Another thing that I hate is the idea that my identity isn’t “age appropriate” for children. Like, my mom described my girlfriend as “a friend of mine” to my 10 year old sister (who unbeknownst to my mom, knows that I am gay have a gf). That shit hurts! It’s really fucking hurtful that people I love think of my being gay as something that children “wouldn’t understand” and should therefore be shielded from. Surprise: children are generally uninterested in the particulars of adult dating/relationships. So if you tell them two people are together they will just take your word for it and not immediately launch into questions about gay sex. Incredible!
Seriously, dismantle the harmful misconception that same gender relationships are somehow more “adult” than different gender ones
tbh as awesome as that scene from Zootopia is I can’t help but laugh a little at Judy’s “It’s not a bunny would go savage” since rabbits can be really fucking aggressive meanwhile foxes are typically afraid of everything.
As someone who breeds angora rabbits AND owns a pet fox, I can 100% verify this. Rabbits can and will fuck you up. I had a rabbit named Hazard–you could not safely reach into her cage without welding gloves, because she would lunge and latch onto your arm and shake her head like a fucking dog. I have SCARS from rabbits.
My fox, meanwhile, is afraid of the dark. He’s afraid of the vacuum cleaner. He fears grasshoppers and cats. He fears strangers. He fears rabbits.
It's a bit of "common wisdom" on the internet that you hear people repeat all the time, even though it's hogwash: the idea that people act trollishly online because they're anonymous. So many people want to blame the anonymity and demand real name policies. Yet, as we've been pointing out for many years, plenty of people troll under their real names -- and tons of valuable content is posted by anonymous users (including right here at Techdirt).
Results show that in the context of online firestorms, non-anonymous individuals are more aggressive compared to anonymous individuals. This effect is reinforced if selective incentives are present and if aggressors are intrinsically motivated.
Now, this is just one report on one dataset, and there may be a variety of other factors at play. But it certainly matches with our own experience here as well. The idea that people only act like jackasses because they're anonymous just doesn't fit with the pattern we've seen in the over 1 million comments we have on this site. Yes, sometimes there are anonymous jerks, just like there are sometimes named jerks. But on the whole, anonymity doesn't seem to magically lead to worse comments.
So I’ve been overwhelmed by the black panther comicon appearance and I’ve been dwelling on how revolutionary the black panther movie is going to be, what it’s going to mean to countless people when this movie comes out and how long we still have to go, So I decided to put this short photoset together to illustrate exactly how big of a deal it is and how it is bigger than one person.
it’s so bittersweet because when I was younger (especially growing up where I did, a black kid in Finland) I really wished I had more access to imagery and media that reflected who I was because it would have made my life radically different for the better and I wouldn’t be at 26 (STILL) doing damage control but on the flipside, I’m so in awe of all of the beautiful talent in 2016 that younger black kids are able to see and be inspired by.
I think I was like 4 years old when I conciously picked up race and color via watching Disney’s “Aladdin” and I noticed how Jafar, the evil royal guards etc the villains were more ethnic looking or a shade darker than the “good” characters.
it’s insidious because you’re seeing something but at age 4, you don’t have the comprehension skill or knowledge to break it down and see it for what it is (Colorism, Societal bias against black people which is rooted in centuries of white supremacist doctrine, society associates things that are dark/darker colors with evil, danger, ugliness, dirt etc) and reject it.
so you pick it up and see it on a surface level and you think to yourself “well darker must mean ugly, criminal and less human”…then what happens when you look at yourself in the mirror and find out that you are black?
and guess what? if a 4 year old black kid can pick that up and internalize that about him/her/themselves….then a white kid can sponge up the same language and imagery that dehumanizes black people too (subconciously/conciously)…what happens when when these people grow up? become teachers, doctors, law enforcement etc? what kind of impact is that going to have?
I’m going off on a tangent and that’s just one personal example but society does that on a global grand scale and it is largely unchecked.
but honestly though,look at the photoset and think about how many talented people out there that we love and respect….who would NOT have achieved the things they did if it wasn’t for another person before them inspiring them to reach their goals and acting as trail blazers when it seemed as though it was impossible….then think about the flipside and how many people, with all the potential in the world, never lived to become great because they were met with more images dehumanizing them than ones uplifting them…this is why the fight for HONEST representation is important and it continues.
From the former head of the CIA, Michael Morell, an endorsement for Hillary Clinton and a blistering take-down of Donald Trump:
Two strongly held beliefs have brought me to this decision. First, Mrs. Clinton is highly qualified to be commander in chief. I trust she will deliver on the most important duty of a president — keeping our nation safe. Second, Donald J. Trump is not only unqualified for the job, but he may well pose a threat to our national security.
That’s about the nicest thing Morell has to say about Trump. Morell, after high praise for Clinton’s experience, intellect and commitment to the United States and its national security, then pummels Trump, saying he would be “a poor, even dangerous, commander in chief,” noting Trump’s:
… obvious need for self-aggrandizement, his overreaction to perceived slights, his tendency to make decisions based on intuition, his refusal to change his views based on new information, his routine carelessness with the facts, his unwillingness to listen to others and his lack of respect for the rule of law.
It gets better:
The dangers that flow from Mr. Trump’s character are not just risks that would emerge if he became president. It is already damaging our national security.
President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia was a career intelligence officer, trained to identify vulnerabilities in an individual and to exploit them. That is exactly what he did early in the primaries. Mr. Putin played upon Mr. Trump’s vulnerabilities by complimenting him. He responded just as Mr. Putin had calculated. [...]
In the intelligence business, we would say that Mr. Putin had recruited Mr. Trump as an unwitting agent of the Russian Federation.
And besides being a threat to national security, possessing multiple narcissistic character flaws, and being a tool of Vladimir Putin, Morell also notes that Trump has “undermined security with his call for barring Muslims from entering the country” and that it “plays into the hands of the jihadist narrative.” Did Morell miss anything?
This very perfectly reflects my private thinking in recent weeks on this situation. (And believe me, for a former psychiatric nurse, the Trump campaign has been an unnerving display just so far. I worry about what it’ll start looking like as the election gets closer and things get heated.)
(When in political-analyst mode the other day, I found myself saying to Peter: “You know, if it wasn’t a possibility – a horrible possibility – that this guy might get elected, this would be [in a disgusting self-indulgent kind of way] so much fun to watch. If you had a time machine and knew the outcome, knew he would lose… all the popcorn on Earth wouldn’t be enough.”)
….Anyway. The meat nearest the bone:
In life, overall, there are two groups. Predator and prey.
Predators can only survive if they DON’T play fair. In the wild, it’s
why cheetahs go after the older gazelles, or the wounded gazelles, or
the slower gazelles. They never challenge the alpha. What would be the
point. It’s too much work.
In society, predators triumph by
causing fear in their prey, and then promising to protect the prey from
the fear they’ve created. Thus, Trump’s followers. Human predators never
go after the confident, stable and powerful. Again, too much work.
But
here’s the hopeful part — predators ONLY have that one strategy. They
can win if you respond to it, or attack it head on. If Hillary tries to
out-frighten or out-bully Trump, he wins. He’ll crush her.
But if she stays calm, and stays on message, and keeps hammering one or
two points that everyone can agree on, then Trump has to keep sticking
his neck further and further out. He has to think up crazier and crazier
ways to scare people. And that means him eventually blurting out
“n****r” or “c**t” or God knows what. I honestly can’t think of what’s
left for him to spew, at this point.
(wry look) “Never underestimate human ingenuity,” says something in the back of my head. (And in the way Spock would say it in certain moods. Like this one:)
Dr. McCoy:
Jim, I think I liked him with a beard better. It gave him character. Of
course almost any change would be a distinct improvement.
Captain James T. Kirk:
What worries me is the easy way his counterpart fitted into that other
universe. I always thought Spock was a bit of a pirate at heart.
Mr. Spock:
Indeed, gentlemen. May I point out that I had an opportunity to observe
your counterparts here quite closely. They were brutal, savage,
unprincipled, uncivilized, treacherous – in every way splendid examples
of Homo sapiens… the very flower of humanity. I found them quite
refreshing.
She’s got years to go before she stops playing Rey, but Star Wars: The Force Awakens star Daisy Ridley also has time for outside projects—like an adaptation of the first book in Patrick Ness’s Chaos Walking YA series, from Edge of Tomorrow director Doug Liman. It’s set in a world where every creature can read the thoughts of others.
When a woman who’d been arrested for failing to complete a diversion course stemming from a shoplifting charge was brought before Louisville, KY judge Amber Wolf with no pants on, the judge was horrified to learn that the arrestee had been held in custody for three days without a shower, without access to feminine hygiene products, and without pants.
The judge demanded that the woman be clothed, and also that an explanation be provided. She apologized profusely to the arrestee, and assured her that this was not usual in the system’s jails. Then the woman informed the judge – to her mounting horror – that there were many other women in the same situation at the jail.
Botanists across the US are trying to figure out why so many titan
arums – better known as corpse flowers – are blooming simultaneously
around the country this year.
This is super weird, because there have only been 157 recorded blooms ever between 1889 and 2008. But this year in the US alone, at least seven flowers have bloomed.
did the aliens from star wars just enjoy that band in the cantina playing the exact same fucking song over and over again or was it a situation like that diner with Whats New Pussycat on repeat
considering that han solo was in that cantina, I think we all know the answer
and then when i was about to request the song for the seventh time, my buddy chewbacca, genius that he is, stopped me and said “rrrRrrrghghghhHh”. and that is when the afternoon went from good to great.
I hope you’ve got your life vest on, because we’re about to jump into the deep end… reblog it reblog it reblog it reblog it reblog it reblog it reblog it reblog it reblog it reblog it reblog it reblog it reblog it reblog it reblog it reblog it reblog it reblog it reblog it … Continued
Adult realization: you will make mistakes, you will act irrationally. You will commit some wrongs that cannot be fully righted. People will dislike you and misunderstand you for all sorts of reasons. None of these make you a bad person. All you can do is try your best to be kind and just to people, grow and learn.
I can't believe this. Honestly, some people should just have their human license revoked.
A longtime animal resident of Busch Gardens in Tampa, FL died yesterday. Pinky the flamingo was 19 years old, and if you noticed her while visiting the theme park, it was because she would sometimes perform her own special dance, stomping her webbed feet and spinning in a circle. The tourist attacked two flamingoes, injuring Pinky badly enough that she was euthanized.
The entertainment value of this dance is hard to get across by just explaining it, so here’s a video that a tourist took of Pinky and posted to YouTube:
According to the Orlando Sentinel, the bird was never trained to dance: she started doing the “flamingo flamenco” on her own one day, and kept doing it when it gained her attention.
The suspect, a 45-year-old man visiting the theme park with his family, grabbed one flamingo, put it down, and then grabbed Pinky, throwing her back down with such force that one of her feet was almost severed.
“I’m on the battlefield, Knocking soldiers down like house of cards, I’m a one woman army, Yes, I’m a one woman army”. - ‘One Woman Army’ by Porcelain Black
how many muggle born kids showed up at hogwarts like, “i get you’re into magic and don’t get me wrong, magic is awesome, but please don’t try and tell me quills and inkwells make more sense than pencils. i realize you have an aesthetic going, but admit it’s that. admit it’s just for looks.”
Imagine how many muggles parents looked at the supply list and went “Parchment? Quills? INKWELLS? Fuck this we’re going to staples.”
And then imagine if the muggle parents start getting into arguments with the teachers when they start getting messages telling them their kids aren’t using the proper materials.
“Okay look we can accept working with frog livers, turning mice into fine china, and whatever the fuck ‘arithmancy’ is but we’re not going to let you shame our kids just because they choose to use a bic pen instead of this ‘ye old inkwell’ bullshit. Also. it’s called a spiral notebook and I’m not gonna make my Abby drag around five hundred feet of loose parchment just because you people have a theme going.”
“What is it, Minerva?”
“Abby’s mother would like to speak to the manager.”
Me: I don’t really care that much about Ghostbusters. The original wasn’t really my thing. Dudebros: Women can’t be Ghostbusters. Me: I WANT TICKETS FOR OPENING WEEKEND. I AIN’T AFRAID OF NO JERKS.
Me: Meh, I was a little too old for Pokemon and stayed away bc I’m a bit obsessive when I really get into something. Old people: Millennials are wrecking everything with this bullshit Pokemon Go! Me: I CAUGHT 30 POKEMON YESTERDAY! HOW DO I HATCH THIS EGG???
#If it worth doing; it’s worth doing it out of spite I mean… they say sugar, spice, and everything nice, but I’m fairly certain I’m made of sarcasm, spite, and a need to fight.
Me: eh, I’m not that interested in Fury Road, the trailers aren’t inspiring me much MRS dipshits: don’t see fury road, it’s about women! Me: I WILL GO TO SEE IT THREE TIMES MOTHERFUCKERS
concept: a retelling of hamlet with the frame story that it’s a tabletop rpg being played by a bunch of overzealous college kids and an increasingly frazzled dm trying to keep them all from rushing headlong into situations and dying immediately. horatio is the dm’s vaguely self-insert npc character. thanks
“AND THEN HE GETS KIDNAPPED BY PIRATES”
“um…dude…you can’t just–”
“PIRATES”
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are played by the same player, who keeps forgetting that he’s running two separate characters.
“The ghost awaits a response”
“Horatio, you went to college, you talk to it.”
—–
“You find the skull of the old court jester.”
“I’m going to talk to it until someone stops me.”
“Horatio, you went to college, you stop him.”
—–
“I stab the curtain!”
“Polonius, roll for fortitude.”
——
“I search for a nunnery in the moat”
*sigh* “Seaweed wraps around your leg. Roll for dexterity escape”
—–
“We all drink to Hamlet’s victory.”
“Everyone roll for fortitude.”
*groans amid the sound of rolling dice*
—–
“Sorry I’m late, everyone. Can my Prince of Finland character just show up?”
