Person with housemates can study.
Person who has spent all their cash on rent and food still has a place to get out of the house and do something interesting.
Cool community classes and community art shows.
ESL tutoring.
Tax prep and forms.
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tbh fuck anyone who says a single bad thing about libraries
Not content I normally reblog but libraries are super important and our world would be diminished without them.
The library was how I was able to read so many books as a kid that my parents wouldn’t have been able to afford.
Libraries are one of the only places on Earth that treats people the same no matter how much money you have. We can’t lose that.
And nowadays many libraries also rent ebooks, movies, and some even have tools. Many libraries have computer basics classes (I knew someone who taught those to older adults and every class, she would sit on a keyboard at one point, just to remove some of the fear of ‘messing up’ from her students).
There’s a library near me that uses their old card catalog for a seed library (you don’t literally return the seed that you borrow, you collect seeds from your plant and return those).
Some have rooms available to non-profits for meetings. Does your philatelist club need a place to meet? What about your caps for preemies group?
Some sponsor lectures, on information like local history. There’s a couple near me that have ‘meet the artist’ days where an artist sets up shop to show how they do their art. A crocheter friend of mine takes hooks and yarn to show kids how to do a chain.
Remember: WE PAY TAXES to support them. Use them.
I was a poor kid. Did not have access to much. But my parents got me a library card early and I spent my whole childhood there. Every dino book, every science book, heck - even VHS tapes on dinosaurs and science. I devoured them.
Libraries are gateways. I would not be a scientist without them. And the better they are - the more we fund and support them - the more doorways open up for everyone.
Protect libraries. Fund libraries. Knowledge is power, and libraries make knowledge available to ALL.
imagine getting this review
I guarantee that Monica at the front desk has not been able to live this review down and her coworkers absolutely bring it up regularly.
If I were Monica I'd print this review out and frame it
So I was scrolling and saw this image in an article about the European heat wave,
And was like, uh, are you missing something there, buddy? Like all that red in northern Africa? Because that's a lot of red.
And I was going to give them the benefit of doubt, since I don't know much about the climate in Northern Africa, aside from Morroco and Egypt, which seem like really hot places, so you know, maybe it's normal there?
But nope, that's not the case:
Some selections from the article:
"The region has been experiencing some of the most intense heat waves in recent years, but in many cases they’ve been under-reported due to misconceptions about Africans’ ability to withstand them.
“Africa is seen as a sunny and hot continent,” said Amadou Thierno Gaye, a research scientist and professor at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, the capital of Senegal. “People think we are used to heat, but we are having high temperatures for a longer duration. Nobody is used to this.”
"The Sahel, for instance, has been heating at a faster pace than the global average despite being hot already. Burkina Faso and Mali, both in West Africa’s Sahel, are among countries that are set to become almost uninhabitable by 2080, if the world continues on its current trajectory, a UK university study found. Its people are especially vulnerable due to shrinking resources, such as water, and poor amenities, and a dearth of trees and parks means there are few options for places to cool off."
Say the quiet part out loud: they believe that black people could never earn their way into college legitimately, therefore all black students are affirmative action. That’s the foundation of their actual argument, not demographics. They don’t care about statistics and ratios, they care that schools aren’t segregated.
^ This part.
Not saying that having the information doesn't help, sure it won't change shitheels' minds, but it's good to have for the people they haven't pulled over, and to help the people being harmed to know that YES the numbers DO say what you see, it's NOT subjective.
Which is why it’s important to not be mean.
Their cult teaches them that the world is full of scary monster people who hate them for being so good and loved by god. If you swear at them and call them names or get in their face you’re just doing the cults work for it.
I’m not saying you have to listen to their presentation or try to debate them (and really getting into a debate without thoroughly understanding what they’re being taught will just make things worse)… I am just saying to be polite and say no thank you like if they were trying to hand you a flyer for something you don’t care about.
It’s easier for them to see the world outside their bubble as less scary if they see everyday people just going about their business and being as nice to them as you are to everyone else. This goes doubly for anyone who happens to dress modestly, not swear, and not drink or smoke because whatever you believe, they’ll see you as a “good” person who happens to strangely have no interest in their “message”, and that might be enough to get some curious about the possibility of themselves living in the real world.
It’s sometimes hard to be nice to people who seem to represent something you dislike. Just remember these “elders” are sheltered young men, some of which are getting their first real contact with people of other/no faiths.
They are not your enemy. They are victims.
They aren't being sent out to actually convert people, they are being sent out hoping that they will be harassed and treated poorly so they view those outside the cult as dangerous and evil and stick to the safety of the familiar group.
You being mean to some teenager isn't sticking it to anyone, you're doing exactly what their church elders want to happen.
PLEASE READ THIS.
Please read this.
Don't do the church's work for them.
If you're kind to enough of them, they put you on a block list.
They were such sweet kids, they'd turn up at my door with the thatch of raspberries out front and try to share their word with me, and I'm me, so, I fed them.
Then it was one of the wee 'elder's' birthday, so I made him a cake, and all the little lads came, and they asked about my books and board games and CCGs, I was just a nice frumpy middle aged Jewish lady, I was no threat, so I fed them and made them cakes and took them to the local gaming store and listened when they talked.
One loved yu-gi-oh cards, and it turns out, one of the other wee lads, we'll he loved him back, so I got them in touch with some resources so they had support and a different way to pay for college, they're still together 15 years later, they have dogs, they send me ecards on their birthday. No-one figured out I'd.helped them, I was just the nice lady who made them tea and listened when people were slamming doors.
The next one really wanted to be an artist, so I left out art books and resources, my eldest shared their coptic markers, they draw comic books now, no idea why his folks were insisting he needed to be a dentist, but, he's not a Mormon anymore, (not a Jew either before anyone makes any counter conversion claims).
The first 2 lads were the only dramatic ones, the rest went back into the network but, like Hugh of Borg, they spread the word, sometimes I'd get Mormons from other cities come and make the journey to break bread at my Sabbath table and be seen.
I still think very fondly of that time.
Many of those boys still email me now and then.
Most of them aren't Mormons anymore.
Someone higher up spotted the pattern and suddenly no more Mormons at my door.
I was blacklisted, for kindness.
So there you go, if you don't want Mormons at your door, just love those kids for a couple of years, feed them, help them, and eventually, no more will be allowed to visit
