Gaythia Weis @Gaythia@social.cleverlibre.org

Welp, so. I guess I'm here now and it's #introduction / #introductions time? I'm a #science writer, #journalist, #podcast host & video maker with a special fondness for weird/gross biology. I'm also a #DnD GM and a huge nerd for #books (especially #scifi) and #comics.

This week, I wrote about a type of lemur that picks its nose with an incredibly spindly finger that's so long it can reach up through its nasal cavity and touch its pharynx.

Nice to meet you, too!

https://www.livescience.com/aye-ayes-primates-nosepickers

@futurebird In my Ed Psych class that all future educators had to take, I was literally *told* that knowledge of subject matter was completely irrelevant to effective teaching; I refused to believe it, because elementary and middle school teachers can encourage their students to explore/experiment/discover mathematical meaning if the teachers themselves understand connections between the physical world and the mathematical objects that we use to make sense of reality around us

#Oulu, #Finland, one of the northernmost cities in the world, has become one of the biggest biking cities in the world as well. It has come to the point that during snowstorms, the city clears bike paths before it clears roads for cars. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20231220-why-oulu-finland-is-the-winter-cycling-capital-of-the-world

Walmart reports their customers on ozempic buy less food and Junk food stocks get hit. Nobodys asking why it's ok a grocery store knows what drugs their customers are on. #privacy

https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/glp1-weight-loss-drugs-ozempic-walmart-stock-costco-cocacola-pepsico-2023-10

So, after an an uneventful and healthy pregnancy, I still almost bled out and died in labor with an undiagnosed placenta accreta.

Eternal reminder that pregnancy and birth can be disabling and even deadly (in my case, even with the best care, it came very close).

For all the rosy pictures our culture presents of pregnancy and birth as wholly safe and sweet, the risks are real.

Forced birth can mean forced death, and we can never forget that.

I have some disgustingly talented artists as friends, but there's none quite like Pete. He just composed this beautiful orchestral piece, and used my paintings in his video. I am so incredibly honored.

https://youtu.be/5ARSTZk189I

If we collected what is actually owed from the top 1% in taxes, we could forgive student loans, invest more in infrastructure and green energy, protect social security and help Ukraine beat Russia. I call that multiple win-wins.

Like a pack of Scrooges, straight out of “A Christmas Carol.”

A Christmas Message from the President of Ireland

"...may I express my gratitude to the migrants who now call Ireland their home. Their presence enriches our culture, contributes to our society, bringing as they do experiences, traditions, and perspectives that make us stronger as a nation.'

http://telescoper.blog/2023/12/24/a-christmas-message-from-the-president-of-ireland/

Why do so many who recognize that it's wrong to punish Israeli citizens for the sins of the regime still believe it's morally right to punish Palestinian citizens for the sins of Hamas?

#Israel #Hamas #Gaza #Palestine #FreePalestine #GiftArticle

https://wapo.st/3TErVYK

This is so tender and timely: Eleanor Roosevelt's little-known Christmas story of hope, written in the middle of a world war — we need those beacon who remind us, with passion and purpose, that happiness and harmony are possible https://t.co/U4ssA2FqoW

Also, if he actually thought he had absolute immunity from criminal liability, would't he want to know that now?

If he did have absolute immunity, all the criminal cases against him would evaporate.

To say, "I have absolute criminal liability but I want you to decide that next year while I have to keep defending myself in these other cases while I run for office" makes no sense.

9/

For anyone looking to support a black owned / woman owned US non-profit organization this holidays, please check out: www.faceafrica.org
Founded by @sarankjones in 2009, our org helps empower remote communities in West Africa with capacity building, clean water and latrines.

All end of year giving is tax deductible in North America. Here's a video I made about an incredible man, Cheyee Kpanwone Jr, who continues to inspire us to keep doing this work.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCjLif_Q6pk

For too long, she said, pollsters have described abortion as a deeply divisive issue. In fact, she said, voters are not divided, if the question they are asked is who should decide whether to have an abortion: Seven in 10 will say the person who is pregnant. The same percentage say they do not struggle with their views. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/17/us/where-will-abortion-rights-land.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

JEFF BEZOS used Amazon to remake sectors of the economy to be lower wage, non-union, and far more precarious with major impacts on workers at Amazon and beyond. The innovation was changing the labor model, not world-changing technology.

*SAY HER NAME: THE STORY OF RUBY FREEMAN AND SHAYE MOSS’ VINDICATION*

Marcy Wheeler
#EmptyWheel
(12/16/23)
_____________________________

[My Op-ed: Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss are heroes. THEY will be -- had better be --- written in the history books as two Americans who fought for and are winning during this horrible time in our American history. To not make them the headline is an act that brings legitimacy to a person who has no legitimacy. Do better, #News organizations. Do better.]

#SayTheirNames #SayHerName #RubyFreeman #ShayeMoss #Georgia #Journalists @washingtonpost
@politico #History #Histodons #BlackHistory #BLM

https://www.emptywheel.net/2023/12/16/say-her-name-the-story-of-ruby-freeman-and-shaye-moss-vindication/

Cutting federal funding for basic research will hurt the US economy | The Hill

https://thehill.com/opinion/congress-blog/4364324-cutting-federal-funding-for-basic-research-will-hurt-the-us-economy/