Gaza is aan gort geschoten. Dat was al bekend via Palestijnen die vanuit Gaza verslag uitbrengen (Israël ontzegt buitenlandse journalisten nog altijd de toegang tot het gebied)…
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Wakker worden tussen de bergen, ontbijten in de Spaanse zon en daarna een stokstaartje, een stel hangbuikzwijnen en een kudde geiten van eten voorzien. Het klinkt als een ietwat merkwaardige vakantie, maar in de Sierra de Gredos kun je er daadwerkelijk voor tekenen. Santuario Dharma zoekt vrijwilligers die tijdelijk willen intrekken op het enorme terrein van de dierenopvang.
Het opvangcentrum ligt in de ongerepte natuur ten westen van Madrid, niet ver van het bergplaatsje Candeleda. Op veertien hectare wonen meer dan honderd geredde dieren. Van honden en katten tot paarden, ganzen, schildpadden en dus dat stokstaartje.
Wie denkt hier gratis vakantie te kunnen vieren, moet alleen nog even verder lezen.
Vier uur werken voor kost en inwoning
Vrijwilligers draaien zes dagen per week ongeveer vier uur mee. Daarvoor krijg je onderdak, dagelijks drie maaltijden, wifi en de mogelijkheid om je was te doen. Ook helpt de organisatie met vervoer naar de opvang vanaf het afgesproken aankomstpunt. Eén dag per week ben je vrij.
Het werk is verspreid over de dag. 's Ochtends begint de grootste ronde: dieren controleren, verblijven openen en schoonmaken en zorgen dat iedereen eten en vers water heeft. Later volgt een kort controlemoment voor onder meer dieren met bijzondere voedingsbehoeften. Aan het einde van de dag worden onder andere de honden en katten nog gevoerd.
Een beetje aanpakken dus. De bewoners van Santuario Dharma zijn bovendien geen knuffeldieren die speciaal voor toeristen klaarstaan. De opvang bekommert zich over dieren die zijn verwaarloosd, mishandeld of gedumpt.
En daar zijn er in Spanje helaas meer dan genoeg van. Volgens Fundación Affinity belanden jaarlijks ruim 285.000 honden en katten in Spaanse opvangcentra. Omgerekend zijn dat honderden dieren per dag.
Geen wijn bij het avondeten
Er zitten behoorlijk wat voorwaarden aan het Spaanse avontuur. Vrijwilligers moeten in principe volwassen zijn, goed Spaans spreken en alleen komen. Je eigen hond of kat meenemen is geen optie.
Ook de leefregels zijn stevig. Tijdens je verblijf eet je veganistisch en alcohol, drugs, sigaretten en vapes zijn niet toegestaan. Verwacht verder geen brandschoon resortleven: dieren verzorgen betekent modder, zweet en vieze kleren. En uitslapen kan ingewikkeld worden als de plaatselijke hanen andere plannen hebben.
Professionele ervaring met dieren is dan weer niet vereist. Motivatie telt zwaarder. De opvang ziet het liefst vrijwilligers die enkele maanden blijven, zodat ze niet net zijn ingewerkt wanneer hun vliegtuig alweer vertrekt.
Wie dus droomt van een tijdje Spanje, graag dieren helpt en zonder sangria, serranoham en sigaretten kan, heeft ineens een wel heel bijzonder alternatief voor overwinteren gevonden.
Bron: Panorama
Even flink tekeergaan als je woedend bent. Een rondje hardlopen, tegen een boksbal slaan of desnoods iets kapotmaken in een ‘rage room’. Het klinkt logisch: laat de stoom ontsnappen en de woede zakt vanzelf. Alleen werkt het menselijk brein blijkbaar niet als een snelkookpan.
Een grote analyse uit 2024 vond weinig bewijs dat afreageren helpt. Soms werd de woede er zelfs erger door.
"Ik denk dat het heel belangrijk is om de mythe te ontkrachten dat je, als je boos bent, stoom moet afblazen of het van je af moet zetten”, zei communicatieonderzoeker Brad Bushman van Ohio State University. "Woede afreageren klinkt misschien als een goed idee, maar er is geen greintje wetenschappelijk bewijs dat de catharsistheorie ondersteunt.”
Dat betekent niet dat je boosheid moet negeren. Nadenken over de oorzaak kan helpen om te begrijpen waarom je kwaad bent en onderliggende problemen aan te pakken. Maar ventileren kan gemakkelijk omslaan in blijven malen.
Kalmeren werkt beter
De sleutel lijkt te liggen bij lichamelijke opwinding. Wie boos is, kan beter proberen die naar beneden te brengen. "Om woede te verminderen, kun je beter activiteiten doen die het niveau van opwinding verlagen”, aldus Bushman. "Ondanks wat de volkswijsheid misschien suggereert, is zelfs gaan hardlopen geen effectieve strategie, omdat het de opwinding verhoogt en uiteindelijk averechts werkt.”
De analyse bekeek uiteenlopende activiteiten, van boksen, fietsen en joggen tot diep ademhalen, mediteren en yoga. Vooral kalmerende bezigheden bleken effectief. Denk aan rustige yoga, mindfulness, progressieve spierontspanning, middenrifademhaling en simpelweg een time-out nemen.
"Het was heel interessant om te zien dat progressieve spierontspanning en gewoon ontspannen in het algemeen mogelijk even effectief zijn als benaderingen zoals mindfulness en meditatie”, zei communicatieonderzoeker Sophie Kjærvik van Virginia Commonwealth University.
De meeste activiteiten die de lichamelijke opwinding verhogen, verminderden woede niet. Joggen sprong er zelfs uit als activiteit die de boosheid kon vergroten. Balsporten en andere speelse vormen van beweging leken daarentegen de lichamelijke opwinding te verminderen.
Bron: Science Alert
MHKBB posted a photo:
Rovaniemi, Finland
Camera: Hasselblad 503CW
Lens: Carl Zeiss Planar T* 2.8/80 C
Film: Ilford XP2 Super
Lab: Prolab, Stuttgart
Reuben “Rube” Goldberg (1883-1970) was known for his comic strips, political cartoons, and unique inventions. His most enduring legacy, however, is arguably the Rube Goldberg machine. Still bearing his name, these contraptions are often comical or playful due to their “overengineered” nature, using complex sequences of simple chain reactions like rolling ramps, weight and pulley systems, domino chains, and pendulum swings.
“Busy Bodies,” created by animator Kate Renshaw-Lewis, is a short film inspired by these straightforward yet intricate mechanisms. The animation presents an imaginative process for what seems to be the creation of red rubber gloves and the packaging of vague fish products. As tiny hat-wearing creatures—reminiscent of factory workers—complete their assigned tasks like clockwork, Renshaw-Lewis emphasizes “the mystery and absurdity behind how we get items that are so readily available to us,” she says.
The moving image is entirely hand-drawn, combining inkjet and screen printing techniques. Throughout the film a satisfying flow of tasks ensues, leading up to a climax that abstracts the visuals into shifting colors and outlines. This “under the hood” perspective provides viewers with a larger understanding of the painstakingly manual process behind the work.
Renshaw-Lewis’ film won the Grand Jury Prize for best animated short at Slamdance Film Festival, and it was nominated for Best Film at Sundance Film Festival. Watch more from the artist on Vimeo, and find some behind-the-scenes tidbits on Instagram.
Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article A Workforce of Creatures Chugs Along in Kate Renshaw-Lewis’ Hand-Drawn Film “Busy Bodies” appeared first on Colossal.
Soriano: the case is based on ‘a single false accusation’
Club to appeal after verdict on more than 100 charges
Manchester City’s chief executive, Ferran Soriano, has said the guilty verdicts against the club for breaches of financial rules are based on “a single false accusation” and a “Premier League conspiracy theory”, as he maintained City’s innocence.
It was confirmed on Tuesday that City, according to an independent panel, had artificially inflated revenue and reduced costs by more than £900m over a nine-year period through “sham” sponsorship deals, which were mainly funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club. In a video sent to City staff after confirmation of the guilty verdict on more than 100 charges, Soriano said the club would appeal and fight the case.
Continue reading...US cannabis and drinks firm Tilray, which took over in March, says it will improve beers, pubs and working conditions
BrewDog’s new owner has urged drinkers to give the ailing brand “a second chance” as it invests more than £50m in improving the company’s beers, pubs and working conditions.
The US cannabis and drinks company Tilray bought BrewDog for £33m in March this year, after the company collapsed into administration after five years of losses and a series of controversies relating to the treatment of workers under the founder James Watt.
Continue reading...In new posture, Kevin Reddington argues there was insufficient evidence that she murdered her children
Lindsay Clancy returned to court on Tuesday in her lawyers’ fight against a possible retrial after a jury earlier in September failed to reach a verdict on charges that she murdered her children – a proceeding that ended without definitive action.
Clancy’s team asked William F Sullivan, the superior court judge in Plymouth, Massachusetts, to deem Clancy, 36, not guilty of murder for killing her three young children in 2023, which she maintains she did while suffering postpartum psychosis and is therefore not legally responsible for. Sullivan on Tuesday only heard arguments on that request.
Continue reading...By linking Brexit, voting reform and public services, the prime minister made a powerful, personal pitch for a brighter future
Andy Burnham’s first speech as prime minister to a Labour conference was a serious attempt to argue that rebuilding the public realm will be better for the country than shrinking the state. He is right about this. Mr Burnham’s belief in the power of government is welcome, as is his instinct that by spending now on public services he will save money later. Admitting that Brexit “has done more harm than good” before setting out options for a closer relationship with the EU could be the speech’s most consequential sentence. Offering voters a bargain at the next election – give up a little of the annual triple-lock increase in pensions for free personal care for older people – is a gamble.
But Mr Burnham clearly thinks that he will be able to show that enough has improved by then for him to ask voters to let him finish what he has started. The prime minister smartly recast “take back control” as a Labour argument. His pitch was that privatisation removed economic control, emasculating local government removed political control, and Brexit reduced control over immigration. This was deftly done – threading a common idea through housing, water, energy and Europe.
Continue reading...A year after mass protests demanding a change in political priorities, gen Z opted out of last week’s poll en masse
The spectacle of young migrants swimming en masse from Moroccan waters to the Spanish exclave of Ceuta exposed the frustration felt by a generation. One-third of the population of Morocco is aged between 15 and 30, and more than one third of that cohort is unemployed. A dearth of opportunity at home incentivises young men in particular to take huge risks to reach the European Union. More than 100 people died in that attempted exodus, most of them by drowning.
Worryingly, an adequate domestic response to a huge generational challenge is a long way off, if Morocco’s latest parliamentary election serves as any guide. In the wake of the Arab spring, democratising reforms were introduced to Morocco’s monarchical system. But a decade and a half after that supposedly transformative moment, last week’s poll laid bare an alarming collapse of trust in politics among the young.
Continue reading...Burnham stakes his future on care, electoral reform and Europe in emotional Labour conference speech
PM says his plan, which includes ending pensions triple lock to fund national care service, will ‘allow us to rise again’
Andy Burnham has staked his future on a gamble that the public will back radical progressive policies on social care, electoral reform and Europe, telling voters that his agenda will break the mould of the last 40 years and “allow us to rise again”.
In a deeply personal speech at Labour’s conference, Burnham began building his next general election manifesto, acknowledging that he may end up paying the price for creating sharp new dividing lines in politics.
Continue reading...A season-by-season breakdown after City were found guilty on all charges related to serious breaches of Premier League financial rules between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 campaigns
Manchester City breached Premier League financial rules by creating “sham” contracts to help inflate revenue and reduce costs by more than £900m over a nine-year period, an independent commission found. The club say they are innocent of the accusations.
Here is a rundown of how they fared over that period, between seasons 2009-10 and 2017-18 …
Continue reading...
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed AB 2409, barring California public officials from issuing memecoins and prohibiting companies from listing memecoins that use a public official's image or likeness. Engadget reports: The governor's office pointed to reports that about a million investors lost an alleged $3.8 billion on their purchases of the memecoin released by President Donald Trump in 2025 as a the motivation behind the new rule.
"No official should profit off their office -- and we're putting stronger protections in place to ensure it doesn't happen in our state," Newsom said. The bill also prohibits a company, related or not, from making a memecoin using "the likeness or image" of a public official.
"No official should profit off their office -- and we're putting stronger protections in place to ensure it doesn't happen in our state," Newsom said. The bill also prohibits a company, related or not, from making a memecoin using "the likeness or image" of a public official.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
There’s a pattern that Facebook (well, Meta — you know, those folks behind Instagram and WhatsApp and the direct enabling of the Rohingya genocide) has been following for decades now that everyone in the worlds of policy and regulation and journalism seems to be constitutionally incapable of understanding. So I wanted to take a moment to explain it, clearly and simply, in hopes that this will at least make it obvious when everyone is being tricked again. Feel free to use this as a reference to send to your favorite legislator or journalist the next time they’re getting fooled by Mark Zuckerberg.
- Launch a new product or feature that very obviously violates people’s privacy or consent. (This one, you’re probably familiar with; they do this constantly, and sometimes it even makes headlines.)
- Get caught, either by users or by tech experts or researchers who find out Meta has been doing this nefarious thing.
- Put out a press release announcing that Meta will be pausing this practice, while explaining how it wasn’t really that bad.
- Wait a little while until everybody is paying attention to something else, or the next scandal has popped up.
- Launch the product or feature again, and steal everybody’s data or surveil everybody’s behavior without their consent or respect for their privacy.
Of course, by the time the transgressive technology comes back around, everyone has moved on to the next terrible thing, and the company gets away with the thing that had everyone up in arms in the first place. Within the company, this is taken as proof that it wasn’t a bad idea to begin with: “See? They were complaining about nothing!” It’s a part of the “inevitability” strategy that so much of Silicon Valley has been using for years, where treating new technologies as if they were inexorable parts of nature is a tactic for getting every part of society to go along with their most extreme plans.
Much of this relies on people having short attention spans, on institutions that don’t hold these big companies accountable, and on the coercive power that big platforms like Meta’s have over people’s lives (they effectively make it impossible for most people to opt out without facing dire social consequences).
It’s especially important to identify these patterns because the alumni of these companies bring these toxic behaviors with them when they go on to their subsequent roles. It’s no coincidence, for example, that so many former Facebook product managers work at OpenAI and that ChatGPT has run the same playbook in terms of abusing people’s privacy and trust.
While we don’t have an immediate solution for this broken behavior, at least for the foreseeable future, what we can do is identify these patterns and name them, and call them out when we see them repeat. See if you can’t identify some examples yourself, both from the past and perhaps some that are happening right now.
Throwbacks:
Which races have been won by an even tighter margin than George Russell's 0.196s victory over Max Verstappen in Azerbaijan?
capellini.chiara has added a photo to the pool:
