Gabriel S. Pumpkins 🎃
@gsjphd.bsky.social
5.1K followers 2K following 12K posts
Necromancer. Schoolteacher. Big galoot. Bespoke homemade opinions. (he/him) Arthropod enthusiast, echino-curious. Eamus Catuli, illegitimi non carborundum.
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gsjphd.bsky.social
vampires don't appear in screenshots
gsjphd.bsky.social
therapists in New York City be like:
gsjphd.bsky.social
Now what can we do to change the grim situation afflicting so many Americans? How can we ease the suffering of decent people who made mistakes and are now paying for them?

Ah. Well. If you'll open your pocketbooks to the Anthony Devolder Prison Reform Memorial Fund (treasurer: Kitara Ravache),
gsjphd.bsky.social
if there's one thing I've come away from the cultural appropriation discourse with, it's that it's difficult to draw clear boundaries about what is or isn't exploitative/inappropriate and a checklist is no substitute for thought.

whole thing needs a big "not for operation by fuckwits" sticker on it
gsjphd.bsky.social
when you think of a "saber-toothed cat/tiger" you probably imagine Smilodon, but the machairodontines also included scimitar-toothed cats like Homotherium.

and then there's the false saber-toothed cats (Nimravidae, relatives of true cats)

and the Sparassodonta (saber-toothed marsupial "cats")
gsjphd.bsky.social
"if you can't be a role model be an example, and if you can't be an example at least be a cautionary tale"
-- John Sephiroth
gsjphd.bsky.social
...but there are close relatives (congenerics!) that just grow into medium-sized trees for whatever reason!

recently showed some students that the vine and the tree have the same kind of flowers even though they grow into different shapes otherwise, had them flabbergasted.
scottzona.bsky.social
Ipomoea spp. are mostly twining climbers (Ipomoea is one of the most common climbers worldwide), but a few species are trees! This is I. murucoides of the seasonally dry forests of Mexico. Habit 📷: Alejandra Zayas CCBYNC4. #Convolvulaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱
Close-up photo of a leafy branch bearing a white morning-glory flower. Photo by Scott Zona CCBYNC2. Photo of a medium-sized, roadside tree in front of a house. A few white flowers are visible on the tips of branches.
gsjphd.bsky.social
favorite recent example I saw on blooski: sweet potatoes are the roots of a kind of morning glory vine...
scottzona.bsky.social
Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) originated in South America but was widely grown throughout Polynesia well before European contact. Many anthropologists cite the sweet potato as evidence that ancient Polynesians had contact with S. America. 📷: Scamperdale CCBYNC2 #Convolvulaceae #Botany 🌾🧪🌱
Photo of a leafy, creeping vine bearing heart-shaped leaves and a single morning-glory flower.
gsjphd.bsky.social
large cats: Pantherinae (lions, tigers, jaguars, leopards, clouded leopards, snow leopards)

small cats: Felinae (all other living cats, including the physically large cheetahs and cougars)

saber-toothed cats: Machairodontinae (the only saber-toothed cats that are actually true cats)
Reposted by Gabriel S. Pumpkins 🎃
laprofmme.bsky.social
Courtesy of colleagues at Penn
A variation on Benjamin Franklin’s 1754 engraving in the Pennsylvania Gazette, published in Philadelphia, in an effort to foster cooperation among the various colonies against the tyrant king of Britain, with the American colonies replaced by the nine universities selected for special collaboration opportunities
gsjphd.bsky.social
I'd say sabich (an egg and eggplant sandwich common as breakfast and quick lunch) is something distinctly Israeli. Its roots are in Iraqi Jewish cuisine, but it emerged as a new dish in Tel Aviv in the 60s.
gsjphd.bsky.social
he's explaining how the joke is racist and points out that the people pushing it accuse Israel of being Behind It All

I really don't understand how people are having so much trouble getting it, holy cow.
gsjphd.bsky.social
you know the thing about Scots Wikipedia, yes?

that story just kinda hangs out in my brain.
gsjphd.bsky.social
I gotta say it is WILD to see someone say "not beating the allegations" right after using an antisemitic slur popularized by David Literal Duke.
using Nazi rhetoric to slur someone *pointing out* Nazi rhetoric, interesting.

@dalassa.bsky.social this one's already on an "antisemites" list but...
gsjphd.bsky.social
"you are echoing a lie about the people"
"I think that's small potatoes compared to"

mass murder is worse than spreading hateful lies but that does not give you a pass to spread hateful lies
gsjphd.bsky.social
people sure are being normal in the replies, what a beautiful day on Al Gore's internet
gsjphd.bsky.social
the meme he's criticizing is pushed by neo-Nazis to call Jews parasites with no culture of our own. he's pointing out the ugly subtext, not agreeing with it.