i rly wanna know like americans and non-americans- were u immunised against chicken pox or did ur parents rather u just get infected as a child??

I was born just a few years before the vaccine was even available, and I contracted chickenpox before the vaccine was part of routine vaccination (and mandatory in schools).

Which doesn’t sound so bad on its own, but at sixteen my immune system collapsed, and the previous mild case of chickenpox I had at nine suddenly gave me a violent and atypical case of shingles. My whole damn body was covered in pustules, even down my throat. Wherever there was skin, it was covered in pox. I nearly died. The doctors told my mother if she had waited just two more hours to get me to the hospital in Indy (my hometown hospital refused to even give me an E.R. bed ‘because it’s just chickenpox’, despite our pleas that I was immunocompromised), I would have died.

I was out of school for three months with a PICC line going straight to my heart pumping acyclovir into me even after I was discharged from the PICU. I never recovered academically and I ended up forced out of school the next year because they hated that I was wrecking attendance records with my frequent illnesses.

It’s only in the last five years that most of the pox scars have faded. I was sixteen then. I’m thirty now.

People/parents love to think that chickenpox is a normal and harmless part of childhood, almost a right of passage. Oh it’s just a week or so if mild itching, life will go on. No need to get my child vaccinated. Hell, let’s intentionally infect our young child by hosting chickenpox party! Better to have it at a young age, they say! But I wasn’t immunocompromised yet when I got chickenpox at 9. And at sixteen that same “harmless” virus latent within me nearly killed me. And even with the basic chickenpox, things can and have gone catastrophically wrong. Your perfectly healthy kid might come into contact with another kid on chemo. Suddenly that kid can die just like I almost did. Even your perfectly healthy kid can have a freak reaction and be killed by chickenpox.

The chickenpox vaccine has been around and available for over two decades now. Chickenpox and further complications like shingles are completely avoidable. Get your kid vaccinated

A vaccine wasn’t available when I was a kid so I picked it up at the age of four. My brother’s best friend came to visit and sat with me awhile to cheer me up- only to catch them himself at 15. He took them home to his dad- never had them. Half his family ended up in the hospital and his dad nearly died. Get your vaccines, folks.

“no polyamory at pride” is some chronic no bitches shit. that’s got to be made up. no gay person would say that they’d have no fucking friends

"For most holidaymakers, the ‘airplane mode’ setting on our phones is an apt metaphor for the current experience of air travel. We check in, switch off and come back to life once we’re back on the tarmac, all while pumping plumes of planet-warming carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

But now a handful of enterprising companies want to rethink this modern approach to flying, using what many would consider a relic from aviation’s history: the airship. For a trade-off in travel speed, these companies claim zephyr-style aircrafts offer a greener, more pleasant form of air transport, utilising technology that is already available.

With eco-friendly jetliners still decades away, could embracing slow air travel help reduce aircraft emissions in the coming years?

At present, the commercial aviation industry is responsible for approximately 2.5 per cent of global CO2 emissions (that’s more than double the amount produced annually by the UK). In an increasingly eco-conscious world, which has given rise to movements like flygskam (‘flight shame’), the sector is facing huge pressure from consumers and governing bodies to become more climate-friendly...

History propelling the future

For all the excited chatter of futuristic fuel cells and cutting-edge electrical materials, it’s fun to consider that the shorter-term solution to our green flight problem could come from a piece of aviation history.

...With conventional air travel feeling increasingly out of step with modern tastes, a handful of airship companies have risen to the fore. These include LTA Research, backed by Google co-founder Sergey Brin, and Flying Whales, which has received funding from the French government.

Leading the charge, however, is the UK-based Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV), and its flagship Airlander 10, a huge, aircraft that’s been a decade in the making and comes with a clear sales pitch to climate-conscious travellers.

“While the aviation industry focuses on trying to decarbonise its smallest aircrafts, what we have is a product that will come into the market capable of carrying 100 people to their destinations with 75 per cent less emissions than a conventional flight,” explains Tom Grundy, CEO of HAV.

Pictured: HAV's flagship aircraft promises a comfortable experience for passengers.

A cross between a blimp and a plane, Airlander uses a non-rigid inflatable hull filled with – non-flammable – helium to generate lift, and four ‘ultra-efficient’ combustion engines to manoeuvre. With a top speed of 80mph (130kph), it’s significantly slower than a conventional jet, but potentially a lot comfier too, with the designs including floor to ceiling windows and space for passengers to freely move around. This luxury of space also carries an additional bonus.

“Our goal is to reach zero emissions,” says Grundy, “And because we don’t have major limitations with weight or space, the challenges with integrating batteries or hydrogen power – when that technology becomes available – are far reduced.”

The company is set to begin production from a Yorkshire-based site this year, and has secured its first orders from Spanish Airline, Air Nostrum. The team’s goal is to get the first Airlander into the skies by 2026.

The company will start by targeting short-distance, regional transport routes, but Airlander’s versatility is what Grundy finds exciting, with freight transportation (as a low-carbon alternative to cargo planes) and humanitarian relief (Airlander does not require an airport to land) additional sectors the team are exploring.

“If you look at the different forms of transport that we’ve got today, you’ve got ultra-fast planes and then you’ve got everything else that goes over the surface,” says Grundy. “So, what happens when you put a new form of connection in the market? The world’s open for us to rethink what we do by air.” ...

Pictured: An Airlander airship about to land in a field. Air Nostrum, a Spanish airline, already has Airlanders on order.

Ironically, it could be lifestyle changes that came about because of the pandemic – which wreaked havoc on the aviation industry – that bolsters the appeal of airship travel to the public.

“I could see environmentally conscious travellers choosing to take an airship instead of a flight if they can work remotely, in comfort, on the airship,” says Mukhopadhaya. “Then maybe they don’t lose vacation days in transit. This is my personal dream.”

Low-emissions flying with room to breathe? Perhaps it’s time to switch to ‘aircraft mode’."

-via Positive.News, 5/24/23

Hey. Why isn’t the moon landing a national holiday in the US. Isn’t that fucked up? Does anyone else think that’s absurd?

It was a huge milestone of scientific and technological advancement. (Plus, at the time, politically significant). Humanity went to space! We set foot on a celestial body that was not earth for the first time in human history! That’s a big deal! I’ve never thought about it before but now that I have, it’s ridiculous to me that that’s not part of our everyday lives and the public consciousness anymore. Why don’t we have a public holiday and a family barbecue about it. Why have I never seen the original broadcast of the moon landing? It should be all over the news every year!

It’s July 20th. That’s the day of the moon landing. Next year is going to be the 54th anniversary. I’m ordering astronaut shaped cookie cutters on Etsy and I’m going to have a goddamn potluck. You’re all invited.

Hey. Hey. Tumblr. Ides of March ppl. We can do this

y'all be forewarned I have queued a LOT of posts already

@thebibliosphere seems like this would be in your wheelhouse

When obscenity laws are used to make it illegal to be openly LGBT, who is going to enforce those laws?

The police are.

And that's why they're not welcome at pride. People who would become enemies as soon as they're told to are already enemies.

Even if they're LGBT themselves, they're not welcome at pride. They're traitors.

— Naomi Alderman, The Power  (via sonnywortzik)

still can't get over the fact that Spike was supposed to just be The Villain's Servant who was supposed to die after restoring her to power and then he accidentally built a cult fanbase and stayed on as a main cast member for 4 more seasons instead. king shit.

my man was supposed to die halfway through s2 and instead reinvented the entire vampire lore. slay.

look at me. listen to me. bigots and queerphobes don’t know the distinction between a trans person, a gnc cis gay person, and a cisgender heterosexual crossdresser. all of these people are just queer degenerates to them. that is why their anti-drag bills are written so vaguely as to encompass any possible mundane gender nonconformity - so they can target as many of us as possible in one ruling. and that’s why you need to stop trying to put lines between these groups in regards to ‘who’s more oppressed’ and ‘who has the right to talk about gender’ - gender nonconformity and transgenderism are punished in exactly the same way. cut one of us and the other bleeds. our fight is the same.

we all must get weirder and more queer. i am completely serious and genuine and this is urgent. please get weirder and gayer now. if you see me acting weird and gay mind your business a little bit.

We don’t appreciate the fact that Bruce Wayne is a Kardasian level celebrity enough. Everyone knows him. I want more one shots and crack fic moments where the League (Pre identity reveals) just openly talk about Bruce Wayne in front of Batman.

Just imagine them playing fuck, marry, kill with famous actors and such and throwing Bruce into the mix. And Batman just sits there, silently suffering as he listens to the reasons why Flash and Lantern would marry, fuck, or kill him. He prays they choose kill. They don’t.

Barry: Eat the rich!

Bruce: Oh thank Go-

Clark: Oh, I intend to 🥴🥵

It’s Batman’s turn. Bruce needs to decide whether to marry himself for the money or throw himself off the cliff.

Okay but can you imagine what kind of identity reveal situation that would be?

“I would fuck —-, I would marry —-, and then I would commit suicide.”

“Batman, that’s not how the game is played. You have to choose for Bruce Wayne.”

“I did.”

“…WHAT?!”

“I would kill Bruce Wayne just to get him out of this conversation.”

This works best if the reveal comes after literally everyone else has played, and half of the people have said “I’d marry Bruce Wayne for the money” and the other half have not only said that they’d fuck him, but been reasonably graphic as to how.

Flash: So, tall, dark, and scary, what’ll it be? Are you going to marry Bruce Wayne so he can fund all of your sick gadgets? Maybe you’ll be a gentle lover to him like Aquaman here, work him over like a hunk of meat like Supes? Or maybe Brucie is the one person in the world you break your code for. Come on, what’ve you got for us?

Batman: -pauses- Honestly, I don’t think there will ever be a better time for this. -pulls off his cowl-

Justice League: -horrified screeching-

pLEASE- 😭🤚

World Heritage Post

I think we should leverage boomers' and republicans' obsession with "beating China" in order to build out a national high speed rail system

being in the pool while it’s raining should be considered an emotion

that emotion is called Being A Frog

We have eaten

the solicitor

that was in

the guestroom

and which

you were probably

saving

for your real estate deal

Forgive us

he was delicious

so sweet

and so youthful