Yes this is bear

[cupcakelogic]

[preved-medved]

I want to believe that this is true

[iguanamouth]

im trading in all my emotions in exchange for knowledge of what wild plants i can just pick right up off the ground and eat goodnight

[eatingcroutons]

This is what state-sponsored propaganda looks like on Tumblr

Yeah, I got one of Tumblr’s you-may-have-unwittingly-interacted-with-propaganda-blogs emails too. And like everyone else, I kind of shrugged because really, what am I supposed to do about that now? I have search disabled on my blog, and my tags are a mess; there’s no way I could go through and actually find any of the propaganda I may have inadvertently boosted over the seven years I’ve been on this site.

But out of curiosity I looked over Tumblr’s list of IRA-linked blogs. And one username stood out to me. I recognised it because for several months last year it had been showing up constantly in my notifications after I reblogged one of their posts with a response.

That username was black-to-the-bones, and this is the post I reblogged from them:

When I first saw the post by black-to-the-bones, I wanted to know more about these women. I dug up the original Tweet, ran a reverse Google image search and… well, as you can see from my reblog, there turned out to be quite a lot of information about them on the internet, which I spent the next hour or two collating into my post.

Now, don’t get me wrong here: I am one hundred percent aware that history regularly erases the contributions of women, and especially women of colour. But as you can see from my reply, in this particular case the history of these three women absolutely is not “hidden from us”. The person attempting to hide these women’s history was black-to-the-bones themself.

The original post – which we now know was posted by a state-sponsored propaganda blog – took a legitimate issue, but misrepresented facts to stir up emotion about that issue. The issue was perfectly tailored to resonate with Tumblr’s culture of social justice, and it worked. The vast majority of reblogs of the original post do not include any correction or further information.

Again, don’t get me wrong: anger is important. It’s a necessary part of social justice. But we have clear evidence that bad-faith actors are intentionally fomenting false anger to keep us reacting emotionally rather than thinking rationally. And they are smart about it. They will mix in their attempts to divide and enrage us with innocuous cute videos to gain followers, and legitimate posts about issues. So that when they do post actual misinformation, it slips under our radar.

When propaganda blogs do something like try to smear a Jewish woman as a white supremacist, it’s obvious who their target is, and what their goal is. But I wanted to highlight the black-to-the-bones post above because it’s a subtler, more insidious kind of propaganda. It’s part of a continuum of tactics designed to keep up a constant background noise of outrage. 

Because while anger is important, constant anger makes it harder for us to empathise with each other. It makes it harder for us to be constructive, rather than destructive. And ultimately, it just exhausts us and leaves us too apathetic to care.

So getting back to my original question: What are we supposed to do about that now?

Fact. Check. Everything.

Your racist grandparents aren’t the only ones being targeted by fake news. We are being targeted with posts that are specifically designed to appeal to Tumblr’s social justice culture. So if you see a post about an issue that makes you angry, stop before you reblog. Check the source. Google the details. Make sure your anger about legitimate issues isn’t being exploited by malicious actors.

Propaganda like this relies on us reacting to outrage before we stop to think. Be smarter than that. Don’t let yourself be manipulated.

[shinelikethunder]

This is an excellent post, and I just want to add:

The thing that makes that post reek, in retrospect, of IRA propaganda, isn’t just anger–it’s false futility. That’s where the distortion occurs. It doesn’t say neglected, it doesn’t say ignored, it says hidden–unknowable. Pointless to try and dig up. The Man has already won, might as well stay home on election day rather than contribute to the system. That’s what they’re trying to push. And that’s what crou took pains to debunk. The system might need a lot of good smacks around the face, but it does respond, and the material’s there.

[skull-heads]

The Caretaker. 

[zorekryk]

THAT’S NOT HOW YOU WATER A SEEDLING

[preved-medved]

that's exactly how you water a heart tho

[monicam]

my first attempt at a creepypasta (beginner here; go easy on me)

carpeted kitchen

[preved-medved]

my dear sweet grandma has a carpeted kitchen AND BATHROOM in her house and I have learned to live with this

[first-disorder]

More of the Young Jedi Killer and lieutenant Hux Kylo changed his style after that.

[spitandvinegar]

Good Lord I am so ancient, so aged, so withered and wan, each day I merely creep on the earth writing pointless fanfictions that have no plots and never go anywhere, so have this series of entirely unnecessary and deeply goofy ANG sex scenes I guess. You will like it if you like elderly men dickin’ about and Captain America awkwardly attiring himself in ladies’ underthings: you will not like it if you are a well-adjusted individual. 

Keep reading

[preved-medved]

HOT DIGGITY DAMN

[preved-medved]

one of the more recent porn blogs that followed me had an actualfax inspiring quote on their icon, but it looks like that account doesn't exist anymore tumblr is a weird place to be

[majestic-scotsman]

Ewan McGregor

[trillgutterbug]

unpopular opinion

the “dog/cat person” alignment is a false dichotomy perpetuated by aggressive western-centric individualism, the industrial revolution, and Big Hetero

[trillgutterbug]

1. everything we say/do gets run through the filter of “how does this thing Define Me As A Person; what does it Say About Me; i have a right to fabricate objective moral judgements about everything that doesn’t personally agree with me”

2. dogs and cats no longer, on the whole, fill specific useful niches like care of livestock, child-minding, home protection, and pest control. they’re “luxury items” who consume resources and return no tangible economic benefit, so keeping them requires extensive convoluted emotional justification (see #1)

3. “hur dur cats are incomprehensible manipulative snobs who will use you for food and affection and then ignore/scratch you when they’re done with you– just like a woman!” / “hur dur dogs are big dumb gross idiots who slobber on you and convey their limited emotions instantly and clearly– just like a man!”

3.5. “cats are useless and prissy / dogs are manly and cool” (the exception to this is dogs under 30lbs, who are “rodents,” “not real dogs,” “pathetic/gross,” “girly,” etc)

4. BONUS ROUND “i was raised in a christian home with strong sexist and creationist undertones and i can’t fathom other animals as discrete entities who exist and have specific behavioural paradigms for reasons that have nothing to do with me or my divine right to have dominion over the earth”

[preved-medved]

this post is balm for my cat-owning, dog-appreciating soul

[theveryworstthing]

the fight is harder each year.

[theveryworstthing]

gotta keep going because nothing ever stops.

[tytnikigonet-deactivated2022030]

[preved-medved]

I spent a good few minutes trying to figure out what kind of Star Wars AU this was

[juxtp0se]

did U GUYS KNOW, that the way stores get the balloons off of the ceiling is with ANOTHER balloon, w tape on the top??? and they just dont cut the string so it’s like super long and u gotta aim it right n reel it in. i just found that out today when i DID IT and it’s been the best working day of my life i had a blast blowing up balloons and fetching some off the ceiling. i had so much power? and NO ONE ELSE in my department likes that job so now it’s MY job when need be

[goddamnshinyrock]

omg so I work at a museum and one of our buildings has a) very high ceilings and b) a bizarrely sensitive alarm system that will go off if anything touches the ceiling. Because of this, helium balloons are considered public enemy #1 and are strictly forbidden from entering the museum. But just in case an illicit balloon is successfully smuggled in, the museum has acquired a fucking b.b. gun for the express purpose of shooting down rogue balloons.

[pipistrellus]

Mica that’s amazing

[zorekryk]

does…does the alarm not go off when shot with a BB gun???

[preved-medved]

back in my day we used a really tall ladder and a knife, but tbh this sounds like a lot of fun (with less vertigo involved)

[deathcomes4u]

OK HERE’S THE DEAL WITH LAWN DISCOURSE

So I see a lot of people on here getting super shitty about lawns and how they’re the biggest suburban evil and the mark of gentrification and blah blah blah.

But here’s the thing.

You need to calm the fuck down about lawns. House lawns are not your enemy.

‘They take up so much water that could be used elsewhe-’ Not if you get buffalo. Not if you have a rainwater tank to draw your garden water from. Buffalo doesn’t fucking care you don’t need to water that shit let the rain do it. Don’t fucking plant Kikuyu if you value your other plants though. It will strange EVERYTHING YOU LOVE AND NEVER GO AWAY. Buffallo behaves itself a little better, you can control buffalo.

‘They take up space that should be used for producti-’ Lemme stop you right there, how many of you have the energy and money and time to actually grow enough food that you can subsidise your daily meals with it? 

How many of you have experience with organic farming. How many of you have actually had to fight bugs off your plants without using insecticides?

There are so, so, SO many reasons your front and back gardens are not ever going to be useful as food growing areas to you. Do you know your soil type? Does it need enriching? Is it sandy? loamy? clay-bound?

Any amount of extra fertilizing you do is going to end up running off into storm water and that can fuck with the ecology of local streams and rivers and whatnot. Unless you are only using compost you’ve made yourself or very small amounts of fertilizer or you grow in containers with minimal water run-off, you’re going to be encountering this issue.

Don’t even get me started on how you can’t expect people with physical disabilities to be putting their garden areas to use by growing food. Gardening is hard fucking work. Farming on a small scale is still physically taxing, it’s also mentally taxing, you have to be able to discipline and schedule yourself so you know when you’ve planted things. You know when they need watering. You know when they need more liquid fertilizer and/or seasol. You know when to harvest and how to harvest and not all crops are the same. Etcetcetc.

Gardening is not the hardest thing in the world but it STILL requires a basic amount of motivation and energy and time and organisation skills. Not everyone has all of this. Not everyone should be expected to have all of this.

‘So just plant trees and stuff for bees and butterflies and stuff!’ Again. Not everyone can plant out a full cottage garden in their yard. Not everyone has the money or energy or all the other shit you need to keep a garden running.

You could argue that they should just plant hardy stuff, succulents and cacti or hardy natives (in Australia’s case, we have a shitonne of natives that are basically plant and neglect types, and they will grow regardless) But these are a very particular look, and people should not HAVE to live with plants they don’t like the look of just for the sake of avoiding having grass.

‘So just plant trees then-’ Listen there are SO MANY ISSUES when it comes to planting trees around your house. This is coming from someone who FUCKING LOVES TREES and would plant a forest around the house if I could.

Why can’t I? Lets see:

-Falling branch damage is a serious concern your house can get super fucked in a storm by nearby trees. And pruning trees? Hard work. Getting someone else to do it? That’s an expense many can’t afford.

-Tree roots in heavy clay soils will often go straight for your storm water and sewerage pipes and FUCK. THEM. UP. This is a current and real problem for us, we have to remove our decades old grafted  dwarf Golden Ash in our front yard because it’s fucking up our sewerage line. We do not WANT to. But we HAVE to. And replacing that tree is going to involve a lot of research and probably MONEY on a container big enough for a new tree and a tree that will be happy to live in a non-draining container. Only reason we can do this? My parents have money. I’m the one doing the actual work and tree care and research. They do the bankrolling. Without me, they would replace it with nothing because NONE OF THEM HAVE THE ENERGY OR MOTIVATION TO GARDEN. Without them, I wouldn’t even have a house with a yard I’d be homeless so y’know.

-Councils can get shitty at you and make you pay them money for no real reason other than it’s an excuse to get money out of you. Not necessarilly common, but still a concern in some places.

-Neighbours may also complain, that is how we lost our also decades old Tallow wood tree out the back. It’s roots cracked and ruined fresh paving done down the accessway at the side of our neighbour’s house.

-Tree roots in general will fuck shit up if your placement isn’t just right, even with trees that have non-aggressive roots. You need to know where all the pipes run and then have enough area to plant away from them AND the house AND the road AND any other paving like sidewalks and driveways.

-Buying trees, even in sapling form, can be expensive. Not everyone can budget in plants.

-powerlines are a thing you need to watch out for in many places like this is a very serious thing.

ON TOP OF ALL OF THIS, you will have a more expensive water bill if you have more plants than grass. Unless you are willing to spend the time and money on tap-timers and the right irrigation systems, you’re going to be having to deal with watering schedules and using more than before.

Growing plants is not always cheap nor accessible to everyone. While I do encourage growing in containers for those unable to work on their gardens, or who don’t have much space, I absolutely acknowledge that not everyone can garden. 

So if you cannot fill a space with other plants, as many people can’t, lawns are THE BEST ANSWER. Why? Because lawns suck up a bunch of carbon. The right sort is not only drought tollerant and hardy, but it keeps the soil beneath in good condition.

Do you know what I did today in my clay heavy backyard? I reclaimed some lawn space for garden-bed expansion. Do you know how long ago we laid that lawn? DECADES. I think i was maybe 8 when we turfed the back lawn area. We laid down all the shit you need to lay down on heavy clay to let lawn establish. Gypsum, newspaper barrier, blood and bone, basic garden soil.

I was expecting depleted soil under that turf. Instead I found rich, friable soil that I could have stuck anything in immediately and not worried about fertilizing. After like 20 fucking years my dude, that soil has been kept lush by the turf. It has protected it from drought and flooding and mineral leach. There were a bunch of worms wriggling around in there. it is GOOD FUCKING SOIL because we had GRASS KEEPING IT GOOD.

Grass is probably the BEST alternative for people with no time, energy or money, to have in their yard. All it needs is occassional cutting in summer, in winter you barely have to do anything to it. You need to feed it maybe once a year if at all. I’ve never fed the lawns, and they go in regardless. They’re not the healthiest lawns, but they’re doing pretty damn well considering.

Listen, I support raging against lawns and fields when people want to make community gardens on empty plots and councils say no because they prefer to just hold onto useless grassy land. That’s a situation in which land IS wasted, because people have full intent to use it to better the community. The very least a council could do in an open field that they won’t let the public use is stick a bunch of trees on it to counter carbon emissions in the area. 

And I’m not overly fond of people using excessive mowing and cutting to keep ultra manicured lawns, because that’s excessive carbon production for an aesthetic you can probably achieve just by growing a different strain of grass.

But for the LOVE OF GOD do NOT be railing against people who just have grass all over their front and back lawn. Grass is not evil. Society has built infrastructure that is not friendly to tree growing, and this is something it would be nice to address in future planning (even though I doubt it will be for some time) but you need to look at the reality we are dealing with.

On top of all of this, some people just really fucking like to see a lawn at their house, often bordered by garden beds with other plants, MANAGEABLE amounts of plants. And it’s important to like the look of your house, it’s your comfort zone, it’s SUPPOSED to bring you pleasure, not stress.

You cannot be angry at people who do not use their land for growing food. You might as well just be angry that not every single person has chosen farming as a profession. It’s a ridiculous expectation. Lawns may not attract Bees or butterflies, but they DO have their own positive ecology. THEY SERVE A POSITIVE PURPOSE. LAWNS ARE NOT YOUR ENEMY. 

If you want to counter ‘lawn culture’ in a USEFUL way that ISN’T bitching and whining about people with lawns, GET INVOLVED IN LOCAL TREE-PLANTING ACTIVITIES. FIND OUT ABOUT YOUR LOCAL LANDCARE GROUPS OR GET INVOLVED IN COMMUNITY GARDEN PROJECTS AND NATIVE VEGETATION REHAB GROUPS. GO DO SOME POSITIVE PLANT WORK.

[preved-medved]

oh my god thank you

y'know what homeowners often choose when they need something lower-maintenance than a lawn? PAVEMENT. which is an impermeable surface during any rainfall, increasing the amount and speed of water draining into the storm drains, which is a factor in flooding during heavy rains. and that pavement is gonna develop cracks and weeds eventually, unless you use herbicides, which is a pain in the ass. gravel isn't much better; sure it's a permeable surface, but the weeds will show up much faster, and weedy gravel is more irritating to deal with than lawn grass imo.

anything you do to your yard areas, in any capacity, will have to be maintained. lawns are relatively straightforward, and you can usually find a neighborhood kid or a guy with a mower and a truck to buzz it down a couple times a month for a modest price. grass itself enriches the soil it's grown on, prevents the loss of topsoil due to erosion (this is important!! it takes so fucking long for soils to form naturally) and allows rainwater to flow back into the soil. it's not as interesting or productive as a planted bed, but it has useful features besides 'ubiquitous status symbol for idiots'.

EDITED TO ADD an idea for practical application: support ‘naturalistic’ golf courses in your area, and/or lean on them to relax their overly-manicured standards. there is a course near me that works to keep itself low-impact, which generally means there are some teeny flowering weeds in the grass if you were to go looking for them, and they don’t use QUITE as much water as other courses do. reduced herbicide, fertilizer, and water consumption = a perfectly respectable sportslawn with a much smaller footprint. Idk if golf is supposed to be one of the things millennials are killing, but if you’ve got the means or the motivation, encouraging low-impact sporting grounds is a great thing to do.

[preved-medved]

I'm so glad I got caught up on Brooklyn Nine Nine so close to the new season coming out, because that is a hell of a cliffhanger to just be waiting around on

[mens-rights-activia]

I’ll take your “imagine how is touch the sky”

And raise you a

[preved-medved]

"we're not happy 'til you're not happy"

good to know they take customer dissatisfaction seriously

[preved-medved]

p.s.: @trillgutterbug

as soon as I finish up this last season of B99 I'm hopping right on the Black Sails train, I have been won over by the many and varied reblogs of attractive men covered in blood, and the fact that Silver eventually, mercifully, grows a beard