ok but have you ever seen a parked blimp?

why is this so goddamn funny

they are absolutely not supposed to do this btw, this happened because of unexpected wind conditions. blimps are intended to be docked horizontally. It’s still quite a sight to see.

the metal tower is called a mooring mass. the tallest mooring mast ever designed was the Empire State Building spire, which was originally built to allow airships to dock.

(this was mostly a publicity stun that never actually, ahem, got off the ground)

Dammit, the old future was so cool.

@zagreus

(deep breath of pedantic annoyance at special interest)

NONE OF THESE ARE BLIMPS.

“blimp” means a nonrigid airship without a metal frame, like this

much smaller and very different from rigid airships like the ones above, which have sturdy but lightweight metal frames supporting them

ANYWAY otherwise yeah this is basically true, if oversimplified

On August 25th, 1927, the USS Los Angeles did fall foul of extreme wind conditions while (improperly imo) secured at the tall mooring mast in Lakehurst, New Jersey* and was blown vertical, standing briefly on its nose and causing some very minor damage as tools and equipment fell forward through the ship. No one was hurt as far as I can remember. 

And as far as I know, there were never any SERIOUS practical plans to use the empire state building as a mooring mast, nor was it ever used as such. the picture above is a primitive photocomposite, think 1930s photoshop. not just a publicity stunt but a straight-up fantasy in practical terms, it wouldn’t have worked well. at that altitude the Lakehurst incident being repeated would have been inevitable and probably a lot worse

*(which they replaced with a shorter, more secure one as a result of this incident because no it was very definitely not supposed to happen)

DON’T let airships do this!!! ITS NOT CUTE OR FUNNY

A VERTICALLY PARKED AIRSHIP IS IN EXTREME DISTRESS they only dock vertically when they are VERY STRESSED!! make sure to secure them PROPERLY to their mooring posts at appropriate altitudes, and give them plenty of water and hubristic design flaws. this has been a PSA thank you!!

the goodyear blimp is the Official Bird of the city of Redondo Beach

Blimps are… real?

so a fun consequence of this post is I have heard from multiple people who were under the impression that blimps are fictional

Most powerful wizard

Oh to be a sheep lazily nibbling grass on a hill 

(Source)

The best thing for me, as an ex- Starbucks employee, is the horror that genuinely is the milk delivery when it’s only you and one other shift member. Though, I did end up learning how to carry six individual gallons of milk at once.

Also that change from Customer Service ™®© voice back to normal to informal joking-threats is amazing

Yeah the whiplash from “Hi welcome to starbucks how can I help you! :)” to “I’LL FUCK YOUR WIFE” killed me.

MILK.

DELIVERY.

Almost pissed myself laughing reading this addition holy shit

For all my fellow oversharers out there.

The fantasy of the human being is infinite, enjoy the piece that you get.  By Key Monster

“My Bisexual Wife”

Acrylics on Canvas

https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/77976507?ref=studio-promote Now available on Redbubble

Anarchism 101: Representative and Direct Democracies

If you live in the North America or Europe, you’re guaranteed to live in a democracy. Most other regions also have their share of democratic governments. You’re probably aware of all of that – but what most people don’t know is the range of forms that democracy can take.

We’re all familiar with the type of representative democracy common to most democratic countries. The specifics vary, but usually representatives who form a legislative body are elected. There’s usually also a prime minister or president, who is either directly elected or appointed by the larger representative body.

What a lot of people might not realize is that this isn’t the only kind of democracy. In fact, the original democracy in Athens was a direct democracy — one in which every citizen was entitled to participate actively in the legislative process (admittedly, “citizen” only included landowning men, but the principle still stands). 

A direct democracy is a cornerstone of anarchism. A representative democracy is inherently hierarchal; once every few years, we elect a single person to make all the decisions for us. In theory, anyone could run, but in practice we all know everyone with an actual chance has money, and most of them are white men, too. Besides, in the end, our system results in one person making decisions for thousands or millions, regardless of how many start out in the race. 

The most common argument against a direct democracy is that it would be impossible to organize. It’s true – we can’t expect countries of thousands or millions of people to give every person a voice. That’s why a fundamental part of a social anarchist system would be organization on relatively small levels, likely at the levels of several hundred and thousand. This kind of small structure would allow every person who wanted to to voice their opinion. Every citizen would also vote. This kind of community engagement is necessary to any system that eschews authority, since the community will be the main body making and enacting decisions. 

On the flip side, we see what happens when representative democracy goes too far. Bodies like the senate and electoral college (in the United States) directly disadvantage certain groups by giving them less political power; in the case of the senate, the number of people each senator represents can vary by over 40x. In the electoral college, it is possible for members to directly violate the will of their state – at best, it’s unnecessary, and at worst it is a direct violation of democratic rights. These are the reasons why a representative democracy can never be truly democratic in nature. 

Don’t settle for it. Keep fighting.

~Avery 

For your viewing pleasure

I don't what kind of fucking vibe this has but it is nice and chaotic.

People who perform manual labor should be not only given high and liveable wages, but unlimited access to healthcare and physical therapy to help manage the myriad conditions that come from doing back-breaking work.

Like this is not an absurd concept. It bothers me that people think that it is.

Democrats: alright we finally did it, Trumps been impeached. Time for a trial in the-

Republicans: lol yeah about that trial. It’s not gonna be fair or anything, we’ve already made up our minds and there’s gonna be like, 0 witnesses

Democrats: oh? Ok then. If that’s the case then I guess we’ll just hold on to these *pockets articles of impeachment*

Republicans:

Can someone explain what this means?

Our president has been charged with misconduct through the only proccess that is outlined in our constitution (impeachment). The next step in the process is that the president goes on trial. Republicans in the senate, where the trial will take place, have already said they have made up their minds and will vote based on bias. They have stated that it will be a quick trial with no witnesses and a guaranteed vote on acquittal. The democrats, who control the charges, have said that they will not release the charges to the senate until fair rules have been established. Republicans seem shocked by this turn of events

In case you’re wondering why this would make the republicans upset, the need this to go to trial or Trump will be on record as having been impeached and not acquitted.

The 2020 election is also coming up and a number of these senators are coming up for re-election. 

FLIP

THE

FUCKING

SENATE

FLIP THE FUCKING SENATE

FUCKING VOTE. 

Here’s how you verify you’re registered to vote: https://www.rockthevote.org/voting-information/am-i-registered-to-vote/

Here’s how you register if you’re not: https://www.vote.org/register-to-vote/

Here’s how you find your fucking polling place: https://yourfuckingpollingplace.com/

If you have time, register for an absentee ballot in your state. That way you don’t even have to go to a polling place, you just have to fill it out and mail it in on time. 

Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z outnumber Boomers. More of us are Liberals who care about each other and social safety nets. More of us give a fuck about the future because we have to live in it. 

Flip the Senate. Fucking Vote. It’s so goddamn important. 

2020 is crucial.