 2021

In July 2021, a year later, they announced that they had created two new “officer” roles, including one to start researching diversity consultants. (OTW uses the terms “officers” & “staff”, but those are currently unpaid volunteer roles)

III. ELSEWHERE AT THE OTW  The Board of Directors hosted a public meeting on July 11. The main discussion involved the creation of two new officer roles: to aid us in introducing paid staff, and to research options for diversity consultants. Thank you to everyone who came to the meeting and gave their input! As always, if you have any feedback or questions about their work, you can email the Board.ALT


April 2022

 In April 2022, almost a year after THAT, they appointed one of two Diversity Consultant Research Officers & said they would be starting work. (I guess technically that’s still “coming months” from 2020? lol)

The Board of Directors is pleased to announce that it has appointed a Diversity Consultant Research Officer to help the OTW formulate its next steps towards hiring a diversity consultant or firm. The role remains open for internal recruitment as the Board would ideally like it to be held by two people for the sake of redundancy and sharing out the workload. The Board also held its quarterly public meeting at the beginning of the month — thanks to everyone who came and asked questions!ALT


January 2023

In January 2023, when asked about the timeline for working with a diversity consultant, OTW said they hoped to “conclude the project” in 5 years. Also they had not yet appointed a second officer. 

I asked my usual question of how the diversity consultant research officer's work is going and if they've encountered any difficulties in looking to hire a paid consultant, and Nat said: The research is still on its early stages. Our officer has shared their ideas with us and we are debating together what our roadmap, so to speak, should look like. They haven't encountered any difficulties so far, but we aren't yet at the stage of contacting potential hires. They also haven't appointed a second research officer yet, though still hope to do so.ALT
Satsuma then asked, "Any general ideas about what the timeline for said roadmap will look like? Would appreciate even very broad figures here — unclear if we're talking one year, five, or ten."  To which Nat replied: Because the research relies on volunteer work, it can be difficult for us to provide a realistic timeline for large projects in the OTW. Speaking very broadly, our goal is definitely to conclude this project in the next 5 years - hopefully less, if we don't find any meaningful difficulties and are able to carry our work as planned. But being more specific than this just wouldn't be based on any concrete prediction we're able to make. Which is very frustrating indeed. So I asked if there was a way to pay someone to do that work, and Nat said, "That is definitely an option, punk, and we haven't entirely discarded it. However, there are many advantages by having the research being made by someone who knows the OTW well from the inside, and that's not something we can pay for.ALT


March 2023

Which brings us to the most recent OTW Board meeting in March 2023, almost another year after the officer had been appointed, when we received the first update on what they had been working on.

kcdayton: Today, we would like to share an update about the OTW's work on anti-racism and diversity in our organization. This section will be a permanent addition to all Board of Directors public meetings going forward, as we realize the OTW needs to be more transparent and proactive with regards to keeping fans in the loop with regards to what we have been able to do so far to make our organization and projects safer and more welcoming to fans of color. We know we have not historically been efficient enough when sharing updates - we hope this will be a step in the right direction, and are committed to continue sharing as much as we can on a regular basis. We are also studying whether any other communications paths could be feasible for our organization. We appreciate the feedback and suggestions fans continue to share with us, and we consider every idea carefully.ALT
In our first update, we'd like to talk a bit about the work our Diversity Consultant Research Officer has been doing. As a reminder, the role of this officer is to liaise with the organization in order to assess our specific needs for an external diversity consultant, and also to look into available consultants who could work within our organization and our specific challenges, such as a fully online environment, international workforce, the full anonymity of most of our volunteers, and so on. In the first quarter of 2023, Zoë has presented the Board with a plan to contact different stakeholders in our organization, so she can get a clearer picture of what OTW leadership and volunteers expect from a consultant, what concerns they have, and what they see as priorities for this work. She will be reaching out to the organization gradually, to make sure she can dedicate proper time and attention to each person who wishes to communicate with her.ALT
Additionally, she has begun some preliminary research into potential hires, and while it is still too soon for us to determine whether specific companies would be suitable and able to work with us, we are hopeful that we will find a company to that can contribute in a meaningful manner towards making the OTW a more diverse and anti-racist space. Board has also met with the Strategic Planning committee this month in order to discuss, among other things, the Diversity section of the upcoming plan. We know that many people are anxious for updates on this area since the OTW's Vision Statement got published last year, and we would like to reassure you that discussions and feedback are ongoing, in order to help us create a plan that is helpful, efficient, and has achievable steps for our organization.ALT
When two people asked if there was a timeline for this work, kcdayton replied: Zoë expects the first round of interviews, focusing on OTW leadership, should last about two months, in between asynchronous and live chats. Once that part of the work is reaching conclusion, she'll begin planning for a wider round of feedback and discussion with OTW volunteers, which will likely take a few months, depending on how much response there is.ALT


OTW was asked about the five year timeline, & this time we were told that they hoped the project would be concluded OR have “made great progress” in five years, again moving the goalposts.

Currently

Looking at this timeline, this could make it eight years before we see anything substantial (3 til now +5 more) in significantly addressing this issue. This is unacceptable. We know they have the funds to hire consultants.

This is why we’re demanding that OTW make good on their commitment and hire someone in the next 3-6 months. It’s not an unreasonable ask given that the officer has already had more than a year to work on this and we are 3 years out since we were told this was a priority. 

May 16 '23

fallingtowers:

bro this rends flesh (new way of saying something is really good)

May 15 '23

constellation-of-us:

constellation-of-us:

Having psychosis but not “glaringly obvious” psychosis is weird. I did start to wonder about myself years ago, but went into denial about my symptoms quickly and easily because it’s not like I was having vivid hallucinations. I’ve never held a conversation with someone who’s not there, for example. And this is somewhat my bad for only having a stereotyped understanding of what psychosis can look like.

For me though, my schizospec/psychosis symptoms look like this:

  • Perceptual distortions: Hearing or seeing things incorrectly. Everyday sounds morph into people talking to me, usually with indistinguishable words/ babble. Images are distorted or skewed. It takes me a moment to recognize an object sometimes, even with clear visibility.
  • Mild hallucinations: I’ll hear music playing quietly or electronic noises, see shadows or shapes at the corner of my eye or as a flash that immediately vanishes. Sometimes I think I see a bug crawling near me but when I go to look directly at it, there’s nothing there. I’ll smell things that aren’t there, and sometimes even feel touch - though I attribute that mostly to C-PTSD. The most vivid hallucination I can ever remember having was a door slamming.
  • Ideas of reference: I sometimes interpret things as having some kind of “special” meaning to me. I see “signs” and tend to view things in a superstitious way. I see things as good or bad omens. I think random events are some part of fate. When I’m not doing it I can see how irrational that is, but it happens anyway.
  • Paranoia and delusions: My prime example of this is a reoccurring belief that my therapist doesn’t think I have DID at all and is only playing along for some unknown and malicious reason. When under enough stress, I’ve also been afraid to take medicine in case it’s been tampered with or someone is trying to drug me with the wrong dose.

Overall, my psychotic symptoms get noticeably worse with stress or lack of sleep. I can go for long periods of time with virtually no psychosis at all, but it always reoccurs.

image

None of those things are normal if they happen with any consistent frequency… Or honestly, in general. Anyone can have mild hallucinations for a variety if reasons (like sleep deprivation) but.

Me thinking I can hear people talking to me in the white noise of my fan isn’t normal. My brain morphing objects into animals that I believe are real and alive for a few moments isn’t normal. Hearing noises and music that aren’t there isn’t normal. Seeing things that aren’t there isn’t normal. Having paranoid or superstitious beliefs about the world around you - believing that everyday events are somehow “special” and “meant to send you messages” isn’t normal - unless sometimes within the context of specific cultural and spiritual beliefs. Believing that others are against you or out to get you when you have no basis or evidence is not normal.

May 15 '23

cryptotheism:

Lilly: Good morning New Babel, you’re listening to Screw Loose, your favorite early-morning exo rig and rig maintenance rig show this side of the white river, I’m Lilly.

The Bear: And I’m the Bear, and you- are on the air. What can we help you with?

Caller: Hello! Hi! So, uh, first time caller. My name is Zuri. I run a barley and flesh farm about an hour south of Isin. I’m in the market for a new rig. My last rig kicked the bucket. But I have an, uh, odd request that I was hoping you two could help give me some guidance on.

The Bear: Welcome to the show doll, we’d be happy to help. But first, I gotta ask, what were you running before and what happened to it?

Lilly: Yeah! We gotta know what we’re dealing with here.

Zuri [beginning to laugh]: So we had an Arcadia Y-400-

[both hosts erupt into laughter]

Lilly: And it broke!?

The Bear: Doll what in the hell did you do to this thing!?

Keep reading

May 15 '23

momagainstcatboys:

The Zionist movement has worked to make dispossession a timeless theme of the Palestinian experience: Historians and news reporters alike find themselves telling similar stories about the Nakba. We’ve gotten to a point where the rubble accumulates so fast we cannot keep up with it.

When I first began writing this article, an armed Israeli settler had killed 19-year-old Diyar Omari, in the village of Sandalah, in broad daylight on May 6; his murder brought to mind the 1957 Sandalah massacre, when an Israeli explosive device took the lives of 15 schoolgirls and boys in their village, and I thought I would center this essay on the overlapping histories. But the thought of the schoolchildren reminded me of the leftover Israeli bombs that continue to kill or maim schoolchildren in Masafer Yatta, in the South Hebron Hills, which has been declared an off-limits “firing zone” for the sole purpose of expelling its residents. And I thought I should write of that impending expulsion, and then another one, and another execution, another demolition, another arbitrary arrest, another siege written out of the headlines, another murder reported in passive voice, and another and another…

And then Israeli bombs began dropping on Gaza.

It is tempting to end the essay there—to anticipate, passively, even more wreckage. To declare Palestine a broken condition, a “cycle of violence” in which bombardment is as banal as breakfast. But the reason we keep printing more posters is because people here have not yet accepted subjugation as their status quo, they can still conjure a reality in which they are free. Palestinians are still resisting the shackles of Zionism. They have never stopped.

If you’re driving across the length of our bruised geography, you will drive past women and men who will choose, time and time again, death over indignity. If you slow down to listen to their orations, you will realize, even if for a brief moment, that you would do the same.

mohammed el-kurd

May 15 '23

emi–rose:

kereeachan:

kyraneko:

medusaceratops-deactivated20210:

as much as i love vader getting to fuck palpatine over, as much as i think it’s the best thing, and as much as i love AUs where everyone gets together to curbstomp the emperor, i always wanted to see an AU where palpatine dies unexpectedly from the complications of being a bitch just because:

  • palpatine never intended to die, in my mind, he just aimed to prolong his life through sith bullshit ad infinitum, so i don’t think he ever officially established a successor or even a method of transitioning power. i think everyone collectively assumes vader is his heir, on account of vader being the only person with the horrendous job of actually having to talk to the emperor directly all the time. but there’s not anything binding except for the fact that if darth vader wants the imperial throne, he can crush the litany of people who would like to stop him like bugs, and i think everyone would assume in turn that vader - a guy who is famous for his frothing at the mouth about the empire’s Divine Vision For The Galaxy - would want the throne.
  • this is, categorically, false, because every single time he’s thought about killing palpatine, he had someone else he wanted to hand the throne. this is an awkward situation in which everyone is waiting for vader to stake his claim on the throne in the immediate aftermath of palpatine’s death, and vader’s like [automated breath] i….. have…… rebels…. to kill……… but i think, as horrific at diplomacy as vader is, he’s at least savvy enough to know that the second he corrects everyone and tries to cede the throne, the infighting as everyone makes a play for the throne would cause a ridiculous amount of unrest. so he can’t just cede the throne, but he’s next to incapable of being functional without serving His Imperial Majesty’s Divine Vision, and he needs to choose a successor as fast as possible and then he can possibly consider finding a ditch to lay down in because his one last attachment to the mortal plane died.
  • i know it’d be more reasonable for vader to kick punt someone like tarkin at the throne, but consider that vader is, fundamentally, unreasonable. and at this point in time, he’s also famous for being kind of a religious zealot, and he would absolutely choose this particular time of all the times to trust in the force. so he meditates, considers the sane options, but the force keeps lingering on senator leia organa from alderaan - and it’s doing that because she’s secretly his daughter, but he doesn’t know that, and theoretically this is enough ahead of ANH that he doesn’t even have an inclination that she’s a rebel spy. but if the force wills it.
  • so leia, all of eighteen years old, is named empress by darth vader and he doesn’t have the grace to tell her he’s going to name her empress first, he just kind of goes in front of the imperial senate and does it. i think it would be utterly hilarious if vader handed the empire over to the rebels without knowing it, handed the empire over to his daughter without knowing it, and now leia has to figure out how to safely un-empire an empire while being empress without causing too much chaos.
  • which is not a job made easier by the wheezing war criminal who keeps kneeling in front of her and asking, “what is thy bidding, my master,” because leia has unknowingly inherited the weirdest position in relation to vader anyone could have, and he’s kind of relying on tradition to cope. i really just want you to imagine an ongoing bit where one of vader’s cybernetic arms gets wrecked while he’s suppressing a coup organized against the new empress, and he leaves it like that for weeks because palpatine always had to clear off significant changes like replacement prosthetics, and he keeps waiting for leia to do it. she finally snaps at him to just go and get it fixed, and vader’s thrown into an array of distress because that is NOT how this works!!! his MASTER clears off his medical procedures, it ALWAYS works like that, and leia’s confusion is bone-deep, because obviously that only makes sense to vader.
  • wouldn’t vader notice the empire getting un-empired by the new secretly-a-rebel empress, you wonder. i would say that he probably wouldn’t, because as horrific as palpatine was, he was also all of vader’s will to live, up until the moment leia shows him a singular basic courtesy - like not being weirdly involved in the process of vader getting a new arm - and vader decides that he is going to froth at the mouth about Her Imperial Majesty’s Divine Vision, instead, until she sees fit to grant him death.
  • i just think it would be really funny if leia had to deal with learning that vader, on top of being omnicidal and a war criminal, is also just really ridiculous as a person, and very annoying but in a sad way.

This is awesome and hilarious and all I can think about is Leia’s reaction being, “Um … just to be clear, this isn’t a marriage proposal is it?“ and Vader’s momentary bluescreen before he hurries to reassure her that, no, it’s not.

Vader: *remembers how his marriage went* You are too young to marry anyone.

Bail Organa: Well fuck, now I have to agree with Darth Vader about something!

THE FIC EXISTS