š£š£š£ this is a public service announcement for those following the grenfell tower story abroad š£š£š£
a lot of the foreign press seems to ignore the main tenents of the story so if you may here is a brief breakdown of why itās shaping up to be a defining national moment in the uk:
***the housing tower is located in north kensington. it is social housing for poor and working class londoners of which a huge number are BME. the borough of kensington and chelsea is the richest in london and marked by devastating inequality and gentrification that some poorer residents describe as social cleansing. non-luxury housing in london is generally a huge issue that has gone unaddressed for decades now, and privatisation of social housing provision has meant that profit motive and cost cutting have been strongly featured in poor peopleās housing. race, housing and poverty are also tightly linked in london; this was a poor and ethnically diverse community as you can see if you watch videos from the scene. first victims we knew that sadly perished were a black british female photographer and her mum, and and a syrian refugee.
***the council is tory and they have done less and less for the housing of its poorer residents and more to accommodate wealthy people. for example, the council is sitting on 300 million in cash reserves yet somehow didnāt find cash to install basic fire sprinklers that the residents asked for? not only that but the 8 billion refurbishment that included the now notorious cladding was partly done for insulation but partly also to make the ugly 1970s council estate look more aesthetically pleasing for the swanky neighbourhoods nearby. the more flammable material used in the cladding saved the building contractor a whopping Ā£5000
***government has been tory for the past 7 years and the order of the day has been austerity. public services have been cut to the bone and so has local authority funding. social housing managers who often work for subcontracted private providers paid by the council have a huge case load. they are encouraged to spend less and less time on health and safety (including fire safety) and more on asking intrusive questions about peopleās jobs and incomes because of the tory culture of dividing people into the ādeserving and undeserving poorā ie those who work and those who donāt. people on benefits are not prioritised when it comes to housing despite individual circumstances, which is why in grenfell you had 70 year olds with limited mobility living on the 22nd floor.
***uk has probably the most entrenched class system in the world and trashing of the working classes and the poor is almost a national hobby for some people. right-wing tabloid media is extremely powerful and they paint a picture of benefit cheats and non-working immigrants even though most poor people in britain work (they are the new working poor who have terrible wages and live in squalid and unaffordable housing) and most BME people were born here, theyāre not immigrants
***if you are poor you are largely voiceless and meaningless to this neoliberal tory government. the tenants had written letters raising concerns about fire safety and in response were threatened with legal action. of course they couldnāt respond because tories have cut legal aid because ofā¦ yes, austerity. meanwhile tory ministers have been sitting on reports about fire safety in council flats including one from a coroner of a case where six people died in a housing block in south london in 2009. the prime minister didnāt meet the people affected at the scene and the response has generally been very poor. local council has been nowhere to be seen and the donations have come from ordinary people ā proper working class solidarity in the face of state that treats them with utter contempt.
TL;DR: austerity kills, gentrification kills, indifference kills. people want justice, they are angry. why did up to 150 people die? this was preventable ā itās scandalous, horrific. itās like poor peopleās lives donāt matter in britain ā a hurricane katrina moment for the uk. so please watch videos of THE PEOPLE, poor and working class londoners, who are suffering and expressing anger. donāt listen to theresa may, tories and the bbc trying to sanitise the story. this has everything to do with inequality, poverty, race and most of all CLASS. make those people visible again and help us change things because honestly this is the breaking point and we donāt need people spreading a false narrative abroad. cheers, peace out
I love them so much because theyāre about as sharp as a baseballĀ and their anatomy is ridiculous to the point of them literally being classified as planktonĀ for years because they just sort of get blown around by the ocean and look confused, but because they lay more eggs than ANY OTHER VERTEBRATE IN EXISTENCE, evolution canāt stop them
Why is no big predator coming and gnawing on them?
Their biggest defense is that theyāre massive and have super tough skin, but they do get hunted by sharks or sea lions sometimes and they just sort of float there likeĀ āoh botherā as it happens
Even funnier, because they eat nothing but jellyfish theyāre really low in nutritional value anyway, so they basically survive by being not worth eating because theyāre like a big floating rice cracker wrapped in leather.
Perfect example of āsurvival of the fittestā NOT meaning being some hyper aggressive, muscular manly asshole. This creature fell upon the complete opposite combination of traits and just rolled with it and evolution was like āwell, itās working, somehow".
reminder that this is what they look like when they hatch and they are smaller than a housefly
ā¦..But they reach up to 800 pounds in barely over ONE YEAR.
One year omfg are you fucking serious I didnāt know that
it looks like someone dropped a lentil how does it gain that much weight eating jellyfishĀ
As an ichthyologist (someone who studies fish, Iām about to get my masters degree and move on to my PhD), I feel I need to respond to these sort of posts about Molids. I donāt want to ruin anyones fun, but itās become a pretty common joke to talk about how ridiculous Mola mola are and howĀ ātheyāre a freak of evolution that somehow works cause they lay billions of eggsā when in reality, they are actually very complex fish that are just as valid as any other. Iāll link sources below.Ā
They belong to the order Tetraodontiformes, which contains other fishes commonly described as weird like pufferfish, triggerfish, and boxfish. When you look at the Mola mola in a phylogenetic context, its actually not that strange as its very similar to its relatives. The nameĀ āTetraodontiformesā means four-teeth, and so like the puffers and triggers, molas have 4 fused crushing teeth, hence the small funny mouth. This group is also known for their peculiar swimming methods. Almost all the members of this order use their dorsal and anal fins for propulsion (balisthiforme locomotion) rather than their caudal fin. In the Molas case, its caudal fin has been reduced to a rudder essentially, properly called a clavus. Look up videos of this guys relatives swimming and it wont be so strange it lacks a proper caudal fin, especially look at triggerfish.
To address the jokes about them just floating around and eating only jellyfish, this may actually only be half true. Very little is known about their feeding habits, but they appear to be more likely omnivores. They feed on any floating gelatinous zooplankton, but have have also been found with squid, fish, crab, and eelgrass in their stomachs and have been found to take squid baited hooks, though we donāt know if this is because of the squid or light lures. Also remember another large animal does the same thing – leatherback sea turtles are gelantinous zooplanktivores too, and equally massive.
As for their swimming, these fish are actually powerful swimmers with many records of them breaching and jumping high into the air. See the video to see one taking off. They are also travelers, making regular forays into the ocean deep and out-swimming currents as they migrate. We only know them from when they swim up from the deep to get rid of parasites and warm themselves, which is when Iād be pretty lazy too. There is a great deal we donāt know about these fishes, but they are far from simple giant heads, they represent an interesting evolutionary turn in nature with a unique morphology that natural selection helped create.Ā
Lastly, Iād like to address the concept that these are large, unintelligent creatures. This is partially based on my opinion and personal experience diving, but Tetraodontiforme fishes are some of the most curious and intelligent fishes I know of. Aquarists around the world have recognized this as well, especially in triggerfishes. The same is likely true for Molas, these are some of the most evolutionarily derived fishes in the world that exhibit complex behaviors like recognizing that they can bask and seagulls will pick off their parasites.
TLDR: These are complex fishes that we still barely understand, but they are actually powerful swimmers who can migrate, regularly make deep sea dives, exhibit complex behavior and may actually be omnivores. Please stop portraying them as freaks of nature because these images can negatively affect conservation efforts for animals. Being seen as useless is just as dangerous for conservation as is being thought of as dangerous. These guys are regular bycatch by fishing boats and may already be in danger.Ā
Sources: If you canāt open the pdfs, message me and Iāll send you a copy.
TY FOR THE INFO AAAA Iām not at all a fish expert and I appreciate you taking the time, I had no idea they could actually breach the surface thatās amazing holy shit. Imagine not knowing what a sunfish is and seeing that??
Itās amazing how little we know about species like this that are so big or commonplace for some people? Itās similar for amphibians, which are what I know more about rofl. We have salamanders in Georgia that are totally undocumented, some of them weāve had documented for years and we just have no idea how long they live or what they eat etc because it hasnāt been studied.
That being said I hope itās clear that me saying theyāre ridiculous fish is in the same way I make fun of frogs; Theyāre adapted very well for their environment and things like āfreakishā or āuselessā are entirely baseless judgements because itās based entirely on our perception of whatās average/useful and not the reality. Their adaptations are very beneficial because theyāve carved out a niche in their environments that no other fish have and thatās pretty amazing. Theyāre extremely cool fish!
Frogs are also amazingly well adapted, sensitive, and very important, and when Iām pointing and laughing at mola molas for looking perpetually surprised or desert rain frogs for looking like ping pong balls that grew legs I hope itās obvious that itās because I find them endearing and love them and not because my making fun of them is serious.Ā
how could anyone not love these mysterious sideways children
(If you have time, is it known how they grow so quickly?? Iāve been thinking about it all day, they must know something to eat that gives them the nutrients needed to grow so quickly but I canāt imagine what. Also have you gotten to see them in the wild? I always wondered if they acknowledged humans like whales or dolphins do, or if they sort of ignore us)
NEW ORLEANS PLEASE NEVER FORGET THEY LEFT THE PEOPLE OF MY CITY TO DIE!
whyā¦.. why do they have guns in response to a natural disaster?
Merica
They killed my mamaās friend on the danziger bridge
Always reblog
And ppl still suffering PTSD 10 years later
Iām at work trying so hard not to cry
I remember my English teacher talked to us about this one day in class and she was sobbing so hard she had to leave
š¦
I hated this.
the plea agreements drew prison terms from three to 12 years (x)
But all lives matter right?
Heartbreaking
Right, all lives matter my ass.
I still have ptsd from this ,and I was 8 when this happened. It still feels like yesterday that this happened. My heart breaks everytime I see my city im pieces.
I remember riding down the highway from the storm in traffic with water covering half the tires a terrified 7 year old š
so hey fun fact for anyone who wants queer history trivia: the first disco in Seattle was opened in 1973 and was a gay bar called āshellyās legā and it was named after a dancer named shelly who lost her leg in a confetti cannon accident and used the insurance/lawsuit settlement money to open a gay disco.
a) This is such a fantastic story that I wouldnāt care if it were made up, except that
Itās extremely true! In fact, Shelly was a known advocate who had tried to open such a thing before but the prices and fees would just be out of reach. Then during a city function she lost her leg when the confetti cannon malfunctioned catastrophically. She then used the lawsuit both to pay for the bar, making it specifically gay and in fact putting it on the sign on the front door, but also as a reminding tool that she could win the second lawsuit she would file if they tried to shut her down for a nonexistent legal reason. Essentially she bought and blackmailed one of the first legal gay bars into existence, and it became a haven for years to come!
Urocyon's Jaunts 2.0 
You must be logged in to post a comment.