I do want to move the site to 64-bit (so we can take advantage of some of the upgrades Linode has performed since 2012), but that'd require taking the site down for an hour or two.
You could just make the upgrade in the early afternoon, when there's usually minimal activity.
You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
The truscum comic is stupid. The "you're not really trans, you just call yourself a demigirl or whatever because it makes you feel special" sentiment is one I used to find myself thinking in spite of myself, and I find it kinda bothersome that those doubts I held because I'm cis are ones that a significant portion of the trans community also hold.
Themed pronouns are dumb, but they don't negate an entire segment of the trans community.
I think the notion that there has to be a single thing behind everything we call "trans" is partly to blame. I think there are a bunch of different things there, with a bunch of different causes (most of which we have no damn clue over at this point) and a bunch of different ways of being.
I do think there's a problem where in certain circles there's a lot of social pressure to find oneself a non-standard sexuality, racial identity, and gender identity. If all your friends are "ew, straight people" or "ew, cis people" or "ew, white people," there's definitely an incentive to find ways in which you don't fit those, no matter how tenuous.
I don't think it's often about "feeling special", it's about not feeling like the bad people all the cool people are insulting. That's a huge pressure especially for teenagers, who already have a lot of uncertainty about what they are.
I don't think "demigirl" or "demiboy" don't exist; what I do think is that feeling weakly attached to one's gender isn't exactly rare, and that people over-estimate how strongly gendered most other people feel. It's kind of the same thing as those who identify as "demisexual": it's a real thing, but it's not as unusual a thing as people seem to think it is, because of the highly sexually charged assumed default in society.
I stopped about half-way through that comic because the straw-person vs. truscum thing was painful and barely coherent. imo it's better to not give attention to things like that, because people don't need to see it.
And yes, there are idiot trans people on Tumblr who've said the stupid things that comic has in it, but not really all that many, and I strongly think that most are trolls or at least so addicted to getting attention by saying controversial things that they're effectively trolls.
Mo, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is some jihadist peeps. They recently took over Mosul in northern Iraq and it looks like they might set up something resembling a state. given that their stated goals are the whole universal caliphate thing, the images there are what they're going for.
it's a dark joke. cos the game images on the tumblr are usually along the lines of "ryukyu takes over greenland", you know
Mo, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is some jihadist peeps. They recently took over Mosul in northern Iraq and it looks like they might set up something resembling a state. given that their stated goals are the whole universal caliphate thing, the images there are what they're going for.
it's a dark joke. cos the game images on the tumblr are usually along the lines of "ryukyu takes over greenland", you know
Pretty much.
The interesting thing is that basically no-one in Iraq really likes ISIS; they just really hate Maliki's guts and don't want to get shot by Salafist whackadoodles. Which is terrible, but not surprising.
By the way, I refuse to call those guys "jihadis" because their interpretation of the concept of "jihad" is fucking stupid and completely wrong.
Jihad means "struggle," loosely. It's about fighting religious persecution and, by extension, cruel and uncharitable actions that violate one's inner sense of righteousness. You see someone suffering and you are obliged, as a Muslim and as a human being, to stop that suffering and bring the person causing it to justice. It means doing right by others and not standing for intolerance. It does not mean becoming an oppressor.
Mo, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is some jihadist peeps. They recently took over Mosul in northern Iraq and it looks like they might set up something resembling a state. given that their stated goals are the whole universal caliphate thing, the images there are what they're going for.
it's a dark joke. cos the game images on the tumblr are usually along the lines of "ryukyu takes over greenland", you know
yes, I know all that.
I suppose I was just reading too much into the joke
Don't all of these religious extremist groups have the wrong idea of what jihad is?
Yes.
They see most non-Muslims and all "sinners" as oppressors of the faith without understanding that social justice and being a good person far supersedes any imperial imperatives.
Dude shut up I’m not gay. Just because I jerk off during Predator doesn’t mean I’m gay. I just appreciate power, I appreciate bravery. I salute the actions it took to stop the Predator. Does that make my dick hard? Yes, of course, and I won’t be ashamed of that. If you think that’s something to be ashamed of then YOU are the gay one. I love freedom and courage and America so yeah I fucking jerk off whenever I put on Predator.
Dude shut up I’m not gay. Just because I jerk off during Predator doesn’t mean I’m gay. I just appreciate power, I appreciate bravery. I salute the actions it took to stop the Predator. Does that make my dick hard? Yes, of course, and I won’t be ashamed of that. If you think that’s something to be ashamed of then YOU are the gay one. I love freedom and courage and America so yeah I fucking jerk off whenever I put on Predator.
This is my new favorite post.
While this smacks of hilarious self-justification - and probably parody - it is worth noting that actual paraphilias, fetishes and psychosexual dysfunctions tend to override sexual orientation in a similar way.
Actually, those points aren't bad. The intro is exaggerated and smug, and that expression has already come in for a thrashing from sane quarters, but they are all good reasons why the way privilege is addressed in these sort of settings is unproductive.
The first one is pretty bad, because re-examining whether or not your viewpoint is biased based on your background is actually really important. The other two just read like Captain Picard lost an argument on the internet and came up with a rebuttal a week later.
And now I just want lots of Picard speeches about incredibly trivial things.
As important as self-reflection is in overcoming personal issues, assuming that a belief must be rooted in enforced cultural biases doesn't give the person making the argument much credit, for good or for ill. Bringing someone through Socratic argument to a point where they must confront what makes them believe something is much more effective at changing someone's opinion than telling them that they're privileged and wrong - particularly given that if this person is even engaging you on your own terms on a matter of bigotry, they are probably open to being shown another side to the story, as opposed to a dyed-in-the-wool reactionary who will just shout you down for not being like them.
I'm not sure that I'm articulating this very well.
Point is that a Cracked article written by a white man is never going to be a good place to learn about the concept of privilege, regardless of said man's stance on it.
Comments
text is flying out of speech bubbles
???
so am I being a typical ignorant westerner here, or....
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
it's a dark joke. cos the game images on the tumblr are usually along the lines of "ryukyu takes over greenland", you know
I suppose I was just reading too much into the joke
While this smacks of hilarious self-justification - and probably parody - it is worth noting that actual paraphilias, fetishes and psychosexual dysfunctions tend to override sexual orientation in a similar way.
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
Point is that a Cracked article written by a white man is never going to be a good place to learn about the concept of privilege, regardless of said man's stance on it.