From the River to the Sea

biologist here! why are plants green? well they suck up air from the sky (blue) and mix it with the sunlight (yellow) i fucking love science.

Every time I see this post I fly into an incandescent rage because it’s VERY ALMOST TRUE and it FUCKING SHOULDN’T BE and I HATE the way op explains it

P'Nut is gonna slayyyyy and we're all here for it. 🔥🔥🧿🧿

so, did I ever tell you guys about the time my roommate accidentally simulated gender dysphoria in VR?

too bad, i’m posting it anyway

My roommate is a cis man who sometimes makes lady characters in video games because why not? So when he started a new VR game and made a lady character, he didn’t think anything of it.

But then he heard the NPCs talking about him with fem pronouns. He got miss/ma’am’d - and indeed, milady’d. This had never bothered him in non-VR games, but in VR it’s much easier to feel like you are actually in the room. They’re not talking about the avatar you control; they’re talking about you. They’re looking at you.

Then he happened across a mirror. He saw his pretty lady character instead of his internal picture of what his body looks like. He moved and saw his avatar’s body move in sync.

And it was so unsettling that he started over with a new character. He asked if that was what dysphoria was like. I told him “yeah, that’s def in the ballpark” and he was floored, like, “HOLY SHIT, how does anyone deal?”

And sometimes I wish I could shove people into a VR headset and give them that experience. 

also yes, of course I tried the game with a male character. I went straight for the mirror and it sounds silly but I was honestly awe-stricken and almost cried. Yet another “yep, definitely trans” moment.

in light of israel's looming invasion on rafah, south africa implored the icj to call for the protection of palestinians with new preliminary orders. the icj denied this request, insisting that its january orders would be sufficient enough in ensuring the safety of people residing in rafah.

we have all seen how israel responded to the icj verdict earlier this month. they have all but intensified their attacks on palestinians, their favorite of whom seem to be children. this will end in a bloodbath. palestinians, already malnourished and living in literal tents, will be bombarded, they will be shot, they will be slaughtered. and when i say palestinians, a lot of them are actual toddlers. the videos coming out of this are proof enough.

at this point, it has been made amply clear that palestinians will never experience safety in their own homeland. a lot of the families in gaza are trying to raise funds to get out of it, because there's nowhere left to go.

there is nowhere left to go. if these people don't get the funds necessary to escape, they will die.

it's vital that you go to operation olive branch's spreadsheet, choose a family that resonates with you, and donate as much as you can to their gofundme. every last dollar counts. one dollar could be the difference between life and death for a family. please don't fall victim to the bystander effect. your contribution counts, however little it may be. and whether you're able to donate or not, spread this to as many people as you can. each second we stay silent is a second an entire family is brutally massacred.

to put things into perspective--just yesterday it was reported that 112 palestinians were killed, and 157 were left injured. in the last 24 hours. this is quite literally time-sensitive down to the last second. i would not be able to sleep at night knowing i lived through a literal genocide and did absolutely nothing about it.

PIT BABE 2 (2024-ish?)

as someone who has been involved in union organizing through my dad's union since i was literally in second grade, the way that people on tumblr think unions work drives me literally insane

unions do so much more than just strike. unions bargain. unions sit in at meetings with upper management. unions help people navigate benefits. unions coordinate aid drives for disabled members. my union ran a donations campaign for me for the interim between the end of my allotted paid leave and my disability claim

"unionize your workplace" means so much more than "talk to your coworkers about striking." you gotta actively know what a union is and what a union isn't before you can form one. calls to unionize should lead to more people learning their rights and learning how unions work, and coordinating with orgs like seiu and the teamsters and the aft (and if you don't know what those are, look them up).

My union found me a legal expert to help me check over my last redundancy settlement for free, provided private medical cover whilst I was unemployed, and negotiated a good deal on cheap insurance for their members. It is so much more than strikes.

😳

I want Irish unification because of all that is means historically, culturally, and personally for the people of Ireland. BUT I also really want Irish unification because I need this silly little Star Trek line to have actually been a gift from Apollo like prophecy.

this is a way better model... you'll still get transphobic & intersexist drs of course but i prefer this to male / female or even having separate questions for gender & sex.

[we can't see the full form, but i'd suggest having a "something else" option and dominant hormone question too.]

as a cis woman who's had a hysterectomy and partial oophorectomy, this would be helpful for me, too! it'd be pointless to try to diagnose me for disorders that affect organs I don't have anymore, after all.

being inclusive helps us ALL. 💖

Lmao how is this real, "the ambient sounds of the world were wrong, sir"

Just checking.... We all pronounce Miette like My-TAY in our heads, right?

well it’s french. so neither of those are remotely close. that poor cat. you butcher miette’s name. 20 years jail.

It's literally me yet are you kidding me. My Tay?? Fucking my Tay??

I thought it was mee - et - ay