Sitara Ross

Cute animals, current events, and fandom.

[THEO♅ʙʀoмɪc @theobromic_]

is it ancient history now how children during the harry potter craze were reading 900-page books the day of release

[lo♀ @radphlegm]

There have been 500+ fatalities caused by commercial airline pilot suicides in the last 40 years. All male btw

[‏ً @omgsidewalks]

Actually, one of the healthiest things a person can do is become easy to delight. Still stopping for weird clouds and dogs wearing bandanas and the smell of garlic cooking somewhere down the street.

The world already has enough cynicism. Be the person who still points at the moon.

[Jen Horsburgh @jenatlionra]

I just wanted to update my resume. Instead, I accidentally proved how a multi-billion-dollar AI tool hallucinates a glass ceiling for women.

I changed a single variable: My name.

Here is what happened when "Jennifer" became "Jeff."

[middleclassparty @middle_class_us]

Bank of America studied the debit and credit transactions of millions of Americans.

The pullback on spending outside of necessities is unlike anything they have ever seen.

Domino's said consumers do not even want their $7 carry out pizza.

$7. A whole pizza.

One of the cheapest food options available.

People cannot justify $7 for a pizza.

And the administration is saying the economy is fine.

Believe Domino's.

[goma @soigomaa]

I noticed something:
People who have traveled a lot tend to judge less. Not because they became nicer, but because they've seen too many versions of what's "normal."
In one country, it's normal to eat with your hands.
In another, it's normal to stay quiet at the table.
In a third, it's normal to hug strangers.
When you've seen 30 different versions of "the right way," you stop believing yours is the only one.
Travel doesn't just teach geography.
It teaches tolerance.

[Anish Moonka @anishmoonka]

The South Korean consul general to Mexico was hoisted onto strangers' shoulders in Mexico City and handed tequila straight from the bottle. Someone draped a Mexico jersey over his suit. He had never met any of them. His country had just beaten Germany, the team that had won the World Cup four years earlier.

That was June 27, 2018. Mexico had been hammered 3-0 by Sweden that same afternoon, their World Cup on the line. Eight hundred kilometers away in Kazan, South Korea scored twice in the last six minutes and eliminated Germany, the defending world champions. Mexico, a country on the other side of the world with no shared history, language, or border with Korea, was saved.

Within hours, hundreds of Mexican fans surrounded the South Korean embassy in Mexico City. The consul general, Han Byoung-jin, was lifted into the air, given a Mexico jersey, and made to drink tequila from the bottle by thousands of strangers chanting "Coreano, hermano, ya eres Mexicano" - Korean brother, you are now Mexican. Aeromexico, the national airline, tweeted 20% off all flights to Seoul that same night. In South Korea, goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo was praised on social media as a hero for two countries.

The detail that makes this stranger: Mexico had beaten South Korea 2-1 in that same tournament just four days earlier. Carlos Vela scored from the penalty spot. Javier Hernandez netted his 50th career goal for the national team. Then Korea saved them anyway.

In 2026, they landed in the same group again. South Korea came from behind to beat Czech Republic 2-1 on June 11 in Guadalajara. Mexicans were back in the streets, this time dancing Gangnam Style - the 2012 song by South Korean artist PSY that was the first YouTube video in history to reach 1 billion views. A song from Seoul became the soundtrack of a friendship that neither country saw coming.

On June 18, Mexico and South Korea play each other in that same city. For 90 minutes they are opponents. After the whistle, the tequila comes back out.

No politician planned this. Two injury-time goals in Russia built something that years of diplomatic summits could not have manufactured.

[Sitara Ross @thraeelddim]

I love my country and that's why I criticize it. To tell someone what they can do better, in a caring way, with the aim of fixing problems, is a form of love.

[Sitara Ross @thraeelddim]

Workers and bosses alike seem to have forgotten that bargaining was the agreed upon middle ground between feudalism and burning everything to the ground.

[Mariam🇵🇹🇧🇷 @cryywm3]

In light of recent events, here's what you should do if you're a victim of an acid attack or if you're a bystander witnessing one:

[Rutger Bregman @rcbregman]

This sounds nice, but it's a great way to undermine the welfare state.

The strongest welfare states in the world (the Nordics) tax everyone, including nurses. And they give everyone universal healthcare, childcare, pensions, education in return.

When the middle class has skin in the game, they defend the system. When welfare is 'just for the poor', it becomes a poor program: stigmatized, underfunded, easy to gut.

That's why billionaires keep pushing this idea. The real scandal isn't that this nurse pays $12k.

It's that Jeff Bezos pays $0.

[𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐠 @CasuallyGreg]

“Pay our employees, because we won’t.”

[Trevor Lee @VoteTrevorLee]

One of the most beautiful scenes in cinema teaches one of life’s greatest lessons and on Mother’s Day, it hits especially deep.

In The Return of the King, Arwen, once immortal, is given a vision of her future son. Tears fill her eyes, not just from loss, but from the overwhelming clarity of what she will gain: the chance to hold that child in her arms, to love him, to raise him, to pour her entire being into his fleeting, precious life.

Her father warns her: “There is nothing for you here, only death.” Yet in that little boy’s eyes, she sees something brighter than eternity the vibrant, mortal miracle of motherhood. So she makes the choice. She lays down her elven immortality, embraces the Gift of Men, and accepts aging, goodbye, and eventual loss… all so she can become a mother.

Arwen didn’t just choose Aragorn. She chose motherhood. She traded endless twilight for the brightness of one mortal lifetime filled with love, laughter, scraped knees, bedtime stories, and the wild, irreplaceable joy of watching her child grow. In a world fading for the Elves, she reached for the warmth of human family instead.

This Mother’s Day, may we remember the quiet courage of every mother who has done something similar who has surrendered pieces of herself sleep, freedom, dreams, even parts of her own identity so that new life could bloom. True love, especially a mother’s love, often means choosing the finite so that something eternal can be born through it.
Thank you to every mother who said yes to the beautiful burden of raising the next generation. Your sacrifice is never unseen. Your legacy lives in the eyes of your children.
Happy Mother’s Day. 💐

[her.🎀 @luv1bun]

The women’s bathroom at work closed for construction, so I used the men’s room because biology doesn’t care about policy.
I warned the first guy who walked in. He shrugged. “No problem.”
By noon, half the office was sharing one bathroom. Women knocked. Men skipped the urinals. Everyone adapted in about five minutes.
No fights. No scandals. No trauma.
Turns out most “bathroom issues” disappear the moment grown adults start acting like grown adults.

[KB @kblaus]

When people like Brock Turner face zero accountability because “they shouldn’t have to pay for one mistake for the rest of their lives,” we’re focused on the wrong thing.

Let’s talk about how victims actually DO pay for *their own victimization* for the rest of their lives.

[maddy catgirlprostate @catgirlprostate]

Don't forget that if you ask for things to improve somewhat, it means you are literally a communist taking money out of the empty pockets of the US military

[Emerald Apple @AI_EmeraldApple]

Unpopular opinion but the crime of Swatting should be automatically linked with attempted murder.

For one, the forseeability of death is very high from a doxxed address and fake active shooter or hostage report. The intent can be assumed because of the severity of the response a fake report like that produces. It weaponizes the state against innocent people in a manner that endanger lives which can result in death... Way beyond the typical case for pranks.

If the false report was implying immenent lethal violence was about to occur, that should also imply the swatter 's intent to harm. Knowingly creating a high risk armed confrontation at someone's home isn't a joke, especially when paired with intentful statements wishing for the death of the victim.

This isn't any different functionally from other crimes like attempted murder by proxy, and strong deterrence is needed so that swatters won't do it so casually.

[SUPERBRO @Rushu_Tushu]

Why doesn't India have shutdowns during extreme summers like Europe does in winters?

In some countries, especially in Europe, activities slow down or even pause during extreme winters. It is treated as a seasonal reality.

But in India, we face extreme heat every year, yet everything continues as usual. Schools, colleges, work in these unbearable conditions.

With rising temperatures, shouldn't there be some kind of adjustment? Maybe summer shutdowns or shifting the calendar so the hottest months are less intensive.

If we can adapt to exams, festivals, and elections, why not adapt to climate too?
Ignoring it isn't resilience, it's negligence.

[Very Brexit Problems @VeryBrexitProbs]

Americans love banging on about the War of Independence. They’re quieter on the War of 1812. Here’s why.

In 1812, America declared war on Britain. The plan was to march into Canada and annex it. Thomas Jefferson said it would be “a mere matter of marching.”

It wasn’t. The Canadians sent them packing. Two years later, the British sailed up the Potomac.

American forces collapsed at Bladensburg in what’s still called “the Bladensburg Races” because of how fast they ran. President Madison had already fled to Maryland.

The British walked into Washington unopposed. They sat down in the White House, ate the dinner Dolley Madison had laid out for forty guests, used the President’s silver, then set fire to the building. Then they burned the Capitol, the Treasury and the Navy Yard.

A freak thunderstorm put the fires out the next day. The British left when they were ready. It’s still the only time a foreign army has captured the US capital.

You can see why it doesn’t come up much.