Miranda Birney

non-glossy fotograaf ~ Indo ~ bootvrouw ~ doorgeefluik X

[Marlene Robertson🇨🇦 @marlene4719]

How beautiful is this. A mother and her baby being saved in Nepal.❤️

Video credit @Paralaks_Tr

[CALL TO ACTIVISM @CalltoActivism]

A British writer penned the best description of Donald Trump I’ve ever read:

“Why do some British people not like Donald Trump?”

A few things spring to mind. Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem. For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace – all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed. So for us, the stark contrast does rather throw Trump’s limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief.

Plus, we like a laugh. And while Trump may be laughable, he has never once said anything wry, witty or even faintly amusing – not once, ever. I don’t say that rhetorically, I mean it quite literally: not once, not ever. And that fact is particularly disturbing to the British sensibility – for us, to lack humour is almost inhuman. But with Trump, it’s a fact. He doesn’t even seem to understand what a joke is – his idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult, a casual act of cruelty.

Trump is a troll. And like all trolls, he is never funny and he never laughs; he only crows or jeers. And scarily, he doesn’t just talk in crude, witless insults – he actually thinks in them. His mind is a simple bot-like algorithm of petty prejudices and knee-jerk nastiness.

There is never any under-layer of irony, complexity, nuance or depth. It’s all surface. Some Americans might see this as refreshingly upfront. Well, we don’t. We see it as having no inner world, no soul. And in Britain we traditionally side with David, not Goliath. All our heroes are plucky underdogs: Robin Hood, Dick Whittington, Oliver Twist. Trump is neither plucky, nor an underdog. He is the exact opposite of that. He’s not even a spoiled rich-boy, or a greedy fat-cat. He’s more a fat white slug. A Jabba the Hutt of privilege.

And worse, he is that most unforgivable of all things to the British: a bully. That is, except when he is among bullies; then he suddenly transforms into a snivelling sidekick instead. There are unspoken rules to this stuff – the Queensberry rules of basic decency – and he breaks them all. He punches downwards – which a gentleman should, would, could never do – and every blow he aims is below the belt. He particularly likes to kick the vulnerable or voiceless – and he kicks them when they are down.

So the fact that a significant minority – perhaps a third – of Americans look at what he does, listen to what he says, and then think ‘Yeah, he seems like my kind of guy’ is a matter of some confusion and no little distress to British people, given that:

• Americans are supposed to be nicer than us, and mostly are.

• You don’t need a particularly keen eye for detail to spot a few flaws in the man.

This last point is what especially confuses and dismays British people, and many other people too; his faults seem pretty bloody hard to miss. After all, it’s impossible to read a single tweet, or hear him speak a sentence or two, without staring deep into the abyss. He turns being artless into an art form; he is a Picasso of pettiness; a Shakespeare of shit. His faults are fractal: even his flaws have flaws, and so on ad infinitum.

God knows there have always been stupid people in the world, and plenty of nasty people too. But rarely has stupidity been so nasty, or nastiness so stupid. He makes Nixon look trustworthy and George W look smart. In fact, if Frankenstein decided to make a monster assembled entirely from human flaws – he would make a Trump.

And a remorseful Doctor Frankenstein would clutch out big clumpfuls of hair and scream in anguish: ‘My God… what… have… I… created?' If being a twat was a TV show, Trump would be the boxed set.”

-Nate White

[NOMAD @Nomadness007]

@maddenifico How the entire world sees America

[De Faunabescherming @faunabeschermin]

De bevers tegen de jagers @iljagort 📯🦫
https://t.co/7YaHhUAlpX

[Miranda Birney @sienana]

@ShiningEllen @wierdduk Toch wel op een jongerenwoning?

[FeelGoodThoughts @feelgoodtale]

A little park has a Tom cat who is fed by everyone. Last year, he was given the name Silent King. He neither fights with anyone nor has he seen anyone getting scolded. He sits on a parking chair and watches the people coming and going.
One day, a white kitten came to the park. She was very cute, but it turned out that she was blind. She kept bumping into things and didn’t react to sounds at all.

She didn’t seem very lively when she was alone, but she wasn’t lonely either.
The Tom cat noticed her and started staying close to her. Wherever he went, he would walk in front of her so that she would bump into him. He took good care of her.

He would lead her to wherever he was, adjusting his speed so she could follow properly.

Whenever he would go to the road’s other side, he would cover her with his body.

Whenever it rained, he would take the kitten to a safe place and then sit with her.

The vet confirmed that the kitten was blind by birth. If the Tom cat hadn’t been there, she would have died within a week.

People tried to separate the kitten to adopt her, but both of them kept crying.
That’s why it was decided that the community would keep both of them together

[DK🇺🇸🦅🇺🇸 @1Nicdar]

An old lady handed her bank card to the bank teller and said, "I would like to withdraw $500."

The teller told her, "For withdrawals less than $2,000, please use the ATM."

The old lady wanted to know why?

The teller returned her bank card and irritably told her, "These are the rules. Please leave if there is no other matter. There is a line behind you."

The old lady remained silent for a few seconds, then handed the card back to the teller and said, "Please help me withdraw all the money I have."

The teller was astonished when she checked the account balance. She nodded her head, leaned down and respectfully told her, "My apologies Ma'am, you have $35M in your account and our bank doesn't have that much cash currently. Could you make an appointment and come again tomorrow?"

The old lady then asked how much she could withdraw immediately.
The teller told her any amount up to $250,000.

"Well, please let me have $250,000 now," she requested. The teller did so quickly, then handed it very friendly and respectfully to her elderly client.

The old lady put $500 in her bag and asked the teller to deposit the balance of $249,500 back into her account.

Don't be difficult with us old people, we spent a lifetime learning many skills.

[Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt @FranceskAlbs]

The quote of the century.

[Larry the Cat @Number10cat]

Today is #InternationalCatDay - expect all cats to strut around as if we own the place, the same as every other day.

[mustafa yazıcı @myzccc]

Cate Blanchett, Filistin bayrağını yasaklayan festivali kırmızı halıyı kullanarak deldi.

[Meijer Nour Chai🌹 @PMLtenZijthoff]

🌹

[Lakota Man @LakotaMan1]

Why are Trump supporters so fucking stupid?

[redbud green @GreenRedbud]

@HalfwayPost

[De Faunabescherming @faunabeschermin]

De bevers tegen de jagers @iljagort 📯🦫
https://t.co/3roqEbu4ml

[Jaque @jaquecoments]

eu quando sou o maior cantor, compositor, dançarino e produtor musical que já pisou na face da terra, salvo a audiência da mtv, e transformo o vma no evento mais importante da cultura pop:

[Canada Hates Trump @AntiTrumpCanada]

I can’t wait for the day this rambling, incoherent, grievance-addicted, braindead fucking blowhard finally disappears from my news feed and I never have to watch this same pathetic schtick ever again. Amen.

[Pam @Pam1990V]

@SuppressedNws1

[Lester @Chen]

the best 3 minutes of video I've watched this year

[Buitengebieden @buitengebieden]

The level of elegance between a cat and a dog.. 😅