Tag: important!

Six effective ways to stand with Israel, by Fred Maroun

eretzyisrael:

4. Speak up wisely on social media

Anyone who has debated the Israel-Arab conflict on social media knows that there is never a lack of anti-Israel voices, but their weakness is that they fear facts. They react to them by compounding the lies, engaging in personal attacks, and allowing their antisemitism to come into the light, all of which discredits them in the eyes of fair observers.

When you debate them, follow these rules consistently:

  • State your case clearly and concisely. Long or confusing comments are rarely read in full.
  • To support facts that you advance, quote only sources that are widely seen as reasonably credible, especially by people who are not particularly pro-Israel. Good sources are The Times of Israel and The Jerusalem Post, and it also helps to use sources that are not typically seen as pro-Israel, such as Haaretz, BBC, The Guardian, CBC, CNN, Huffington Post, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.
  • State the facts as they are. The facts are almost always on Israel’s side, and on the rare occasion when they are not, it is better to be honest and to maintain your credibility.
  • Do not confuse facts with hyperbole or rhetoric. Hyperbole and rhetoric may sound good to your friends, but they do not convince sceptics. For example, if a politician funds the UNRWA and you believe it is unwise, say so; do not jump to the conclusion that the politician supports terrorism.
  • Avoid personal attacks, even when extremely tempting. Personal attacks do not convince anyone. If others engage in personal attacks against you, comment on the inappropriateness of the attack then move on.
  • Avoid comments that could be interpreted as anti-Muslim or bigoted in any way. Such comments divert from the pro-Israel message and do not help your argument.
  • If you use sarcasm, do it carefully because sarcasm is often misunderstood on social media.
  • Do not mix partisanship and support for Israel. Israel is not a right-wing or left-wing issue. There are people who support Israel everywhere on the political spectrum except on the extremes, and it is essential to maintain that support. Making Israel a partisan issue alienates partisans of the other side.
  • Use rational arguments based on evidence and reason, not based on religion. Religious arguments do not convince people who do not share your beliefs.
  • Avoid getting bogged down in long discussions with people who debate in bad faith and who are wasting your time. Simply leave the discussion.
  • Always remember that you are seen as the voice of Israel. That voice must be intelligent, confident, honest, and well-mannered. If at any moment, you do not feel up to maintaining that standard, do not debate the Israel-Arab conflict.

Six effective ways to stand with Israel, by Fred Maroun

my masterlist of ‘how to life’ tips

dick-winters:

Cleaning & Tidying

  • Make your bed in the morning. It takes seconds, and it’s worth it.
  • Reset to zero each morning. 
  • Use the UFYH 20/10 system for clearing your shit. 
  • Get a reed diffuser and stick it on your windowsill. 
  • Have a ‘drop-zone’ box where you dump anything and everything. At the beginning/end of the day, clear it out and put that shit away.
  • Roll your clothes, don’t fold them – or fold them vertically.
  • Automate your chores. Have a cleaning schedule and assign 15mins daily to do whatever cleaning tasks are set for that day. Set a timer and do it – once the timer is up, finish the task you’re on and leave it for the day. 
  • Fold your clothes straight out of the tumble dryer (if you use one), whilst they’re still warm. This minimises creases and eliminates the need for ironing. 
  • Clean your footwear regularly and you’ll feel like a champ. 

Organisation & Productivity

  • Learn from Eisenhower’s Importance/Urgency matrix. 
  • Try out the two-minute rule and the Pomodoro technique.
  • Use. A. Planner. (Or Google Calendar, if that’s more your thing.)
  • Try bullet journalling.
  • Keep a notebook/journal/commonplace book to dump your brain contents in on the regular. 
  • Set morning alarms at two-minute intervals rather than five, and stick your alarm on the other side of the room. It’s brutal, but it works. 
  • Set three main goals each day, with one of them being your #1 priority. Don’t overload your to-do list or you’ll hit overload paralysis and procrastinate. 
  • If you’re in a slump, however, don’t be afraid to put things like “shower” on your to do list – that may be a big enough goal in itself, and that’s okay. 
  • Have a physical inbox – a tray, a folder, whatever. If you get a piece of paper, stick it in there and sort through it at the end of the week.
  • Consider utilising the GTD System, or a variation of it.
  • Try timeboxing. 
  • Have a morning routine, and guard that quiet time ferociously. 
  • Save interesting-looking shit to instapaper. Have a set time where you read through the stuff you saved to instapaper and save the shit that you like from instapaper to evernote (or bookmark it properly). 
  • During your working hours, put on your footwear, even if you’re sat on your bed. (Why?)
  • Have a folder for all your important documents and letters, organised by topic (e.g. medical, bank, university, work, identification). At the front of this folder, have a sheet of paper with all the key information written on it, such as your GP’s details, your passport details, driving licence details, bank account number, insurance number(s), and so on. 
  • Try using StayFocusd and RescueTime (or similar apps/extensions). (I promise, you’ll find that you’re not as busy as you think you are.)
  • Schedule working time and down time alike, in the balance that works for you. 

Money

  • Have. A. God. Damn. Budget. 
  • Use a money tracker like toshl, mint, or splitwise. Enter all expenses asap! (You will forget, otherwise.)
  • Have a ‘money date’ each week, where you sort through your finances from the past seven days and then add it to a spreadsheet. This will help you identify your spending patterns and whether your budget is actually working or not. 
  • Pack your own frickin’ lunch like a grown-up and stop buying so many takeaway coffees. Keep snacks in your bag. 
  • Go to your bank and take out £100 in £1 coins (or w/e your currency is). That shit will come in useful for all kinds of things and you’ll never be short on change for the bus or the laundry. 

Food & Cooking

  • Know how to cook the basics: a starch, a protein, a vegetable, and a sauce.
  • Simple, one-pot meals (“a grain, a green, and a bean”) are a godsend. 
  • Dried porcini mushrooms make a fantastic stock to cook with. 
  • Batch cook and freeze. Make your own ‘microwave meals’. 
  • Buy dried goods to save money – rice and beans are a pittance. (Remember to soak dried beans first, though!) 
  • Consider Meatless Mondays; it’s healthier, cheaper, and more environmentally friendly.
  • Learn which fruits and vegetables are cheapest at your store, and build a standard weekly menu around those. (Also remember that frozen vegetables are cheap and healthy.) 
  • Learn seasoning combinations. Different seasoning, even with the exact same ingredients, can make a dish seem completely new. 
  • Don’t buy shit for a one-off recipe, especially if you won’t use it all. If you really want to try out a recipe, see if a friend would be interested in making it with you, then pool for the expenses. 
  • Make your own goddamned pasta sauce. Jamie Oliver has a decent recipe here, but the beauty of tomato sauce is that you can totally wing it and adapt the fuck out of it. 

Misc

  • Have a stock email-writing format. 
  • Want to start running, but find it boring? Try Zombies, Run!. 
  • Keep a goddamn first aid kit and learn how to use it. 
  • Know your OTC pain relief. 
  • Update your CV regularly. 
  • Keep a selection of stamps and standard envelopes for unexpected posting needs. (It happens more regularly than you would think!) 

Some final words of advice:

  1. Organisation is not a goal in itself, it is a tool. Don’t get caught up in the illusion of productivity and get distracted from the actual task at hand. 
  2. Routines and habits will help you. Trust in them.
  3. You have the potential to be an organised and productive person, just as much as anybody else. It just takes practice. 

jewish-privilege:

Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. 

Today we remember the more than 11 million people, Jewish and Gentile, who were slaughtered in the death camps, who succumbed to disease and the elements in concentration camps, who were sterilized to prevent the “dilution” of the “Aryan race,” who were worked to death, or nearly, in the works camps, who were imprisoned for their political or religious beliefs, who were sterilized or killed for being considered disabled, who were gassed to death in the Einsatzgruppen mobile gas chambers, who were shot into graves they had been forced the dig, and those who managed to survive all of that and were forced to remember the horrors they had seen and experienced.

May they rest in peace, may their memory be a blessing, may peace be upon them, and may we all say Never Again.

saltandlimes:

neurodivergent-crow:

shadowkat678:

the-real-skye:

gaylor-moon:

socialistexan:

drdrunkpigeon-phd:

williamsherlockscottyyholmes:

My grandparents left their home country as children when they heard the whispering of antisemitism starting in their home town. They got out and fled to America so I and future generations could be safe from persecution and mass murder. Only 2 generations ago.

And now America is becoming that country that they probably would have fled.

If you are not resisting, you are part of the problem.

And yes, I want non-Jews to reblog

Except I’m sorry but it’s not is it? A couple thousand white dudes babbling about jew conspiracies is not equal to Hitler and the holocaust no matter what. A couple thousand vs a few million? Your country isn’t fucking dumb. They FOUGHT to SAVE your kind and lost tens of thousands of men in the process. How about, fucking stop making it sound like the majority is Nazi and actually do some research. Jesus fucking christ.

Funny, since the Russians freed more prison camps than the US, including Auschwitz. The US didn’t care about the camps, they cared about fighting the ally of their declared enemy, Japan. And the US almost sided with the Nazis and had a large Nazi party in our boarders all the way up until (and even a little after) we entered the war.

Also do you know how large the Nazi party was at it’s peak? Just 7% of the German population. Smaller numbers don’t mean shit when they have people that aid and abet them by saying shit like “oh don’t worry they are too few to do harm.”

“My kind” have centuries of actual oppression running through our history, we can sense when something has changed and when it’s coming (back, again), it’s in our blood. Our grandparents and great-grandparents always told us to always have a bag packed, because they were afraid this would happen. “My kind” always know they will come for us again.

Hell, this isn’t some “oversensitive Tumblrina sjw” thing, here’s an actual Auschwitz survivor: “I see men, hatred on their faces, with torches in parades and screaming, just like the Nazis did to us years ago. I see torture and violence and swastikas and I was brought back to the worst moments of my life. I couldn’t believe they were speaking English, that this was in Charlottesville. I thought this nightmare was in the past, way in the past.“

Offense but why does literally every dude that says stuff like “oh they’re not actually Real Nazis” “oh so you call everyone you disagree w/ a Nazi” like why are you all so hilariously uneducated and unable to see things as they are? Literally none of them have ever known what they’re even fucking talking about lmao

Most comments that call Trump Hitler are referring to 1933 Hitler, when he first ran for office and later seized power, who drew an enormous euphoric fan following based on hating a particular religious group and a political slogan that roughly translates to Make Germany Great Again. His solution to Jewish people started with encouraging them to emigrate, identification tags, then moving them to the Jewish Ghettos “to be monitored” and eventually to more secure concentration camps. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THESE was mentioned by Trump or his closest allies as a solution for the “problem” of Muslims in America during his campaign. It took Hitler until January 1940 to authorize the Final Solution, which started the death camps as an official government policy. How much do you think Trump could do to Muslims in about 7 years if given the chance, all before any organized killings begin.

Similarly, the Nazi Party in the early 1930’s was just thought of as a joke, a few angry people due to the bad economy (to the level which would make the Great Recession we just experienced look like a cloudy day) and the need to place the blame for that on a particular group of people. The Nazis gradually grew their support base until they had about 30% support while those in the middle were divided, actually giving them 50% support and allowing them to do whatever they wanted. Germany rapidly went from probably the most liberal place in the world in the 1920’s to becoming the most hateful and murderous place a decade later.

THIS^^^^^^^

When non-Jewish people try to speak over Jewish people I throw up in my mouth a little and hope they get mono

Also, sorry (but actually not at all) to add to the pile on, but until you’ve experienced antisemitism, until you’ve stood there hearing people scream “kill the Jews” one state away from your hometown, until you’ve spent even an ounce of time looking into the many ways in which Jewish people are threatened in the West, sit down and shut up.

And while you’re sitting, take a moment to think over the ways we’re afraid of you. Think of how terrifying it is for us when people brush off the term Nazi and call it overused. Think of how we all grew up knowing that we have always been hated by some, that we will always be hated. Think about how those few Nazis destroyed our culture, so much so that the global Jewish population may never recover. Think about how they murdered us for no reason, and then, for one instant, one single second, try to understand why we are terrified.

itsleightaylor:

I just tweeted it and I figure I should also post it here. 

This website literally GRADES YOUR ESSAYS. You can choose your grade level, if you’re using American or British english, what type of paper it is (essay, short story, biography…), and it even checks for plagiarism. THEN once it’s grading your essay, it shows you grammatical errors, suggestions for better sentence structure, and a lot of other things. Reblog to save a life. 

how to grow the fuck up

veux3:

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Better You

The Full Potential Challenge

shrinkingblonde:

Ever wonder what your life would be like if you lived up to your full potential? Would your body be healthier? Your skin clearer? Bank account bigger? I think about these things all the time, and, judging my a previous post, you guys do to. Below is a chart designed to help all of us live up to our full potential. I’ve broken it down into time frames to help keep you from getting overwhelmed. Write the chart down and hang it someplace where you can see it all the time. I will be starting this challenge tomorrow, 9/8. I’ll check in with you guys every Sunday to track my progress. I have specific goals in mind for myself, and you guys should make some too! I really want to know how you guys are doing. Tag your progress posts with #sbfpc so I can track it and take a look. Let’s get to it!

EVERY MORNING

  • Stretch. First thing. Really give your body enough time to wake up. Touch your toes. Roll out your shoulders. Do not hit snooze!
  • Do your full skincare routine. I have mine detailed here, but do whatever works for you and your complexion. Be gentle and consistent. 
  • Brush your teeth and floss. I used to be a big floss-skipper too, but you’d be amazed at how dig of a difference it makes. Rinse with a whitening mouthwash. I use one by Crest, and I notice a major difference in my teeth’s overall whiteness in just a few days.
  • Give yourself enough time to get ready. Whether you’re a wash-and-go kind of girl, or someone who spends an hour doing a full contouring routine before class (and either one is fine!), make sure you aren’t rushing. If you need to wake up a few minutes earlier than normal, so be it. Rushing sets an awful, stressed-out tone for the rest of the day. Allow yourself to be relaxed before taking on the day.
  • Eat something. I’m not going to say eat a big breakfast, because some people (myself included) just can’t eat in the morning. But you should eat, or at least bring a little something with you to work or school. If you can’t eat a full breakfast, grab a fruit! You won’t be as hungry come lunch time, making you less likely to gorge yourself.
  • Shower. You can do this at night, in the morning, whatever. Again, this is something you should allow some time for. I don’t wash my hair every day, but I do condition it every day (from the ears down). Scrub yourself with a delicious-smelling body wash. If you shave, make yourself as smooth as a dolphin, dude. If you don’t, then don’t and don’t ever ever ever let anyone make you feel bad or weird about it. When you get out of the shower, wrap yourself in a fluffy towel and totally slather your sexy self with lotion. Top to bottom. Do it as soon as you can post-shower so it can really sink in. 
  • Put leave-in condition throughout your damp hair and comb it through.
  • Put on an outfit that makes you feel good! So important!
  • Drink water. Drink water. Drink water. Drink water!!!!!
  • Take a look at your daily to-do list. Knock out the most pressing stuff first. Take pride when you cross things off your list.
  • Make your bed! Oh my god, make your bed. Do it. Do it. Do it. 

EVERY AFTERNOON 

  • Follow the “touch it once” approach. This is a truly life-changing thing. When a task is in front of you, no matter how big or small, just do it right then and there. How many times have you gotten a work email or homework assignment and thought, “Eh, I’ll do it later”? And then later never comes? Once something pops up, do it once. Squash it and be done. Cross things off your list and feel like a badass.
  • Try to go for a walk at lunch. Even one little lap around the block or campus will reenergize you like nobody’s business. 
  • Drink water. Drink water. Drink water. Drink water!!!!!
  • Be present. This is so hard for me too, but you have to make a major effort to be present in whatever you’re doing. Be engaged and plugged-in and just exist in the moment. Give 100 percent.
  • Be friendly to friends and strangers. A smile goes a long way.
  • Eat something. Eat what you packed for lunch (see below) and take a break from working while you do it. You need “you time”!

EVERY EVENING

  • Take your makeup off as soon as you’re in for the night. Wash your face with your full routine and let your skin have a break. 
  • Workout. You can also do this in the morning. Whatever works for you. Make a great playlist and go hard af. Get your cardio in. Get your strength training in. Earn every freaking sweat bead forming on your forehead. Earn your shower!
  • Knock out your homework. Life is infinitely better you don’t have anything hanging over your head. Half the time, the energy and emotion you spent dreading/putting off your work is ten times worse than the work itself.
  • Make a list of what needs to be done tomorrow. It’ll set you up for success the next day, and you won’t forget anything!
  • Drink water. Drink water. Drink water. Drink water!!!!!
  • Lay out your clothes for tomorrow. This will save you SO MUCH TIME in the morning omg I can’t even tell you how important this is.
  • Eat something great. And once you’ve decided to be done eating for the night, be done. Brush your teeth so you can’t eat again.
  • After brushing, do a whitening treatment. Whether it’s classic baking soda, a Crest white strip, or a laser. Do something. And floss! Retainers in too, ladies 0:)
  • Relax! Take a few hours to do what YOU want to do. Scroll through Tumblr, binge on some Netflix, FaceTime gossip with your friends, anything. Do whatever makes you happiest. 
  • Shut the electronics off an hour before you want to go to bed. Put your phone on sleep mode. If you stare at the screen, it will keep you awake and alert and you won’t be able to fall asleep. A good night’s sleep is crucial for weightless and general happiness lol
  • Do a quick sweep of your room and see if there’s anything you can put away real quick. A clean space is a happy space.
  • Crawl into your bed (aren’t you happy you took the time to make it?!) and read a book by lamplight for a while. When you start to feel sleepy, go to sleep. Don’t push it. You kicked ass today and you deserve rest. 

EVERY WEEKEND

  • Do something with your friends. It just has to be one thing. Even if you’re just hanging out at the coffee shop, spending time with your squad will make you a better, happier person.
  • Drink water. Drink water. Drink water. Drink water!!!!!
  • Do something just for you. Set your laptop up in the bathroom and watch a Netflix marathon while you take a bubble bath. Buy an old school bottle of Mr. Bubbles ($3 at Target!) and really just soak. Relax. Light a candle.
  • Do something creative. You can read a book, write, blog, draw, code, anything. It just has to be something that speaks to your passion.
  • Track your progress. Just do this once a week so it doesn’t become all-consuming. And remember that non-scale victories are just as important as shedding pounds.
  • Take the time to be grateful. Tell your friend how much you admire her taste in music. Mention to your mom how much you love her cooking and how happy you are that she takes care of you. Thank your teaching after an especially interesting lecture. When you do something awesome, take a moment to admire yourself. Be grateful for even the little things.

Anything I missed? Reblog + add yours! Don’t forget to tag your progress!

1epherez:

tyrantofthefirmament:

1epherez:

tyrantofthefirmament:

1epherez:

OK so I have a story to tell:
Yesterday I had a group of 3rd graders.
I told them that if they all finished their work I would give them some free time. The kiddos were excited and the all got right to work.
I noticed one boy brought a toy to school. It was a toy car. The girl next to him started making fun of him.
“Omg you like toys? You are so dumb.”
I was confused by this. They are 3rd graders after all. They all like toys.
So I decided to interfere .
“I like toys too. I have Transformers!”
After which I put my phone under the projector and showed them my collection.
Instantly everyone started talking about Transformers.
One boy in the back insisting Megatron was the best ever.
And another saying he was not the best because he was evil.
A girl saying she loved Bumblebee.
And the boy sitting closest to me saying he watched TFP on Netflix. And adding that Knockout was his favorite. After which he asked which my favorite was.
I told him Starscream was my favorite.
This whole time I had a huge smile on my face until that kid next to me asked .
“But isn’t Starscream a slave?”
So I’m confused for a second. And I ask him why he thinks this. His response was this;
“Because Megatron is always beating him up even if he don’t do nothing. And that’s Hella messed up.”

I was just shocked. To this kiddo Starscream had to be a slave because people are not supposed to be treated that way. So if you thought kids don’t pick this up when they watch abuse in their favorite TV shows ….

((THIS ^ Kids pick up messages from what they see, and what he saw was oppression. He even saw that it still happened when Starscream hadn’t done anything *looks at Season 3* 

This goes back to the huge problem I think they had with how they handled Starscream in TFP. They tried to tell us that he was some treacherous mastermind who was constantly stabbing everyone in the back, and getting some kind of comeuppance, but when it came to Megatron, all they showed us was a big guy beating up a little guy who by the end is just trying to get by as he is tossed around by circumstances over which he has little control. They also took every opportunity to thoroughly undermine his credibility as a threat because they decided they would rather make him the butt of every joke.

In every shot where they have conflict, the action is framed with Megatron looming and advancing, filling the frame, and Starscream shrinking and retreating, being crowded out. The quality of the animation shows the terror Starscream is experiencing – he knows he is going to be hurt, and his body reacts to that by flinching, even if Megatron is only gesturing dramatically as he speaks. His face shows nothing but fear, at times almost uncomprehending of anything else. In Season 1 you can see flashes of resentment and perhaps even unspoken defiance, but after he rejoins the Decepticons that is entirely absent. Megatron is always the aggressor and Starscream is unable to do anything except take whatever Megatron dishes out.

With that reality so vividly presented, any narrative of Starscream’s treachery supposedly being the root cause of their friction breaks down before one fact: Megatron is bigger, stronger, and in control, while Starscream is too small to resist him. And shouldn’t a slave resist his master? I will never understand how the writers didn’t consider that they were making Starscream the underdog by treating him the way they did. Why is it that we are expected to feel sympathy for Megatron’s plight while he is possessed by Unicron, but feel nothing for Starscream, who lives that experience every day? But no – Starscream’s powerlessness is presented as something he just needs to accept, and any of his efforts to change that (which are petty and spiteful but no more violent than anything Megatron does) are shown as misguided and pathetic. Megatron’s use of violence and intimidation to control Starscream is legitimized, and Starscream is one who is blamed. That’s pretty much slavery, and that third grader had it right – it’s hella messed up.

I’m so happy this is still going around.

Yes it is! Because it’s important!

Yes so let’s keep this going!