Sure. Fine.

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See, that’s what the app is perfect for.

Sounds perfect Wahhhh, I don’t wanna
sweetfirebird
prismatic-bell

HEY PEOPLE WHO WANT TO DONATE TO GAZA

I was catching up on the news in Syria (tentatively good, G-d grant it continues), and stumbled across a charity I haven't heard of before. I did some research to be sure it was legitimate, and now I present it to you:

The International Rescue Committee


EFFICIENCY AND LEGITIMACY: It's registered as a nonprofit in multiple countries where it holds a foundational presence:

501(c)(3) nonprofit in the United States

As a charitable company limited by guarantee in England and Wales

As a nonprofit LLC in Germany

Korea doesn't appear to have an actual name for charity types, but it is listed as having "Unique Number: 414-82-02799," which I assume from its page placement is its charity registration in South Korea

They're also recognized by the EU and maintain a separate page specifically for Sweden.

They have a 96%/four star rating on CharityNavigator and an A on CharityWatch. In addition, I originally stumbled across it via an article where King Charles personally donated to it, and whether you like or dislike the British monarchy, it is a 100% safe bet that any charity the king donates to has been thoroughly checked out by his team. A royal donating to a shady or disreputable charity would be a major and embarrassing story for the palace, so without any reference to personal approval or disapproval of the monarchy, I'm going to include this as a form of vetting source.

In addition, many Israelis will tell you a major problem with donations to charities in Gaza is that Hamas will do its damnedest to skim off the top. IRC is noted on its CharityNavigator page as having zero diversion of funds--meaning if you give them $10, that $10 is going entirely to funding their operations, not to warlords or terrorists.


WHERE THEY WORK: they do work in over 40 countries, including but not limited to Gaza and the West Bank, Ukraine, Sudan, Myanmar, the DRC, and Burkina Faso. One thing I noted while looking through their long list of countries (they actually list what they're doing in each place!) is that they don't just work on major, flashy conflicts--for example, they're working in Mali to help people impacted by an ethnic conflict there. They've also got offices in multiple US cities to assist refugees once they settle here.


WHAT THEY DO: I'm starting to think the question is "what don't they do." They work in conjunction with the WHO to get people immunized, including an emergency campaign right now in the DRC due to an outbreak of mpox. They help provide schooling and connect farmers with credit and places to sell their goods. They work to make communities safe for women and girls. They advocate for refugee rights. They help provide resettlement and asylum to the US for Malaysians. They provide food and water. Guys, this charity is huge. They even work in Italy, not just resettling refugees but helping to quell human trafficking in Italy. That one shocked me. I don't normally think of Western European nations as needing that kind of help, but apparently it's considered a crisis in Italy right now and it's exacerbated by the number of incoming refugees, who are particularly vulnerable.


It's really good, you guys. And it's helping in a lot of places that are in dire need and getting no attention. Please check it out.

lierdumoa
girlcrushart

image

Somehow I'm just finding out now that there are these pictures of Winona Ryder wearing nothing but overalls and short spiky hair, and I honestly feel a bit betrayed by all the mutuals who were probably aware of this and never bothered to tell me. So just a public service announcement that if you're friends with a lesbian on tumblr and you have knowledge about the existence of pictures like this one, then it is your responsibility to ensure that lesbian is well-informed. I honestly don't ask for much from you guys, but I'm asking for this. I think that's reasonable. Thank you very much. Today's girlcrushart guardian is Winona Ryder.

sophiamcdougall
hylianengineer
86 Stories of Progress from 2024
Not everything that happened this year was terrible.
Fix The News

Would anyone like to join me in my New Year's tradition of reading about good things that happened this year?

hylianengineer

A couple highlights:

  • There are now ZERO COAL POWER PLANTS in the UK. Zero! Also zero in Slovakia, which closed its last coal plant a full SIX YEARS ahead of schedule! This is great because coal is like, the dirtiest fuel source ever. It's awful for the planet, it's awful for our lungs, it's just The Worst. Goodbye and good riddance!
  • Last year, EU CO2 emissions fell by 8%, and the data's not all in for this year yet but they're on track to drop even more. Yeah, you read that right - the EU may have already passed peak carbon emissions. Excuse me while I do a happy dance over here in the corner - this is a BIG FUCKING DEAL!
  • This may have been a bad year for abortion rights in the US, but we're an outlier - over the past 30 years, we are only one of four countries to tighten abortion restrictions, while 60 countries have made it more available. This year, France became the first country in the whole world to make abortion a constitutional right. Seven US states did so too - Colorado, New York, Maryland, Montana, Nevada, Arizona and Missouri. That's right, Missouri! Shocking, huh?
  • A drug to prevent HIV infections was 100% effective in trials. That. That's insane. It's not a vaccine, but it is the closest we've ever been to one.
  • Deaths from tuberculosis, the deadliest infectious disease in the world, hit an all-time global low. Hooray for preventing a truly staggering amount of death!
  • Egypt and Cabo-Verde both eliminated malaria, and 17 countries started distributing the new malaria vaccine - remember that? Remember how insanely exciting it is that was now have a vaccine for malaria? It is saving lives as we speak.
  • Deforestation in the Amazon is half what it was two years ago.
  • The largest dam removal project in history was completed - removing four dams from the Klamath River, thanks to decades of activism by the Karuk and Yurok tribes. A month later, there were salmon spawning in the river basin again - for the first time in a century. Nature's pretty incredible at bouncing back, if we can just give it the chance. I repeat: Largest. Dam removal. In history!
  • China finished the Great Green Wall
  • Prewalski's horses returned to their homeland in central Kazakhstan, where they'd been missing for 200 years!
  • 22 species were removed from the endangered list - let's hear it for the Saimaa ringed seal, Scimitar oryx, Red cockaded woodpecker, Siamese crocodile, Narwhal, Arapaima, Chipola slabshell and Fat threeridge mussels, Iberian lynx, Asiatic lions, Australian saltwater crocodile, Asian antelope,  Ulūlu, Southern bluefin tuna, Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog, Yellow-footed rock wallabies, Yangtze finless porpoise, Pookila mouse, Orange-bellied parrots, Putitor mahseer (this is a fish), Giant pandas, and Florida golden aster!

This year was deeply shitty in a lot of ways - but not all of them.

sophiamcdougall
nerdgerhl

I feel like there are probably too many people just scrolling past this so let’s go through everything that’s going on here. 

1. With Roger’s voice actor standing off camera, Bob Hoskins acts into empty air and frantically sawing at his handcuff, continually looking up and down at different visual marks of various depths. Look at the slow pan up of his eyes in gif 4, and then the quick shift to his side. Think about how, on set, he was looking at nothing. 

2. Starting in gif 2, The box must be made to stop shaking, either by concealed crew member, mechanism, or Hoskins own dextrousness, as he is doing all of the things mentioned in point 1. 

3. In all gifs, Roger’s handcuff has to be made to move appropriately through a hidden mechanism. (If you watch the 4th gif closely you can see the split second where it is replaced by an animated facsimile of the actual handcuff, but just for barely a second.)

4. The crew voluntarily (we know this because it is now a common internal phrase at Disney for putting in extra work for small but significant reward) decided to make Roger bump the lamp and give the entire scene a constantly moving light source that had to be matched between the on set footage and Roger. This was for two reasons, A) Robert Zemeckis thought it would be funnier, and B) one of the key techniques the crew employed to make the audience instinctually accept that Toons coexisted with the live action environment was constant interaction with it. This is why, other than comedy, Roger is so dang clumsy. Instead of isolating Toons from real objects to make it easier for themselves, the production went out of its way to make Toons interact more with the live action set than even real actors necessarily would, in order to subtly, constantly remind the audience that they have real palpable presence. You can watch the whole scene here, just to see how few shots there are of Roger where he doesn’t interact with a real object. 

The crew and animators did all of this with hand drawn cell animation without computerized special effects. 1988, we were still five years out from Jurassic Park, the first movie to make the leap from fully physical creature effects to seamlessly integrating realistic computer generated images with live action footage. Roger’s shadows weren’t done with CGI. Hoskin’s sightlines were not digitally altered. Wires controlling the handcuff were not removed in post. 

Who fucking Framed Roger fucking Rabbit, folks. The greatest trick is when people don’t realize you’re tricking them at all. 

wellheyproductions

This movie will be studied and analyzed and revered and worshipped for generations because, not only of the ground breaking techniques they used to make the magic happen but, for those of us that grew up with Bugs Bunny and Tom and Jerry, for 2 hours we were able to believe that they all really existed.

This is one if the LAST great movies that was ever made.

benpaddon

Let’s also not forget that writing. “Only when it was funny” isn’t just hilarious, it’s great comedy theory. It lampshades the joke, but also serves to remind the viewer that Toons have a separate set of physical laws they adhere to, mostly revolving around comedic value. Roger cannot remove his hand from the cuffs… until it’d get a laugh from an audience.

Everything about this movie, EVERYTHING about it, is so finely crafted. I could wax lyrical about it for days.

the movie is still flawless today who framed roger rabbit special effect practical effects
sophiamcdougall
magicaleggplant

The Case for Same-Sex Figure Skating: Why It’s Time to Rewrite the Rules of the Ice

Gabriella Papadakis has written an essay on ice dancing with Madison Hubbell, and the issues caused by heteronormativity in figure skating. Please give it a read!

image

Figure skating has the potential to be so much more. Imagine a sport where skaters are free to lead, follow, or simply express themselves—where the artistry isn’t confined by outdated stereotypes.

What if the next generation of skaters saw same-sex partnerships as normal? What if breaking these traditions inspired innovation in mixed pairs? What if we stopped teaching women to shrink and men to suppress their artistry?

Thinking about all the talents that we’re losing and those we’d gain back: shorter men who love to dance, tall & muscular girls whose strength could be celebrated rather than concealed. Skaters who don’t see themselves in the expected gendered expressions but still have things to say. We dance on frozen water and skate on a surface that contains the fluidity of life itself. I’m wondering about all the art that could emerge from this beautiful sport. All the artistic & athletic diversity.

I believe these changes would elevate the sport—not diminish it. They would create more room for individuality, artistry, and excellence.

figure skating
tzikeh
radiofreemonday

Radio Free Monday - Jan 6 2025


Good morning everyone, and welcome to Radio Free Monday!

This is my first week helming RFM after the handoff from Sam, so be patient with any bumps during the transition...but Radio Free Monday is still very much alive, so feel free to keep submitting items each week.

Ways to give:

Wolpertinger (better known as the curator and moderator for ShadowxAmyWeek on Tumblr and Bluesky) is raising funds for classes to complete their graduate degree, for bills, and for care for family members. He works three different jobs, and all of them are being phased out. The timing of all these issues has caused financial strain. You can read more, reblog, and find a donation link here.

Recurring needs:

loversdoom is raising funds for an assessment to get help with mental health so she can be treated and remain in school, where she has a safe place to live and basic psychiatric support. You can read more, reblog, and find giving information here or give via Paypal here.

chingaderita is raising funds to cover various necessities and healthcare for themselves and their family, which has been struggling after having to move into an unsafe living situation after a house fire. You can read more and support the fundraiser here.

And this has been Radio Free Monday! Thank you for your time. You can post items for my attention at the Radio Free Monday submissions form.

copperbadge

Look guys! The new RFM! (You did great!)

tzikeh

Hey everyone - give Radio Free Monday a follow if you're interested in ways you can help the world, big and small, monetarily or otherwise, as well as some other news to know! If you want to see what RFM is about, you can click here for copperbadge's Radio Free Monday tag and look through the posts there.

Radio Free Monday is dead; long live Radio Free Monday!

radio free monday