ScottinSoCal 🇺🇦 🕊 🏳‍🌈 @ScottSoCal@computerfairi.es

“Learn More About the Shore” coasters arrived! I’ll distribute them to Philly bars in May. The goal here is to have folks that go down the shore this summer to appreciate the diverse wildlife we vacation alongside. I hope people enjoy engaging with them as much as we enjoyed making them!

Want to collaborate on a project like this for your lab’s broader impacts? Reach out!

Ctenophore by Tiff Urquhart
Sea Angel by Kelly Nichols
Horseshoe crab by Katie Mai
Outer ring by Sean Martorana

You folks were super enthusiastic about my posting more on Mastodon, so let's try this.

RT/boost and let's see if there's interest in a regular #Ukraine thread!

Kyiv remains in Ukrainian hands.

For the last year, I've been tracking a notorious Russian unit known for its role in killing 100s of civilians.

This past month we published how we found them.

Since "shelled" can mean both "has a shell" (shelled insects) and "its shell has been removed" (shelled peanuts) , what does "unshelled" mean 🤔

#Procrastodon #procrastinaton #ShouldBeWriting

Ursula K.Le Guin saw right through JK Rowling early on. The "mean-spirited" description is so on target.
Here is the relevant except from the Guardian interview from 2004.

It's expensive to be poor. It's ironic but true. You get charges and fees for everything. Higher interest rates. Overdraft fees. Late fees. Having only enough to buy what you need right now instead of buying in bulk. Losing your job because you can't afford to get your car fixed. Losing your car because you don't have a job. Even your mental faculties are drained, as you are forced to continually eat low-nutrition foods, "sleep" in miserable conditions, and be exposed to toxins and lack of medical treatment. The lack of liquidity wipes you out. Life really does kick you while you're down.

You can't tell someone trapped in that vicious cycle to "just" get a job or "just" make responsible decisions. Sometimes, no amount of good decision-making can stop the vortex sucking them down. So the next time you are tempted to place moral judgment on someone who lives in poverty, think twice.

Signed, someone who has been both a Have and a Have-Not.

I subtitled #Zelensky's 2020 Easter address in English, since there is none this year. https://youtu.be/AoNI1OVSvS0

i need a hug

@JaniceSelbie This is great advice! Atheism is just a lack of belief in a god - but there's so much more than that, as it turns out, to becoming an atheist!

I wish someone had shared this with me 20 years ago, when I became an atheist - it wouldn't have changed my rational, intellectual, choice one iota, but man is it hard to separate the real 'you' from the 'you' defined by the tensions between your rational independent self and the childhood/familial/communal psyche you broke from.

At least, that's how it's been for me, coming from a religious household and community whose identity and worldview are inseparable from their religion. So atheism didn't just mean a break with God, it meant a break with my family, their lifestyle, their aspirations, their community, even their politics.

1/

ADVICE TO NEW #atheists

1. Mourn your losses of #identity community, & worldview
2. Read “Leaving the Fold”
3. Subscribe to https://youtube.com/@ComeToCORT
4. Get a secular #therapist
5. Beware the pull of #fundamentalism in any sphere
6. Educate yourself about how #beliefs form (Hassan’s BITE Model)
7. Learn about #codependency
8. See that anger is both a part of the grieving process & an indication of boundary violation
9. Build a supportive #secular network
10. Be compassionate with yourself

Some years ago, I was having a lovely afternoon reading a book in Point Pleasant Park in #Halifax, when I heard this loud chittering above me. Looking up, this cute little guy was giving me one hell of a scolding, lol. Happily had the camera nearby

#photography #WildlifePhotography #NovaScotia #squirrel #WildlifeWednesday

It’s easy to make fun of these bizarre rationalizations. But this is scary: Faced with young people and the clear majority of Americans more generally turning their backs on them, Republicans show no signs of introspection or moderation - but embrace conspiracy theories instead.