Elemental Truths

We are all humans made up of the same basic natural elements: oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, and phosphorus.

[lionfloss]

source

[retrogamingblog2]

free him

[chaoticprodigy]

HE’S FREE

[idislikethissite]

YES

YES

The snorlax is out!

[natalieironside]

The Snorlax

He escaped his cage

[commradequestions]

[kibumkim]

[duncebento]

finally….feminem

[gummybearattacktheworldofdespair]

Yall know they do it only when some sin they committed is about to go public? With this announcement I have to ask what court case against them was opened.

In short Mars Inc. (owners of M&M's) candies contained dangerous levels of lead and cadmium

[eggplant-avenger]

#did mars inc effectively utilize girl power when they poisoned small children worldwide

[headspace-hotel]

source source

This is one of the more worrying statements from a company i've heard

[guerrillatech]

[roadwrkahead]

Life in Code: A Personal History of Technology

by Ellen Ullman

[bemusedlybespectacled]

a while back I made a post along the lines of "every STEM major should have a required 'history of science' course that's just all about previously wrong and bad scientific theories like sperm all containing homunculi and spontaneous generation" and I got a lot of responses like "but STEM majors already have gen ed requirements!" and would not understand why I was specifically asking for a course that would teach people about why science is not infallible and does not exist in a vacuum and THIS IS EXACTLY WHY ACTUALLY

[palipunk-deactivated20260328]

The Middle East is not a continent. It is a transcontinental region that was coined by the British. It’s not a race or ethnicity. Not all Middle Easterns are Arabs or Muslims and different Middle Eastern Arabs aren’t interchangeable and have their own cultures and dialects. Cultures in the Middle Eastern are diverse. We are not homogenous. There is no one Middle Eastern culture. Okay? Okay.

[lesb0]

This explains so much about why 20 somethings are just unable to read to any level of complexity beyond a tweet. The miserable failure of US pedagogy

[lesb0]

They didn’t teach children phonics for TWENTY YEARS because they just hoped this “balanced literacy” bs would magically work out???

[lesb0]

this still kills me. 20 years. that’s nearly every public school gen z kid in the US

[iirulancorrino]

There’s a really good five-part podcast series about this that recently came out from American Public Media called Sold a Story: How Teaching Kids to Read Went so Wrong. It does a great job of explaining this issue and goes into the political situation and profit motives that kept balanced literacy going for so long even when there was, this can’t be emphasized enough, *zero research* to back it up.

One of my personal big takeways from listening to this was the danger of turning facets of education policy into politicized issues along left/right lines–according to this podcast one of the reasons for why phonics didn’t catch on earlier is because it was being promoted by the second Bush administration, which led to teachers unions and other left-of-center people to be suspicious of it. I think that’s really unfortunate and sadly we saw that same dynamic play out during the pandemic, when in so many school districts how to handle public education became a culture war battle more than anything else.

Obviously everything is political in some way and it’s always worth analyzing who is promoting which ideas–but I think when aspects of public health/science/medicine/education become polarized we all lose out because the issue becomes so much harder to analyze on their merits. And it’s especially awful when the people most impacted are children who are still developing the basic skills needed to think critically for themselves.

[lesb0]

oh that sounds worth a listen

[tikkunolamorgtfo]

I’m fucking gobsmacked. Firstly, here’s the link to the full article for anybody who wants to read the entire thing, or can’t view the image text:

The Rise and Fall of Vibes-Based Literacy

Is a controversial curriculum, entrenched in New York City’s public schools for two decades, finally coming undone?

Secondly, I’m just… is this not basically the gist of the scam in The Music Man? Y'know, where Harold Hill—who can’t play of note of music—passes himself off as a band leader, telling everyone he has a “revolutionary new method called The Think System where you don’t bother with notes,” and says ““If you want to play the Minuet in G, think the Minuet in G”? Like sure, context is helpful for reading, but having it be the basis is… WILD. I’m so sorry Gen Z 😭

[idk-my-aesthetic]

Guys. Guys is this not how you learned to read. Bc this is how I learned to read.

[derinthescarletpescatarian]

NO THIS IS NOT HOW WE LEARNED TO READ WHAT THE FUCK

In the rest of the English-speaking world, children are taught to read phonically. There are multiple systems for this, from “winging it based on usage” to structured, tiered systems like Jolly Phonics. They’re taught the sounds that letters make, then the sounds that dipthongs and unusual combinations (like “magic E vowels”) make, and they are taught how to string the sounds together to sound out the words. Common words with unusual spellings/rules (or just really common words that the kid needs to know before they know the relevant rules, like “the” and “should”) are taught as “sight words” and expected to be memorised rote (although research suggests that children don’t memorise these words, but memorise whatever the tricky part is as an exception and read them normally, by phonically sounding them out in their head). This is so that children can get to reading common sentences and simple stories as quickly as possible, providing them with valuable practice and motivation.

As children get practice reading over many years, the most common words get memorised via repetition, and new words are sounded out and memorised if they come up enough. (This is why it’s common for people who read more than they watch tv/converse to mispronounce words for many years – I was over 20 before I knew the correct pronunciation of ‘misled’ or ‘rendezvous’.)

We certainly weren’t taught to check the first letter and then guess based on vibes. If you read like that then there’s no point in the rest of the word being written down. How would you learn new words and advance your skill that way?

[headspace-hotel]

Well, this explains a lot about how people in my notes process my posts.

[headspace-hotel]

hurts my soul to see "witchy" content that's lists of plants and their meanings and it's like.

[plant that is only from europe]

[plant that is only from europe]

[entire family of plants with thousands of species]

[common name that means like 4 totally different plants]

[generalized plant word that doesn't even refer to anything specific]

[entire family of plants again]

[plant that is only from europe]

[incomprehensible common name that i don't even know what it is]

[headspace-hotel]

plants are going to "mean" something different depending on where in the world you are, because you're talking about different species and/or different roles in the ecosystem!!!

there is all kinds of meaning in plants and in nature but you have to observe them as part of the natural world or else it's kinda arbitrary

[afloweroutofstone]

Doing some deep reading into Cherokee history for the project that I'm working on and I am continually amazed how fucking funny old Cherokee leaders were

[snommelp]

So, I’ve been pulled over a few times in my life. Not many, but a few. And I’ve also been in a couple of cars that got pulled over. And let me tell you, if you were actually doing something wrong, the officer doesn’t make any small talk, just straight into “I clocked you doing 70 in a 55.” The only time I’ve ever gotten the “do you know why I pulled you over?” was the time when I wasn’t doing anything wrong, and I got let go even though he insisted to the end that I was doing 87 in a 70 (white privilege at work).

“Do you know why I pulled you over?” is a trap. It means there’s a good chance the officer doesn’t actually have a good reason to ticket you, and is trying to get you to waive your 5th Amendment rights and incriminate yourself. If you make a guess, that’s a confession of guilt.

But there’s another trap, that I’ve heard of but haven’t yet experienced. It’s “do you know how fast you were going?” With that one, they’re hoping you’ll say no, because then they can name whatever speed they want – you just said you didn’t know how fast you were going, if you deny the speed they name then you’re lying to them.

[themightytej]

Oh, I’ve had that one. Go with “yes.” Don’t give them a number, just say “Yes.” Then they still have to offer a number and you can deny it without contradicting yourself. They could just ask you, at that point, but that’s suspiciously similar to saying they don’t know, and they tend to avoid doing that.

[fattyatomicmutant-deactivated20]

Reblog to save a life

[suspiciouslysharklike-deactivat]

if you scroll past this just because it doesn’t affect you personally, i see you.

[dovewithscales]

Also, you can always go to court and contest a ticket, and a lot of times you’ll win. Or if the cop thinks you’ll win they won’t even show up and you’ll win by default.

They like to target out of state plates because anyone who would be majorly inconvenienced by a court date two months away is a lot more likely to just pay it.

[th3d0n]

The $100-200 it usually costs to hire a ticket attorney is well worth it.

[antimasculist]

extremely extremely tiring to be around people who just vehemently hate themselves. nobody benefits from you acting like this. cruelty to the self is still cruelty. if i was at an art gallery admiring a piece by van gogh or in a library reading a beautiful poem and you walked up to me and went Ewww thats so bad... you think its good? youre wrong its really bad :/ you would be a certified piece of fucking shit it is not different just bc its your creation instead of someone else's. if a stranger walked up to me and started ranting about how they thought my friend was annoying and ugly i would punch them in the gut. it is not different just because you are saying this about yourself. nobody wants to hear it

[antimasculist]

fucking say something true and beautiful for once im sick of it. you know

[antimasculist]

paraphrasing my tags from another reblog chain here but this does not come from a place of ignorance. i am intimately familiar with self hatred and the mindset that leads people to talk like this and the REASON i stopped acting like a jackass and spouting this shit 24/7 is because i realized that it was not just about me. it was hurting other people. and i made the concious decision to stop doing that and to begin the proccess of training myself out of those thought patterns and out of saying that stuff. im not telling you to Just Stop but i am saying you CAN. you are not a slave to your mental illness you have agency over your life and your behaviors - your mental illness may make it more difficult to do certain things but that doesnt mean you dont have a responsibility to TRY if it's hurting other people.

[redvelvetrevolver]

One of the things that drives me away from a relationship most is if I give the other. person a compliment and they reject it. 

“You’re so handsome.” “No I’m not.” 

I see it and feel it the exact same way as if I said “What a beautiful sunset” and someone said “No it’s not, it’s ugly.” I was in a place of joy and you just injected something very unpleasant and life-denying into that space and that hurts.

I am here appreciating the world. You, as a human being, are part of that world. You’re a natural phenomenon and people have a right to find you beautiful and good and worthy. That is an expression of THEIR joy and enjoyment of the world. They are not incorrect. 

They are expressing their aliveness and ability to perceive, they are right in the heart of what makes it worthwhile and joyful to be alive, and you should not come to that special place within someone you love and tell them it’s wrong to feel the way they feel.

I totally get that it may sound fake and ridiculous to you when someone compliments you, and it’s ok to acknowledge that. “I know you mean it when you say it, but my brain won’t let me believe it right now. But thank you. I will keep trying.” 

But ultimately, the goal is to get to a place where you can just say “thank you.” 

[hanleialuke]

5 things your character can't do while speaking

Choke. Just think about it, seriously. Think about what choking is and imagine speaking while it’s happening. That would fuckin’ hurt, man.

Hiss. Look, it’s just not possible, okay? No matter how “evil” you want your character to seem.

Snarl. Animals snarls. The Beast from Beauty and the Beast snarls. The Hulk snarls. You know who doesn’t snarl? PEOPLE WHEN THEY’RE SPEAKING.

Shriek. Come on, 99% of the time, “shriek” is not the word you want.Let’s face it: if you put an exclamation point at the end of the sentence, your reader gets the picture. Don’t bring to mind banshees and screaming toddlers.

Sneer. I’m not even going to bother explaining this one. “SNEER” ISN’T EVEN A SOUND.

[phrux]

Choked is not meant to be taken literally, an obstruction in the throat. It means they’re having difficultly speaking, they’re forcing the words out with difficulty. Often used when the character is convulsed in tears or laughter.

Hiss is a low, threatening whisper. Raw, guttural, vicious. It is NOT a literal hiss like an animal, it is a tone of voice that serves the same function. Someone will hiss that they’re going to cut your throat- a message from one person to the other.

Snarl is the same kind of thing. Not literal, it’s a tone of voice that serves the same function. It’s raw and gutteral like a hiss, but more savage than vicious. It’s loud, it’s showy, it’s intimidating. It’s very alpha male, big man, look at how fucking dangerous I am. I’ll take ALL of you on. Even if they’re snarling at one person in particular, nobody better back them up or they’re gonna get fucked up too.

Shriek. Come on, seriously? We’ve all heard people shriek either in fear or outrage. High pitched, loud, out of control, feminine. Men can shriek, but it’s funny and emasculating. Think angry italian women throwing pots and pans or ladies on tables who just saw a mouse.

Sneering is contempt whether it’s a facial expression or a tone of voice or both. There are a hundred different ways to sneer with your voice, but it all adds up to the same thing.

[carnivoredeer]

How descriptive words work 101

[susspirria]

Op radiating cinema sins energy with that list lol

[neopet-euthanization]

OP tagging this as “reasons they stop reading a book in ch 1” yet not grasping like the most basic form of figurative language is… something

[flipocrite]

[mysharona1987]

[liquidfem]

[boostergold78]

I didn’t know Mr. T pityed fool’s that weren’t woke, but that’s awesome. #respect

[lordxeras]

“I think about my father being called ‘boy’, my uncle being called ‘boy’, my brother, coming back from Vietnam and being called ‘boy’. So I questioned myself: “What does a black man have to do before he’s given the respect as a man?” So when I was 18 years old, when I was old enough to fight and die for my country, old enough to drink, old enough to vote, I said I was old enough to be called a man. I self-ordained myself Mr. T so the first word out of everybody’s mouth is “Mr.” That’s a sign of respect that my father didn’t get, that my brother didn’t get, that my mother didn’t get.“

-Mr. T on the subject of his name

[kenyanxgyal-deactivated20191123]

I had no idea he put this much thought into this wow

[oxfordcommaforever]

I wonder why we dont hear about this…

[yinx1]

[mixedican-deactivated20190330]

Mr. T’s raw power vaporizing the guy in the last gif

[digitaldiscipline]

In this house, we respect Mr. Terrance Hayes.

[eucalyptus-sage]

i don’t think people get what these fires mean for California.

the fight against climate change is not “for the future” or “coming up”

no. it is now. for california, for me, for the 37 fucking million of us who live here, it is now. it is now. it is fucking now. there is smoke blanketing my entire city. the other day there was ASH FALLING FROM THE SKY. there are people who are living with red, terrifying smoke, right outside their front doors. i can’t open a window because it all smells like a fucking fire. the sky is entirely grey, because it’s all fucking smoke. my entire fucking STATE is affected by this shit. my STATE.

by the way, california? our population is 71% of England’s. an entire country.

and yes, there are issues other than climate change that have caused this shit, of course. but I’ve grown up through two droughts. I’ve watched the fountains in my town get shut down, I’ve watched them grow dusty and old. I’ve fixed my sprinklers to account for the new water restrictions. I’ve grown up knowing each winter was colder, each summer hotter. I’ve grown up seeing this shit.

every year, we come to fire season, and i hope and watch and desperately wish that it’ll be okay. that thousands of people won’t lose their homes this year. that i won’t have to walk home with a red sun blazing over me and smoke so thick i can’t stop coughing. that I’ll be able to step outside and not smell it. that people won’t lose their towns, their belongings, their livelihoods. every damn year.

my entire state is kindling. my friends outside of cali reach out to me about the fires, telling me they hope I’ll be safe. but i can’t go outside without inhaling lungfuls of smoke. i can’t do anything but watch as hundreds of thousands of acres burn.

2.5 million acres have burned this year. million. 2.5 fucking million acres. 20x what burned last year.

my state is on fire. my city is covered in smoke. a one year old boy DIED because of these fires, and who knows how many will join him by the time this is over.

so yes, please, donate. but i am tired as shit of people pretending that wildfires in california should be normal, that this is okay, that this is just “something that happens” no. no. vote for politicians who support renewable energy. vote for politicians who care about climate change. because, in the grand scheme of things, what we need is restrictions and laws and regulations. one person installing solar panels isn’t going to do shit.

those bottom photos are san francisco. my state is burning.

you can donate to help here. but this isn’t something that’ll go away. it’s going to get worse and worse, unless we fucking do something.

[eucalyptus-sage]

tags from @astrum-cipher. this is a huge fucking devastating problem.

[gremlinbehaviour]

I woke up this morning and could see the smoke before I even opened my blinds, just form the yellow quality of the light peeking in under the door. I’m from Oregon. I grew up with a color pallet of grey and green and blue, of rainy winters and forests that are supposed to stay lush through the summer. With this smoke, it’s dark like it is under the blanket of clouds in the winter, but this brings no rain, just ash falling from the sky. I don’t want to open the blinds because the world outside is orange, not green. I don’t want to watch the world I love burn. This is Not Normal.

[silver9mm]

just wait until the smoke clears. 150,000 acres of the McKenzie corridor is gone, all that green and blue is black now. i’ve driven that road hundreds of times, and i’m going to absolutely fucking weep the next time I go out there.

[brilliant-soul]

I live on VI and the smoke is all the way up here already, this shit is insane

[thegreenraven-deactivated202402]

Hope it’s ok to add. I had to evacuate and went to the coast with my husband, 2 daughters and large dog. The smoke wasn’t any better. As a matter of fact it seemed worse. I had hoped being so close to the ocean would bring relief.

This is right outside my house. We got desperate and even though we’re in a mandatory evacuation zone we literally had nowhere else to go but home. Yes the Red Cross were handing out vouchers for hotel stays but with the hundreds of other people being displaced (locals and tourists), there was nowhere close enough that would accept our dog that was available. We got lucky the cop who escorted us in to get my daughters asthma medication let us stay.

We evacuated about 2 years ago, too. Were out of the house for 7 days. It wasn’t even close to being as bad as it is now. We can’t go outside for longer than 10 minutes max. Ash rains down constantly but is worse in the evenings.

Please consider donating. So many people I know are displaced and suffering away from home with their children, missing work and draining out credit accounts to stay fed and clothed and comfortable. Some have lost their jobs, some have lost their homes and others are on the verge of a mental break. This is just too much.

[browngxl]

My daughter also needs to see if your son can manage a house, cook food. Only then we’ll agree to this marriage.

[random-browsing]

It’s a nice ad from BIBA India with a good ending as well. Link - (x)

[wherda-cat]

Okay, he’s got potential. :)

[ace-marksman]

Look at the glow in her eyes. She may or may not have loved him before, but now she knows he’s willing to grow and change to improve their life together. That’s real love.

[sunder-the-gold]

Reblogging for this version. Even if she’s happy to be the primary homemaker, her husband needs to know the basics. Otherwise, if she falls sick or otherwise has a bad day, they’re both out of luck, and that’s just not fair to a sick woman. Or to a pregnant one.

And this young man steps up to the task! He accepts that he’s lacking in the basic skills necessary to care for a wife, and resolves to grow as a person.

[minuty]

“I love you as I do the sunset or the moonlight, wanting the moment to stay, but wanting nothing more than the feeling of possessing that moment.”

—

[korolevna]

“I could be a wolf for you. I could put my teeth on your throat. I could growl. I could eat you whole. I could wait for you in the dark. I could howl against your hair.”

— Catherynne M. Valente, from “The Red Girl,” The Bread We Eat in Dreams (via lifeinpoetry)