Quid Pro Quo

— Kiersten White

EXCUSE ME WHAT THE FUCK?!

I love that she is exposing the ugly stuff that goes on in washington. This is why the politicians hate her so much but the people love her.

All wrapped in cellophane, the feelings that we had

Hallucinations are scary. Dissociation is scary. Paranoia is scary. Anxiety is scary. Delusions are scary. Mental illness is really fucking scary, and I’m proud of you just for living.

My friend bought a fat, miniature donkey. Last week she went out to feed it and discovered it hadn’t been fat and that she now owns two miniature donkeys. Meet Smokey.

The best surprise is a second donkey

Legends supporting legends

Trump racism poisons all his decisions. Trump can never acknowledge black excellence.

What’s his name and what’d he do? I wanna look him up

I’m glad you asked! Read more about Rodney Robinson here! This man is a treasure.

Fruits and vegetables, before and after human intervention. 

Source

We did a pretty good fucking job, Jesus Christ

Remember this the next time you want to complain about GMO’s, we may not have done it in a lab but they still are that.

Bananas looked like lemons wtf

Isn’t this more of a combination of selective breeding and GMOs? Not just GMOs?

Yes.  But people talk about how GMO’s are “unnatural”, yet for centuries humanity has been exploiting mutations in animals and plants to produce food for themselves.

GMO’s are simply the process of inducing these mutations reliably.

People hear “Lettuce being modified with scorpion DNA” and think that we’re now eating scorpions.  But, in reality, they’re taking a tiny bit of scorpion DNA and splicing it into the plant.  Why?  So the plant will produce poison that is not harmful to humans but will deter insects, reducing the use of pesticide, which CAN be harmful to humans and the environment.

GMOs are producing rice that can survive flooding, which makes rice more reliable yields and will prevent food shortages in poor nations that rely on said crops for staple food.

GMOs are also creating spider-goat hybrids.  Why? So we can splice web production into the goat’s udders.  We’ll be able to spin huge quantities of spider silk, enough to reliably create spider silk cables and ropes, which have more tensile strength than steel.

I for one am glad I live in a time where watermelons aren’t giant tomato abominations

The issue with GMOs is that corporations like Monsanto are patenting GMOs and arresting indigenous farmers for cross pollinating with they seeds. But there is nothing dangerous about the science.

^This.

The problem isn’t the science, it’s what capitalism does with that science.

this should be in the largest letters we’ve got, plastered everywhere until it gets through people’s heads:

The problem isn’t the science, it’s what capitalism does with that science.

Did you just say spider goats? He said spider goats. Did you all read him talking about spider goats or am I hallucinating

being poor is traumatic. even if you’re not homeless or starving. never being able to get anything nice for yourself, never being able to go out to eat without feeling guilty, never being able to do anything fun that isn’t free, making you housebound in bad weather because you can’t afford to go to a cafe or a movie. it takes a toll. being poor under capitalism makes your life a waking nightmare. this post must be reblogged by everyone.

im losing it

cinematic parallels

before i even scrolled the end of this post i fucking knew someone would attach this always sunny scene

Again, just so we’re clear.

Constitution has an Emoluments Clause for a reason. Founding Fathers knew corruption and foreign influence were a concern in the 1700s.

Current Republicans are complicit in protecting Trump from consequences of Constitutional crimes.

I feel like this would be a slippery slope towards making it illegal for people to choose to not vote.

that’s already how it is in australia

That’s just so fucked up. :( Do certain medical conditions exempt you?

?????? why is it be fucked up to have compulsory voting? that’s the way it is in most democratic countries? it’s a part of being a citizen, like paying taxes and obeying speed limits? the fine for not voting is only like $50 and because of the compulsory voting law, our country bends over backwards to make it accessible: it’s always on a weekend, lasts most of the day, and is set up at schools and community centers so there’s one within easy reach of almost everybody. you can also mail your ballot or vote early if you’ll be out of the country on the day. like, IT’S EASY TO VOTE, and the penalty isn’t even that ridiculous. i don’t understand why the usa doesn’t have this, except obviously it would make it harder to literally stop minorities from voting.

I think we Americans tend to forget that a lot of other countries don’t actively work to make it harder to vote.

Adding to this here, in Australia you don’t have to vote. Or, more precisely, there’s no way they can tell if you ruined your ballot. You have to turn up, get your name marked off, but you can put a line through the ballot if you don’t think any of the candidates are worth voting for. Or do this: 

Or this: 

Or this: 

You have get your name crossed off (if you don’t want to wear the fine), but you don’t have to make your vote counted if you’re opposed to it. 

And it is so, so easy to vote. Stuck at work or on holidays? That’s fine. Do a postal vote.  Stuck in hospital? That’s fine. They’ll go to you. Stuck in an old people’s home and can’t get around? Again, they’ll go to you. It’s amazing to me that it’s so hard for so many Americans to actually vote. If you make it compulsory, than at least the government is obligated to provide you with the means to vote. 

And look, I get it. Sometimes I don’t want to vote either. But I suck it up, I walk three minutes down the street, and I hope that this year they’re selling lamingtons again. Oh, and I buy a democracy sausage, which, even if all the candidates suck, makes the effort of turning up pretty worthwhile. 

ALSO, you can see even on the fucked up ballots that you NUMBER CANDIDATES IN ORDER OF PREFERENCE. There’s no need to calculate whether I would be throwing away my vote on the candidate that I most agree with if they’re not from a major party. I can say, I want that independent person to get in, but if not them, give me Big Party A, and if not them, that minor party person is still better that Big Party B, and I’m not giving any preference to the Lunatic Fringe Party.

Our system certainly has some issues still, but I can show up to somewhere nearby, line up for a few minutes (if at all), vote exactly in line with my values (on paper, leaving a paper trail that can be recounted), and then buy a sausage and some home made cupcakes on my way out.

A country’s voting system matters a hell of a lot and every citizen deserves one that makes it easy to vote and results in a government that is representational and accountable.

And by the way, one time I had a bad asthma flare-up on Election Day and didn’t make it to my polling station. I got my fine in the mail, I filled out the form explaining why I couldn’t vote, no more fine. I would rather have, you know, expressed my preference for who should run my country, but they were cool with the fact that I couldn’t do it that day.

“oh no, what if people actually have to participate in picking the government officials who will impact their lives” jesus christ

You saved us and you still want to keep on giving. 

-Kiersten White, The Chaos of Stars

HELL TO THE YES I would

update:

another update lol