The girls are thrumming, thrumming

in the dark & earthen deep.

New wings are humming, humming

to take alight, whilst humans sleep.

"But what-" (you ask)

"What shall the great colony eat?"

Find out tonight!

we blacken the ground

with the 1000 ant feet!

The girls are massing, rushing, running

see the million bright, black eyes

the enemy thrashing, falling, stumbling

within an anty-tide-

These waves hold many legs

& wisdom. Many minds

hold endless skies

together 1 great vision:

The ants arise!

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Some people don't care about so-called "culture war" issues one way or the other since they aren't impacted by them directly. Morally equivalent to supporting the rise of such oppression, but it's an important distinction since a person who doesn't care might vote for candidates who do if animated by other reasons.

Some who "don't care" think they are protecting their modest wealth or conduits of exploitation. (cheap labor, low taxes) though these are a smaller group.

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To address 1: I'm talking about moderately rich people... the ones who own boats and showed up for that pro Trump boat rally. For some reason everyone pretends that Trump supporters are "working class" white people ... but it seems like a lot are doing a whole lot better than any working class person I know.

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To address 2-- I work on voter reg drives, I've participated year after year often traveling on my own dime to go do registration where it's needed.

It's not a priority like it was when Obama made his big push. The closest thing we got was from Bernie who also put a lot into bringing in new voters, but was not as organized as Obama.

Why are (certain) primary candidates better at doing this than the party itself? Think about that for a bit.

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It's not as many people as it seems, though. And I don't think everyone who picks Trump over Biden really likes Trump. Some just want low taxes. But, the field of "eligible voters" leaves a lot of people out. And everyone seems to just shrug about this.

Registering new voters should always be the main focus for democrats. But it's not.

More conservative people say that Biden is too far left.

More left leaning people say he's too far right.

Optics junkies say it's about how he presents himself and other "soft" factors.

Me? I wonder why Democrats aren't more focused on increasing suffrage. Finding out why non-voters are non-voters and addressing those issues with patience and respect.

Like in 2008.

We should have at least 75% percent on presidential years. Voter suppression isn't helping but there's another side to this.

I'm sorry, but I don't think a poll where Biden has 49% and Trump has 46% is "good news for Democrats"

Especially when a significant portion of those who supported Biden in such a poll aren't thrilled about it.

Further likely fewer than 60% of eligible voters will even vote. There are a lot of people alienated from and apathetic towards the political landscape despite many dramatic events and high-stakes issues.

It's a difficult topic because it can't be reduced to a single reason.

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The strange thing was... the people unhappy with the terrible joke weren't throwing vegetables this time! It was all different kinds of fruit. And many of them hit me... as if they were all aerodynamic bananas.

"I guess fruit flies like a banana." I said.

That's when the vegetables started to hit me too.

The Archer left his pack behind. I examined his quiver.

It contained just one arrow. There was something wrong with it... tiny insects covered its surface. With little blue flashes of light they would vanish & reappear.

"Time flies." I whispered in horror.

"And?" Said the Archer. He had returned! Silently, he loomed in the door. "There is little I can do." He explained. "Time flies *like* an arrow."

[I run from the room, instinctively ducking the oncoming barrage of rotten vegetables.]

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Yay! Thanks! The post about fake, incorrect baby birds is up. Now I just need to identify the "not crow" and it will be complete:

https://www.tumblr.com/futurebird/724925295283650560/fake-baby-birds?source=share

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The new retirement age is 67.5 and there is a push to raise it even more for all of us under 50 coming from Republicans, especially DeSantis.

The average for Black men in DC is 67 years. (It's higher in other areas)

I assume the goal is to get it high enough that most people don't ever get to retire.

#blackmastodon

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Can there be super intelligent ants too, please?

If Pence had done what Trump wanted and ... used the alternate electors? Or sent it "back to the states" -- what would have happened next?

Could Trump have been named the winner of the election that day? (By Pence, using the false electors?)

In the "send back to the states" case would it then be up to each legislator to change which electors they would send? Would we have had to try to pressure them not to? Or would that be recognizing legitimate actions as legitimate?

"Oh! ... play dead? I'm not good at it."

"Uh. What are your best features?"

"I'm fat & delicious!"

"Survival features..."

"Wow. Um. Like if somebody tried to eat me? Oh no! Why, I'd... spit on them!"

"venemous spit?"

"no... "

"..."

"I like crunchy vegetables. And I like to cuddle with other dubias. :) "

"Do you help each other to survive like ants?"

"noo... but we are friends. I like to hide & nibble things. I like a cozy nook."

"this is hopeless!"

"I love you! I'm very fat!"

2/2

"Centipede! How do you survive?"

"I run swiftly on many legs! I am grace! Behold my venomous bite!"

"Fruit fly! How do you survive?"

"I fly through the air! I'm small & hard to catch!"

"Ant! How do you survive?"

"I am a part of a vast network! My sisters back me up!"

"Dubia roach! How do you survive?"

"..."

"..."

"Oh hai!"

"Survival?"

1/2

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Carl, is it OK if I share this baby crow over on tumblr? I'll link back to this post and your account obviously.

People have been saying that this is a baby crow over there and it's driving me up the wall:

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Pranking the Neighbors:

When you have a nocturnal species that lives close to a species that's active during the day. Ants generally put their garbage as far from the nest as they can manage, but if they see another ant colony's nest entrance nearby they will fill the entrance with garbage while their neighbors are asleep (husks of dead insects, old silk pupae, debris from excavation)

I've observed this many times, but I do think it's in one of the documentaries too.

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Microdon mutabilis !

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I remember learning that about South America in the 90s... I've never heard of it in Africa... and I don't know if it's a good description of anything in South America either.

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Population is still growing. What's more to the point the population isn't very big.