big bi

After almost a decade on this site, I found another Tumblr user in the wild. I stopped to tie my shoe with rainbow laces this morning outside the silversmith at Colonial Williamsburg, and I heard it.

“I like your shoelaces.”

Oh. Oh no.

I responded the only way I could. “Thanks.” And then I reluctantly added, “I stole them from the president…and if that makes sense to you, I’m very sorry.”

The poor man, in full Colonial dress, stared at me for a long moment. And then burst into laughter. And said, “I haven’t thought about that in YEARS and this has never happened to me before.”

Yeah. Me neither. Not until today.

Source

Slavery is literally happening now. Police never stopped being slave catchers. People are supporting it now just like they supported it then.

Long Eared Bat, huge ears and an adorable face!

Mexican Free Tailed Bat, named for the fact that their uropatagium (back leg membrane) doesn’t cover their tail, leaving them with a teeny mouse-like tail. 

Gould’s Wattled Bat, they got some pearly white sharp teeth, but they tell great jokes and always laugh at yours too. 

“HAHAHAHAHA!”

Hoary Bat, AKA the bat that looks like they’re covered in powdered sugar.

Bulldog Bat, a bulldog… with wings <3 

Vampire Bat, often seen as creepy, but they’re actually really cute. Also fun fact, vampire bats live in a social structure where able-bodied bats go out and feed and then share part of their meal with old/weak/sick members who cannot forage themselves. No survival of the fittest here, every bat helps every bat out <3 

A personal favorite of mine: Honduran White Fruit Bat, also known as ‘Marshmallow Bats’! These tiny cuties make tents by nibbling on the leaves until they fold down, and they snuggle close underneath it!

Bumblebee Bat! The smallest bat species and often considered the smallest mammal on Earth!

That is, when an official told you, a rice farmer, that you owed more taxes than you really did, it was very useful if you were good enough at math to know he was lying (and could prove it) and if you were good enough at writing to write a letter to your government defending your case.

Education in Japan didn't become widespread, with nationwide standardized exams, until after the Meiji Restoration. Japan of course wasnt a democracy; it was blooming into a fascist nightmare. So why was this the time when education became available to all people, the rich and poor, boys and girls alike?

Education as a universal human right was not a motivation for the Japanese government.

Instead it was motivated by the desire to cultivate 人材, jinzai, human resources/talented people. Jinzai could help the empire expand. Even today, the Japanese government explicitly uses the term jinzai prominently in its Ministry of Education documents.

So if, today, we're heading into an era that looks increasingly fascist, the government could still be motivated to educate its people in order to remain competitive.

But let's say that 50 or 100 years from now, AI is doing for us what the jinzai of the past used to do: the coding, the engineering, the diagnosing, the war commanding, etc., etc.

Let's say we actually only need a few flesh-and-blood jinzai to oversee what AI is doing. Those people would need to be incredibly intelligent and skilled, but if the need and desire for everyone to be educated has dissipated, then who are the select few who will have the opportunity to become educated? Will we fall back into a society where only the wealthy can school their children?

In a news article the headline pointing out a “dark skinned man arrested” is it relevant why the man is dark skinned? Why does it matter? It’s not like they’re still looking for the guy and need you to be aware what he looks like… why point out he’s dark skinned??? Because they want you to use stereotypes to assume he’s dangerous… so when you read on or see footage of the arrest and see how the man is treated by the police.. you’re primed to think he deserved it because dark skinned men have historically in this country (USA) been said to be more aggressive and dangerous. THATS why literacy is important. THATS why you need to practice this skill.

And the problem is you never know exactly where this issue comes up so you can’t even say “well just use those kinds of examples to teach us!” Because then you’re teaching “to the test” rather than teaching the actual mechanics of how to understand media literacy.

It can also be found on Google Drive here and on Bluesky here.