I’ll say it again, please just grit your teeth and vote for Biden…

Vote blue.

Are those "Biden protections" in the room with us at the moment? Go eat shit and die.

They are in fact in the room with us right now.

4/26/24 - Biden/Harris administration incorporates latest rule to the ACA that includes protections on the basis of sexual orientation and improves pre-existing protections for gender identity, mandating nondiscrimination in health care and insurance coverage for LGBTQ+ Americans.

4/19/24 - Biden/Harris administration finalized a Title IX rule that clarifies the scope of nondiscrimination protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity throughout educational activities and programs.

1/9/24 - Biden/Harris administration reverses Trump/Pence era “License to Discriminate” rules.

6/8/23 - Biden personally announces a series of initiatives that include efforts to protect queer and trans foster youth, improve access to mental health services for LGBTQ+ youth and address the rise in hate-fueled violence.

4/26/23 - Biden/Harris administration files lawsuit against the state of Tennessee, challenging the constitutionality of recently enacted legislation banning age-appropriate, medically necessary gender-affirming care for transgender youth.

2/7/23 - Biden uses his SotU address to encouraged Congress to pass the Equality Act “to ensure LGBTQ Americans, especially transgender young people, can live with safety and dignity.”

12/13/22 - Biden signs the Respect for Marriage Act, one of the biggest legislative wins in the fight for LGBTQ+ equality in over a decade, guaranteeing federal rights, benefits and obligations of marriages in the federal code for same-sex couples. The legislation also repealed the Defense of Marriage Act and affirmed public acts, records and proceedings should be recognized by all states.

8/4/22 - Biden/Harris administration declares Monkeypox a public emergency and wields federal power to ensure equal access in the distribution of vaccines and treatment.

3/21/22 - Biden/Harris administration takes steps on Transgender Day of Visibility to protect trans Americans that includes issuing passports with an “X” gender marker, streamlining identity verification during the travel experience and providing resources to transgender kids and their families.

And that’s just the last two years, without including any educational or research work done towards new policies or educating Americans about LGBTQ identities and politics, like displaying parts of the AIDS quilt in the White House or regularly acknowledging Pride, days of visibility, or other issues within the community.

You may be too young to remember this, but Biden was one of the first major federal-level politicians to support gay marriage, and he dragged Obama along kicking and screaming to the finish line. This administration is one of the strongest allies the LGBTQ community has had. Ever.

For the many many people who do not seem to understand how a government actually works, this doesn't mean Biden himself came up with these decisions, but they were approved and implemented by Congress because conservatives didn't have both the presidency and a majority. They desperately want the white house right now because it will allow them to make any policy changes they want uncontested.

I don't think enough people remember that the Very First Thing Trump's team did when he took office in 2017 was remove the LGBT rights page from the White House site. Like, it was mere hours into his presidency. The whole site went down to make their changes, and everything else was replaced fairly quickly, but not that one.

Or his lawyers arguing, while he was in office, that employers fully should be allowed to fire people for being gay.

I also don't think enough people remember various military leaders, and thus entire units, -literally ignoring orders- in order to protect trans service members.

He is the country's biggest drain on actual social progress, and it'll happen again if he's re-elected.

Hey, USAmericans? Wanna save your country? Run For Something!

So many people do not understand the relationship between climate change and cold weather.

If you see this post it is important to send it to someone else so they too can understand

People hardly ever change their minds in front of you...the conversation becomes one of a series of slow drips that builds up to a realization

I don't care what your perception of the female body has been warped into by the media and advertising prevalent in culture. eat some goddamn carbs

The amount of people I know IRL and online who skop meals and then feel exhausted and try perk up with nicotine and and an energy drink before ending up so anxious they make themselves sick pisses me off. You need OATS!!!!!!!!

there was a time when every animated film would have multiple licensed video games. like, Shark Tale would have a game on PC, PS2 and GBA, and they'd all be different.

exaaaactly

Trump picked Matt Gaetz, who has a total of 2 years as a practicing lawyer, and is under investigation for sex trafficking minors, to be Attorney General. The main reason is that Gaetz is a Trump sycophant and the biggest advocate for weaponizing the justice system against Trump's many enemies (while claiming that Democrats are weaponizing the government, because every accusation is a confession with Republicans).

America is fucked.

This is why Trump is insistent on Recess Appointments for his cabinet. Because he knows that even with a Republican majority in the Senate he's unlikely to push through his horrible unqualified picks for cabinet positions.

Also very alarming is Trump's pick of Tulsi Gabbard, a pro-Putin propagandist, for Director of National Intelligence.

In 2017 Trump believed Putin's words over the reports of his own intelligence agencies, but in 2025 he won't have to because under Gabbard those agencies will just follow the Kremlin's line.

Now I know I sound gloomy but I am being (slightly) hyperbolic. America is not fucked yet. The fight for democracy and human rights isn't over. It never is.

Be aware of what's in store but don't let it dissuade you. Let it motivate you instead. Organize with like-minded activists, send letters to your representatives, find out where you're needed and what you can do to combat Fascism.

I think it's a common misconception that domesticating animals is somewhat like enslaving them. It really is more of a symbiotic relationship. No wild animal would have willingly put up with early humans if they didn't get something out of it. Wolves wouldn't have stayed with us and become dogs if they weren't getting food and safety out of it. Many large herbivores that are now domesticated could and would have easily trampled their early human captors or broken their enclosures open if they didn't have a reason to stay. Sometimes individual animals still do if we don't give them what they need.

The animals that have stayed with us for thousands of years have evolved to cooperate with us better. Dogs have additional facial muscles around their eyes that wolves lack in order to mimic human facial expressions. Sheep grow their wool perpetually while their wild counterparts don't because a bigger fleece means they're more likely to be allowed to breed and be kept around. Domestic dairy cows produce much more milk than wild bovine species and domestic hens lay more eggs. Do you know how energy costly producing eggs or milk is for an animal? It's pretty intense! They wouldn't be able to do that if we hadn't given them the food and safety from predators and the elements to.

And we really need to show these animals respect and gratitude for what they give us by taking excellent care of them. They gave up a lot to be with us, often including the means to take care of themselves in the wild. That's a huge reason why I'm not against using animal products, but I hate factory farming. They are still living, breathing creatures with needs and feelings. They deserve a comfortable life and, when the time comes, a humane death.

Fun fact! Not only is everything here correct, it's the reason we haven't domesticated bears!

This is a bit to the left of my area of expertise, so bear with me (heh), but there had been attempts to domesticate brown bears several times in human history! Vikings were the first ones we have records of (that I know of) and also in the Roman empire, India and even the Victorians. There were absolutely a few generations of tame brown bears, from pets to zoo performers to hunters and war bears. They did have a chance of being domesticated like the wolves had been.

And all of that effort? Resulted in jack shit. Level of domestication remained zero. The bears got out of that domestication experiment with zero genes altered. There is several reasons for that, one of which being that they live too long and don't breed as fast, and also they are very individual animals as opposed to wolves, so they don't play well in groups, which is kinda necessary.

But the biggest reason? BEARS DON'T NEED HUMANS. There is absolutely no point in a bear's life cycle where it's survival would be immensely impacted for the better by human intervention. They can hunt and forage on their own, no help necessary. They have no trouble surviving harsh climates, so human houses weren't a temptation. They're solitary, so they didn't seek out companionship when alone. They occupy a similar dietary niche as humans so were more competition for resources that an opportunity for mutualism. They certainly didn't need protection.

So even though humans (being human) tried to domesticate bears, bears weren't really playing ball with that. They were just fine on their own, and saw no sufficient incentive to change themselves to fit into a relationship with humans. Sure there are some weirdoes who got fairy-napped as cubs and are happy living with humans, but their genes aren't useful enough to bring into the pool. They saw what happened to the wolves who got too close to the human fire and missionaries are mauled on sight.

The bears are bears, and bears they will stay.

@mediterranean-ground-cuckoo you have activated a sleeper agent I didn't know I had in my brain.

Because it's kinda already happened, but not really? The thing about cheetahs is that they are very, very endangered, part of the reason being that cheetah cub mortality rate is something like 80%, which is abnormally high even for wild animals. Cheetahs don't make dens where they can stash their cubs, so they have to sort of drag them around with them and hope predators mistake them for a badger and don't attack them (cheetah cubs have very fluffy fur on top of them as camouflage).

Add in the fact that tjey're basically horse software running on cat hardware? These guys are an anxious wreck, every single one of them. And if left on their own they will absolutely form a positive feedback loop of scaring each other half to death and be too stressed to breed.

Enter wildlife conservation scientists.

These guys really want cheetahs to stay around, and stay wild animals. They are very fucking careful to let cheetahs be wild animals while making sure they don't perish entirely to enviroment, starvation and predation, and that they preferably breed.

Cheetahs see humans staying back and keeping a respectful distance but helping whenever they need it. Everyone who knows cats knows this is basically a marriage proposal done right.

So humans want cheetahs to be proper wild animals. Cheetahs have tried being wild animals and said 'Fuck that shit! That's hard! Come pet me and keep me safe!'

Add in the fact that cheetah gene pool is so fucking limited they can basically all be each other's organ donors, you also gotta bolster their diversity, preferably with healthy cheetahs from zoos, and those are so used to humans some of them will just come up to you and demand to be petted. If it's one of those that was raised with helper dogs? That's basically an oversized housecat, or at least it really wants you to think it is.

And there is also a historical precedent for this! Fucking pharaos kept cheetahs as pets, and if taken young they can be tamed in, like, a year. Tame cheetahs were noble gifts in the Ming dynasty. The Mughals used them as hunting animals (though it might have been carcals or leopards).

Quite frankly, the only reason cheetahs HADN'T been domesticated so far is because getting them to breed in captivity is real fucking hard, and consistent sucesses were achieved only in the seventies. The males need to have their bromance packs (pardon, coalitions) and females need to have a large area to roam. Kinda hard to arrange without a whole lot of land.

So this is, in fact, the exact reverse of bears.

“People are inherently terrible” no!!! Have you ever seen a child wait for their friend while they tie their shoelaces? Have you ever known someone who would bring hurt squirrels and rabbits and mice to the nearest vet just so it doesn’t suffer? Have you seen someone grieve? Have you ever read something that hit your heart like a freight train? Have you looked at the stars and felt an unexplainable joy? Have you ever baked bread? Have you shared a meal with a friend? Have you not seen it? All the love? All the good? I know it’s hard to see sometimes, I know there’s pain everywhere. But look, there’s a child helping another up after a hard fall. Look, there’s someone giving their umbrella to a stranger. Look, there’s someone admiring the spring flowers. Look, there’s good, there’s good, there’s good. Look!!!!

"We took in a kitten that was starving, injured, and shot with a pellet gun."

"Oh my god, people are awful!"

"They're not. A person rescued her, other people who are trained in helping animals treated her injuries to make her healthy again, and so so so many people contributed to pay her medical costs, I don't even know how many. That she was hurt by...what, one person? Three? Certainly not many. Is honestly maybe the least important and least meaningful part of her story."

"...Oh."

I am holding a triumph of human kindness in my lap right now and her name is Fancy.

I’ll never forget I once had to break the news to two women that their dog had cancer, and as they cried and hugged and asked me questions I said something about how I was grateful this pup had such a loving family to support her- only for these ladies to inform me one of them wasn’t actually an owner at all, she was just the other woman’s Uber driver…

So this driver tells me she’s literally never met the other lady in her life, but when this passenger started crying in the car with her dog because she was worried, this angel in the form of an Uber driver went off the clock, came inside the building, and waited over an hour in a busy emergency room with a complete stranger just so she would have someone there by her side in a scary situation. This woman even took notes about everything I said so the owner wouldn’t have to try and remember it all later.

I see plenty of stuff at my job that makes me tempted to lose my faith in humanity but all I do is remember that Uber driver and it comes roaring back to me just like that. Humans are so unbelievably good, man.

#weirdly it ended up being a uterine tumor (not super common) and the dog was cured with an OVH#a rare feel good story from the ER 🥹#Uber driver came for the dog’s follow up appointment as well!!!

it wasn't "some reason", it was 2D animators being unionized and 3D not being unionized. and the simple truth that capitalism kills art.

Yes. Of course. It couldnt be because that 2d animation just wasnt as popular as its 3d contemporaries? Not everything is CapTiaLism BaD as much as youd like it to be.

Yeah, hon, clearly it's because the visuals of A Bugs Life wowed people more than Prince of Egypt.

marisa offers a word of advice

As my uncle always told me "if they don't have a warrant and they give you a knock, don't be a narc" but also don't accept the water or anything from the cops because that's how they get DNA and fingerprints as well

Dont accept the water. It's to get DNA

Dont accept the gum. It's to get DNA

Dont accept the cigarette. It's to get DNA and see if u smoke

Dont say you don't smoke. That could be used as evidence

Dont say you smoke. That could also be used as evidence

Dont say anything. It could be used as evidence

Dont accept anything. It's to get something out of you

The people who police your gender will police your gender even if you're cis.

Eat them.

"OH those body builder women with pancake breasts arent-" eat them.

"This woman has a beard, thats not-" eat them.

"That man has a baby face, that's not" - eat them with barbecue sauce.

Eat them. You will never be gender enough for their definition of gender. Eat them.

"Eddie, we have to go to Texas. We have to eat the TERF's. We have to Eddie, we're heroes Eddie"

I dunno man. I found out today that a subway sandwich is $14 now. A shitty subway footlong sandwich that isn't actually 12 inches long and is occasionally made with expired ingredients and was never a great option to start with. I ate those in high school because I was broke and at the mall a lot.

There are poke bowls in my city from a local place for $16. Super fresh fish and veg, warm rice, more than I can eat in one sitting, for the price of a sandwich and a drink at america's most mid-tier sandwich shop.

Someone in another post said (paraphrased) you used to be able to get something mediocre for cheap, but now the mediocre things cost as much as the nice things so why would you?

This is me when I realized I could get a proper bowl of curry from the fancy indian food place for basically the same price as a fuckin McDonald's hamburger meal these days

I heard an ad the other day for a "fantastic deal! Four dollar four inch subway snack sandwich!" And like. I'm sure that would seem like a much better deal I'd I wasn't one of the ones who grew up with obnoxious "five dollar foot long subway sandwich" ads.

A dollar an inch of sandwich. When it used to be 2.4 inches. 240% markup is GOOD? Fucking bite me

Yeah with fast food having delusions of grandeur these days it's really made me appreciate the non-chain food places in my area. The other day I went to the local Hawaiian BBQ place and discovered that they have teriyaki chicken AND Beef BBQ musubi for 3.99. and they come in pairs. PAIRS.

I KNOW.

So I immediately bought an order of each and had 4 delicious musubi and a drink for less than a combo at Burger King.

So yeah, show em we don't need their shit sandwiches.

There's some hilarious irony in that by creating an ad campaign so incredibly catchy and memorable that it entered public consciousness (the dream of any marketing team), Subway ensured everyone of a certain age range would view them as the poster child of fast-food price gouging.

Chai tea bag + lil but of brown sugar + apple cider packet + 16 oz. mug of hot but not quite boiling water

it will not Fix You but like. maybe. maybe.

tags by @eridan-ampora

Update: this is the best post I've ever made because everyone is sharing their Warm Beverage recipes in the notes. Go check the notes for more Warm Beverages That Will Fix You.

The irony of doing deforestation in a land that already has nearly no forests, only to place some giant bird-killing things there in the name of “green energy.” Don’t let me even get started about how much harmful manufacturing processes need to take place to make wind turbines.

>the trees that were cut down were a commercial crop that would have been cut down regardless

>this was over a 20 year period that they planted 272 million more trees

>That 14 million is less than 1% of the total woodland area in scotland

it’s also a myth that wind turbines strike birds more than other human activities (buildings, power lines, outdoor cats)

why do these types even use the internet anyway

Also, scottlands peat bogs are excellent at carbon sequestration, and misguided attempts at “"reforesting”“ the peat bogs back in the 80s and 90s resulted in hundreds of thousands of failed trees and destroyed the actual natural habitat of peat and heath.