everyone is overcomplicating things: the fact of the matter is that pluto is a planet culinarily, but not botanically

happy pride month to country mama lynn and country mama lynn only

Someone give this woman a damn crown and medal

Happy pride month to country mama lynn and ger gay son only

aint it crazy how many people realize they're queer when they have the language to express how they feel and a support system to encourage self exploration????

I never stop enjoying reading this. Literally everyone's lives improves.

Ancient legends say that if you reblog this on June you get 110% gayer and stronger

right at the beginning when she's like how do I help my son feel loved and accepted I'm here shouting "QUEEN YOU ALREADY DID THAT BY TAKING HIS SIDE AND LEAVING THAT NO GOOD HUSBAND FOR HAVING THE AUDACITY TO KICK YOUR BABY OUT!" And Good for her! this is the only response to a man who kicks out a child.

Star Loves Moon

“I’m like, ‘Okay, she’s a doll. She’s a plastic doll. She doesn’t have organs. If she doesn’t have organs, she doesn’t have reproductive organs. If she doesn’t have reproductive organs, would she even feel sexual desire?’ No, I don’t think she could,” Robbie said. “She is sexualized. But she should never be sexy. People can project sex onto her. Yes, she can wear a short skirt, but because it’s fun and pink. Not because she wanted you to see her butt.”

Margot Robbie said Ace Barbie Rights with her whole chest.

Every time I read an interview from someone who worked on this movie it sounds like they went through some sort of spiritual enlightenment

I have more

In today's bond hearing for the organizers from the Atlanta Solidarity Fund that Atlanta prosecutors are charging with “money laundering” and “charity fraud,” the defense emphasized that the charges are baseless:

"The allegations include $37.11 to make yard signs... They have receipts for all of these expenses. [One of them] gets reimbursed for her travel expenses, and that is being misrepresented as charity fraud."

Contrary to the demands of the prosecutor, who is trying to make it a crime to provide basic legal support to arrested activists, the judge set bond for the arrestees, saying:

"I'm concerned about some of the same things that the defense attorney mentions about the line between legitimate free speech and illegal violent acts... Paying for camping supplies and the like—I don't find it very impressive. There's not a lot of meat on the bones of the allegations that thousands of dollars are going to fund illegal activities."

Background:

http://crimethinc.com/AtlantaSolidarity2023

today, this month, more than ever.

Source

The Gimli Glider is one of those stories where every aspect sounds more fake than the last and yet it all actually happened.

-A passenger plane was underloaded with fuel because Canada had just converted to the metric system and everyone supposed to double check their numbers got it wrong. -When the plane ran out of fuel they were too far away to make it to an in-service airport and had to head towards the Gimli military base.  Which was shuttered. -They were coming in to fast due to a lack of flaps control and had to perform a series of slips (as shown in the video above) to slow down, basically drifting a giant passenger plane. -As they come down they realized that just because Gimli’s been decommissioned doesn’t mean it’s abandoned because a bunch of people are having drag races on the runway they’re about to need. -Despite everything they managed to land safely and no one was killed or even hurt which is why it’s one of the best air disasters to meme on.

The Wikipedia page on this is fantastic and my favorite line from it is “Flying with all engines out was never expected to occur, so it had never been covered in training.”

Nice

Being the person that needs to nap after every big meal is so embarrassing. I apologize for being a 1 week old

Actually you are so right.......

Gofukuyasan

Agreed, at least for a while.. I'd be open to the government eventually selling the business back off to others

Also don't recommend reading replies... not a lot of worth there

That missed the gist of it: if some sector or company is crucial enough for the government to be forced to step in if it fails, it shouldn't be allowed to be operated in a for-profit market.

It's not "the government should buy out and keep the companies that need a bail out", because that's actually just privatize the profits and socialize the loses. It's "if it can't be allowed to fail, it can't be left on private hands and looking for profits shouldn't be its way to operate".

okay someone desperately needs to fill the internet with accessible clear info on what distinguishes plant "species" "variety" etc because I'm sick and tired of seeing plants labeled so ridiculously poorly.

Yes i hate American landscaping culture but I can't exactly blame people for falling for it, when there's no way to even TELL what species of plant you are purchasing at most big box stores

Saw an article advertising something called "Diamond Marvel" Euphorbia or something like that, and I was just staring at it like...Genus Euphorbia has over 2,000 species in it. God knows what this plant is.

It gets worse the longer you look: plant nerd edition

My favorite thing here has to be Salvia being listed twice, once under "herbs" next to sage (which is a general common name for plants in genus Salvia) and rosemary (also in genus Salvia), and once under "annuals" (many Salvia used in gardens, including Salvia officinalis the common garden sage, is perennial) 

On top of it we have "mint" also listed here which could refer to plants in genus Mentha, OR to the entire family Lamiaceae—which includes genus Salvia

I'm constantly floored by just how much the landscaping and gardening world is the Wild Fucking West. like y'all just say words

So here we have

Totally incomprehensible.

It is annoying when there are randomly common names and Latin names in the same graphic like the last one above, but the reason places get away with this is because all of these are super regionalized/region-specific. 

I don’t need to know the specific epithet of a lot of these because there are maaaaybe two or three species of that genus (hell...even in the family) that are perennial and grow in my region. Homeowners don’t need to get that specific! It’s unnecessary and will intimidate so many people out of ever owning plants if you try to explain! Going to the Salvia example, it’s just using layman’s speech: “perennial Salvia”, “annual Salvia”, and “sage herb”. Generally speaking, a homeowner doesn’t need to know that they are getting a Salvia officianalis or Salvia x sylvestris or Salvia nemorosa or Salvia verticillata. It’s unneeded information because the plants have the same damn growing requirements for that area. It’s omitted because the everyday person just doesn’t need it. If they are looking for a specific species...literally all of us have a computer in our pocket that we can double check the specific epithet on if we can’t remember off the top of our heads. I’ve had completely pleasant and hassle free transactions with customers looking to plant native plants and other specific species because I know how the horticulture industry works and how it is drastically different from the strictly technical and academic world of botany.

Also newsflash: there are Salvia that are just annuals, which is why it is listed as such in that graphic...because this graphic is probably from a region that is outside the hardiness zone of the Salvia that are typically for sale in that area. Here in CT, we have:

Perennial Salvia like this S. x sylvestris ‘May Night’ that is hardy here in Zone 5 but we also have

Salvia coccinea which is only hardy to like Zones 9 and 10 so it’s an annual up here. So we call it--wait for it--”annual Salvia”. And then there are

The herbal sage which everyone just calls “sage” because if you go into a garden center and ask for “Salvia” we are probs going to bring you right to our flowering perennial section or our annual greenhouse...because no one hears “Salvia” and thinks of the herb. The herb gets called “sage” to avoid confusion with customers who generally speaking don’t know its botanical name anyway. 

The everyday person does benefit from knowing the variety or cultivar name because varieties and cultivars (not the same thing) are specifically designed to have different characteristics. ‘May Night’ up above was built to be earlier blooming (there’s even an ‘April Night’ now that is out even sooner), and is known for its darker coloring. Then literally a different one of the same hybrid ‘Blue Hill’ is just about as close to sky blue as nature allows. If someone was expecting ‘May Night’ but got ‘Blue Hill’ because the cultivar name wasn’t disclosed, that would be bad. 

Also, the last graphic looks to have been put together by an amateur graphic designer or intern for a very sketchy sounding online shop, which is why it’s all over the place for what they decide to call the plants. You go to a reputable site of an independent garden center or grower, the naming will be uniform, as painfully accurate as possible, and there will be legit information on the plants and not just names and pictures. So they would instead probs have Nepeta (catmint), Hemerocallis (daylily), Lilium (Asiatic lily), Iris sibirica (Siberian iris), etc. instead of the above mishmash.  

Same things goes for “mint”. No one is going to go “oh do you mean Salvia or do you mean Mentha x piperita?” when a customer comes up to them and asks for mint, just because they happen to be in the same family of Lamiaceae. You don’t want to have to ask for more clarification than “are you looking for pepper or spearmint?” 

Yeah, Euphorbia is a giant group of plants, but again, you miss the context in which people are purchasing the damn things. The context in which a person is purchasing the plant tells you the type of plant they’re looking for. If I come up to someone in our annual greenhouse, and they are looking for a Euphorb, I know they are looking for the ‘Diamond Frost’, not a fucking poinsettia (also helps that they aren’t available during the same point in the year here...no confusion created by having weird names on things wow!). If I find them looking at the succulents and they ask about the Euphorbs, I know to walk them through our crown-of-thorns, our African milk trees, our pencil cactus, etc. and talk through which has the habit that fits their space...because there aren’t big enough differences in growth requirements for the specific species to matter so it comes down to taste a lot of the time. If I find them in the nursery yard asking about Euphorbs, I know I’m going to point them to my favorite Euphorbia polychroma ‘Bonfire’ (specific epithet is often omitted because the cultivar name narrows the possibilities down to exactly one possible plant). 

You’re applying a botany mindset to a horticulture and customer service setting and you need to realize that a lot has to get changed and translated in that transition in order to be comprehensible to the unknowledgeable public. I can’t make heads or tails over this nitpicking going on because, I’m sorry, but sometimes people just really don’t need to know the specifics or have the desire for specifics (because all us U.S. residents are fucking exhausted! and overworked! and stressed to hell and back! with no end or the sweet release of death in sight! and aren’t looking for more complications to our lives!). And it is also entirely possible for people looking for specific things to find them because they know what they’re looking for, even if the entire kingdom-phyllum-class-order-family-genus-species isn’t present on the care tag.

I'm ????????? when people act like learning a specific, accurate name for a thing is soooooo oppressive and mentally taxing and complicated? It's...a name.

Knowing the species of a plant you're planting is kinda important if you want to plant native species, or avoid incredibly invasive species, or...sell or grow plants outside of a VERY narrow range of traditionally cultivated plants that are often not native to the region.

Here are a couple of my favorite Salvias native to the southeastern USA, Salvia lyrata and Salvia azurea:

Now, Salvia lyrata is amazing because you can include it in a "biodiverse" lawn! It can be walked on and mowed no problem. But we can't tell people about this cool plant if the language to describe it isn't in common use.

Hi, I'm the consumer here. I want the scientific name AND the common name because I have to figure out if what I'm bringing home to the Cactus Dungeon will kill my cats and frankly "4" Succulent Assortment" is not remotely helpful.

Some euphorbia look like cacti. They're not. And their sap is mean as hell. Also I have TWO unidentifiable cacti that are driving me insane because "6" cactus planter." Wasn't particularly helpful either. Roughly 50% of the time in the kind of retail settings most people shop in (grocery) you're not even going to get a regional common name and things will be potted together that absolutely should not be within the same zip code.

Why are there african cactus look-alikes in with these Old Man Of The Andes? Why is there a rebutia in this pot with two jades and a string of pearls? Because it looked nice and with the pretty pot, the price point is $17.00.

Give me both. I want species and common name.

I didn't even think about potential toxicity to animals but yeah that is a very good reason as well

Agree, agree, agree!

Also, I'm going to tell you right now that when lay people come to me and ask about [generic plant name] and I ask if they mean [specific genus] or [specific common name] they might look a little confused for a second but then their eyes fucking LIGHT UP because now they know they have a "plant expert" and out come the questions! And yes, I have to explain in layman's terms and not use hyper-specific scientific nomenclature but y'all, that is not that hard.

All the ladies and gents in my garden club at work who know NOTHING about plants? They ALL wanted me to tell them the full scientific name plus the regional common name for the plants they had so they could go to the garden center and get the right stuff. They ALL wanted to know what the native region was for that plant so they could either 1) know to plant it in a container or if it was ok in the ground both for it's own viability and invasive species awareness, 2) so they could better tailor garden conditions to their plants and plant things together that are synergistic or at least share environmental preferences/needs.

The only people I've ever had give me a hard time about being "nerdy" about plants are people who either delight in their own ignorance and have a thing against science (and to digress for a moment, most of the time these folks just don't like being condescended to and a lot of the "smart" people they've talked to treat them like they're an idiot, so if you take the time to actually explain things like a normal fucking person and not like someone who thinks having more knowledge makes you better than other people, they warm up to you and you become "one of the good nerds") or they aren't getting the plant for themselves and don't care and just want me to give them the thing so they can pretend they put thought into this when they give it to the person who actually likes plants (and if I get the sense this is the case, I try to sneak in some quick and dirty plant knowledge or write down the name for them to give to the other person because I know the pain of being given a plant by someone like this and having NO IDEA what it is or how to care for it and having to figure it out like a damned plant detective).

Point is, really, most of the time when people express intimidation about learning or knowledge, it is actually just because they haven't had great teachers. Be a better teacher, be more compassionate, be less condescending, be friendly about it and people will be receptive most of the time. People are curious and they like to know things, but if they've reached for that knowledge before and been burned by the scorn of the "smart" person they asked, they're less likely to reach again.

In France, I like to think they *remember* what happens when they protest too hard. The French are exceptionally good at protesting, and we should maybe consider learning some things from them.

stuff like this really frustrates me because it’s not like americans are uniquely wimpy little bitches. america has the most expensive military in the world and our police get the surplus. we don’t riot like the french because we are in effect a nation under martial law, with police that will kill us unchecked at any opportunity.

we also have insane incarceration rates, and are held for months to years without trial. once out of jail, our job prospects are shit. if we’re convicted of a federal crime, we can’t vote anymore, and if we’ve been to jail once and are arrested at another protest, we go to jail basically forever.

america the extractive capitalist empire is in a state of active warfare not just against foreign nations but also against its own citizens and generally it wins. that’s how it works. that’s how all of this works.  im not saying it’s hopeless, i’m saying americans are fighting against way, way longer odds than you might think for our basic rights to be human beings instead of corporate resources.

NASA putting mice in zero-g environments is one of the funniest fucking tests anyone has ever done and I hate having to hand that to them. Put those beasts in a situation.

I appreciate how everyone's kind of drifting/trying to latch onto the floor and then there is that ONE guy - THAT guy - who's figured out he can now use the walls like a giant wheel and is just - going to town on it edit: TWO. It's two of them. And they're girls as far as I can tell

Down a Rabbit Hole I Went

I screwed up. I didn't think that using an ancient language on a piece of tumblr merch was necessary but I forgot what site I was on :) . This is tumblr, of course it has to be in linguistically accurate cuneiform. I went and hired an expert on Ancient Semitic Languages and Cultures. There aren't as many as you'd think that are willing to translate text for an internet gag so I'm so happy I found Paul.

Notes on the translation from the translator:

I used the ventive suffix on the imperative "give (rib+am)" which is a special feature of Akkadian that indicates the motion of direction. It makes it a little bit more authentic. The longer version actually includes the words "to me (ana iasim)", but a typical Akkadian speaker probably wouldn't have needed to say that.

Also, for the word "money" I used the Sumerian (KUG.BABBAR) instead of spelling out the Akkadian, because that was a common feature in Akkadian scribal writing. For the font I was happily surprised that Google has a Cuniform font, so not only is it correct but it looks pretty neat too. Right now you can buy both versions in the shop but cuniform version won't ship for a week or so as I have to order new stock with the new design.

I slammed the buy button so hard on this and I DON'T EVEN WEAR JEWELERY

The LGBTQ community has seen controversy regarding acceptance of different groups (bisexual and transgender individuals have sometimes been marginalized by the larger community), but the term LGBT has been a positive symbol of inclusion and reflects the embrace of different identities and that we’re stronger together and need each other. While there are differences, we all face many of the same challenges from broader society.

In the 1960′s, in wider society the meaning of the word gay transitioned from ‘happy’ or ‘carefree’ to predominantly mean ‘homosexual’ and was an umbrella term that meant anyone who wasn’t cisgender or heterosexual. The community embraced the word ‘gay’ as a mark of pride.

The modern fight for queer rights is considered to have begun with The Stonewall Riots in 1969 and was called the Gay Liberation Movement and the Gay Rights Movement.

The acronym GLB surfaced around this time to also include Lesbian and Bisexual people who felt “gay” wasn’t inclusive of their identities. 

Early in the gay rights movement, gay men were largely the ones running the show and there was a focus on men’s issues. Lesbians were unhappy that gay men dominated the leadership and ignored their needs and the feminist fight. As a result, lesbians tended to focus their attention on the Women’s Rights Movement which was happening at the same time. This dominance by gay men was seen as yet one more example of patriarchy and sexism. 

In the 1970′s, sexism and homophobia existed in more virulent forms and those biases against lesbians also made it hard for them to find their voices within women’s liberation movements. Betty Friedman, the founder of the National Organization for Women (NOW), commented that lesbians were a “lavender menace” that threatened the political efficacy of the organization and of feminism and many women felt including lesbians was a detriment.

In the 80s and 90s, a huge portion of gay men were suffering from AIDS while the lesbian community was largely unaffected. Lesbians helped gay men with medical care and were a massive part of the activism surrounding the gay community and AIDS. This willingness to support gay men in their time of need sparked a closer, more supportive relationship between both groups, and the gay community became more receptive to feminist ideals and goals. 

Approaching the 1990′s it was clear that GLB referred to sexual identity and wasn’t inclusive of gender identity and T should be added, especially since trans activist have long been at the forefront of the community’s fight for rights and acceptance, from Stonewall onward. Some argued that T should not be added, but many gay, lesbian and bisexual people pointed out that they also transgress established gender norms and therefore the GLB acronym should include gender identities and they pushed to include T in the acronym. 

GLBT became LGBT as a way to honor the tremendous work the lesbian community did during the AIDS crisis. 

Towards the end of the 1990s and into the 2000s, movements took place to add additional letters to the acronym to recognize Intersex, Asexual, Aromantic, Agender, and others. As the acronym grew to LGBTIQ, LGBTQIA, LGBTQIAA, many complained this was becoming unwieldy and started using a ‘+’ to show LGBT aren’t the only identities in the community and this became more common, whether as LGBT+ or LGBTQ+. 

In the 2010′s, the process of reclaiming the word “queer” that began in the 1980′s was largely accomplished. In the 2020′s the LGBTQ+ acronym is used less often as Queer is becoming the more common term to represent the community. 

happy pride especially if you’re still in your shell <3

Not everyone can come out, not everyone wants to, and that’s ok. You’re still part of our family. <3

if you're not ready to come out until your 50s that's OK too, ask me how I know

bonus tip: if you're the only nonqueer person in your friends group, no you're not

It's June 1. It's time.

Go be gay.

When we talk about Stonewall this month, let's not forget to talk about how the entire thing was sparked by the arrest of a butch transmasculine lesbian- Stormé DeLarverie, a mixed drag king, who fought back against the cop who was violently arresting her for crossdressing.

Drag queens and trans women deserve recognition for their role in the Stonewall uprisings, and so do butches & transmascs. We all fought for each other.

Also remember, these are Delaverie's own words about the Stonewall Rebellion:

"It was a rebellion, it was an uprising, it was a civil rights disobedience – it wasn't no damn riot."

Y'know thinking about how I've already seen a pride post that emphasized honoring the queer people of color who gave us pride but completely ignored Stormé, I am reminded of this quote about the lack of widespread support from gay activists as she aged & began suffering from dementia & other issues:

Talk about Stormé DeLarverie. Stop promoting the myth that transmasculine people gave nothing to queer history.