Feral Laureth

Doing something. Kinda.

The tallest man by a dam site.

Trapped Inside Free Speech Zones: How Americans Must Move Beyond Protest Reflecting on the last 6 years of protest movements in the United States, and how to build sustained political power

The most prominent change I'd make in this piece is the word "spurned". But other than that...

celdf.substack.com/p/moving-bey...

Depends upon what kind of power that stranger has, really.

"Sometimes, the most powerful messages aren’t written in ink or typed in code, but slipped between the knits and purls."

www.moderndailyknitting.com/community/wo...

Why Vermont farmers are using urine on their crops Urine was used as fertiliser in ancient Rome and China. Now farmers in Vermont are bringing this practice back to boost harvests and grow crops in a more sustainable way.

Urine contains many of the same nutrients as commercial fertilizers, but at much less environmental cost. Practices like this have a future as other resources are depleted and necessity demands we start closing nutrient loops.

www.bbc.com/future/artic...

Bonobos create phrases in similar ways to humans, new study suggests Human language is not as unique as we think.

Bonobos also form "sentences" by stringing a few calls together in ways that affect meaning, strongly suggesting that compositional phrases are very, very old.

theconversation.com/bonobos-crea...

If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended,
That you have but slumbered here
While these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream,
Gentles, do not reprehend:
If you pardon, we will mend. -WS

Do it for Freddie!

What can theoretical physics teach us about knitting? The practice of purposely looping thread to create intricate knit garments and blankets has existed for millennia. Though its precise origins have been lost to history, artifacts like a pair of wool s...

Knitting: deeper than just the root of computing.

phys.org/news/2025-02...

Going to Seed Going to Seed inspires a shift in agriculture towards adaptation, community, and diversity. Adaptation Agriculture or Adaptation Gardening allows the ecosystem to select the best plants, rather than r...

Excited to get some winter squash seeds today from the good people at GoingToSeed, to contribute genetic diversity to my locally adapted squash project. (At harvest time, people send them back some seeds from the best plants to keep the project going!)

goingtoseed.org

Maybe this will make more sense to people now than it did even a few years ago, since they can look around and see it noticeably happening in real time?

This whole thread is worthwhile.

Bonobos realize when humans miss information and communicate accordingly To get treats, apes eagerly pointed them out to humans who didn't know where they were, a seemingly simple experiment that demonstrated for the first time that apes will communicate unknown informatio...

"The results also suggest apes can simultaneously hold two conflicting world views in their mind," which is better than a lot of people can do.

phys.org/news/2025-02...

People Hate To Think, Says Research. What Does That Mean For Teachers Exerting mental effort isn't pleasant for most people, according to new research.

Well that explains a lot, doesn't it.

www.techlearning.com/news/people-...

Relocalize and rewild!

"Wot? U mean Teh Deep State is how I got mah Social Security checks and why planes no crash? Oh noes!"

"Experience keeps a dear school, yet fools will learn in no other."
--Ben Franklin, making "Fuck around and find out" classy

If I were Japanese, this would be my mission and my aesthetic. I'm not, but might do something like it anyway. Recycling, zero waste, and respect should know no boundaries.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEJo...

Please also imagine this in rainbow colors. And Red, White and Blue, actually, for people who don't think the United States should go the way it's going.

Wow, that's even worse as a video than as a still image. There is real feeling put into that. He *means* it.

The thing is, you're part of an ecology whether or not you recognize it. Trying to pretend you're not is just a surefire recipe for a dysfunctional relationship with the rest of the life that's also a part of it.

High fertiliser use halves numbers of pollinators, world’s longest study finds Even average use of nitrogen fertilisers cut flower numbers fivefold and halved pollinating insects

They can come live with me.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Why more Americans are gardening as Trump returns to the White House | CNN Business Just two days after Election Day, Maggie Mosher, a retired history teacher based in San Jose, California, began setting up raised beds to build a winter garden in her backyard. Never before had Mosher...

Never a bad idea really, but probably an even better idea in the years ahead.

www.cnn.com/2025/01/08/e...

YouTube video by NowThis Earth Turning Plastic Trash Into Luxury Bags | One Small Step

This firm weaves bags from waste plastic. Inspiring, yes. But when an "eco" tote costs $122, it's not going to save the world (or much of anything else). "Sustainable" takes labor, then it's hard to recoup costs.

There's just no good way out of the big predicament.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r9t...

Google the name of your city + "Mutual Aid". The name of at least 1 organization will turn up. Perhaps they'd appreciate help, and it's usually directly helpful, not abstract.