gnetophyte:

shmernstrobel:

is anybody else unsettled by how a lot of protests have turned into a “who can make the most clever sign” contest

right and i feel like that distracts from and decontextualizes the original intent of the protest. protest slogans become another thing to consume, another commodity to produce and to enjoy

bookvideogamemaniac:

nubbsgalore:

the red eyeshine of the alligator occurs when light enters its eyes, passes through the rods (light receptors) and cones (color receptors) of the retina, strikes a membrane behind the retina called a tapeatum, and is then reflected back through the eye to the light source. most of the animals with eyeshine are, like alligators, night hunters who must make use of limited light. photos by larry lynch and david moynahan

Haha yeah cool story, but those dudes are actually just super cool demons chilling in a lake

bbathsheba:

queens : Anne Boleyn

Anne was the daughter of Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, and his wife, Lady Elizabeth Howard, and was educated in the Netherlands and France,as a maid of honour to Queen of France. Anne returned to England in early 1522 where she secured a post at court as maid of honour to Henry VIII’s wife, Catherine of Aragon.

In February or March 1526, Henry VIII began his pursuit of Anne. She resisted his attempts to seduce her, refusing to become his mistress, which her sister Mary had been. It soon became the one absorbing object of Henry’s desires to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon so he would be free to marry Anne. When it became clear that Pope Clement VII would not annul the marriage, the breaking of the Catholic Church’s power in England began. In 1532, Henry granted Anne the Marquessate of Pembroke.

Henry and Anne formally married on 25 January 1533, after a secret wedding on 14 November 1532. On 23 May 1533, newly appointed Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer declared Henry and Catherine’s marriage null and void; five days later, he declared Henry and Anne’s marriage valid. Shortly afterwards, the Pope decreed sentences of excommunication against Henry and Cranmer. As a result of this marriage and these excommunications, the first break between the Church of England and Rome took place and the Church of England was brought under the King’s control. Anne was crowned Queen of England on 1 June 1533. On 7 September, she gave birth to the future Queen Elizabeth I. Henry was disappointed to have a daughter rather than a son but hoped a son would follow. Anne subsequently had three miscarriages, and by March 1536, Henry was courting Jane Seymour. In order to marry Jane Seymour, Henry had to find reasons to end the marriage to Anne.

Henry VIII had Anne investigated for high treason in April 1536. On 2 May she was arrested and sent to the Tower of London, where she was tried before a jury of peers and found guilty on 15 May. She was beheaded four days later. Modern historians view the charges against her, which included adultery, incest and plotting to kill the king, as unconvincing. The execution took place 19th of may 1536.

After the coronation of her daughter, Elizabeth, Anne was venerated as a martyr and heroine of the English Reformation. Over the centuries, she has inspired, or been mentioned, in many artistic and cultural works and thereby retained her hold on the popular imagination. She has been called “the most influential and important queen consort England has ever had”, as she provided the occasion for Henry VIII to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon and declare the English church’s independence from Rome.