genesis

Trigger warning for graphic descriptions of injured and dead wildlife.

When a fireworks display occurs near a wild bird roost, the birds simultaneously explode into the night skies in utter panic, which can lead to huge numbers of deaths, usually because these birds either smash their skulls or break their necks as the result of flying into trees, fences, billboards, houses and other solid objects that they cannot see in the gloom and ensuing chaos.

Many of the startled birds who take flight fly at much higher altitudes and for much longer durations than they’re used to to escape the noise, which is energetically costly and physiologically stressful.

Small birds and bats can be knocked from the air and killed by the sonic shock. In 2010, 40 dead sparrows were discovered dead under a roost in a nature reserve after a local fireworks display. The manager of the reserve witnessed a tawny owl fluttering and convulsing on the ground after a particularly loud explosion. It died shortly after.

In Arkansas in 2010, some 5,000 red-winged blackbirds, European starlings, common grackles and brown-headed cowbirds suffered blunt-force trauma after colliding with cars, trees and buildings, an ornithologist from the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission would tell National Geographic.

In 2008, federal officials showed that seabirds in the northern California town of Gualala abandoned their nests after a fireworks show, leaving their eggs vulnerable to predators.

Each year in Austin, Texas, the Congress Bridge bats can be seen fleeing the fireworks display en masse on weather radar, and emergences from their roost diminish noticeably in the days following the Fourth.

In 2018, the Galapagos banned the sale and use of pyrotechnics. According to the BBC, conservationists said that fireworks caused elevated heart rates, trembling and anxiety in many animals. 

The threat to wildlife doesn’t stop at startling lights and sounds; fireworks also have the potential of starting wildfires, directly affecting wildlife and destroying essential habitat. Litter from firecrackers, bottle rockets and other explosives can be choking hazards for wildlife and may be toxic if ingested.

So what do you do if you want to watch fireworks responsibly? Experts say municipalities are more likely to be aware of these dangers than private consumers. Their best advice is to stick to the shows put on by professionals and local governments, which tend to follow guidelines put forth by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, among others, about animal safety.

The National Audubon Society offers similar guidelines: “Commercial fireworks are concentrated in one location, rather than in several locations at once, which is what often happens in neighborhoods. This allows birds to take off and land again in a ‘safer’ location rather than continuing to flee noises coming at them from all directions.”

I wrote a thing about dandelions! 🌼 Here are some of the fun little factoids I dug up:

There are around 2800 microspecies of dandelion.

There are native species of dandelion across the northern hemisphere, including several species from North America, like the horned dandelion and the California dandelion.

European dandelions are considered an invasive species, but they aren't harmful. Once a damaged ecosystem has been repaired, dandelions tend to disappear.

Conservation efforts are needed for some indigenous dandelions, so they don't go extinct!

Dandelions are probably the most nutritious thing growing in your garden.

Dandelions have been used in traditional medicine for centuries, and scientific studies have confirmed some of their medicinal properties.

Dandelions are only considered "weeds" because of lawns.

Growing dandelions will help other plants in your garden. Their roots break up compacted soil and draw up nutrients too deep for other plants to reach.

Horticulturalists once bred dandelions as garden flowers.

I joked about doing this a little while ago but I got pissed off about this again and now I'm going to make you suffer with me.

The biblically accurate angels trend was very fun for a second, because finally people are acknowledging the weird angels in the Bible! Hell yeah! And then it promptly stopped being fun. Cause holy shit, nobody bothers to actually research these things. And I am phenomenally pedantic.

So first of all, let's get this out of the way. What do the vast majority of angels look like according to the Bible?

JUST GUYS. REGULAR DUDES.

Verses like Hebrews 13:2 make it clear that to most people around the time(s) the Bible was written, God's messengers just looked like normal ass people. Some verses describe them looking like Cool Guys (Daniel 10:6), but often people have to be informed that the guys they're talking to are angels.

They're also described, like, hovering, and sometimes people can't see them. So that's cool too. But no mentions of wings.

But what about the fucking cool angels?! We're getting to them.

There are three types of divine creatures (?) apart from standard angels that get biblical descriptions. These are ophanim, cherubim, and seraphim. Everybody in the biblically accurate angels crowd apparently things cherubim are boring, so we're gonna focus on the wheely boys and the wingy boys. Also these memes are so common that I can't find actual sources for most of the art that's been spammed in the memes, sorry.

FIRST - THE WEIRD EYE WHEELS

oKAY, so our only description of these guys (?) is Ezekiel 1:15-21, in which they aren't actually described as being creatures or angels or sentient at all, but rather seem to be a part of God's throne. So scratch all of the sentience and saying "be not afraid" etc etc cause that's not canon.

5/10 - TOO MUCH WHEEL. WHY BABY?

The ophanim are only described as two wheels, not a bunch of them. The wheels also don't seem to move relative to each other at all, so this fun armillary sphere shit needs to go in the trash. Also, why is there a baby? On the plus side, they get points for having eyes on the wheels and no wings.

2/10 - WHY THE FUCK IS IT A MASHUP

Y'all, the six wings thing is a different angel for fuck's sake. Stop just adding six wings to everything and calling it biblically accurate. This one also suffers the opposite problem of the first, instead of too many wheels it's too few. Why only one wheel? Is he missing a wheel? And why are those floating eyeballs there?

AND NEXT- THE WINGY LADS

We actually have a couple of (conflicting) descriptions of these guys, so I'm gonna go with Isaiah 6:2 because fuck the book of Revelations. But if people add eyes to the wings, I'll give them a pass, because that is a valid interpretation.

2/10 - WHERE IS THE BOD?

Y'all, seraphim have bodies. They have faces. And feet/genitals (I choose to interpret the line about feet as being about genitals because it's both funnier and cooler looking). I demand to see this guy's feet.

The eyes, as I said, will get a pass, although I wouldn't describe those as being "full of eyes within." However, I count at least 5 pairs of wings, which is far too many.

1/10 - YOU HAVE TO BE FUCKING KIDDING

I know this is just a meme, but like, for fuck's sake. Where is this angel's body? Where are his feet???? Why does he have so many damn wings? Why is there a ball covered in eyes in the middle of him?

Honestly I'm just exhausted. Can we get a real angel again?

“Since I’ve had to be without your sweetest presence, I have not wished to hear or see any other human being, but as the turtle-dove, having lost its mate, perches forever on its little dried up branch, so I lament endlessly till I shall enjoy your trust again. I look about and do not find my lover — she does not comfort me even with a single word.

Most of The Sims games from the 2000s are quickly becoming abandonware! Here’s where you can find them! Because FUCK Article 13! Dedicated to ANYONE who might be affected. (Updated NOV ‘19!)

Just to add onto @uglytownie ‘s post about The Sims 2, I know there are some of you out there that would also like rarer titles from The Sims’ massive back catalog. 

If anything happens to this blog because of this post: My NEW twitter handle is @nostalgiasim, my discord is SimWorld (this link never expires), and my personal Neocities page is myonlinepityparty.neocities.org.

PC Games:

The Sims 1 + All EPs

The Sims Life Stories 

The Sims Castaway

The Sims: Pet Stories

The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection

If any of these links do not work for any reason, whether you need technical help or those files are no longer available, you can also find these abandonware games at Games4TheWorld. However, The Sims 3 and The Sims 4 can also be found on that site and I do not publically condone piracy. G4TW world also has an extensive forum for getting these older games to work. You can look for help there. :)

All of the following games are emulator ROMS found on Vimm’s, a trusted website that has been around since the ‘90s. 

GameCube:

Bustin’ Out

The Sims

The Sims 2

The Sims 2 Pets

Urbz, Sims in the City

Gameboy Advance:

Bustin’ Out

The Sims 2

Urbz, The Sims in the City

The Sims 2: Pets

PlayStation 2:

Urbz, Sims in the City

The Sims

The Sims Castaway

Bustin’ Out

The Sims 2 

The Sims 2: Pets

Wii 

The Sims 3

The Sims 2 Pets

The Sims Castaway

Prima Guides

ALL Games - The Sims + All EPs, The Sims 2 + All EPS, The Sims 3 + Almost all EPs, Bustin’ out, Castaway, Medieval, etc. 

Extras (Updated!)

The Sims 3 Store (ALL CONTENT)

The Sims 2 Store

(Rare!) The Sims 2 Preorder gifts and Maxis Gifts from the now deleted TS2 Website!

Literally, if ANYTHING on this list goes down, message me. I’m not hosting any of it but I’ll absolutely put out another updated post!

“Hi everybody and welcome to Top Gun: Maverick,” Tom Cruise tells audiences in a brief pre-movie introduction. “…Our incredible cast and crew worked very hard to bring you the most immersive and authentic film experience we could. There’s real F-18s, real Gs, real speed…”

“Top Gun: Maverick” is a movie where our heroes are trying to start World War III. The US military is selecting pilots for a bombing run over an Iranian nuclear facility near completion, one which was built “in violation” of an internationally-recognized treaty. This, of course, is the exact opposite of what happened in real life: the US violated the JCPOA agreement with Iran, and the Iranian government continued to obey it even when we no longer were. 

At no point in this two-hour monstrosity is it ever mentioned that the Iranians would strike back instantly, sinking the aircraft carrier that Cruise took off from and beginning a war that would annihilate millions of innocent lives. In fact, from the perspective of international law, the Iranian government would be in the right to do so, as Tom Cruise just executed an illegal and unconstitutional act of war on a foreign power without congressional approval. If every single one of our plucky heroes had died during their training montages, it would have made the world a safer place.

Like all successful fascist narratives, this movie portrays our enemies as simultaneously all-powerful and extremely weak. To craft a story where our ludicrously overfunded heroes can be underdogs, it is necessary to pretend that Iran has “advanced 5th generation fighters” which are superior to US capabilities; this is brought up repeatedly regardless of how absurd it is. Yet when our heroes are actually in Iran, all of their pilots have the aim of a blind man. Tom Cruise survives a .50 caliber machine gun right in front of him by taking cover behind a dead log. The .50 caliber bullet is designed to penetrate an armored truck engine.

The real-life political situation that the plot focuses on— one which most Americans already misunderstand without needing this movie’s help— is incorporated into a plot so stuffed with cliches, saccharine romance, and callbacks to the original “Top Gun” that it seems as though the entire edifice may collapse under its own weight. Sadly, it does not.

Even if one can ignore the rabidly bloodthirsty nature of this movie, it is still absolute garbage. The morals of this story are, and I am not exaggerating in the slightest: soldiers should ignore orders to stand down, and you should take actions without thinking about them. Our heroes follow these lessons throughout the story and are constantly rewarded for it. It is a child’s understanding of bravery and honor, coated in thick layers of some of the most painfully sentimental slime that Hollywood has ever produced. 

But, to be clear, you should not be ignoring the politics of this film. It is not a fun blockbuster nor an escapist fantasy, but a clear and unequivocal celebration of US militarism. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the not-so-subtle way the movie talks about jets. Obviously, the aerial dogfights are the real meat of the movie. They are undeniably exciting and some of the most technically-impressive scenes of this kind ever filmed. But I couldn’t help but notice something. 

In the first scene of the movie, Cruise flies a jet which doesn’t actually exist yet: the SR-72 “Darkstar.” Later, when describing their mission, Cruise tells us that this would “usually be a cakewalk for the F-35” if not for some unusual circumstances. That’s a weird thing to say: the F-35 is notorious for underperforming. All of our pilots in this movie are flying F-18s; why were both of those jets included so clearly in this movie when neither of them are plot relevant?

Because both of those jets are new products being sold to the US military by the same weapons contractor: Lockheed Martin. Lockheed was not only involved in making this movie, they are actively using it to promote their jets.

“Top Gun: Maverick” is a 131-minute long advertisement for death. Aggressively unoriginal, wildly irresponsible with its messaging, historically revisionist, and shamelessly jingoistic in the name of providing fellatio to arms dealers. This is a masterwork of propaganda in defense of some of our nation’s worst traits, and it’s an enormous success. I left the theater depressed and forlorn.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2022/05/27/top-gun-maverick-us-military/

But this is completely different! And do you want to know why? Because, previous changes were consumer led. They came AFTER the technology had run its course, had viable alternatives, and didn’t force a majority of customers to adapt for profit. Also, Apple is lying. This isn’t innovation, it’s a purposeful manipulation of the market that makes physical ownership of content more difficult.

The Floppy Disk wasn’t just abandoned. It was replaced by CD-ROM in the 90s as a more portable & less expensive alternative. And even then, CDs had existed for more than a decade before computer manufacturers made the permanent switch in 2003. And despite the switch, the production of the floppy disks themselves continued until 2011. By the time floppy disks truly faded from production, most ppl didn’t even own one. And when CD-ROM became “obsolete,” they weren’t ripped from the market and even today it’s fairly easy to find readers that are cheap and/or included with desktops or laptops.

But here’s the thing? CD’s aren’t obsolete. Neither are DVDs, USB, and Ethernet and SDs. Not really. What is there to replace them? You could say cloud, streaming, etc. But those aren’t actually replacements, they are just different forms of consuming materials. And a majority of consumers will be inconvenienced without those things. Like how would you even connect a wired mechanical keyboard? That’s not adaptation, it’s inconveniencing consumers until they get used to it.

But it’s more than inconvenience. What all of these exclusions do is get rid of physical data. It slowly ostracizes consumers from the very concept of physical data and that is incredibly dangerous. All softwares, ad-ons, recordings, and medias being relegated to downloadable accessibility makes these things harder to pirate or share. It also encourages monopolies as it makes smaller, independent production and sharing much more difficult. It also makes the distribution of softwares tied to research & employment more easily controlled by corporations rather than people. And most of all, it takes away consumer control of the things that they use.

Like even PlayStation did this with the PS5? Do you really think not having a physical drive is an innovation? With physical games you can reuse, share, and save. I can play Spider-Man, give to my cousin, and then let any friend borrow it. And unless I bought the physical game online, neither google or Amazon can add that to their algorithmic perception of me. But without that…you have content strictly defined on individual basis and algorithms.

It’s just that all of the growing exclusions aren’t adapting. They are willful manipulations for the sake of changing how large scale consumers ingage with technology and the internet.

Like I’m not kidding look:

And that’s on top of a base cost of $1700.

Specs like this are fucking INSULTING for that price and god look at how much more they are charging for upgrades! They want $600 for 2tb when a new 1tb SSD drive costs about $100. $200 for 16bg of RAM when you can get 64gb for the same price(and trust me 8gb of ram is good for like a laptop or tablet NOT desktop computer). They’re also asking for another $200 for a keyboard and mouse which is actually laughable. All together apple wants over $2k for a computer with decent storage and RAM(and a keyboard and mouse!!) and it’s literally bullshit. My computer cost less than $2000 and it has 64 gb of RAM and 2 terabytes of storage and my keyboard + mouse were like $20.

Not just for medical either. Ever got smacked with a huge ass fee for "damages" when you move out of an apartment that not just eats your security deposit but tries to take an arm and a leg as well.

Ask for the itemized list, you will be surprised how fast they come back with a "huh, that's weird, I can't seem to find where these damages are coming from" and let that shit go.