leslieseuffert:

Photographs by: Dennis Budko, Marc Szeglat, Michael Zelensky, and xflo:w

“In the far east of Russia, on a peninsula called Kamchatka, are stunningly surreal-looking ice caves that are formed under incredibly interesting conditions. Fire and ice are involved, or volcanoes and glaciers. As EPOD states about one, “It was formed by a stream flowing from the hot springs associated with the Mutnovsky volcano. This stream flows beneath glacial ice on the flanks of Mutnovsky. Because glaciers on Kamchatka volcanoes have been melting in recent years, the roof of this cave is now so thin that sunlight penetrates through it, eerily illuminating the icy structures within.” Kamachatka lies at similar latitudes to Great Britain. It experiences extremely cold winters and is covered in snow from October to late May. The peninsula is also known for a chain of active volcanoes that make up the peninsula’s spine. Interestingly, until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Kamchatka Peninsula was strictly off-limits to foreigners and most Russians. There was a military base on the southern end of the peninsula, which housed submarines that carried nuclear ballistic missiles. Since that time, it has increasingly becoming a popular spot for adrenaline junkies, especially those looking to experience extreme winter sports in a near pristine environment. Photographers have also been discovering all that the Kamchatka Pensinsula has to offer, as you can see here. As photographer Denis Budko states, “These snow caves, are usually hidden from foreign eyes under big thicknesses of snow…”

Oh my goodness I want to seeeee ~

(via molluscagonewild)

One Shade of Grey & Feminist Utopia Fantasy Story

(via molluscagonewild)

fuckyeahcharacterdevelopment:

shannahmcgill:

girljanitor:

climateadaptation:

The Harvest is a documentary that exposes child labor in American agriculture. Did you know 400,000 children work the fields? Yeah, me neither. H/T to keen-eyed follower: coincidenciaharmonica. Apparently, the agriculture industry is exempt from many child labor laws. There’s no overtime pay, either.

Look, I don’t know enough to comment, but my gut says: no.

Why did I post this? Because of that hot Super Bowl Dodge truck commercial. Check it out. And check out the revision by Latino Rebels, posted by the Future Journalism Project.

Some facts from The Harvest:

More than 400,000 children work in American fields to harvest the food we all eat

Children working in agriculture endure lives of extreme poverty

• The average farmworker family makes less than $17,500 a year, well below the poverty level for a family of four.
• Poverty among farmworkers is two times that of workers in other occupations
• Farmworkers can be paid hourly, daily, by the piece or receive a salary, but they are always legally exempt from receiving overtime and often from receiving even minimum wage.
• Families often cannot afford childcare and so have no choice but to bring their children out into the fields.
• Increasing the incomes of migrant farmworkers by 40% would add just $15 to what the average US household spends every year on fruits and vegetables, according to a researcher at University of California Davis.
  

Children who work as farm laborers do not have access to proper education

• Working hours outside of school are unlimited in agriculture.
• On average, children in agriculture work 30 hours a week, often migrating from May – November, making it exceedingly difficult to succeed in school.
• Almost 40% of farm workers migrate and their children suffer the instability of a nomadic lifestyle, potentially working in multiple states in a given season and attending multiple schools each with a different curriculum and standards.
• Migrant children drop out of school at 4 times the national rate.

Children face health hazards and fatalities in the fields

• According to the USDA, agriculture is the most hazardous occupation for child workers in the US
• The risk of fatal injuries for children working in agriculture is 4 times that of other young workers.
• Child farm workers are especially vulnerable to repetitive-motion injury
• Farmworkers labor in extreme temperatures and die from heat exposure at a rate 20 times that of other US workers and children are significantly more susceptible to heat stress than adults. Heat illness can lead to temporary illness, brain damage, and death.
• Farmworkers are provided with substandard housing and sanitation facilities. As many as 15%-20% of farms lack toilets and drinking water for workers, even though they are required to provide them. Farms with 10 or fewer workers are not required to provide them at all.
• EPA pesticide regulations are set using a 154-pound adult male as a model. They do not take children or pregnant women into consideration.
• Research indicates that child farmworkers have a much higher rate of acute occupational pesticide-related illness than children in other industries and that there is a strong link between pesticide exposure and developmental disabilities. Long-term exposure in adults is associated with chronic health problems such as cancer, neurologic problems, and reproductive problems.
• 64% of farmworkers do not get healthcare because it is “too expensive”

Remember that one time every day when evangelical moral vegans claim their diet is the only “cruelty-free” choice and shame everyone who consumes any type of animal product?

Go to their website and they have information for a proposed piece of legislation to end the injustice, along with the phone numbers for the congressmen for every state. Worth a look! : D

I don’t really care that this is off topic.

let-it-221b:

apollolol:

crispychocolate:

atheistrose:

cynicalxme:

abstractlyrapacious:

lizzzardt:

9 Out Of 10 Americans Are Completely Wrong About This Mind-Blowing Fact

WOW. Okay. All the more reason to move out of this country when I can. Well, from looking at this, if I ever can.

Well, fuck. 

I’m making $0.50 over minimum wage

I’m scheduled for one day this week and I can’t find a second job

I’m trying to study abroad

I’m fucked even if I stay in the states to finish college

that’s fucked up wow

First came across this concept in my sociology classes. Great graphic representation. Watch it. Get angry. Get active.

So pissed.

(via joaniam)