Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations

"It was so much easier to blame it on Them. It was bleakly depressing to think that They were Us. If it was Them then nothing was anyone’s fault. If it was Us, then what did that make Me? After all, I‘m one of Us. I must be." - Terry Pratchett, "Jingo"

If you are punching down, if you are punching sideways, if you are wagging your fist about shit that doesn't impact you in the slightest, you are their perfect sucka. Wake yo' dumb ass up. Wake yo' dumb ass momma up too.

GO BIRDS!

🚨Official GO BIRDS checkpoint🚨 You must reply "Go Birds" if you see this. @NRG | #PickNRG

Beowulf: Abridged Beyond the Point of Usefulness Prologue Say, the Spear-Danes? Super good Danes. And Scyld Scefing? Super awesome orphan. Grabbed goods from others, gave them to friends. A good boy, Beow, was born to him.

This galaxy is unusual for how many stars it seems that you can see. Stars are so abundantly evident in this deep exposure of the spiral galaxy NGC 300 because so many of these stars are bright blue and grouped into resolvable bright star clusters. Additionally, NGC 300 is so clear because it is one of the closest spiral galaxies to Earth, as light takes only about 6 million years to get here. Of course, galaxies are composed of many more faint stars than bright, and even more of a galaxy's mass is attributed to unseen dark matter. NGC 300 spans nearly the same amount of sky as the full moon and is visible with a small telescope toward the southern constellation of the Sculptor. The featured image was captured in October from Rio Hurtado, Chile and is a composite of over 20 hours of exposure. Image Credit & Copyright: Daniel Stern

Boris Karloff as Santa! 1944

@markjburton2 One is still expected to watch the actor as they text, when in reality one would be "What else is going on? Oh hey, a plant, I'll watch that."

For all its real-world ubiquity, watching people text in movies and TV shows still doesn’t feel quite right.

I find it extremely funny when people refer to academics as "elites" since a huge number of academics are making less money than a manager at McDonald's.

. @RobertKennedyJr claims to want healthier food, but his anti-science fearmongering has made it harder to access affordable fruits and veggies—all while benefiting Big Organic profits. Get the facts behind his harmful rhetoric: ow.ly/B80q50UggNm

Albireo (Beta Cygni)

Shout out to all the people who think they can cook but wonder why the family asks you to bring ice every Thanksgiving.

BREAKING: SUPERMAN VOTED OUT OF METROPOLIS! CITIZENS HAPPILY DESCEND INTO ALL-OUT DEBAUCHERY! If you’re a citizen of Metropolis, you already know how the morning routine’s supposed to go: You wake up at 6AM. You take an environmentally conscious sub four-minute shower. You take a leak that, in terms of both color and smell, your urologist ranks in the 99th percentile. You wash your hands for at least 20 seconds. You head down to the kitchen. You throw on a pot of decaf. And you start making breakfast as hubby and the kids file in and sit down at the kitchen table. The kids dutifully acknowledge the alert on their phones reminding them that school starts at 8AM sharp and that truancy is a misdemeanor. The oldest boy catches a whiff of breakfast, which prompts him to ask the same thing he always asks: “Mom, why can’t we have Sugar Frosted Sugar Squares like the kids in Gotham?” Which prompts you to say the same thing you always say: “Because, sweetie, we don’t live in Gotham. And Superman would throw us in the gulag.” But this morning, things are different. You wake up at God knows what hour. Your  shower leaves a carbon footprint large enough to rival a developing nation. You take a piss that has both the hue and redolence of Tang. You bypass the sink without so much as a second thought. You galavant your way down to the kitchen. And you splash a little coffee in your gin before firing up the stove. Hubby and the kids come barreling in moments later, eyes glued to screens displaying live footage of an 18 foot radioactive lab rat surrounded by a rabid crowd encouraging him to chug a concoction of Sprite and Malt Liquor. The oldest boy glances up just long enough to ask: “Mom, why isn’t Superman putting a stop to this?” And you can barely keep the smile from forming on your lips as you answer: “Because, sweetie, Superman isn’t in charge anymore. Oh and also: fuck that guy.” ✍️: @markjburton2 Dear America: The people of Metropolis have given Superman the boot! Hit the 🔗 in bio for the full scoop 🥧

@amazingmap First: Hahaha F*ck Russia. Second: It's good to know that the Russians are only up to the mid-60s in American movies.

The 2015 Proposal for a Europe-US Superhighway by the Russian Railways Chief

Trump - and his hatchet men Musk and Ramaswamy - are not setting out to create evidence-based policy. They are pursuing policy-based *evidence*, firing everyone capable of telling them how to turn the values espouse (prosperity and safety for all Americans) into policy. 59/

I love this explanation by C.S. Lewis re: why understanding the past is so important (as a real life-enhancing element...not as a curiosity-satisfyer). It's like another physical sense. Touch, taste, sight, hearing, time perspective, smell, etc.

You're offered $100k to recite 90% of a movie. What are you picking?

@LaniusTolmes @SignsOnTheWalls I am bit by bit turning off the lights on Twitter.

@SignsOnTheWalls I suppose it's about that time.

Heyyyyyyyy

@mysticmeance I'm AstronoHarry over there. I'm only ever here to look up a very few people.

I will be slowly transferring to Bluesky. Moving forward I want to delete twitter as soon as possible. My feed is a right wing cesspool, it’s a den of sick, horrible people and I don’t want to see it anymore. I am staying just for those several accounts that are still fun to read

Nice view of a lunar halo. That is Jupiter below and to the left.

@kareem_carr This also demands the adult brain is fully defined at conception. We live in a society that demands Suite #1 out of "real men" and Suite #2 from "real women" to the point that demands accepting inferior outcomes if it supports a stereotype. This doesn't affect brain development?

as a statistician, it’s hard for me to understand why people struggle so much with the idea that “male” and “female” are two distributions with significant overlap. it’s not that hard.