Hello:

I am Muhammad Shehab from Gaza🍉. I support a family of 6 people. My sick mother and father, my wife Hiyam, and my sons (Zain and Yahya). I have a gofundme campaign that I created to treat my mother and father, protect my family, and get them out of the danger of the war on Gaza🍉. We live in very difficult circumstances Help me we are still very far from the goal. I hope everyone will donate even a little. I am confident that you will stand with me and support me until I achieve my goal and save my family from the danger of war. Share my story. Pin my story to your page. Everything helps. Can you share some of my posts from time to time? Maybe the internet will be cut off in my area. Thank you

This family has only received €425!! If you are able, please donate! And if you are unable to donate, share this campaign to your social media! Every little help makes a difference.

€1,012 out of €25,000! This family still needs your help, donate if you can, share to your social media!!

Everyone who sees us or hears about us in Gaza, I hope that you will be with us, support us and help us. Share our story with us, write it down, and don’t forget us in your prayers.

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Death strikes quickly.
My family and I are waiting to die at any moment.
Be the light on my way out of Gaza

Please sign the petition!!!

So I checked up on this case, and it turned out his sentence was reduced…

to 55 years.

55 years for a unsuccessful burglary, theft, and the murder of a friend that was killed by police, when his only crime was breaking and entering when he was 15 years old.

This is the most up to date article I can find on it: https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-lakeith-smith-65-years-idUSKBN243246

As of March 2023, his sentence was reduced to 30 years. I know there’s a lot going on in the world, but if you can even just spread his story, please do! It makes a difference.

his petition is still sitting at 911,000 out of a needed 1 million signatures. maybe if we start spreading the word again we could get some justice for Lakeith

He needs to be released yesterday and the law that put him in prison needs to go.

Transformers prime was on a whole other level of character design. Not only was distinctive silhouettes something they actually put a lot of care into (a rare quality of transformers media) but they also went as far as to design different eye styles for every autobot. And they are all stunning. The way they used the classic cartoon pupil expansion/dilation trick on robot eyes by copying the movement of a camera shutter... You can get so much extra expression in there without losing any of the realistic robotic details.

• Большой секрет — знает весь свет.    Big secret—the whole world knows.
• Борода не делает философом.  A beard doesn’t make a philosopher.
• В темноте все кошки серы.  All cats are gray in the dark.
• В Ту́лу со свои́м самова́ром не е́здят. No one brings a samovar to Tula. (Tula is famous as the city where samovars were manufactured. This is the equivalent of “Don’t bring coal to Newcastle.”)
• Волко́в боя́ться — в лес не ходи́ть. If you’re afraid of wolves, don’t go to the woods.
• Говорить правду — потерять дружбу.  Tell the truth—lose friends.
• Доверя́й, но проверя́й.  Trust, but verify.
• Долг платежо́м кра́сен.  Debt is beautiful once it’s repaid.
• Доно́счику — пе́рвый кнут. The informer is whipped first.
• Друг познаётся в беде́.  You get to know your friend in trouble. (A friend in need is a friend indeed.)
• Дру́жба дру́жбой, а де́нежкам счёт.  Friendship is friendship, but count money.
• Знать всё — значит не знать ничего. To know everything is to know nothing.
• И у стен бывают уши. And even walls have ears.
• Когда́ де́ньги говоря́т, тогда́ пра́вда молчи́т.  When money talks, truth shuts up.
• На чужо́м го́ре сча́стья не постро́ишь. One can’t build happiness upon another’s grief.
• Назва́лся гру́здем — полеза́й в ку́зов. If you called yourself a mushroom—get in the basket. (Sort of like, “don’t just talk the talk—walk the walk.”)
• Не ошиба́ется тот, кто ничего́ не де́лает. He that does nothing makes no mistakes.

NB: any translation mistakes are mine

USEFUL!!!

Very Important Addition, my favorite

Любовь не картошка, не выбросишь в окошко. LOVE IS NOT A POTATO YOU CANNOT THROW IT OUT A WINDOW (that is, love is not a small thing that is easy to get rid of)

I found a few when I was writing the “Tales of Old Russia” (Prince Ivan) books; it interested me that while some were obvious, others had a second meaning.

Маслом кашу не испортишь “You can’t spoil kasha with butter.” (You can’t have too much of a good thing.)

С волками жить - по волчьи выть - “If you run with the wolves, howl like the wolves.” (Either “Do as your companions do” - When in Rome, act like a Roman - OR “spend enough time with people and you’ll behave like them” - which might not be a good thing.)

За двумя зайцами погонишься, ни одного не поймаешь. “If you chase two hares, you’ll catch neither.” (Concentrate on one thing at a time or you’ll make a mess of both.)

Волка ноги кормят. “The wolf’s legs feed the wolf”. (Nothing without effort / if you want something you have to work for it.)

Сколько волка ни корми, он всё в лес смотрит. “However much the wolf is fed, he always yearns for the forest.” (The leopard won’t change his spots OR you can’t change someone’s nature with a bribe.)

Волков бояться - не ходите в лес.. “If you fear wolves, don’t go in the woods.” (If you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen.)

However I’ve got an English-only other version in the file: “Don’t let fear of wolves keep you from cutting firewood.”  (Nothing ventured, nothing gained.)

I can’t find the original Russian of these either, which is annoying because they were in the same file.

“If you run with dogs, bark or don’t bark, but always wag your tail.” (Good manners above all.)

“When you can, use a long knife and a big spoon.” (Make the best of what you’ve got, it might be gone tomorrow.)

Proverbs and sayings are a neat little tool for worldbuilding, and there’s no reason why you can’t pinch a good Realworld one and reshape it to fit into Yourworld. The more it can be reshaped, the better. Here’s one from the Border Country between England and Scotland, back when it was The Debatable Land - “Be English at need and Scottish at pleasure.” (Trim your sails to the prevailing wind / pragmatism can be a survival mechanism.)

I added a reshaped version to one of the revised “Book of Years” ebooks, because something like that gave a little extra depth to the character saying it, and made them not quite as naïve as they had seemed before…

Why so many wolfish proverbs?

Because one of my characters was Volk Volkovich (Wolf Wolfsson) the non-folktale son of The Grey Wolf from the folktale of “Mar’ya Morevna and Koshchei the Deathless.” It meant there was a lot of wolfy and hunting stuff in his conversation. He also snarked like an expert, or like his mother, who WAS an expert.

My main quibble about Mick Posen’s cover (inspired by the art of Ivan Bilibin) was that the Grey Wolf could have been, well, greyer - oh, and Ivan was a Slavic blond.

I found out later that Mick put himself on the horse instead… :-D

Crystal Cup by Олена Овчіннікова redraw

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