Our top story: I studied water. I studied rivers and tributaries and floodplains and watersheds. But theory is one thing, and seeing 100-year-old cypress trees laying flat on the ground, completely uprooted, is another.

texasobserver.org/where-the-wa…
#ClimateChange

Photos: Where the Water Reached

One photographer’s view of the July 4th Hill Country flood, the state’s deadliest in more than a century

^{Brenda Bazán (The Texas Observer)}

New on my #blog: "Books Reviewed: August 2025"
itinerantlibrarian.wordpress.c…

My monthly wrap up of #books read and reviewed. It also includes couple of #cartomancy decks.

#reading #BookReview #reviews #AlchemicalThoughts #occult #cartomancy #divination #pagan #heathen #witch #esoterica #bookstodon 💙📚

@bookstodon@a.gup.pe
@bookstodon@fedigroups.social

Books Reviewed: August 2025

  Welcome to my wrap up of books I reviewed in August 2025. Links go to the reviews over at The Itinerant Librarian. I reviewed the following books: Be More Vader.  This book is a career advic…

^{Alchemical Thoughts}

Germany leads a military exercise in the Baltic as tensions with Russia simmer
https://apnews.com/article/germany-military-exercise-nato-baltic-russia-quadriga-3ec000f1274972af2e32840938a61bdb?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub

Posted into International News @international-news-AssociatedPress

Gaza Health Ministry says Palestinian death toll from Israel-Hamas war has surpassed 64,000
https://apnews.com/article/gaza-israel-war-death-toll-8f3c3dd986c9a78da944997c2eb5f79b?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub

Posted into International News @international-news-AssociatedPress

#EU #Ukraine

Steel porcupine: A metal metaphor for our times.

March 7, 2025

By Brigitte Nerlich

blogs.nottingham.ac.uk/makings…

Steel porcupine: A metal metaphor for our times - Making Science Public

When Covid spread I started to collect metaphors. Now the world has suddenly changed again. Metaphors of fighting a virus are replaced by talk about fighting literal wars. But metaphors are never far away.

^{Brigitte Nerlich (Making Science Public)}

Only 2 days left to claim your exhibitor spot at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025
https://techcrunch.com/2025/09/04/only-2-days-left-to-claim-your-exhibitor-spot-at-techcrunch-disrupt-2025/?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub

Posted into All About Apps @all-about-apps-Techcrunch

Only 2 days left to claim your exhibit table at Disrupt 2025 | TechCrunch

Tomorrow is the last day to amplify your startup at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 on October 27-29 in SF with an exhibit table. Book now.

^{TechCrunch Events (TechCrunch)}

Giorgio Armani, non solo abbigliamento: la creatività nelle sue fragranze
https://www.cosmopolitan.com/it/bellezza/a35944873/giorgio-armani-fragranze/?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub

Pubblicato su Bellezza @bellezza-CosmopolitanIta

Giorgio Armani, non solo abbigliamento: la creatività nelle sue fragranze

Uno stilista come Giorgio Armani non limita la sua creatività a felpe, occhiali da sole e abiti, ma si esprime anche nei profumi come Sì e Acqua di Gioia

^Cosmopolitan

I'm reading BLOOD IN THE MACHINE (history of Luddites & rise of #AI) for a bookclub in #Pittsburgh! Super excited. We're tackling it in 2 sessions (9/11 and 10/9) & in Oct @bcmerchant.bsky.social will join us for Q&A!

If you're in #PGH join us at @staygoldbooks.bsky.social !
#booksky #bookclub

Round 1, FPO | 2025 Discraft Great Lakes Open presented by Gerrit J. Verburg Co youtube.com/watch?v=rg0yeAVwKj…

Live from our favorite park: Kensington!

#DiscGolf #live #Kensington #DGLO

Mfe, Pier Silvio Berlusconi acquista 75,61% capitale di ProSiebensat
https://tg24.sky.it/economia/2025/09/04/mfe-pier-silvio-berlusconi-prosiebensat-acquisizione?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub

Pubblicato su Economia @economia-SkyTG24

Mfe, Pier Silvio Berlusconi acquista il 75,61% del capitale di ProSiebenSat

Leggi su Sky TG24 l'articolo Mfe, Pier Silvio Berlusconi acquista il 75,61% del capitale di ProSiebenSat

^{Redazione Sky TG24 (Sky TG24)}

Stellantis chiede agli operai italiani di andare a lavorare in Serbia
https://tg24.sky.it/economia/2025/09/04/stellantis-serbia?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub

Pubblicato su Economia @economia-SkyTG24

Stellantis chiede agli operai italiani di andare a lavorare in Serbia

Leggi su Sky TG24 l'articolo Stellantis chiede agli operai italiani di andare a lavorare in Serbia

^{Redazione Sky TG24 (Sky TG24)}

EuGH-Urteil: Polens Gerichte sollen höhere Instanz ignorieren

Der EuGH hat ein Urteil gefällt, das sich erheblich auf Polens Justiz auswirken dürfte. Nationale Gerichte müssen demnach Urteile einer höheren Instanz ignorieren, wenn diese Mindeststandards nicht erfüllt. Was bedeutet das? Von P. Żuk

➡️ tagesschau.de/ausland/europa/e…

#EUGH #Polen

EuGH-Urteil: Polens Gerichte sollen höhere Instanz ignorieren

^{tagesschau.de}

KCWM 1460 • Hondo, Texas, USA

Rolleiflex 3.5 MX-EVS • Kodak Tri-X 400 • 2025

#FilmPhotography #Kodak #TriX #Camera #Film120 #MediumFormat #Rolleiflex #BWfilm #Monochrome #Photography #TX #Hondo #Texas #Outdoors #KCWM #Radio #Station #Country #Music #August_30_2025

fallen September leaf

#korozija ,#RimgaudoFoto©, #gamta, #nature ,
,#Druskininkai,#cannonphotography,
#photo, #photography, #NemanoDruskininkai, #autumn,

Microsoft shuts down the Community Forums

The Microsoft Community Forums has debuted since 2009 when Windows 7 was released. Since then, it has devolved to a colossal amount of “Run DISM and SFC” and other copy-pasted solutions that usually don’t solve the problem that users were facing. It became so overwhelming that there were internet memes being made specifically to target those answers. Of course, there was some solid advice, but the majority of the “answers” were expressing the same thing.

Now, Microsoft Answers has been shut down starting today, since all links to answers.microsoft.com now point to Microsoft Learn instead. Google and other search engines won’t be able to use those as a reference to solve the problems that users sometimes face in Windows.

Instead, users are advised to either ask the AI assistant or open a question and wait for others to answer the question. Hopefully, generic solutions like “Run DISM and SFC” or “Reset your PC” won’t be here again, unless they become absolutely necessary.

If you’re still uncomfortable about using the Microsoft Learn Q&A feature or the AI chatbot, you can refer to the computer forums, some of which we recommend.

• Bleeping Computer Forums
• Overclock Forums
• Eleven Forum (for Windows 11 users)
• Ten Forums (for Windows 10 users) and sibling forums…
• Tom’s Hardware Forums

Otherwise, you can ask a question here.

To learn more about the shutdown, read this blog article from Windows Latest.

#microsoft #news #Tech #Technology #update

Microsoft shuts down the Community Forums (answers.microsoft.com)

#Microsoft #Windows #MicrosoftWindows #TechNews #TechUpdates #Forums

officialaptivi.wordpress.com/2…

Com'è Il Mostro, la serie sul Mostro di Firenze presentata a Venezia 82
https://www.esquire.com/it/cultura/film/a65979183/il-mostro-netflix-recensione-venezia-82/?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub

Pubblicato su Cultura @cultura-Esquireitalia2

Com'è Il Mostro, la serie sul Mostro di Firenze presentata a Venezia 82

Sollima, per Netflix, a sorpresa sul mostro di Firenze non fa un thriller né un horror, ma un ottimo melodramma sociale.

^{Stefano Piri (Esquire)}

The safest place for a child is Drag Queen Story Hour.

The most dangerous place for a child is church.

My blood will spill on this land

31 August is Malaysia’s Independence Day. So it’s time for my annual reflections about being a Malaysian.

I like watching videos of tourists making videos of their trips to Kuala Lumpur. Apparently, it’s a very Malaysian thing to watch these videos.

youtube.com/watch?v=4ZlJOrgzrS…

(Though each time I watch these videos, I think: Seriously, guys? Do you think we live in mud huts or something? By the way, our modernity surprises only folks from the West. Folks from China usually say: “It’s not as advanced as we are, but it’s comfortable travelling there at least.”)

Some say it’s down to our insecurity as Malaysians, we just like to be reassured that we’re awesome, and these foreigners most assuredly would say something nice and complimentary about Malaysia.

For me, I probably have a bit of the latter and also this: I’ve been down and negative about Malaysia all my life, and it’s good to be reminded about the good things we have in the country that we take for granted.

While a lot of Americans believe in the exceptional qualities about their country, many Malaysians, especially non-Malaysians, view Malaysia in a negative, almost inferior light.

I grew up with the “Malaysia has no future” mantra espoused by so many that I felt that the only way I could have a future was to escape the country. I was 12 when I started having these thoughts.

When I was 19, I finally did “escape” when I received a scholarship to study in Australia. When I was there, a Malaysian chided me for “always speaking ill of Malaysia.”

But back then, I was hugely bitter about the fact that educational opportunities for me, as a Chinese Malaysian, were limited and I had to work so very hard to finish my degree. Many had to go overseas to get an education, and only the wealthy could do that. As someone from a middle-class family, that was a pipe dream.

In fact, I could only complete my degree due to sheer luck and fortune.

When the Asian financial crisis hit from 1997 to 1998, many of us could not even finish our degrees because of the skyrocketing exchange rates. And I nearly became one of them. Instead of transferring my diploma credits to an overseas university to finish my degree as I had planned, I decided to work instead.

But one day, I decided to apply for an Australian university on impulse, which I knew I could not afford. I thought, “At least it would satisfy me to be accepted.”

When I received the offer letter, it was bittersweet. I was qualified to finish my degree in Australia, but there was no way I could do it because the economic crisis had shrunk the value of the ringgit. What was barely affordable for my family before was now beyond my reach.

But then, the dean of my college told me that the university offered me a partial scholarship. I still remember the scream I let out in the office when I heard the news. The scholarship was enough to allow me to complete my degree, though my dad still had to fork out a large sum to enable me to do it. But it was no longer an impossible sum.

So, I worked in Australia to supplement my living expenses. I brought some money back to my dad, but it was a fraction of what he had slaved to save for me.

So, yeah, I don’t take my education for granted, and I had a lot of baggage when I was in Australia in 1999.

I could’ve joined the many students who stayed back in Australia to get a PR, but I didn’t.

Mostly because I was afraid of carving a life without my family. I had lived a sheltered life, after all, and could not even get the courage to travel to Melbourne on my own!

But then, after I became a journalist, I was forced to travel the world on my own for work. I say “forced” because I’m too sheltered and unadventurous to travel the world on my own.

I visited United States, cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, San Diego. I once travelled around the United Kingdom via train, getting the chance to walk the streets where Shakespeare walked in Stratford-upon-Avon, and attended a (not the real band) Beatles show at Liverpool. I visited Manchester, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland.

And of course, I’ve visited Asia extensively: Thailand, Indonesia, South Korea, China at various points in her development and watched in amazement as she developed at astounding speeds.

And then I finally did it – moved to Australia proper, and with a PR to boot! Why I did that is very complicated, but let’s just say a mid-life crisis drove my decision.

But all this only helped me love Malaysia more, despite her flaws. It’s hard to explain, as Malaysia is clearly at a disadvantage, and let’s admit it, suck at many things. But I’m in love with the passion of her people. Watching democracy grow from the watershed year of 2008 to seeing Anwar Ibrahim, the oft-imprisoned opposition leader become the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia? What a time to be alive and I’m glad I played a teeny weeny part by casting my vote to make it all happen.

In a way, it’s weird to love Malaysia. In many ways, Malaysia has shown how much she resents and disdains me by denying me opportunities because of the colour of my skin. She has also shown me that she loves me too through her kind and generous people, who are often warm-hearted and inviting.

When I was in Australia thinking of whether to cling on to or abandon my much-treasured permanent resident status, I remembered thinking: “I don’t want to just exist in comfort. I want to be part of something that grows.”
Me in Hahndorf, Adelaide. I lived only half an hour from this lovely hill town.
I was having a comfortable life in Australia, but I felt like a leech, almost. I worked enough and without ambition just to get enough money to enjoy the beaches, the parks and libraries. But what if I returned to Malaysia to help build these beaches, parks and libraries, rather than enjoy what was already being built?

So perhaps I’m a really odd person because I preferred to do the latter.

It’s tough living in Malaysia. But I love it in my way. Perhaps the love is unrequited, but my ancestors have been here for almost two centuries. I might as well accept that this is the land where my blood will spill*.

Cultural notes

The title of this issue refers to the phrase Tanah tumpahnya darahku (Malay for “the land where my blood will spill”). This sentence is part of our national song, Negaraku (My Country)

youtu.be/Kpi8lB4srDU?feature=s…

Substack’s algorithms can be tricky, so let’s not rely on it alone. Follow me on my websites and other channels via RSS or email — that way, we won’t lose touch: elizabethtai.com / Mastodon / Drama Tea (where I write about Chinese dramas).

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#asia #kualaLumpur #Malaysia #Travel #writing

I love the striking red face markings of this Habronattus sansoni.

#spider #jumpingspider #habronattus #arthropod #invertebrate #macro #bcparks #inaturalist #okanagan #similkameen #britishcolumbia #canada

Kerrankin hyvä kolumni Iltiksessä.
iltalehti.fi/politiikka/a/6798…

#Rasismi

Kolumni: Rasistit ulos

Hallitus on täysin menettänyt uskottavuutensa itse luomansa rasismikriisin ratkaisemisessa. Milloin kokoomus myöntää lopultakin, että perussuomalaisten ottaminen mukaan hallitukseen oli kammottava virhe? kysyy Iltalehden kolumnisti Anne Moilanen.

^{www.iltalehti.fi}

Investigators examine Lisbon funicular wreckage following deadly crash
https://www.africanews.com/2025/09/04/investigators-examine-lisbon-funicular-wreckage-following-deadly-crash/?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub

Posted into Africanews @africanews-euronews

Hallo Herr Merz, Herr Klingbeil. Wenn man die seit 1997 ausgesetzte #Vermögenssteuer wieder erhebt, mit den vom Verfassungsgericht angemahnten Änderungen, dann ist das keine Steuererhöhung, sondern lediglich die Wiederherstellung der Ausgangslage. Das man fast 30 Jahre auf Steuereinnahmen verzichtet hat ist ein Missstand, den es schnellstmöglich zu beheben gilt. Machen, bitte.

1/3

UGREEN’s new 3-in-1 Qi2.2 MagSafe wireless charging stand now up for grabs, plus deals from $50
https://9to5toys.com/2025/09/04/ugreen-3-in-1-qi2-magsafe-wireless-charging-stand/?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub

Posted into Apple Deals @apple-deals-9to5mac

UGREEN’s new 3-in-1 Qi2.2 MagSafe wireless charging stand now up for grabs, plus deals from $50

UGREEN is jumping in on the action today as Qi2.2 25W chargers flood the news, this time with a new 3-in-1 charging station. This one’s now up for grabs at Amazon for $139.99 shipped, and joins the rest of the models in the MagFlow series.

^{Karthik Iyer (9to5Toys)}

Help Damian, a trans-masc, bipolar individual flee florida's anti trans legislations and environment and avoid homelessness. He does not have a supportive family to fall back on, and would need our support accordingly to move to a more supportive environment:

Goal: 1842/3500