#Educational(?)

[haruka89]

This is, in fact, the guy baking antiques. Looks like he's branching out to playing them, too.

[bethanythebogwitch]

Wet Beast Wednesday: sawfish

It's the first Wet Beast Wednesday of 2025 (yeah I missed last week, sue me) and I'm going to cover a fish I once saw. That's right, I saw a fish. A sawfish if you will. These besnouted beasts were once common worldwide, but now their range had shrunk considerably, leaving their future in question.

(Image: a largetooth sawfish, Pristis pristis, seen from above. It is a flattened, shark-shaped fish with light brown skin. From the front of the body extends a long, slat snout with teeth emerging from the sides. The snout is about a third the length of the body. The mouth and gills are not visible. End ID)

Sawfish are also called carpenter sharks, but they aren't sharks. Despite looking sharky enough, they're actually rays and are closely related to other not very ray-like rays like guitarfish and banjo rays. I don't know why they're so musical. Sawfish should also not be mistaken for the visually similar sawsharks of order Pristiophoriformes, which actually are sharks. There are five living species of sawfish in the family Pristidae: four species in the genus Pristis and one in the genus Anoxypristus. Sawfish look like sharks with flattened underbellies, but their mouths and gill slits being on the underside identified them as rays. The sawfish and their relatives may represent an ancestral form to most modern rays which are much flatter and more compact. What gives sawfish their names are the long, flat, and broad rostrums that extend from the front of their heads and are lined with teeth on either side, giving them a resemblance to carpentry saws. Sawfish are very large fish, with some being able to up to 7.5 meters (25 ft) long and 600 kg (1,323 lbs).

(Image: a smalltooth sawfish, Pristis pectinata, seen from the side. It looks very similar to the largetooth sawfish, but with smaller teeth on the saw. The flatness of the belly is clearly visible form this angle. The underside is white.)

The saw is an extension of the skull and the teeth that line the sides are heavily modified dermal denticles, the teeth like scales that sharks, skates, and rays have. The saws and teeth grow longer through the animal's life and lost teeth are not replaced, but do leave a socket, allowing an accurate count to be made. The saws are not perfectly symmetrical and one side will usually have 1-3 more teeth than the other. The two genera of the sawfish can be differentiated by their rostral teeth. The Pristis species have saws that have rounded teeth going down the entire length while Anoxypristis cuspidata, the narrow sawfish, has flattened teeth and the 1/4th of the saw closest to the head is toothless. A sawfish's saw usually makes up 1/4 to 1/3rd of their total length. Each species has slight differences with the structure of their saws, allowing for identification. The saw and head are covered in electroreceptive organs called ampullae of Lorenzini that detect the electrical fields emitted by animals as they move. This grants the sawfish extensive ability to examine their environments through their saws, which is highly useful for hunting and threat detection, especially in water with low visibility.

(image: somebody holding a juvenile sawfish so the saw pokes out of the water. The saw is the focus of the picture, making its shape and the rostral teeth clearly visible. End ID)

Unlike your average ray, sawfish have multiple distinct fins much more like a shark, lacking only the anal fin. Again, the ancestral ray was probably something like a sawfish or guitarfish. Some of its descendants would have retained its body plan while other became typical rays. Like other elasmobranchs, sawfish (except for the narrow sawfish) have dermal denticles for scales and lack a swim bladder, instead using a very fatty liver for buoyancy control. Like most rays, they do not use their mouths for respiration, instead drawing water into the oral cavity through spiracles located near the base of the saw. These spiracles allow the animal to continue to pass water through the gills even when the mouth is flat to the ground. The nostrils, gill slits, and mouth are located on the underside as well. The mouth has proper teeth, which are blunted and set in multiple rows that have been described at looking like a cobblestone road. These blunt teeth aid in crushing the shells of hard prey. As with many other elasmobranchs, the small intestine has a corkscrew-shaped structure called the spiral valve that increases the surface area, allowing for increased nutrient absorption.

(Image: a sawfishs head seen from below. The mouth is wide and roughly rectangular in shape, with rows of pebble-like teeth visible. Above the mouth are a pair of nostrils. End ID)

Sawfish were historically found in shallow, coastal waters in subtropical and tropical water worldwide, but their native range has been radically reduced. While primarily marine, they can tolerate brackish and even fresh water. The largetooth sawfish, Pristis pristis, is especially attuned to fresh water. They live in rivers and lakes for the first several years of their lives and have been found thousands of kilometers inland. Despite sailor's tales of sawfish cutting open the bellies of whales to feed on their entrails, the fish actually feed on small fish and invertebrates. The saw is used for both finding and obtaining food. By using smell and the electroreceptors covering the saw, the sawfish can seek out animals on or buried in the sediment. It uses the saw to strike prey animals, stunning or killing them. They are also known to pin prey down with the saw, something they also do to maneuver food into a more swallowable position. Sawfish may also use their saws to dig buried prey out by sweeping away layers of sediment. They prefer to live in places with soft sediment, though will also inhabit coral reefs.

(Image: a narrow sawfish, Anoxypristis cuspidata, being beasured. It looks like the other species, but its dorsal and tail fins are a much darker brown than the rest of its skin. The saw only has teeth on the last 2/3rds and the teeth are flatter and more triangular. End ID)

Like other elasmobranchs, sawfish reproduce internally. Males are believed to use their electroreceptors to locate mature females. The male bites onto the female's pectoral fin and inserts one of two penis-like claspers into her cloaca. Sperm runs down a groove in the clasper. Females are often left with scars from the male's teeth and saw. The smalltooth sawfish, Pristis pectinata, is capable of parthenogenesis, producing offspring without a mate, and other species may also be capable of doing this. This allows females to reproduce even if they cannot access a male, but means all offspring will be female and genetically extremely similar to the mother. Sawfish are ovoviviparous, meaning they retain their eggs, which hatch internally, and give live birth. The fetal offspring are nourished with a yolk sac before being born. The saw is soft in fetu, hardening shortly before birth, and is covered with a coating to protect the mother which falls off after birth. Gestation takes months Juveniles are born in litters numbering between 1 and 20. Newborns can be up to a meter long. Females appear to mate between once a year and once every two years and mothers will sometimes return to their place of birth to give birth. Pupping grounds are always in shallow coastal or estuarine waters. Sawfish mature slowly. The narrow sawfish reaches sevual maturity after 4.5 years and the Pristis sawfish between 14 and 17 years. Their maximum lifespan is unknown, but Pristis individuals in captivity have lived for decades, leading to an estimated lifespan of 30 to 50 years. The narrow sawfish lives for around 9 years.

(Image: a photo from the first human-assisted birth of a wild sawfish. The mother is on her back and a juvenile sawfish is almost completely emerged from her cloaca, with only the tail fin still inside. The hand of a scientist is touching the baby, helping it emerge. End ID. Source)

(image: a newborn sawfish being held in a human hand underwater, from the same incident as the above photo. The newborn looks like a miniature adult and has a soft covering over its saw that makes the teeth harder to see. It is small enough to be partially clenched in a hand. End ID)

All species of sawfish are classified as critically endangered by the IUCN and they are considered some of the most threatened groups of fish. While sawfish were formerly found along the coasts of 90 countries, their nange has reduced considerably so the only strongholds where they are abundant and have a genetically viable population are now found in northern Australia and Florida. The main threats to sawfish are hunting and habitat loss. Sawfish are hunted for their fins, saws, and meat. Despite not being sharks, their fins are highly values for shark fin soup. Sawfish body parts are used in traditional medicine in multiple cultures, though the greatest demand comes from China. There is no evidence backing up the effectiveness of any of these traditional medicines. The saws have historically been used as weapons, combs, and for various symbolic purposes and poaching of sawfish for their saws is another major threat to their survival. The saws are easily tangled in nets, making sawfish easy to catch and difficult to release. Because a thrashing sawfish can seriously wound someone, many anglers will either kill the fish or cut off the saw if they accidentally catch one. Habitat loss is another large threat, as pollution and destruction of seagrass beds and mangroves for urban developments deprives them of the habitat they need to hunt and breed. Because sawfish mature so slowly, it takes a long time foe populations to recover. Legal measures (including making international trade of sawfish parts illegal) and public outreach via scientists and aquariums aim to help protect the remaining populations. Unfortunately, captive breeding has proven unreliable as it is only recently that sawfish have been successfully bred in aquariums.

(Image: a decorative sword made from a sawfish saw. The saw is dried and a deep brown. It is attached to a curving crossguard and a long hilt with fluffy decorations. It is being stored in a museum display. End ID)

[liberaljane]

Women's Not So Distant History

This #WomensHistoryMonth, let's not forget how many of our rights were only won in recent decades, and weren’t acquired by asking nicely and waiting. We need to fight for our rights. Here's are a few examples:

📍 Before 1974's Fair Credit Opportunity Act made it illegal for financial institutions to discriminate against applicants' gender, banks could refuse women a credit card. Women won the right to open a bank account in the 1960s, but many banks still refused without a husband’s signature. This allowed men to continue to have control over women’s bank accounts. Unmarried women were often refused service by financial institutions entirely.

📍 Before 1977, sexual harassment was not considered a legal offense. That changed when a woman brought her boss to court after she refused his sexual advances and was fired. The court stated that her termination violated the 1974 Civil Rights Act, which made employment discrimination illegal.⚖️

📍 In 1969, California became the first state to pass legislation to allow no-fault divorce. Before then, divorce could only be obtained if a woman could prove that her husband had committed serious faults such as adultery. 💍By 1977, nine states had adopted no-fault divorce laws, and by late 1983, every state had but two. The last, New York, adopted a law in 2010.

📍In 1967, Kathrine Switzer, entered the Boston Marathon under the name "K.V. Switzer." At the time, the Amateur Athletics Union didn't allow women. Once discovered, staff tried to remove Switzer from the race, but she finished. AAU did not formally accept women until fall 1971.

📍 In 1972, Lillian Garland, a receptionist at a California bank, went on unpaid leave to have a baby and when she returned, her position was filled. Her lawsuit led to 1978's Pregnancy Discrimination Act, which found that discriminating against pregnant people is unlawful

📍 It wasn’t until 2016 that gay marriage was legal in all 50 states. Previously, laws varied by state, and while many states allowed for civil unions for same-sex couples, it created a separate but equal standard. In 2008, California was the first state to achieve marriage equality, only to reverse that right following a ballot initiative later that year. 

📍In 2018, Utah and Idaho were the last two states that lacked clear legislation protecting chest or breast feeding parents from obscenity laws. At the time, an Idaho congressman complained women would, "whip it out and do it anywhere,"

📍 In 1973, the Supreme Court affirmed the right to safe legal abortion in Roe v. Wade. At the time of the decision, nearly all states outlawed abortion with few exceptions. In 1965, illegal abortions made up one-sixth of all pregnancy- and childbirth-related deaths. Unfortunately after years of abortion restrictions and bans, the Supreme Court overturned Roe in 2022. Since then, 14 states have fully banned care, and another 7 severely restrict it – leaving most of the south and midwest without access. 

📍 Before 1973, women were not able to serve on a jury in all 50 states. However, this varied by state: Utah was the first state to allow women to serve jury duty in 1898. Though, by 1927, only 19 states allowed women to serve jury duty. The Civil Rights Act of 1957 gave women the right to serve on federal juries, though it wasn't until 1973 that all 50 states passed similar legislation

📍 Before 1988, women were unable to get a business loan on their own. The Women's Business Ownership Act of 1988 allowed women to get loans without a male co-signer and removed other barriers to women in business. The number of women-owned businesses increased by 31 times in the last four decades. 

Free download

📍 Before 1965, married women had no right to birth control. In Griswold v. Connecticut (1965), the Supreme Court ruled that banning the use of contraceptives violated the right to marital privacy.

📍 Before 1967, interracial couples didn’t have the right to marry. In Loving v. Virginia, the Supreme Court found that anti-miscegenation laws were unconstitutional. In 2000, Alabama was the last State to remove its anti-miscegenation laws from the books.

📍 Before 1972, unmarried women didn’t have the right to birth control. While married couples gained the right in 1967, it wasn’t until Eisenstadt v. Baird seven years later, that the Supreme Court affirmed the right to contraception for unmarried people.

📍 In 1974, the last “Ugly Laws” were repealed in Chicago. “Ugly Laws” allowed the police to arrest and jail people with visible disabilities for being seen in public. People charged with ugly laws were either charged a fine or held in jail. ‘Ugly Laws’ were a part of the late 19th century Victorian Era poor laws. 

📍 In 1976, Hawaii was the last state to lift requirements that a woman take her husband’s last name.  If a woman didn’t take her husband’s last name, employers could refuse to issue her payroll and she could be barred from voting. 

📍 It wasn’t until 1993 that marital assault became a crime in all 50 states. Historically, intercourse within marriage was regarded as a “right” of spouses. Before 1974, in all fifty U.S. states, men had legal immunity for assaults their wives. Oklahoma and North Carolina were the last to change the law in 1993.

📍  In 1990, the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) – most comprehensive disability rights legislation in U.S. history – was passed. The ADA protected disabled people from employment discrimination. Previously, an employer could refuse to hire someone just because of their disability.

📍 Before 1993, women weren’t allowed to wear pants on the Senate floor. That changed when Sen. Moseley Braun (D-IL), & Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) wore trousers - shocking the male-dominated Senate. Their fashion statement ultimately led to the dress code being clarified to allow women to wear pants. 

📍 Emergency contraception (Plan B) wasn't approved by the FDA until 1998. While many can get emergency contraception at their local drugstore, back then it required a prescription. In 2013, the FDA removed age limits & allowed retailers to stock it directly on the shelf (although many don’t).

📍  In Lawrence v. Texas (2003), the Supreme Court ruled that anti-cohabitation laws were unconstitutional. Sometimes referred to as the ‘'Living in Sin' statute, anti-cohabitation laws criminalize living with a partner if the couple is unmarried. Today, Mississippi still has laws on its books against cohabitation. 

[losttimpactt]

A new viewpoint on antlers reveals the evolutionary history of deer (Cervidae, Mammalia)

fullview recommended!

something i've wanted to do for a while now. i've scoured the internet for something like this and can't find anything that compares all the different types of antlers together. except one recent study on their evolution, which is also very interesting on its own! i simplified it to provide a visual reference, while still trying to be scientifically accurate. some things differ between this and trophy scoring terminology like where the beam is and whatnot, so if something looks weird that's why.

small additional note, this study and others provide a lot of evidence that eld's deer should be in their own genus as it doesn't appear similar enough to barasingha and schomburgk's deer. however this doesn't seem to be adapted anywhere yet, so they're still in Rucervus for this guide.

🔴 KO-FI

⚫ COMMISSION INFO

[kiera-raelyn]

Ok, but like... can you imagine? Chris the Massage Boy is at least mildly (Tumblr) famous and he probably doesn't even know?

One has to wonder if he is on Tumblr. And what the reaction would be to coming across stories of himself. Does that start out as a sort of vague recognition? Like, hm, that sounds familiar. And then eye squinting, wait a minute. That sounds really familiar. And just a growing realization that this is about him? Is there horror? Amusement? Fondness, because hey, I had a positive impact on someone and I didn't even know?

Search is turning up nothing, but that's Tumblr even if there is something, so:

Have I told you guys about my many adventures with the brothel massage parlour around the corner from my house yet?

[courtingwonder]

Visual Comparison Of Bird Beaks And Their Uses

[anufriev92]

hi guysi made an bunch of academy maniacs gifs hii

i postthese on tenor too did you know

[rebeccathenaturalist]

Okay, so The Everyday Naturalist is up on the Ten Speed Press and Penguin/Random House's websites (and various other public places), so I can FINALLY show you the cover!!! I have been saying for months that this book is going to be absolutely beautiful (in addition to informative!), and now you get a good taste of that. Ricardo Macia Lalinde is an incredibly skilled artist whose natural history studies will grace not only the cover but the interior of the book; I feel incredibly fortunate to have his work included in this project.

Here's a bit more about the book itself: "If you’ve ever consulted a field guide to identify a new bird at your feeder, you know the process isn’t as easy as it sounds. In fact, it seems like you have to know a lot about that mystery bird to even figure out where to start.

"The Everyday Naturalist fills in the gaps by explaining what traits to pay attention to when encountering a new species; how and when to use field guides, apps, and other resources; what to do if you get stuck; and more. Rather than focusing on one region or continent, these skills and tools are designed to help you classify nature anywhere you are—whether on familiar territory, traveling, or in a new home."

The book has officially gone to press with a release date of June 17, 2025. Which means in half a year we can all have physical copies in hand! I haven't yet been able to talk to the marketing folks at the publisher to find out whether I can personally take preorders for signed copies, but I'll keep you posted--in the meantime you can preorder at the bookstore of your choice, online or brick and mortar.

[robot-pup]

the ribbon seals most defining feature, their stripes, take 4 years to develop!

here is a short timeline of their development 🦭

adorable white coat ribbon seal pups. this baby fur is called lanugo.

after around 1 month pups will start shedding their baby fur to reveal a grey and silver coat

young seals with their grey and silver coat

then, the juvenile seals with start to develop their stripes over the next 3 years. they grow stronger with each moult, females can reach sexual maturity before they have fully developed stripes. this mothers stripes aren’t fully there yet.

once they’re 4 years old a ribbon seals stripes will have fully developed.

male and female are easy to tell apart by their coat colour, the males will have bold black and white stripes

whereas the females have more brown/beige/silver stripes

[nopanamaman]

@hopalynes and i having a very sanya n yura moment

[dreveel]

Under a Surgical Light; {Credit}

[disease]

MOVING X-RAYS [1938]

[bethanythebogwitch]

Wet Beast Wednesday: moray eels

This week on Wet Beast Wednesday I'll be going over something amazing, a fish with a sense of morality. You see, the moral eel is known for, what... I think I'm reading this wrong. Oh, MoRAY eel, not moral. Well this is awkward. Hang tight, I need to go redo my research.

(Image: a green moray (Gymnothorax funebris) swimming outside of its burry, with its whole body visible from the side. It is a long, slender fish that looks a bit like a snake. A long fin starts just below the head and continues down the length of the body. The body is arranged in a wave pattern. It has a pointed snout and small eyes. Its body is a yellow-green color. In the background is the sandy seafloor, dotted with various sponges and corals. End ID)

Moray eels are true eels, meaning they are in the order Anguiliformes. Yeah, I did wolf eels, electric eels, and lamprey eels before I got around to actual eels. There are over 200 known species of moray eel in 15 genera. Like other eels, they are elongated bony fish with extra vertebrae and reduced fins. Moray eels have fewer fins than most eel species, only having a dorsal, anal and tail fin that merge together and run down the back of most of the body and underneath portion of it. They achieve motion by undulating this long fin and sometimes undulating the rest of the body as well. Moray eels aren't the fastest of fish, but they can swim backwards, something almost no fish can. The head has a long snout with wide jaws. Most species have long fangs used to grab onto prey, but a few species are adapted to eat hard-shelled prey and have molar-like teeth to crush through shells instead. Probably the coolest feature of morays are the pharyngeal jaws. This is a second set of jaws located in the back of the mouth. When the eel bites onto prey, the jaws can be shot forward to grab the food and help pull it into the throat. While lots of fish have pharyngeal jaws, morays are the only ones who can extend their pharyngeal jaws forward and use them to grab prey. Morays have smooth, scaleless skin that is often patterned to provide camouflage. The skin is coated in mucus that provides protection from damage and infection. In some species, the mucus can be used to glue sand together to help reinforce burrows. Morays lack lateral lines, a system of organs found in most fish that senses changes in water movement. Their sense of smell is their primary sense. The size of morays varies between species. The smallest species is the dwarf moray eel (Gymnothorax melatremus) which reaches 26 cm (10 in) long. The largest species by mass is the giant moray eel (Gymnothorax javanicus) which can reach 3 meters (10 ft) and 30 kg (66 lbs) while the longest species is the slender giant moray (Strophidon sathete), the longest known specimen of which measured in at 3.94 m (12.9 ft).

New reaction image

(Image: a giant moray (Gymnothorax javanicus) emerging from a burrow. It is brown and mottled with yellowish patches. Its head is pointed at the camera and it's mouth is wide open, aming it look shocked. End ID)

(Image: an anatomical diagram of the skeleton of a moray eel emphasizing the pharyngeal jaws and the muscle attachments. End ID. Art by Zina Deretsky)

Moray eels are found throughout the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans. Different species are found in different temperatures and depths, though most species live in relatively shallow, warm water. Several species can live in brackish water and a few will swim upriver and live for a time in fresh water, though there do not appear to be any species that live their entire lives in fresh water. Morays are ambush predators who rely on the element of surprise. They live in small, tight places such as holes in coral, gaps between rocks, or sandy burrows. When prey passes, the eel can lunge out and grab it. Unlike most fish, the eel cannot use suction feeding due to the shapes of their mouths. They have to rely on lunging froward and catching prey with their mouths. Their mouths are adapted in shape to push water to the sides. This reduces water resistance and avoids creating a wave that could push prey away from the eel. If an eel catches prey that cannot be swallowed whole, it will tie itself in a knot while biting on to the food. By pulling its head through the loop, the eel can rip the food into bite-sized pieces. Spending most of their times in burrows also provides protection from predators, especially in juveniles or smaller species. At night, the eels will come out of their burrows to hunt sleeping prey while the larger predators are asleep. Giant morays have also been seen engaging in interspecies cooperative hunting with roving coral groupers (Plectropomus pessuliferus). The eels can fit into small crevices the groupers can't to flush prey into the grouper's path while catching their own. Morays are mostly solitary species and many can be territorial. They are known to be shy and will retreat into their burrows if they feel threatened. They are also curious and many species are quite intelligent.

(Image: a male ribbon eel (Rhinomuraena quaesita) on a coral reef. It is a very long and slender eel with its body curved in many waves. It is brightly colored, with a blue-purple body, yellow fin and face, and a long black and white stripe running down the back half of the body. On the nostrils are two feather-like structures. End ID)

Morays reproductive strategies are poorly known and differ based on species. While many species seem to have no set mating season and will reproduce whenever they can, others will mate at the same time every year. Some species seem to have dedicated spots to lay their eggs and a few are believed to be anadromous, meaning they travel from the sea to fresh water to spawn. Meanwhile, some of the species that spend a lot of time in fresh water are catadromous, meaning they return to sea to mate. Females will lay their eggs and the male fertilize them. After this, they depart, providing no parental care. As with all true eels, moray eels begin life as leptocephalus larvae. This type of fish larvae is notable for its resemblance to a simple, transparent leaf with a head on one end. These larvae are unique and poorly understood, despite being the larval stage of a lot of different species of fish. They are unusually well developed for larvae, capable of active swimming and generally living life. In fact, some particularly large leptocephalus larvae were initially mistaken for adult fish. They feed mostly on bits of drifting organic material called marine snow and can remain in the larval stage for up to 3 years, with those in colder conditions usually taking longer to metamorphose. All leptocephalus larvae start out with no sex organs, then develop female organs, then develop male ones, becoming simultaneous hermaphrodites. They will ultimately become eith male or female and it is likely that environmental factors are the main determining factor. During metamorphosis into a juvenile, the leptocephalus can reduce in size by up to 90%, resulting in the juvenile being smaller than the larva. The process of maturation is poorly understood, but it seems that most morays will be sexually mature by three years of age.

(Image: multiple photos of a particularly large leptocephalus larva (not sure what species). It is a translucent organis, wth a body shaped like a very long leaf, narrow at both ends. In the frint is a very tiny head. End ID)

Morays are shy and generally avoid humans. Though some cultures have hunted them for food, they are often not considered a particularly good food source. Many species have high levels of chemicals called ciguatoxins in their bodies, which can lead to a condition called ciguatera fish poisoning if eaten. The largest threat to morays is habitat loss. This is especially true for the many species that live in coral reefs, which are in increasing danger due to global warming. Attacks on humans are rare and usually happen as a response to a human sticking their hand in the eel's burrow. Some of the large species could cause significant damage with a bite. Some species, usually the smaller ones, are found in the aquarium trade, thought they are not good pets for beginners as even the smallest morays are still large for aquarium fish and have some specific requirements. The curiosity many morays have has led to some becoming familiar with and even friendly to humans, often the result of feeding them. They can recognize individual humans and remember them over the course of years. Aquarium employees sometimes report that the eels will come to nuzzle and play with them and have personalities like dogs. Marine biologists and professional SCUBA divers Ron and Valorie Taylor befriended a pair of eels they named Harry and Fang at the Great Barrier Reef who would remember them and come out to visit them year after year.

(Image: a SCUBA diver hugging a large, brown moray with black spots. End ID)

(Video: A shot video showing Valeria Taylor and a moray eel she befriended)

(Video: the song "That's a Moray", a parody of the song "That's Amore" by Dean Martin)

[mimi-0007]

Here is a little history for individuals who are fans of the movies Top Gun and Top Gun: Maverick.

The first Top Gun competition was held in 1949.

The caucasian pilots competed with the latest state of art aircraft, while the African-American pilots were forced to compete with the much older, obsolete planes.

After 3 days of competition, the Tuskegee Airmen team of : Captain Alva Temple, 1st Lieutenant Harry Stewart, 1st Lieutenant James Harvey, and 1st Lieutenant Halbert Alexander (alternate) were announced the winners.

There was dead silence in the room.

Not one of their (hypocritical) colleagues applauded this accomplishment.

The victory was swept under the rug, and the trophy was not seen by the public for 55 years.

Introducing the real Top Guns

[kaapstadgirly]

"The Jewish colonial project cannot be achieved without force because no country, no people give up the land without fighting for it."

Gabor Maté is a renowned physician, speaker, and bestselling author with a focus on addiction, stress, and childhood development.

via conflictechoes