footage of the insane greenfield, iowa tornado courtesy of storm chaser reed timmer

Way too much focus on designer breeds that should not be, not enough on the dogs history failed to breed-ify. like the Soviet Space Dog

Fanfic authors, I have a question!

I've been thinking about how fanfic has become more mainstream in the last few years, and if that's affected how open us authors are about our fanfic hobby.

sss day my favorite national holiday WOOOOHHHH

bonus

Before I go to sleep I leave you all with this piece of advice: sometimes you don't actually have to answer big political questions, sometimes you can just say "I am not smart enough to know that, I just know the small things I do to help." Like you can often times completely avoid making a fool of yourself if you just say you don't know.

Disagree with me! Please disagree with me in as much detail as you can! I love learning and having my mind opened, and hearing the perspectives of people who think differently from me or who are informed by different experiences! I’d be the first to admit my identities and biases would probably tilt me in certain directions more than others. But please disagree with some basic civility and kindness, if you can - I would hope I show you the same! I am very sensitive and cry a lot lol

(This doesn’t mean ‘don’t call me out if I say something really offensive’, by the way. It just means assume I’m a person with good intentions and the full range of human emotions, and that like anyone else I learn better when not shamed.)

Who won the GOP debate?

Who won the GOP debate last night? Joe Biden. Why? Easy, because when asked if they believed in climate change, not one of the GOP candidates raised their hand. The world is literally burning all around us and they all still have their heads in the sand, which means they have no plan to combat it. At least Joe does. Any young people who will have to live in the future we’re creating would be stupid to vote Republican, and I think most of them know it.

Friendly reminder we went from Obama in 2008 repudiating gay marriage in order to win the Democrat vote, to Trump in 2016 endorsing gay marriage in order to win the Republican vote

Well here I am writing this in English, because I think it is something really important and should be talked about.

To put it in context I am from Chile, a country in Latin America, a country that during the years 1973 to 1990 suffered one of the most violent dictatorships in Latin America.

A dictatorship that at the beginning was imposed with the help of the CIA (look it up, I am not making it up), a dictatorship that was under the command of Augusto Pinochet, a dictatorship that violated the majority of Chileans only because of their political thinking, a dictatorship that killed and tortured thousands of men, women and children.

It is already known internationally that Chile in 2019 entered a process that we call "estallido social" where after the increase of 30 pesos of the subway fare in the capital the students and then the population rebelled against the government of that time, that of Sebastian Piñera. Thanks to this movement we realized as a society, that all these years after the return to democracy chile has been violated, politicians have laughed in our face, we realized that we need a change.

This is how the people of chile assumed and demanded a new constitution, because the current one was created by the dictator of chile, pinochet, a constitution that allowed and facilitated the violation of human rights in his time, a constitution that allows the abuse of a neoliberal system, a system that abuses the average chilean.

This is how for the first time in the history of my country a democratic constitutional process began (because all previous constitutions had been imposed), a constitution in which women participated in equal numbers, equal numbers of women and men in the constitutional process, a constitution in which the native peoples of our country participated, where everyone was heard and respected.

As some stupid people in the world (as well as in Chile) believe that asking for basic rights such as quality education, reproductive rights, quality health is to be immediately communist, a campaign of terror was made, the Chilean right implanted ideas such as for example that if the new constitution won they could take away your house, your health rights or that we would practically be the new communist Venezuela. Things that in the end were false.

Today was an important day for my country, today the country chose to reject this proposal, all based on false arguments, fear and uncertainty. The monetarily privileged sectors in my country (Chilean right) are celebrating, they went out to the streets to sing the anthem, because according to them they had gotten rid of an ultra feminist and communist constitution (which again is not true), it makes me angry more than sad.

We had as a country such a beautiful opportunity and we totally wasted it, we had the option to abolish a system created by a dictator 50 years ago and still because of the fear of change and the fear of uncertainty. All international specialists told us that this proposal was well done, a proposal that supported human rights, women's rights, the rights of indigenous peoples, the right to free and quality education, the right to quality health and many other things. We had the opportunity in our hands but here we are, we are back, we took a step to the past, we are still the same as Pinochet always wanted, we are still the same as 50 years ago.

If I have to summarize and define the constituent process (a process created by ordinary people who, unlike politicians, did not even know the reality of Chile). I read the project of the new constitution, it was very nice, it was almost perfect, of course it had some flaws in some articles but in spite of that in general the idea was good. There were articles that provided for the participation of women in all types of processes, there were articles that took care of the environment as no other constitution in the country had done, there were articles that supported all types of people regardless of their gender, the rights of LGBTQ people were guaranteed, a constitution made for a future Chile, a proposal that easily if approved could remain in force for a long time, it was a flexible constitution that accepted diversity and embraced it, it accepted that when the people change their political institutions as well. A constitution made for a future chile but unfortunately discarded by fear and lies. A constitution made for a future chile that was rejected by a people that condemns itself and lives in the past.

If you made it this far, thank you for reading, I really appreciate it, this is serious for me and I really wanted to share it. The whole world had its eyes on us and we wasted it.

The current president of chile, Gabriel Boric, said that he was not going to leave this path until here, that he was going to call for a new constituent process, and I hope so. I dream of a dignified Chile for the future generation, where my rights as a woman, the rights of the environment, the LGBTQIA+ rights , the rights of my native people, of Chileans will not be taken away, where we will be taken into account, where a constitution will do us justice,

I apologize for my bad English or if I used some words wrong, I am using a mix of translator and knowledge in English :)

Hoping that this message/news reaches various parts, it is very important for everyone here, we have returned to the past through fear and false terror imposed by the Chilean right, a political sector that has always had great privileges here and that has never wanted to release them and has not released them today.

If you can help me share this I would really appreciate it <3

if god is real, she is going to be so mad at a lot of ppl for not being judgmental ENOUGH. I’m sorry to be crass and crude, but there is a relatively small number of people on this planet who are responsible for the fact that we have crossed a threshold for irreparable harm on this planet. the perverse need to conquer and “explore” this planet is responsible for so much death and will only bring more, so fuck off, this is the smallest justice you and I are ever going to get. let their hubris keep them hurtling forward. billionaires die with an inconceivable amount of blood on their hands and to moralize at the peasants celebrating is inductive of how fucked we probably are, sorry! we get to laugh when a net negative is gone!

do y’all know how much fuel those trips cost? According to the founder in that CBS piece from a couple years back, he hadn’t turned a profit even with $250k tickets because the fuel for the excursion was $1 million. Haven’t seen shit about that!

I think if you have a public platform with which you discuss or purport to teach science, it is wholly irresponsible and frankly pathetic to try to sidestep questions about climate change and the human impact on ecological and geophysical systems. while outright climate denial is worse, the “well there’s something going on but... we don’t have all the evidence yet... i’m not very familiar with the science.. both sides get lots of things wrong...” waffling is, at this stage in the game, asinine. grow a spine or shut up. 

Okay, I know I haven't even cut into the fabric for my feanorian jacket yet, but also what if I made a super simple green linen duster and embroidered gold flowers on the cuffs and called it my arafinwian jacket??

tbh the stereotype of Enviro Sci majors being aggressive online activists is like... the opposite of the truth. Everyone in my uni class is like, "yeah, i deleted all my socials because it was too stressful. And then i made a single throwaway instagram page just to look at cat pictures. that's what god intended for the internet."

"[Mehdi] Hasan

I think one of the reasons so many people — leftists, liberals, progressives, people who support the Palestinian cause, Muslims trying to fight back against Islamophobia — lose in public debate is because there is an assumption of 'we are morally correct and factually correct; therefore, we will win.' As I write in [Win Every Argument: The Art of Debating, Persuading, and Public Speaking], just having the facts and being on the right side is not enough. Clearly, that’s been demonstrated to us time and time again. There’s a lot of confirmation bias, as I write about in the book, especially in an age of social media where we cluster in our own groups and information silos, and then we say, 'We’ve got all the best arguments, how can we lose?'

I remember when Brexit happened, a number of people said, 'Hold on, but it’s stupid! Everyone I know is against it!' Well, yes, everyone you know is on your social media feed, and what were the arguments for it? Brexit is a classic example where the right and the Brexit-ers were able to talk about the 'sovereignty, freedom, liberty, and British tradition,' and get people really worked up emotionally talking about abstract concepts and values.

Meanwhile, the anti-Brexit side was talking about the costs of trade and what it will cost to change our trade deal with the EU — very uninspiring technical stuff. Progressives and liberals have always been a little bit too technocratic, managerial, and bureaucratic for my liking — I want to see a bit more energy and passion.

So, yes, there’s a famous story from either Plato or Aristotle about the rhetorician and the doctor: if they were to go city to city giving out medical advice, who would the people listen to? They’d listen to the rhetorician, not the doctor because the doctor may have the actual qualifications, but can the doctor convince the public? No. The rhetorician can because they have the skill set and the tricks. That’s how dangerous and invaluable rhetoric can be.

And you’re right: in the wrong hands it can be used for all sorts of horrible things — incitement of violence, for example. In the right hands, you get an MLK, or a Churchill in World War II.

[Nathan J.] Robinson

On things like climate and COVID, there is a failure to understand that just because you’re right on the facts, you still have the task of getting the public messaging and rhetoric right. Going to battle with bad ideas is not just a matter of proving facts.

Hasan

Absolutely. I think COVID is another example of that. You have the right and conspiracy theorists pushing 'freedom and liberty,' and the other side saying, 'Have you checked my latest peer reviewed paper on masking?' It’s not a fair fight."

- Mehdi Hasan being interviewed by Nathan J. Robinson, from "Mehdi Hasan on How to Argue and Win." Current Affairs, 12 April 2023.

Hey so uh.

I dont think voting is the only solution. Nor will it necessarily get us what we want immediately. And i think protest is more important and more effective.

However.

Conservatives. Would. Not. Be. Trying. To. Make. Voting. Impossible. And. Taking away. Actual voting places from marginalized areas. .

If it meant ABSOLUTELY nothing.

Hope that helps.

✌️