Thot Experiment: just run at it screaming

So, in terrible news, Trump's trying to pull some strings to pass this massive internet censorship bill, featuring all the kinds of internet censorship we're terrified of, including mandatory ID for accessing basically any website, specifically to crush state regulation of AI, because apparently this man will always see the moral bottom of the barrel and start digging.

6/14/2026

It's choosing to be kind to people when you're in a bad mood, or when they're being annoying.

It's choosing to be kind to people who your friends don't like.

It's choosing to be kind to people who you don't particularly like.

It's choosing to be kind to people who you envy.

I'm not saying that you can't be a kind person and stand up for yourself, or tell someone to fuck off when they're doing something genuinely harmful, but there are a million petty reasons people use to justify treating people badly.

But that's exactly what kindness is. It's making the effort to treat people well when you don't feel like it.

At minimum about 4.5 thousand people liked this without reblogging it.

Progress.

"We are the Interstellar Library. Do you want to swap? We have thousands of stories."

There were many replies.

The library was silent for a whole day, then:

"With “green corridors” that mimic the natural forest, the Colombian city is driving down temperatures — and could become five degrees cooler over the next few decades.

In the face of a rapidly heating planet, the City of Eternal Spring — nicknamed so thanks to its year-round temperate climate — has found a way to keep its cool.

Previously, Medellín had undergone years of rapid urban expansion, which led to a severe urban heat island effect — raising temperatures in the city to significantly higher than in the surrounding suburban and rural areas. Roads and other concrete infrastructure absorb and maintain the sun’s heat for much longer than green infrastructure.

“Medellín grew at the expense of green spaces and vegetation,” says Pilar Vargas, a forest engineer working for City Hall. “We built and built and built. There wasn’t a lot of thought about the impact on the climate. It became obvious that had to change.”

Efforts began in 2016 under Medellín’s then mayor, Federico Gutiérrez (who, after completing one term in 2019, was re-elected at the end of 2023). The city launched a new approach to its urban development — one that focused on people and plants.

The $16.3 million initiative led to the creation of 30 Green Corridors along the city’s roads and waterways, improving or producing more than 70 hectares of green space, which includes 20 kilometers of shaded routes with cycle lanes and pedestrian paths.

These plant and tree-filled spaces — which connect all sorts of green areas such as the curb strips, squares, parks, vertical gardens, sidewalks, and even some of the seven hills that surround the city — produce fresh, cooling air in the face of urban heat. The corridors are also designed to mimic a natural forest with levels of low, medium and high plants, including native and tropical plants, bamboo grasses and palm trees.

Heat-trapping infrastructure like metro stations and bridges has also been greened as part of the project and government buildings have been adorned with green roofs and vertical gardens to beat the heat. The first of those was installed at Medellín’s City Hall, where nearly 100,000 plants and 12 species span the 1,810 square meter surface.

“It’s like urban acupuncture,” says Paula Zapata, advisor for Medellín at C40 Cities, a global network of about 100 of the world’s leading mayors. “The city is making these small interventions that together act to make a big impact.”

At the launch of the project, 120,000 individual plants and 12,500 trees were added to roads and parks across the city. By 2021, the figure had reached 2.5 million plants and 880,000 trees. Each has been carefully chosen to maximize their impact.

“The technical team thought a lot about the species used. They selected endemic ones that have a functional use,” explains Zapata.

The 72 species of plants and trees selected provide food for wildlife, help biodiversity to spread and fight air pollution. A study, for example, identified Mangifera indica as the best among six plant species found in Medellín at absorbing PM2.5 pollution — particulate matter that can cause asthma, bronchitis and heart disease — and surviving in polluted areas due to its “biochemical and biological mechanisms.”

And the urban planting continues to this day.

The groundwork is carried out by 150 citizen-gardeners like Pineda, who come from disadvantaged and minority backgrounds, with the support of 15 specialized forest engineers. Pineda is now the leader of a team of seven other gardeners who attend to corridors all across the city, shifting depending on the current priorities...

“I’m completely in favor of the corridors,” says [Victoria Perez, another citizen-gardener], who grew up in a poor suburb in the city of 2.5 million people. “It really improves the quality of life here.”

Wilmar Jesus, a 48-year-old Afro-Colombian farmer on his first day of the job, is pleased about the project’s possibilities for his own future. “I want to learn more and become better,” he says. “This gives me the opportunity to advance myself.”

The project’s wider impacts are like a breath of fresh air. Medellín’s temperatures fell by 2°C in the first three years of the program, and officials expect a further decrease of 4 to 5C over the next few decades, even taking into account climate change. In turn, City Hall says this will minimize the need for energy-intensive air conditioning...

In addition, the project has had a significant impact on air pollution. Between 2016 and 2019, the level of PM2.5 fell significantly, and in turn the city’s morbidity rate from acute respiratory infections decreased from 159.8 to 95.3 per 1,000 people [Note: That means the city's rate of people getting sick with lung/throat/respiratory infections.]

There’s also been a 34.6 percent rise in cycling in the city, likely due to the new bike paths built for the project, and biodiversity studies show that wildlife is coming back — one sample of five Green Corridors identified 30 different species of butterfly.

Other cities are already taking note. Bogotá and Barranquilla have adopted similar plans, among other Colombian cities, and last year São Paulo, Brazil, the largest city in South America, began expanding its corridors after launching them in 2022.

“For sure, Green Corridors could work in many other places,” says Zapata."

If you accidentally find out someone is queer, what do you do? 

You didn’t mean to snoop but you overheard a conversation that wasn’t meant for your ears, or they forgot to close a tab on a shared device, or a third person told you behind their back - no matter how it happened, you now know something they didn’t tell you. How do you act in this situation? 

This question was asked to me recently, and I think it both has a clear simple answer and a lot of nuance. 

If we break it down to its bare bones, the situation is really just „I know someone’s secret, what do I do“ - and the answer to that is a clear „Nothing“. You do nothing with secret information that you obtained by accident. It was never yours in the first place! You are definitely not entitled to share it with anyone else (that part is hopefully obvious) and I’d also argue you don’t tell the person. 

The reason for that is simple: They didn’t tell you that information themselves - so there’s no indication that they currently wish to talk to you about this. It’s safest to assume they don’t want you to know. That doesn’t necessarily translate to „they don’t trust you“ or anything like that. They may need more time. They may not feel ready to tell anyone yet. They may want to explore their feelings without other input for now. They might just not want to talk about it. Take no personal offense, but assume that it’s not up for conversation as of now. 

If you had a painful time in the closet yourself, it’s natural that you might feel a desire to „save“ others. But it’s generally best to not make any unfounded assumptions on why someone is in the closet. Real people aren’t fictional characters, we shouldn’t assign them dramatic backstories. Do not automatically assume they are struggling with self-acceptance or need to be „rescued“ in any way. There’s a big difference between „They are depressed and lonely and don’t have anyone to help them“ and „They just prefer to not share this with me“ - do not conclude the former from the latter. 

That’s the clear answer - and here’s the nuance: 

Safety comes first. The way you found out matters here. If (for example) you found out because a third person has forwarded you a private coming out message or shared intimate pictures they sent them, then disregard everything I said above. Do assume that this is a potential safety risk for them and tell them (in a gentle and private conversation). Outing someone behind their back can be dangerous, they deserve to be made aware that this is happening. 

On the complete opposite end of „the way you found out matters“: if your friend never told you she’s a lesbian but puts up a small lesbian pride flag pin on her backpack, you do not need to pretend you don’t see it. Still do not automatically assume anything (she could just be an ally!) but consider that some people never come out in words. It’s okay to go „Cool pin!“ and leave it up to her if she wants to take the chance to say something. 

Same goes if your coworker never said „I am gay“ but puts up a wedding picture of him and another man on his desk. Some relationships (especially more superficial ones, like coworkers) do not require a coming out in the sense of sitting you down and going „I need to tell you something“. Obviously still don’t go around introducing him as your gay coworker to every customer now (that’d be inappropriate and overstepping) but it’d be silly to treat it as a deep dark secret here. You can safely assume that it’d be fine to say „What a beautiful picture“ in a small-talky way. 

What if it’s not quite as obvious as a pride flag or wedding picture but you feel like someone keeps dropping hints to gauge your reaction? You feel like they left that tab open on purpose to see if you’d say anything, you feel like maybe they wanted you to overhear that private phone call because they don’t know how else to tell you… that can be a tricky situation because firstly, you could still be wrong and secondly, it’s easy to overshoot your reaction. You’ll want to assure them you’re a safe person without scaring them off. Suddenly going on and on about how being gay is okay may have the opposite effect you want. Do not forcibly steer the conversation towards homosexuality if it doesn’t go there naturally, do not go „Is there anything you want to tell me?“ as that may put them on the spot. The safest approach is usually light and gentle: consider what would’ve made you feel safer back when you were in the closet. It can be something as simple as putting your own pride flag pin on your backpack or casually mentioning you’ll go to Pride this year! 

In any situation, the key is that you can’t „unlock“ a coming out. You don’t go investigate and you don’t pry that door open for them specifically - all you can do is gently signal that you’re a supportive, trustworthy person, so if anyone did want to come out, they wouldn’t have to do emotional acrobatics to figure out whether you’re safe first.

With all my love, 

The light from the window was striped. It made stripes on my cigarette smoke. The end of my cigarette crumbled into ash. My marriage had also crumbled into ash.

She was not wearing a ring. It means something when a woman does not wear a wedding ring. Usually, it means that she is not married. “Seems your ring has also gone missing,” I said. I hoped her dress would join it.

Her red mouth curved upwards. She was smiling a little. “I don’t wear it outside. A diamond that large would only invite trouble.”