MMJenneral

It seemed liked a good idea at the time.

[modernmajorjeneral]

Jimin focused Airplane Pt 2 practice in boots and leather jacket. https://www.instagram.com/reel/CohOfqVghAb/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

[modernmajorjeneral]

Mari on Instagram: "可愛いホビ💜 #bts #防弾少年団 #バンタン #bantbnboys #bantangsonyeondan #btsjhope #jhope #junghoseok #hoseok #ホソク #ホビ #youaremyhope"

138K likes, 0 comments - Mari (@vjk_purple.u) on Instagram: "可愛いホビ💜 #bts #防弾少年団 #バンタン #bantbnboys #bantangsonyeondan #btsjhop..."

[stfuprolifers]

The UN Sent 3 Foreign Women To The U.S. To Assess Gender Equality. They Were Horrified.

The human rights experts concluded that the country falls far behind most others.

The United States continues to embarrass.

The delegates were appalled by the lack of gender equality in America. They found the U.S. to be lagging far behind international human rights standards in a number of areas, including its 23 percent gender pay gap, maternity leave, affordable child care and the treatment of female migrants in detention centers.

The most telling moment of the trip, the women told reporters on Friday, was when they visited an abortion clinic in Alabama and experienced the hostile political climate around women’s reproductive rights.

“We were harassed. There were two vigilante men waiting to insult us,” said Frances Raday, the delegate from the U.K. The men repeatedly shouted, “You’re murdering children!” at them as soon as they neared the clinic, even though Raday said they are clearly past childbearing age.

“It’s a kind of terrorism,” added Eleonora Zielinska, the delegate from Poland. “To us, it was shocking.”

In most European countries, she explained, abortions are performed at general doctors’ offices and hospitals that offer all kinds of other health services, so there aren’t protesters waiting to heckle the women who enter.

The women discovered during their visit that women in the United States have “missing rights” compared to the rest of the world. For instance, the U.S. is one of three countries in the world that does not guarantee women paid maternity leave. The U.N. suggests that countries guarantee at least 14 weeks of paid parental leave. Some countries go further – Iceland requires five months paid leave for each parent, and an additional two months to be shared between them.

“The lack of accommodation in the workplace to women’s pregnancy, birth and post-natal needs is shocking,” Raday said. “Unthinkable in any society, and certainly one of the richest societies in the world.”

Another main area of concern for the delegation is violence against women – particularly gun violence. Women are 11 times more likely to be killed by a gun in the United States than in other high-income countries, and most of those murdersare perpetrated by an intimate partner. While the Obama administration has talked a lot about combatting violence against women, its efforts have been frustrated by Congress’ inability to pass new federal gun restrictions.

[upslapmeal]

While the delegates were shocked by many things they saw in the U.S., perhaps the biggest surprise of their trip, they said, was learning that women in the country don’t seem to know what they’re missing. “So many people really believe that U.S. women are way better off with respect to rights than any woman in the world,” Raday said. “They would say, ‘Prove it! What do you mean other people have paid maternity leave?’”

[savvymavvy]

The US is so far behind in women’s rights, people don’t even believe that other countries allow Paid. Maternity. Leave. Good lord.

[putyouinabettermood]

Felt a slight tickle underneath my shirt. Looked down to find this guy trying to steal my button via http://ift.tt/2hU0B82 putyouinabettermood.com

[modernmajorjeneral]

Wait, this makes you HAPPY? 

[orbo-gifs]

Otter belly slide

[artsyfartsyartsy]

[audreylovesparis]

[heroes-get-made-deactivated2022]

Unsolved Mysteries

Some interesting reading for a rainy day.

Ambrose Bierce - A famous Civil War-era writer decides to leave his cushy life to go to Mexico, only to disappear forever.

Agent 335 - One of the first U.S. spies was a woman, but who?

The Axeman of New Orleans - This guy won’t stop coming after people with an axe until everybody plays jazz music.

The Ballarat Bandit - What inspired a Canadian man to move away from his family and begin burglarizing a town near Death Valley, and how did he escape capture for so long? [suggested by eternallyitson]

Barbara Newhall Follett - A young writer disappears. Was she murdered or just tired of her life?

The Baychimo - When winter strikes, a ship sheds its crew–and then decides to take off without them.

The Black Dahlia Murder - Who murdered and maimed this woman, and is she the only victim? [suggested by several people]

Blair Adams - What is this Canadian man running from and did it find him?

Cahokia  - A gigantic ancient civilization along the Mississippi is abandoned, but why? [suggested by luminescent-wanderings]

The Canneto di Caronia Fires - Mysterious fires keep popping up in this small Sicilian town.

Çatalhöyük - A 9,500-year-old city in Turkey had everything going for it, and yet it was abandoned.

The Chicago Tylenol Murders - Someone laces Tylenol with poison and descends an entire city into chaos.

The Cleveland Torso Murderer (aka The Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run) - Who killed and dismembered the poor during The Great Depression in Ohio and Pennsylvania? [suggested by the-fisher-queen]

The Dancing Plague - People are stricken with the need to dance, some to their deaths.

D. B. Cooper - An unknown man hijacked a plane, extorted hundreds of thousands, and then parachuted to freedom.

The Dyatlov Pass Incident (tw: photo of a dead body) - Several experienced mountain hikers go into a mountain range in Russia and die of unknown causes. [see also]

Ebola in Rome  - Did an outbreak of ebola strike ancient Athens long before it ever tormented Africa?

Edgar Allan Poe - What killed the famous poet, and was there foul play? [suggested by anon]

Elisa Lam - A woman, seemingly pursued by an unseen foe, disappears, only to be found inside her hotel’s water tower two weeks later.

Erdstall - There are thousands of still-standing, ancient tunnels beneath central Europe, but no one knows what they’re for. [see also]

Genghis Khan’s Tomb - One of the greatest and most successful rulers of all time, but no one can find his final resting place.

Gloria Ramirez (NEW!) - Did “the toxic lady” sicken hospital staff, and, if so, with what?

The Hinterkaifeck Murders - Unexplained noises, missing house keys, and an entire family found dead in rural Germany.

The Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum Theft - Some hacks in police uniforms steal a bunch of priceless art, including a Rembrandt.

The Isdal Woman - What happened to this woman in Norway, who was she, and why were so many steps taken to conceal her identity? [suggested by whalesguts]

Jack the Ripper - Who is the world’s most famous serial killer? [suggested by diepflaume]

Japan’s Ghost Ship Problem - Ships from North Korea keep showing up on Japan’s shores… filled with mutilated corpses.

The Jian Seng - A giant ship is found floating with no crew and no one knows where it came from.

Jimmy Hoffa - A teamster with mob ties disappears, theories abound.

JonBenét Ramsey - Who killed the young beauty pageant star? [suggested by several people]

Joseph Newton Chandler III  - Is this dead identity thief the Zodiac Killer? And if so, what is his real name?

The Joyita - Crew members abandon a real unsinkable ship, but why?

Lady of the Dunes - An unknown woman’s body is found on the beach. Who is she? And was she an extra on Jaws?

The Lighthouse Mystery - Several Scottish lighthouse keepers disappear abruptly.

The Lost Colony (on Roanoke Island) - A bunch of white people decide to try and colonize an island and it doesn’t go well.

The Lost Dutchman Mine - In unforgiving territory lies a lost treasure just waiting to be found–if you don’t die first.

The Lost Nazi Plunder - The nazis stole hoards of important items, including art and cultural artifacts. Where are they now? [see also]

The Mary Celeste - A sailing ship in working order is found, still at sea, without a crew.

Maura Murray (NEW!) - What happened to this young nursing student, who suddenly left school and her car? [suggested by deanclift]

Monsieur Chouchani - Who was this mysterious Jewish teacher and mentor of Elie Weisel who dressed like a vagabond?

The Oakville Blobs - Gelatinous blobs of an unknown substance rain from the sky.

The Original Nightstalker (aka the Golden State Killer) - A very, very bad man tormented California in the 70s and 80s, and we don’t know who he is. [suggested by thesmallestbird]

The Paris Catacombs - A seemingly infinite series of tunnels filled with bones, artwork, and missing explorers. [see also]

The Phaistos Disc - A mysterious disc, thousands of years old and covered in strange symbols, is found in Crete.

Rongorongo - An undecifered set of glyphs from Easter Island, possibly a completely independent language.

The Sodder Children (NEW!) - What happened to five of this family’s children when a fire consumed their home? And why weren’t there any bodies? [suggested by deanclift]

The Tamam Shud Case (tw: photo of a dead body) - A body shows up on a beach in Australia, and how it got there is wrapped in mystery and lies.

Tarrare - A man who couldn’t stop eating, anything and everything.

UVB-76 - A strange radio station in Russia broadcasts a constant buzz, broken only by strange readings of names and numbers.

The Villisca Axe Murders - A killer with an axe terrorizes Iowa more than 100 years ago, and the murders remain unsolved to this day. [suggested by several people]

The Voynich Manuscript - An unbreakable code in an ancient manuscript full of strange drawings–what’s not to like?

The Woman in the Tree (aka Who Put Bella in the Wych Elm?) - A body turns up stuffed into a tree trunk, becomes a local rallying cry.

The Wow! Signal - A strong radio signal from space still has researchers stunned and baffled.

The Zodiac Killer - Who is the cryptic killer behind a rash of murders? (Other than Ted Cruz.) [suggested by several people]

(These are the most reliable unsolved stories I could find. There are many others that require more sources to be believed or already have very plausible answers.)

Know a good one that isn’t listed? Let me know!

[markruffalo]

This quote was giving to me from my meditation teacher Betty Jones…

This is a good framing for where we find ourselves and how we should think about this time we are living in.

“Banish the word ‘struggle’ from your attitude and your vocabulary. All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration. We are the ones we have been waiting for.” — Hopi elders

I did a search on the quote and found it in the body of a longer quote made by a Hopi elder in 2011. This is the quote in its entirety. Keep the faith and protect yo heart.

“You have been telling people that this is the Eleventh Hour, now you must go back and tell the people that this is the Hour. And there are things to be considered… . Where are you living? What are you doing? What are your relationships? Are you in right relation? Where is your water? Know your garden. It is time to speak your truth. Create your community. Be good to each other. And do not look outside yourself for your leader. Then he clasped his hands together, smiled, and said, "This could be a good time! There is a river flowing now very fast. It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold on to the shore. They will feel they are being torn apart and will suffer greatly. Know the river has its destination. The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open, and our heads above the water. And I say, see who is in there with you and celebrate. At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally, least of all ourselves. For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey come to a halt. The time of the one wolf is over. Gather yourselves! Banish the word 'struggle’ from your attitude and your vocabulary. All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. Hopi Elders Prophesy To my fellow swimmers: here is a river flowing now very fast. It is so great and swift, that there are those who will be afraid, who will try to hold on to the shore, they are being torn apart and will suffer greatly. Know that the river has its destination. The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river, and keep our heads above water. And I say see who is there with you and celebrate. At this time in history we are to take nothing personally, least of all ourselves, for the moment we do, our spiritual growth and journey come to a halt. The time of the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves. Banish the word struggle from your attitude and vocabulary. All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration. For we are the ones we have been waiting for.”

This quote was carried on the same page.

“I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do. What I can do, I should do. And what I should do, by the grace of God, I will do.” —Edward Everett Hale

[sadmyballoonflewaway-deactivate]

[stained-earth]

[the-escaped-fish]

Citrus fruits are weeeeird

[saveitasajpeg]

The lighting in these is fantastic!

[screaminglattes-deactivated2017]

This made my mouth water

[diisneydreaming]

DSC_0065 by LostInTime12 Via Flickr: Disneyland Haunted Mansion

[shittyninja-deactivated20210218]

when someone cries because you said something nice to them, they’re someone who you need to protect because they haven’t seen enough kindness in the world.

[endreal]

And on the topic of Cary Elwes... (Iocane Powder in The Princess Bride)

Remember that scene in The Princess Bride where Westley challenges Vizzini to a battle of the wits—you know, the one with the iocane powder?

The last few times I watched the movie, something about that scene didn’t set quite right with me, and I’ve been developing a theory about what’s really going on.

Westley was involved in a battle of wits against Vizzini, a battle which, necessarily, involves a certain amount of deception. I think that Westley was deceiving Vizzini about his use of the iocane powder.

Westley describes iocane powder to Vizzini as being “odorless, tasteless, dissolves instantly in liquid, and is among the more deadly poisons known to man.” 

When presenting the poison to Vizzini, Westley also gives him the explicit instructions “Inhale this, but do not touch.”

While I believe Westley may truthfully have spent several years building up a resistance to the effects of iocane powder, I propose that rather than poisoning both goblets as he claimed to have done, Westley didn’t pour the iocane powder into either cup of wine!

Especially since the iocane was in powder form, I suspect that rather than being an ingested poison, it was an inhalation poison!

Vizzini wasn’t poisoned when Westley poured (or didn’t pour) iocane powder into the wine goblets, but when Westley told him to waft the vial of iocane powder. Since iocane powder is odorless, Vizzini wouldn’t have noticed that trace amounts of one of  the “more deadly poisons known to man” had been introduced into his system…trace amounts that were still enough to kill a man within minutes.

And since iocane powder came from Australia, and it’s well documented that Australia is home to some of the most venomous species of plants and animals on earth, there’s no reason not to believe that such a small quantity iocane powder could have killed a man of Vizzini’s stature.

Westley had already won the battle of wits before it had begun, and was simply stalling for time until the poison took it’s effect.

All quotes from the script accessed from this site: [X]

[endreal]

This is, in all likelihood, the most important post I’ve ever made on this blue-bordered website.

[rrose18-deactivated20150909]

[jaidefinichon]

[just--space]

A no frills photo of the Milky Way from a field near Kaikoura on the South Island of New Zealand

js