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From A tehrani resident who barely got out let me inform you of some of the things currently going on here:

Israel bombed two of the highways leading out of tehran, both are blocked now. The remaining highways had heavy traffic until few hours ago. After israel bombed every oil tanks and refineries around tehran, a shortage of petrol happened. Now most petrol stations are out of work and if you're lucky enough to find one that's still operating, you have to stay in hours long lines in hopes of getting max 15 liters of petrol. So even with a car, it's not guaranteed you can get very far from the city.

There's also the matter of where to go and stay. The bank system is half working, no cash available at the time. And you can't exactly sleep in the deserts around the city. Most people still stuck in tehran don't have anywhere to go and they don't have the money to afford relocating themselves (it's always the lower class that gets the worst hits)

All of these are beside the fact that most people can't leave the city under any circumstance. They have chronic illnesses, they have sick family members who needs care, they work as emergency workers and can't leave their lines of duty.

But these mfs don't care about human life getting destroyed. It's just numbers to them, expendables. Our own government has abandoned people to die horrible deaths, they never cared and they don't care now. People of iran are worth nothing to nobody. It's Gaza all over again.

I have family and friends still in tehran who can't leave. I'm bracing myself for the worst case scenario. I hope all those who start war, add fuel to the flames of war, encourage it and cheer for it, burn and rot in hell. I don't really believe in hell and afterlife, but I hope it's all real just to see these people get what they deserve

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They've been bombimg our city (and several others) for 3 nights now. It's weird how fast you can get used to something. The explosions aren't really as scary as they were the first night

It feels like it's been going on for weeks, bit it hasn't even been 72 hours yet

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good reminder that the first arrow in the Three Arrow symbol stands for "no kings". and that the second stands for "no nazis".

#NoKings

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#YesKings is a bit of a harder sell

Pro-Trump rally in DC vs Anti-Trump protest in Boise, ID

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#Aaaawwww pretty babiiieees!!!#Okay so for anyone curious#The super long one is a ropefish#The one right next to her is either a delhezi bichir or an endlicheri bichir those two species look stupid similar I swear#And the ones in the background I think might be salvini cichlids???

Definitely a delhezi, the endlicheri have a longer and broader lower jaw

Two of the ladies out for a stroll

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rb to tell prev they're being so brave right now and pat their head a little please

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"Quell the uprising before it gets out of control" really sounds like what some fascist-coded movie villain would say.

I love that we live in a society where we live and die at the whim of 15% of the population who can't decide if using military force against the civilian population is a good or bad thing.

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Take that, kalligrammatids

A team of paleontologists affiliated with several institutions in Argentina, working with a colleague from the U.K., has discovered evidence of scales from lepidopterans in dung samples recovered from a dig site in Talampaya National Park, Argentina. In their paper published in the Journal of South American Earth Sciences, the group describes how they found the scales in the dung samples and what the find means for scientists who study butterflies and moths.

Continue Reading.

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Thanks, that is why I took care of separating non-generative and generative AI in my reply!

iNaturalist has opened up a feedback form for their poorly received genAI proposal. Go make your feelings heard

here is a forum thread regarding all of the problems the community has with it, including a very length response by yours truly if you want more information

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idk pride flags are always just stripes so I made a non-binary flag with my favorite dinosaur archaeopteryx. Two heads to symbolize balance between two genders!

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Doesn't iNat already use AI (of the not generative kind) to tell users what species their observations most likely is? That seems like a pretty reasonable thing to work on and improve, but I am more skeptical of the use of generative AI to provide justifications for these assessments, as it might easily give an impression of false confidence even in cases where the explanation is just wrong

iNaturalist has opened up a feedback form for their poorly received genAI proposal. Go make your feelings heard

here is a forum thread regarding all of the problems the community has with it, including a very length response by yours truly if you want more information

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YMCA in Akkadian (Ancient Babylonian), as written by Gilgamesh's exasperated tourism minister trying to attract more gay guys to Uruk to keep Gil distracted from politics:

.

Eṭlū!- Young men!

Lā tuštamarraṣā- Do not, do not be troubled!

Aqabbi, eṭlū!- I said, young men!

Lā lā taṣallalā- Do not, do not lie down!

Aqabbi, eṭlū!- I said young men!

Šunu ina ālim- You are in a town,

Bēt bēt šikārim ḫanbā- Where taverns sprout luxuriously,

Eṭlū!- Young men!

Ina ālim alkā- Go to the city,

Aqabbi, eṭlū!- I said young men!

Bēt kaspī ul tīšâ- When you do not have money,

Annikīam tuššabā- Here you can dwell,

Bēt napṭirim nīšu- We have guest-houses,

Itti awīlī umtallâ- They are filled with men….

.

Taḫaddâ ina - You’ll have fun in

𒌋𒊏𒌋𒅗 U-RA-U-KA! - U-R-U-K!

Wašābum ṭāb ina - The living is good in,

𒌋𒊏𒌋𒅗 U-RA-U-KA!- U-R-U-K!

Ziquratum elâ! Purattum amrā!- Climb up the ziggurat! See the euphrates!

Šikārum ṭābum šitâ!- Drink fine beer!

Taḫaddâ ina - You’ll have fun in

𒌋𒊏𒌋𒅗 U-RA-U-KA! - U-R-U-K!

Wašābum ṭāb ina - The living is good in,

𒌋𒊏𒌋𒅗 U-RA-U-KA!- U-R-U-K!

Amuḫḫūni šaqû! Ziqnūni ītebbū! - Our walls are high! Our beards are shiny!

Nuppušātunu!- You are allowed to breathe [relax]

.

Eṭlū!- Young men!

Eṭlū šimeanni!- Young men listen to me!

Aqabbi, eṭlū! Agana šimeanni!- Young men! Come on, listen!

Aiālam terrišāšu- You desire assistance,

Shū ali īde- This I know for certain!

Šārqum wērum ul ninaddinkunūti- We will not sell you poor copper,

Eṭlū! Ālum ša Uruk bani- Young men! The city of Uruk is beautiful!

Aqabbi eṭlū! Bālātka tezzibši!- I said young man! Leave your pride behind!

Nušallakkunūti- We cause you to go,

Ina Uruk alkā!- Go to Uruk!

Ūmum anniam iseddūkunūti- Today they will help you…

.

Taḫaddâ ina - You’ll have fun in

𒌋𒊏𒌋𒅗 U-RA-U-KA! - U-R-U-K!

Wašābum ṭāb ina - The living is good in,

𒌋𒊏𒌋𒅗 U-RA-U-KA!- U-R-U-K!

Šarrum šitpiṣā! Ittmalûšu ṣālā! - Wrestle the king! Fight with him!

Ittīšu mekkê mēlilā!- Play ball with him!

Taḫaddâ ina - You’ll have fun in

𒌋𒊏𒌋𒅗 U-RA-U-KA! - U-R-U-K!

Wašābum ṭāb ina - The living is good in,

𒌋𒊏𒌋𒅗 U-RA-U-KA!- U-R-U-K!

Ziquratum elâ! Purattum amrā!- Climb up the ziggurat! See the euphrates!

Šikārum ṭābum šitâ!- Drink fine beer!

.

Eṭlū! Bilītkunu īde! - Young men! I know your burdens

Amtaraṣ! Ina šinigī- I was unwell, in my village,

Ātanaḫ! Erēšum ezzēr- I was tired, I hated plowing,

Awīlum ana yâšim iṭeḫḫe- A man to me approached,

Inūšu! Awātum awânim- Then! Words were said to me,

Šumašu, Sîn-lēqi-unninni- His name was Sîn-lēqi-unninni!

Ina Uruk alkā! Iqabbi ana yâšim- Go to Uruk! He told me,

Ina Uruk awīlī ūterrešū- In Uruk men are needed…

.

Taḫaddâ ina - You’ll have fun in

𒌋𒊏𒌋𒅗 U-RA-U-KA! - U-R-U-K!

Wašābum ṭāb ina - The living is good in,

𒌋𒊏𒌋𒅗 U-RA-U-KA!- U-R-U-K!

Ziquratum elâ! Purattum amrā!- Climb up the ziggurat! See the euphrates!

Šikārum ṭābum šitâ!- Drink fine beer!

.

Eṭlū!- Young men!

Addāniqa tallkānim- Please come

Aqabbi, eṭlū!- I said, young men!

Inam anniam ezêršu- I hate this job…

Aqabbi, eṭlū!- I said, young men!

Anāku ānḫāku - I’m so tired….

Bēt bēt šikārim ḫanbā- Where taverns sprout luxuriously,

Taḫaddâ ina - You’ll have fun in

𒌋𒊏𒌋𒅗 U-RA-U-KA! - U-R-U-K!

(Šarrum lillam ina - The king is an idiot in

𒌋𒊏𒌋𒅗 U-RA-U-KA!- U-R-U-K…)

Ao3 link

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Can we have a splendid sunbird (Cinnyris coccinigastrus) for bi pride?

Why yes, of course!

Splendid Sunbird (Cinnyris cupreus), male, family Nectariniidae, order Passeriformes, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire

photograph by Robert Delpeuch

Splendid Sunbird (Cinnyris cupreus), male, family Nectariniidae, order Passeriformes, Ghana

photograph by Charles J. Sharp 

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House Republicans put out a Resolution on Antisemitism which states the actions of ICE and Trump's deportation regime are in the name of combating antisemitism.

75 Democrats voted yes and 5 more voted present.

Jewish Democratic Representatives were split 10-10. If half of Jewish representatives don't support your resolution on antisemitism, then it might not be about antisemitism at all.

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I posted when Bug was little about how fast peafowl fly after hatching.

This little dude was the second hatched; hatched out Saturday around 8pm. This photo was taken 11am today (Monday), so not even 48 hours later, and he's got most of his wing unsheathed.

From this

To this

In 39 hours. They're not quite capable of lift yet but can get down from the laundry basket gently. By Wednesday they'll be able to get lift and by Friday they will be fully capable of flying across the yard.

I love peafowl.