Phil Landmeier @shuttersparks@social.cleverlibre.org

Vladimir Putin signals he is open to a ceasefire in Ukraine.

In related news: The wolves in my local forest say, they are really sorry about the whole sheep killing incident, and if we would please stop guarding the fields, they will certainly not attack again.

Scout's honor.

#Bioluminescence

A long time ago, people in North America would get wide eyed looks of horror and concern when I told them I'd had malaria - multiple times. (And also typhoid, giardia, and intestinal worms - all at the same time- and I had been sick for three years). The ignorant would even sometimes move away suddenly, as if they weren't quite sure which of those diseases they could or couldn't get from sitting next to me. Sometimes they would ask if the malaria could come back, and I told them that yes, some kinds can go dormant in your liver for years and then pop back out for unknown reasons. I sometimes told them that I had taken an "eradication course" of a medication that was supposed to kill of those dormant forms, and I hoped that it had worked. And yes, if they asked, I told them that I knew people who had died of malaria. I wonder sometimes how these same people who were horrified by the very word "malaria" would react if I met them again. And told them that #Covid is airborne, while malaria is not (unless you count flying mosquito vectors as "airborne"). I wonder their eyes would widen and if the same horrified expression would cross their faces if/when they realised that the illnesses they've probably had multiple times by now is much more contagious than malaria, and could even now be hiding out in their bodies, damaging their organs, and waiting to pop out and kill them unexpectedly in the future. But no, I probably won't meet them again, and I won't tell them, and they won't realise. Until it's too late. #CovidIsNotOver

These two photographs are separated by only 66 years.

#pics #pictures #history #science #space #Technology

Just a squirrel channeling his inner Kenny G. (source unknown)
#squirrel

Remember these?
We were always ready for a nuclear attack in the 50's and 60's
There was also an air raid siren within sight of our house.

Between 1953 and 1963, all new radios sold were required by law to carry a triangle-in-circle at 640 and 1240 AM on the dial. The triangles were referred to as CD marks, for Civil Defense.

If #Trump is POTUS, we may need this stuff again.

Ukraine shoots down multiple russian jets

Ukraine has shot down five russian fighter jets in the last few days. In this video anderspuck@krigskunst.social discusses what is going on, and why it may be the beginning of a new phase in the air war.

(7 Minute) YouTube📽️ 🔗 https://youtu.be/-NdIoseN6HM?si=O3dfN_taRZAFRBgT

#Ukraine 🇺🇦 #SlavaUkraine #RussiaIsATerroristState
#СлаваУкраїні! #StandWithUkraine

“FBI data…found that violent crime dropped 8%, while property crime fell 6.3% to what would be its lowest level since 1961 […]

“Murder plummeted in the United States in 2023 at one of the fastest rates of decline ever recorded…and every category of major crime except auto theft declined.

“Yet 92% of Republicans, 78% of independents and 58% of Democrats believe crime is rising, the Gallup survey shows.”

Most people think the U.S. crime rate is rising. They're wrong. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/people-think-crime-rate-up-actually-down-rcna129585

#GOPTerrorists

Low-quality shells supplied to Russia by North Korea are injuring its own troops and damaging artillery, Ukraine says https://www.businessinsider.com/russias-low-quality-north-korean-shells-injure-troops-ukraine-says-2023-12

They used to laugh and call him names.

… used to.

Unknown person threw a training grenade at journalists during a party in Riga organized by the Russian service of the BBC. The grenade exploded, but no one was injured. The perpetrator fled in a black BMW. #Riga #journalists

Still one of the best traditions out there. https://www.noradsanta.org/en/map

Merry Christmas, friends.

My rebuttal: Which Nazi ideas have not already been considered and rejected? Which have been unfairly thrown out? Which of them do you feel it is vital to rescue and restore and list on the "marketplace of ideas?"

And when have Nazis ever been defeated in the way you suggest?

This pretty much tracks, no notes. #Elon #Christmas

When Hillary Clinton called MAGA supporters “deplorables,” it was in the news forever. We still talk about it today. But when Trump called his political enemies “vermin”—actually invoking the words of Adolf Hitler—the press just moves on like it’s nothing. They are failing us.

LOCK HER UP NOW!

Ronna should resign

Things I have SEEN while shopping 2 days before #Christmas in a small #NewZealand city:

1. An elderly lady drawing willies wearing Santa hats on the walls of a public loo. She was emphatic that they "represent life's funny little ways"

2. A sweaty looking middle-aged guy in a discount garden centre bellowing "Darl, you like flowery shit, right?" at presumably the love of his life. Her profanity was audible and delightful for onlookers.

3. A woman in her twenties standing in the cheese section of the local supermarket, obviously completely overwhelmed. A sales assistant came up, put a hand on her shoulder and said "It's all gonna be okay, love. In five days it'll all just be indigestion. You'll do fine."

4. A dad giving his young son a very serious lecture about the importance of getting his mum the perfect watering can. The lecture went on for at least 5 minutes. I know this because I was waiting to grab one of the watering cans myself. It was lovely and worth it though.

5. A little girl excitedly collecting as many teaspoons as she could in a kitchen store, yelling at her dad that "Mum needs SPOONS!"

6. A woman in the Christmas markets, obviously on the edge of tears, standing in front of a house plant stall asking "But which one has the right energy for a large family dinner?" The lovely Canadian running the stall suggested a cactus. She is now my hero.

7. And finally, an elderly man yelling "YOU BASTARDS DON'T HAVE ANY CHRISTMAS SPIRIT" to a parking meter.

To the conservatives who assert that the way to beat Trump is through the ballot box and not through litigation, he was beaten at the ballot box. In 2020. But then he fomented an insurrection in an effort to overturn being beaten at the ballot box. That’s why he has been indicted.

As vaccine deniers take control of state legislatures and push their attacks on public health, new data shows that contracting measles -- the prevention of which the deniers want to end -- has disastrous further effects.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20211112-the-people-with-immune-amnesia

Make no mistake: anti-vaccine = pro-death.