sequencer987

[sequencer987]

I mean, they kind of do. A lot of Trump’s initial support was due to aggrievment at being on the wrong side of history. The problem was that they wanted to retroactively redefine which side was right.

From a state hearing in Texas

[sequencer987]

Ok but if Larry David was hot enough for NBC executives nobody would even know who the hell Jerry Seinfeld is.

[sequencer987]

decentralize and clean up your life!!!

use overdrive, libby, hoopla, cloudlibrary, and kanopy instead of amazon and audible.

use firefox or librewolf (open-source fork of firefox) instead of chrome or opera (both are made with chromium, which blocks functionality for ad-blockers. firefox isn't based on chromium).

use mega instead of google drive

get rid of bloatware

use libreoffice instead of microsoft office suite

get free stuff with the help of r/FREEMEDIAHECKYEAH, r/piracy and r/roms

use trakt (for shows and movies), letterboxd (just movies), or TMB instead of IMDB (owned by amazon).

use storygraph instead of goodreads (owned by amazon).

use darkpatterns to find mobile game with no ads or microtransactions

use mediahuman or cobalt to download music, or support your favorite artists directly through bandcamp

make youtube bearable by using mtube, newpipe, or the unhook extension on chrome, firefox, or microsoft edge

use search for a cause, ecosia, or ocean hero to support the environment instead of google

use thriftbooks to buy new or used books (they also have manga, textbooks, home goods, CDs, DVDs, and blurays)

use flashpoint to play archived online flash games

find books, movies, games, etc. on the internet archive! for starters, here's a bunch of David Attenborough documentaries and all of the Animorphs books

burn your music onto cds

use pdf24 (available online or as a desktop app) instead of adobe

use thunderbird, mailfence, countermail, edison mail, or tuta instead of gmail

remove bloatware on windows PC, macOS, and iOS X

remove bloatware on samsung X

use pixelfed instead of instagram or meta

use project gutenberg for free public domain books, and librivox for public domain books and audiobooks

use the seal app (android only) to download video and audio

use ellipsus instead of microsoft word or google docs

use mastodon instead of twitter

use peertube to create a network of small video hosting providers (disclaimer: not a 1:1 alternative to youtube)

use threema and signal for encrypted communication, on mobile and desktop

use qwant and startpage for secure internet browsers

use syncthing to securely transfer files between devices

learn how to jailbreak your kindle/ereader if you have one (wiki and video walkthrough)

use riseup’s email and VPN for secure communication (aimed towards activists)

use cryptpad and collabora instead of the microsoft office suite

use google takeout to export the data on your google account

use library extension to look for books on online stores and find them at your library

remove paywalls with removepaywalls

install the open-source adblocker ublock origin

install sponsorblock to skip sponsored segments on youtube videos

use bookfinder to look for the cheapest available listings of books, including textbooks

learn a language through mango (duolingo laid off some of its employees and now relies on AI translations) for free with a library card or through your school

edit photos with photopea

edit pdfs with foxit and sumatrapdf

download music with doubledouble

take notes offline and collaborate securely with obsidian

for android tv, use smarttube and cloudstream (ad-free, open-source)

change your OS to linux

changelog:

removed ground news (uses AI to summarize articles)

removed unroll.me (sells your data)

removed proton mail and drive (AI assistant feature, claims of CEO Andy Yen supporting Trump, please DM if you have proof I can add here)

removed NCH suite (only has very basic free features, puts watermark on anything saved)

notes:

this post blew up while I wasn’t looking (the end of my semester was hellish, and i recently came back from a 3-week family vacation). thanks so much for all the suggestions! <3

i included Ecosia because of their financial transparency. It’s physically impossible that they plant a tree for every search, but their profits still go towards projects including reforestation and solar energy. i view their actions as a net-positive

feel free to add more alternatives, resources or advice in the reblogs or replies, and i'll add them to the main post <3

last updated: june 14th 2025

[sequencer987]

My parents opposed the Iraq War, and there were times where they had to straight up tell my sister and I that we couldn’t talk about politics in public for fear of our safety.

Almost EVERYONE was pro war back then. Quite literally the only people I knew who were opposed were my parents and their friends.

Americans have a bit of collective amnesia when it comes to remembering their stance on the Iraq War when it first began in 2003. The latest Reason-Rupe poll finds that 51 percent of Americans report they were opposed to the Iraq War back when it started in 2003; 39 percent say they supported the war, 6 percent report not having had an opinion, and 5 percent can't remember.

[ ... ]

Only 26 percent of Democrats say they recall supporting the 2003 Iraq War when it began (59% in 2003) and 65 percent say they had been opposed. However, 59 percent of Republicans report having supported the war while 33 percent say they had been opposed to it. A plurality (41%) of independents say they had opposed the war, 36 percent say they had supported it, and 23 percent either couldn't remember or didn't have an opinion.

Americans’ memories of their own past beliefs about the 2003 Iraq War are tinged with their current feelings about what has taken place there since and what is taking place there now. In the latest Economist/YouGov Poll, just 38% admit that they supported sending troops to Iraq in 2003. Less than a month before that U.S-led invasion, more than six in ten Americans* in a Gallup Poll indicated they favored sending in ground troops.

Republicans are among the most likely to remember accurately: today, two-thirds of Republicans say they supported sending troops to Iraq in 2003; in that Gallup Poll, 84% of Republicans were in favor. More than half of Democrats supported sending troops in 2003, but looking back today, two-thirds of Democrats remember themselves as anti-war, and only 19% admit they supported sending troops to Iraq.

[sequencer987]

Art is a sport

One common thing I see among artists who are just starting out is that they are very precious about their work -- ironically, way moreso than experienced artists. They need to get every line JUST right, because in their mind, getting that line just right is what stands between the piece being bad and it being good. I was like that too, for so long that I'm still struggling to catch up because of how it hampered my progress.

Being precious about every line is kind of like a track sprinter starting a run, but then restarting every time their foot lands in any slightly suboptimal way. This is comes off as silly, because we know that the "unit" of what they are doing is a sprint, and that they would make their greatest progress by finishing the full sprints, because that's how they train.

Well, similarly, the "unit" of art is a finished piece. What stands between the sprinter and the time they want isn't 1 individual step, but 1000 sprints. What stands between the beginner artist and making art they like the look of isn't that 1 line, but, i'm sorry to say, 1000 pieces.

Taking note of any mistakes you made afterwards is something done by both the experienced artist and experienced sprinter -- this is healthy and helps you improve. But you can do that later, after you're done.

That line is good enough.

[sequencer987]

[sequencer987]

wake up babe the holy father is posting white sox fan cope on x, the everything app

[sequencer987]

my humor might be broken cause I find this trend actually funny

[sequencer987]

Happy Pride month to all the gay folks who should still be with us but were lost to AIDS. So many of them had (and continue to have) huge impacts on the world, despite their lives being tragically cut short.

Since this is primarily a Muppet blog, I wanted to take a moment to talk about Richard Hunt.

Richard Hunt was a gay man and a fantastic puppeteer who started working with Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, and company in 1970 at age eighteen and joined the cast of Sesame Street two years later. While working with the Muppets, he originated the characters of Scooter, Beaker, Statler, Sweetums, and Wayne, but also became the primary performer of Janice and is responsible for the flower child personality she is now known for. He was also known to be a fantastic singer.

But maybe most importantly, he made so many people happy. According the book "Of Muppets and Men" by Christopher Finch, Hunt "seems to get more unadulterated pleasure from performing than anyone else in the organization. When he is not working on camera, he is apt to have Scooter or Beaker or Janice -- anyone -- on his arm for the purpose of entertaining... He makes the crew laugh, jokes with the guest star, clowns for the shop personnel. He is one of the chief reasons for the loose atmosphere that exists around Studio D despite the pressure and the slow pace that are endemic to television production."

Hunt died at age 41 due to AIDS complications. The Muppet Workshop made a panel for the NAMES Project AIDS quilt in his honor. The Richard Hunt Spirit Award is presented every year at the Sesame Street wrap party to the cast member that best honors Hunt's generosity and dedication on set.

Rest in peace Richard. Thank you for the laughs and the smiles, and happy Pride 💛

[sequencer987]

Who made this edit, it's the most valid one

[sequencer987]

Albany Ledger, Missouri, June 17, 1898

[sequencer987]

The food simply cannot go down a dry throat. It cannot.

truly the most american thing is Big Drink. more than late stage capitalism, more than an unparalleled cultural focus on individualism, more than 9/11 jokes

what binds all americans together culturally is Big Drink

and you might be saying "is this fat shaming" or "but mayor bloomberg outlawed Big Drink in nyc" or "gays are so annoying about their iced coffee" or some other dumb comment but no open your minds, Big Drink isn't just sugary or caffeinated beverages

every day i see one of you hydration bitches (affectionate) on the train with a water bottle so big a toddler could drown in it. that too is Big Drink. we literally invented a bigger beer can (tall boy) in wisconsin in the 60s in the service of Big Drink

anyway i never feel more american then when i have Big Drink in my hands

[sequencer987]

They have to say the “Good Times Create Weak Men” bullshit because they are CATEGORICALLY opposed to Good Times. That is the ONLY way to make a position that ridiculous palatable (to some).

Bro absolutely COOKED with this.

[sequencer987]

It is infinitely more shameful to be good at video games. If someone is good at gaming then I consider that a red flag and usually break contact.

made a picture i will use a lot

[sequencer987]

I love this man.

Concept of Fang for ‘Sonic: Triple Trouble’. Here Shinichi Higashi mentioned liking the simplicity of Opa-Opa from 'Fantasy Zone’, and using that as inspiration. Source: https://twitter.com/toumartcom/status/1314075714677694464

[sequencer987]

i learned that the Twilight Zone was created after Rod Serling’s teleplay inspired by Emmett Till’s murder was heavily censored by networks and advertisers. The censorship led Serling to rethink his approach and delve into the era’s social issues through a filter of science fiction and fantasy (x)

[sequencer987]

New Species of Dinosaur Discovered That 'Rewrites' T.rex Family Tree

Missing Link in Tyrannosaur Evolution Potentially Found in Mongolian Museum; 86-Million-Year-Old "Dragon Prince" Fossils are Believed to be the Closest Ancestor to Tyrannosaurus Rex

— Victoria Gill, Science Correspondent | BBC News | Wednesday, 13 June 2025

An Artist's Impression of Khankhuuluu Mongoliensis, the Newly Discovered Tyrannosaur Ancestor

Scientists have discovered a new species of dinosaur - in the collection of a Mongolian museum - that they say "rewrites" the evolutionary history of tyrannosaurs.

Researchers concluded that two 86 million-year-old skeletons they studied belonged to a species that is now the closest known ancestor of all tyrannosaurs - the group of predators that includes the iconic T.rex.

The researchers named the species Khankhuuluu (pronounced khan-KOO-loo) mongoliensis, meaning Dragon Prince of Mongolia.

The discovery, published in Nature, is a window into how tyrannosaurs evolved to become powerful predators that terrorised North America and Asia until the end of the reign of the dinosaurs.

While There are Beautiful, Complete Fossils that Give Us a Clear Picture of T.rex (Like The One Pictured) Its Earlier Ancestors are More Mysterious

"'Prince' refers to this being an early, smaller tyrannosauroid," explained Prof Darla Zelenitsky, a palaeontologist from the University of Calgary in Canada. Tyrannosauroids are the superfamily of carnivorous dinosaurs that walked on two legs.

The first tyrannosauroids though were tiny.

PhD student Jared Voris, who led the research with Prof Zelenitsky, explained: "They were these really small, fleet-footed predators that lived in the shadows of other apex predatory dinosaurs."

Khankhuuluu represents an evolutionary shift - from those small hunters that scampered around during the Jurassic period - to the formidable giants, including T.rex.

An Artist's Impression of the Newly-Discovered Dinosaur

It would have weighed about 750kg, while an adult T.rex could have weighed as much as eight times that, so "this is a transitional [fossil]," explained Prof Zelenitsky, "between earlier ancestors and the mighty tyrannosaurs".

"It has helped us revise the tyrannosaur family tree and rewrite what we know about the evolution of tyrannosaurs," she added.

The new species also shows early evolutionary stages of features that were key to the tyrannosaurs' tyranny, including skull anatomy that gave it a strong jaw. Jared Voris explained: "We see features in its nasal bone that eventually gave tyrannosaurs those very powerful bite forces."

The evolution of such powerful jaws allowed T.rex to pounce on larger prey, and even bite through bone.

The two partial skeletons that the team examined in this study were first discovered in Mongolia back in the early 1970s. They were initially assigned to an existing species, known as Alectrosaurus, but when Mr Voris examined them, he identified the Tyrannosaur-like features that set it apart.

"I remember getting a text from him - that he thought this was a new species," recalled Prof Zelenitsky.

PhD Student Jared Voris and Prof Darla Zelenitsky Examine a Tyrannosaur Fossil

The fact that this group of dinosaurs were able to move between North America and Asia - via land bridges that connected Siberia and Alaska at the time - also helped them to find and occupy different niches.

Mr Voris explained: "That movement back and forth between the continents basically pushed the evolution of different tyrannosaur groups" over millions of years.

Prof Zelinitsky added: "This discovery shows us that, before tyrannosaurs became the kings, they were princes."