In a statement to The Post, a spokesperson for NBCUniversal claimed the tree work is simply an annual ritual at this time of year. “We understand that the safety tree trimming of the Ficus trees we did on Barham Blvd. has created unintended challenges for demonstrators, that was not our intention. In partnership with licensed arborists, we have pruned these trees annually at this time of year to ensure that the canopies are light ahead of the high wind season,” they wrote. “We support the WGA and SAG’s right to demonstrate and are working to provide some shade coverage. We continue to openly communicate with the labor leaders on-site to work together during this time.”
If those trees were pollarded annually, the cut areas would NOT look like that. There would be big knobs of old growth at the trimming sites. Not seeing any of that here. The way those trees were topped (not pollarded, which is a very careful process that has to begin when the tree is immature) is excellent way to kill them due to loss of hydration, open sites to infection and parasitism during the best time of year for both, lack of nutrition due to so little greenery and new budding growth being left, sunburn and other exposure damage, and a myriad of other possibilities. Plus, if they were topped annually, they would not have the lovely drooping branches seen in the other picture but would have tons of vertical suckers instead.
This is what an annually pollarded mature tree should look like:
If this was done by the city, the public works arborists should be protesting in front of city hall and screaming their heads off right now. I'm not hearing about that, so... Tree law!
Update and confirmation of Imminent Tree Law:
He mentions later in the thread that not only do they not trim the trees annually, they’re trimmed at best once every 18 years. Supposed to be every five, and only in dormancy, which even my layman’s ass knows about tree trimming.
And yes, Universal can probably eat the fine. But it’s gonna be a whopper even if the trees survive (which is as mentioned kinda unlikely), California is a triple damage state for tree law, and it may increase dramatically if there were nesting birds in the trees.
All this to be a Captain Planet filler villain to some writers. And yes, it’s currently just the writers officially picketing there; SAG-AFTRA recommended against it for petty bullshit like this and the suddenly necessary sidewalk construction.
I asked my dad— a retired arborist—about TREE LAW and he just kinda blinked and said (i paraphrase because Dad Tangents, amirite?):
"Worst and best case I ever saw was a guy who was caught in the act of cutting down a C&C tree by two Department of Urban Forestry supervisors while they were randomly driving around on a Saturday. Not only did he have to deal with the cops showing up and months of paperwork and bureaucracy, but he also had to pay the fines AND cover the cost of the tree removal + stumping + buying a new tree + planting the new tree + wages for the regular crew plus the extra workers they needed to get the jobs done. That tree ended up costing him upwards of $35K, and that was over 20 years ago."
So yeah, respect Tree Law or pay out the bootyhole.
glados does kind of talk like a tumblr user. she literally would say stuff like I went to the broth convention and none of the really attractive people there even knew your name
Eugenics
I just felt these tags were too important not to add @blacksasuke
Raise your hand if you’ve ever heard “Black people don’t need sunscreen because they don’t burn.”
Raise your other hand if you were today years old when you found out that not only is that not true, but Black people are more likely than white people to die of skin cancer, because they’re told they don’t need to take precautions, sunburn doesn’t visually appear as quickly on Black skin even as the damage is being done, and then doctors aren’t taught what skin cancer looks like on Black people so by the time they catch it, it’s too fucking late.
I’ve been singing that song for a while tbh. It’s amazing how many times I’ve brought up sunscreen or skin screenings with a dermatologist, and women I know don’t realize they also could develop sun cancer.
If you’re reading this and you’re black, please I am begging you look up what melanoma and the other skin cancers look like on darker skin. It’s on the internet, it’s a quick google search, please do it now while it’s in your mind.
And once you’ve done that give yourself a full body check-over. Remember to include around your eyes, the back of your neck, and the part in your hair. Also! Please make an appointment with a dermatologist in your area (check reviews online to find one who is comfortable checking you) and go see them.
Skin cancer is very treatable if it’s caught early. However it can be very serious and often deadly if it isn’t. Take! This! Seriously! If you’re black you still have skin, and you can still get skin cancer! You really do owe it to yourself to know what to look for, and to check yourself on a monthly basis. It could genuinely be the difference between life and death.
is this even funny i dont think its funny im not putting it in the tags
How has this comic made such a groundbreaking cultural impact without getting over 40k notes


















