Meme - "Ancient Egyptians placing health packs, weapons and ammo around their tombs so Lara Croft can use them one day"
Meme - "TIL plants make caffeine to defend themselves against pests. Caffeine is toxic to birds, dogs, cats, and it has a pronounced adverse effect on mollusks, various insects, and spiders."
"Coffee plant: "evolves caffeine* Safe at last
Humans:"
"Why are we like this..."
"the fact that we can't drink sea water even tho its the most common type of water just be its 3% salt yet we can safely consume multiple forms of literal poison and even benefit from doing so just blows my fucking mind"
"Peppers: Now that I have capsaicin, no mammal will eat me! ONLY BIRDS, THE BIRDS WILL SPREAD MY SEEDS.
Humans: oh my god this burns so good
Peppers: wut"
"poppies: at last, i have evolved my sap to the point where anything that eats me will sleep... FOREVER
humans who are about to invent painkillers: hey guess what"
"tobacco: finally i can grow in peace, no more insects munching on my leaves."
humans holding matches: my, my, what do we have here?"
"Mint: Stay off me bugs or I'l poison you!
Humans: Yeah I'm gonna need to put this poison in my dessert and mix it with chocolate."
Meme - "Queen Size Bedroom set"
"Is this still available? Can you deliver to ***"
"Yes, are you still interested?"
"Yes I am. Can you deliver on the weekend?"
"Sorry no"
"Can u deliver at all? Only interested if it can be delivered"
"I said NO. Go to hell"
"U said yes to my first question. See you in hell"
*Couldn't send.*
Meme - "STAGES OF LIFE: TEXTS THAT EXCITE YOU
HIGH SCHOOL: "Crush. Hey, you free to talk?"
COLLEGE: "Friend. Hey, wanna go clubbing tonight?"
ADULT: "Delivery. Your parcel has been delivered."
Meme - Wolverine: "Beast, where were you guys? The mansion was under attack! Dont worry, i killed all the vampires, zombies, werewolves and other creatures myself"
Crying Beast: "Oh Logan my dear boy, there werent any monsters. They were trick or treaters"
*Shocked Logan*
Meme - *Naked muscular man balanced on one arm on bathroom counter with anchor on bathroom wall*
"Consider this a fucking warning. Sorry wrong person"
"...
Who's the right person?! Who the hell is the right person?!"
Meme - Historical Centrist @StevePender: "For those who didn't know that Ghislaine Maxwell ran one of the biggest reddit accounts. Controlling/guiding information flow, blackmail of powerful people, like a powerhouse of subversion."
Air Katakana @airkatakana: "u/maxwellhill was one of the most prolific reddit power users, occupying a top spot on the r/worldnews moderator list, and accumulating 14m+ post karma until they suddenly stopped their 18 year track record of posting on the same day ghislane maxwell was arrested"
Meme - "Best Job in The World. APPLYING MAKEUP ON REBECCA ROMIJN ON THE SET OF X-MEN, 2000"
Meme - Muslims: "Celebrates 9/11 as Islamic victory!! While simultaneously saying it is an inside job by Jews?"
Is 11-Year-Old a Genius, or Just Bright? Either Way, He's a Troubled Child - The New York Times - "Agustin Eastwood De Mello likes to tell the story of how his son, Adragon, at 7 weeks of age, looked up at him and said hello. Other signs of Adragon's precocity followed, the father says. He could read and write at the age of 2. At 5 he joined Mensa and at 8 he enrolled in a community college near this seaside town, about 80 miles south of San Francisco. Last June Adragon attracted national attention when, at the age of 11, he graduated from the University of California at Santa Cruz with a bachelor's degree in mathematics, becoming the youngest college graduate, according to the 1989 Guinness Book of World Records. But now concern by the authorites over Adragon's safety has left the boy's future uncertain. It is shrouded in a bitter custody dispute begun by the boy's mother, and possible criminal proceedings against the boy's unemployed father on charges of felony child endangerment... Questions have also been raised about Adragon's academic record. The boy's mother told the police that she and his father did much of his community college homework. And several teachers at Santa Cruz said Adragon performed poorly in class and suggested that Mr. De Mello harassed teachers who balked at giving the boy passing grades"
From 1988
Meme - Shayne Smith: "Gonna ask 4 separate girls on dates to the same place at the same time and then when they arrive and realize what has happened I'm gonna come out and try to talk them into playing Dungeons & Dragons."
Meme - "This is what is now lol? Gatekeep your hobbies, boys."
"Dungeons & Dragons Announces Mythical Meats, a Whimsical Food-Themed Quest"
Meme - "Dungeons & Dragons.
2nd ED *Sean Connery as James Bond*
3rd ED *Pierce Brosnan as James Bond*
3.5 ED *Daniel Craig as James Bond*
4th ED *Austin Powers*
5th ED *Goofy Henchman with rifle*"
Dying Breed Tabletop on X - "The simple fact is that this hobby is open to everyone, but NOT everyone gets it. THAC0 and High Gygaxian might be too difficult for some. But when we dumb it down, we get Tiefling proms and role-playing shifts at a fantasy Starbucks. When you cater to the lowest common denominator and largest market share, you get less than average. While I don't think it was intentional that math, vocabulary, and abstract thought were ever designed as barriers to entry, I don't think that using those standards harmed the hobby. Unlike the removal of those things. When you remove all barriers to entry, then you should never be surprised when the foundation crumbles. #GatekeepingIsGood"
LILLEY: City's $48M estimate to remove bike lanes 'inflated' - "Are you buying the city’s claim that removing the bike lanes ordered taken out by the province will cost $48 million? If the amount seems outrageous, that’s because it is nothing but a scare tactic by city staff who are as wedded to the idea of a bike lane on every street as Mayor Olivia Chow herself. Oh, and the staff report includes this claim, that there will be “minimal improvements in travel time once lanes are removed.” Premier Doug Ford has heard enough about bike lanes from residents of this city and others and has had enough. His legislation stops cities from installing bike lanes on major roads if the bike lanes remove any traffic lanes for cars. He’s also promised to remove “sections of the Bloor Street, Yonge Street, and University Avenue bike lanes,” according to a consultation proposal that started last month and concludes next week. It’s time for these lanes to go and for the city to go back to the policy of bike lanes on secondary roads, not major arterial ones. This report with the flashy price tag is meant to scare residents into agreeing to leave the lanes in rather than spend so much money. Councillor Brad Bradford, an avid cyclist but one who opposes the city’s overly zealous bike lane approach, has serious doubts about the cost. “The city’s $48-million cost estimate for removing the bike lanes raises a lot of questions given that it’s nearly double the cost of installation. That must have generously include every paperclip and shovel they could possibly account for,” Bradford said. He’s also doubting the idea of major construction delays by taking the bike lanes out. “The Bloor West lanes in Etobicoke are just paint and flexi-posts, and those could be removed a lot faster and for a lot less cost than staff are claiming. Probably could done overnight, over the course of a weekend,” he said. Former councillor and Deputy Mayor Denzil Minan-Wong also has real doubts about the costs and exaggerated nuisance of removing the nuisance bike lanes. “I think the number is inflated. If it’s going to cost that much money, maybe the province can come in and do it for it,” he said. Minan-Wong pointed to the roughly $270,000 cost of removing the Jarvis bike lane, a project he initiated in 2011. Sure, costs have risen since then but not by that much. City staff is having us on with this sky-is-falling projection. To be blunt, city staff can’t be trusted on this issue. The shoddy report in 2023 on the “pilot project” for the bike lanes on Yonge St. north of Bloor is proof of that. Faced with complaints from local residents about reduced wait times of emergency vehicles, the city’s staff report claimed this was false, just a delay of a few seconds. To arrive at that conclusion, they didn’t look at the landlocked streets between Price and Jackes. They included a wide area from Avenue Rd. in the west to Mount Pleasant in the east. “We feel trapped — and have very legitimate, very grave concerns regarding how dramatically EMS response times have been impacted. Basically this is a tragedy waiting to happen,” local resident James in an email to me this week on the subject. He and his neighbours are worried that another shoddy report from city staff will keep these bike lanes in place. Thankfully, the province isn’t buying it. “As we’ve said many times,1% of people shouldn’t be making decisions for the majority of people who travel on our busiest roads and sit in gridlock every day,” said Dakota Brasier, director of media relations for Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria."
Left wingers hate cars and drivers, so making congestion worse is a feature, not a bug
Given the voodoo numbers, the Toronto city study claiming that bike lanes didn't worsen congestion that the cycling lobby loves to cite seems even more dodgy
Furious locals blast plans by charity to build Islamic burial site - "'Only 0.2% of the local population identifies as Muslim, indicating minimal local demand for such a facility. 'With nearly 9,000 plots proposed, this project aims to serve communities as far away as Plymouth and beyond, offering no direct benefit to residents.' Several letters of support have also been received in favour of the Islamic burial site, with Gardens of Mercy's chairperson Dr Salim Mahadik, explaining there were no burial sites for Muslims in the region of Cornwall and Devon. He said: 'The charity's main objective is to provide a separate burial space for the Muslim community of Devon and Cornwall, which is also the vision of the planning proposal. 'At present, the Muslim community in our region is unable to bury the deceased according to proper religious traditions as there is no Muslim burial ground in Devon and Cornwall.' Among those backing the plans is Dr Muhammad Ismal, whose family had been living in the area for over two decades. He said: 'We need a burial ground in Devon and Cornwall that allows Muslims to be buried according to their religious traditions instead of compelling us to arrange burials for our loved ones in distant UK cities to fulfil their religious needs. 'This is basic human right of a person or group of individuals to have a burial place above and beyond any advantages and disadvantages including logistical and cultural challenges.' Dr M Zeb Khan also contended that the number of Muslims in the UK, who contribute to the country's economy and society 'immensely', continues to grow. 'Making them feel at home will require accommodating their religious rituals including burial,' the doctor added. 'Granting Muslims a space for burial will be a step forward in creating positive feelings in Muslims of being "respected".'... 'Many Muslims struggle to secure burial plots due to the high costs and shortage of land in densely populated regions. 'Burial is a core religious requirement in Islam, and because cremation is not permitted, the need for adequate burial space is especially pressing. 'Additionally, Islamic traditions call for single graves rather than stacking, which further adds to the demand for space. 'Having access to designated land without financial burden allows families to observe their faith's burial practices while easing the economic and logistical challenges of laying loved ones to rest.'"
Apparently it is a human right for the community to support your religion, including an implicit financial subsidy.
Charter-school competition improves public schools, too - "The dismal academic standards of Ontario’s public education system are well documented by standardized test scores, while the pervasiveness of radical politics continues to be demonstrated by events such as a “field trip” by several Toronto schools to an anti-Israel protest in September. At the same time, evidence of the benefits of increasing families’ access to alternatives to the government-run schools continues to mount, with recent studies finding that policies supporting school choice deliver both educational and fiscal benefits. According to a new study from the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI), a centre-left think-tank in Washington, in cities with high enrolment in charter and charter-like schools (which are publicly funded but operate with more autonomy than traditional government-run schools) there has been a “true rising tide” of academic achievement, with low-income students beginning to catch up to statewide averages. Equally importantly, widespread availability of alternatives to traditional government-run schools didn’t just help the families accessing those alternatives. More competition in the education sector also forced traditional public schools to improve, so increased school choice benefited children who stayed in those schools, too. This latest study adds to other evidence on the academic benefits of charter schools, including a major national study in 2023 from Stanford University’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes that concluded “the typical charter school student had reading and math gains that outpaced those of their peers in traditional public schools,” with the learning gains “particularly strong among Blacks and Hispanics and those living in poverty.” Alberta is the only province with charter schools and even there, charter school students account for less than two per cent of the population. But charter schools have seen 29 per cent enrollment growth in the past four years versus just six per cent growth for traditional public schools. There is massive parental demand for charter schools, whose students have a record of outperforming traditional public school students academically. In addition to all this, a study just published by Indiana-based EdChoice found government policies expanding school choice can also deliver fiscal benefits to taxpayers. It examined 48 private educational choice programs (education savings accounts, school vouchers, and tax-credit scholarships) across 25 states plus D.C. In 2022, average public funding per student in these 48 programs was US$6,000, barely one-third of the US$17,000 spent per student in public schools. The gap between the two is not a pure saving to taxpayers: some families would send their children to schools not run by government even in absence of these programs. But EdChoice estimated total cumulative savings to taxpayers of up to $45.6 billion from these programs since their inception... In Alberta, independent private schools receive no more than 70 per cent of the per student funding allocated to public school students to cover operational costs, and receive no public funding at all for building and capital costs. In British Columbia, the average taxpayer cost for an independent private school student is 40 per cent lower than for a public school student. The recent PPI and EdChoice studies confirm earlier research showing both academic and fiscal benefits from school choice. They also reinforce two points often made by economists. The first is that competition is better than monopoly. The government-run system will not serve families well if families do not have the ability to choose something else. The second is that the private sector is far more efficient than the government sector."
'She was the victim, not the criminal': Federal officials blocked North Korea defector from entering Canada - "The defector was effectively prevented from entering this country Friday for a visit to raise awareness about North Korean human-rights abuses, after attending a United Nations forum in Geneva. Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) had failed to grant her the required electronic travel authorization (eTA) she had applied for on Nov. 4, saying she first had to provide police records surrounding her forced repatriation from China to North Korea. Choi, who runs a human-rights organization in the south, explained in a letter that obtaining such records would be impossible given North Korea’s totalitarian system and her “unique circumstances.”"
Jesse Kline: In Afghanistan we won the war, but lost the battle for human rights - "It was never about saving women and girls; it was about rooting out al-Qaida. And in that regard, it was largely successful... The West seems to be quietly resigned to the futility of the whole endeavour. After all, if we couldn’t eliminate the Taliban, install a stable democratic government and train security forces that wouldn’t crumble at the first sign of trouble in 20 years, it was probably never going to happen. Better to leave now than to waste another two decades spilling blood and untold treasure in the graveyard of empires... The war was never really about pulling the country out of the Dark Ages, or ensuring that female Afghans are treated like actual human beings. Those were always side benefits. It would have been wonderful if they worked out — and it’s utterly heartbreaking that all the gains that have been made in terms of women’s rights and all the young girls who now know how empowering and enlightening an education can be were crushed by a gang of medieval psychopaths. Yet when President George W. Bush announced that the U.S. military had begun striking targets in Afghanistan, he made no mention of women’s rights, or of democracy... Nation-building and preserving human rights were used as excuses for America’s continued presence in the country, but they were always just that — excuses. If the world should have learned anything from the experience of the British and the Soviets, it’s that you can’t hold Afghanistan indefinitely. But that doesn’t mean the war wasn’t a success. It’s hard to get a sense of how large and powerful terrorist organizations like al-Qaida truly are, but one thing is certain: the world has not experienced another terror attack even close to the scale of 9/11. Nor is the terrorist threat anywhere near what it once was: deaths caused by global terrorism peaked in 2014 but have dropped 59 per cent since then, according to a 2020 report from the Institute for Economics & Peace. Although al-Qaida still has a small presence in Afghanistan, it no longer poses the threat it once did. Bin Laden is dead and its current leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, has disavowed his predecessor’s insistence that a jihad be waged on the “far enemy” (i.e., the West), instead choosing to focus on the “near enemy” (unfriendly Middle Eastern dictatorships). Moreover, support for Islamism has waned, as the Muslim world has witnessed the brutality of organizations like ISIL and the Muslim Brotherhood when they come to power. “Millions of Muslims have now seen political Islam in action — and they don’t like it,” wrote Fareed Zakaria in the Washington Post in April. “The oxygen that fed political Islam — disgust with the current regimes and blind faith in the promise of religious leaders — has been severely depleted.” This, however, is hard to quantify, because there have been a lack of polls on support for Islamist organizations in the Muslim world in recent years — which shows how successful we have been at making terrorism a non-issue. The lesson is not that we shouldn’t have gone into Afghanistan, but that the objective should have been kept narrowly focused on destroying the terrorists who posed a direct threat to western interests"
David Atherton on X - "In Afghanistan young boys are sold by their families to more affluent men. In a practice called "bacha bazi" meaning "boy play", they dance for the men & afterwards they are raped."
BowTiedRanger on X - "I know Rangers who were totally unbothered by combat, but have PTSD from accidentally walking into rooms where Afghan men were raping young boys."
Under 16s will be banned from using social media, Australia announces - "More than 140 Australian and international academics with expertise in fields related to technology and child welfare signed an open letter to Mr Albanese last month opposing a social media age limit as “too blunt an instrument to address risks effectively.” Jackie Hallan, a director at the youth mental health service ReachOut, opposed the ban. She said 73% of young people across Australiaaccessing mental health support did so through social media. “We’re uncomfortable with the ban. We think young people are likely to circumvent a ban and our concern is that it really drives the behaviour underground and then if things go wrong, young people are less likely to get support from parents and carers because they’re worried about getting in trouble,” Ms Hallan told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). Child psychologist Philip Tam said a minimum age of 12 or 13 would have been more enforceable."
Meme - Arin Yuni @Arin_Yumi: "A sign outside a restaurant in Kyoto. The English and Chinese text says the restaurant is full The small red text on Japanese at the bottom says "If you can read this, you may come in""
"no vacancy"
Meme - Zoom Afrika @zoomafrika1: "But How did they manage to colonize us?" *Black athletes standing around while white athletes are exhausted on the floor*
Readers added context they thought people might want to know: "Missing context:
The top photo is from the first round of the London Olympic 1500M, the Kenyan athlete - Nixon Chepseba - finished 11th in this race. The girls hugging also won the race."
Meme - "Excerpt from GRRM new blog post"
"It was a splendid trip, and one that did wonders to restore my bruised and battered spirits and relieve some of the stress that I had been under before we left. The first few months of 2024 had been... well, no fun, let us say. January, February, March... things just kept getting worse until we came to April Fool's Day, when it finally dawned on me that I was the fool, and had been for years. But I do not want to talk about that now. (Or maybe ever. We shall see)."
"That is why I have great respect for Jk Rowling (as an Author). She absolutely worked hard on the Harry Potter series and did not allow her newfound fame and money to derail her books. She also always stayed ahead of Movies. imagine if we got Deathly Hollows movies before the book. She focused on the books and her legacy will be far more enduring than Martin."
Why George R. R. Martin Broke the Cardinal Rule of Hollywood - "You might know George R.R. Martin as the mind behind the biggest book and television show in history: Game of Thrones. But what you probably aren’t aware of is that he’s also self-financed four short films based on the tales of a dear friend... [Howard] Waldrop was an American science fiction author who worked primarily in short fiction... Of course, it wouldn’t be a conversation with George R. R. Martin without asking how he’s balancing these projects with the long-awaited sixth and final book, The Winds of Winter, in his A Song of Ice and Fire series. “Unfortunately, I am 13 years late,” he says. “Every time I say that, I’m [like], ‘How could I be 13 years late?’ I don’t know, it happens a day at a time.” He continues: “But that’s still a priority. A lot of people are already writing obituaries for me. [They’re saying] ‘Oh, he’ll never be finished.’ Maybe they’re right. I don’t know. I’m alive right now! I seem pretty vital!” He adds that he could never retire — he’s “not a golfer.”"
George R. R. Martin tells THR that he doesn't know if he'll ever finish 'The Winds of Winter'. "Unfortunately, I am 13 years late. Every time I say that, I’m [like], ‘How could I be 13 years late?’ : r/HouseOfTheDragon - "His legacy is already tarnished (not saying fairly or unfairly) because of the show. He would have to re-conceptualize the plot points to do differently. He gave HBO the ideas that they put on screen, poorly. The ending of his books series is already known to his entire fanbase and he has 0 motivation to write because they all A. know what is coming and B. hated it."
George R. R. Martin tells THR that he doesn't know if he'll ever finish 'The Winds of Winter'. "Unfortunately, I am 13 years late. Every time I say that, I’m [like], ‘How could I be 13 years late?’ : r/HouseOfTheDragon - "That’s where the irony comes in. If he just phoned it in and forced a badly written ending though, it would retroactively ruin the rest of the books. Look at Game Of Thrones, the biggest tv show ever, but no one talks about it anymore, and if they do it’s always with a disclaimer “shame it ended so poorly”. If he never finishes the books, instead the narrative will be about the big “what if”, instead of how he couldn’t stick the landing."
Meme - "imagine having a panic attack hyperventilating and crying and your dad tells you that it "won't effect anything" and that you need to go to class and "act like an adult""
"This is invalidation , which is emotional abuse. Time to go no contact, babe."
"Your feelings are valid. It's as bad as you feel it is. I'm fucking adult and I'm crying."
"props to you for not physically attacking him after that"
To left wingers, everything is "abuse" and "trauma", which is why you need to take their tales about their family with a bucket of salt
Comments (elsewhere): "The thing I noticed with lefties is that any minor disagreement with your family is a reason to immediately sever any contact you have with them. They will do anything to avoid facing their problems."
"We aren't a cult! Also the left, *Cut ties with family immediately, we will validate your issues, one of us! One of us!*"
"Noooo haha you have to reject your family and accept depression look how valid your feelings are"
"These people think they're a threat...."
"The everyone gets a trophy generation, taught by communists activists from prek through college while majoring in underwater basket weaving $400k in debt with blue hair. Oh well, suck it up buttercup."
"These are the shits that want to run things, they had their 4 yrs, and they brought this country to it's knees... It's about time they get their victimhood taken from them, and forced to face reality"
