I really resent the framing of organized bigotry as “activism.”

Is this just him saying he wants to reinstate DADT, but with extra steps?

The US military has specifically benefited from diversity and inclusivity programs in recent years. The actual size of the US military force is comparatively smaller than in the past, and being more inclusive has benefited the institution in the concrete way of just having a larger number of potential enlistees to pull from.

I’m all for reducing the size of the US military, but to be clear that’s the only effect this will have.

30 is young. Back pain is mostly a collection of chronic pain symptoms that don’t correspond to meaningful harm or damage. You’re probably not in need of “healing” because there’s probably nothing actually wrong with you. You’re not broken; you’ve just trained your nervous system to produce a pain sensation because you’re hyper fixated on it.

I don’t know why all these memes are coming up that contribute to this idea that being over 30 means you’re somehow disabled. You’re probably not, and perpetuating this idea is decidedly unhelpful, even in a joking context.

When I turned 30 I committed to taking fitness seriously. I reached a higher level of physical fitness and athleticism than my younger and less disciplined self could have managed. I was able to perform on an much higher level in my chosen occupation, which was performance based and exceptionally difficult physically, and because I did more strength training I had the ability to inoculate myself from injury. Basically, I feel better than ever because I started taking this stuff more seriously.

You have agency, too.

What about vaping? It may be somewhat “less” dangerous but likely shares most of the same risks.

Roma people have historically been very persecuted because of racism and ethnocentrism. Case in point: the holocaust killed up to 500,000 Romani people, but the actual figures are not known. Roma people are among the groups that are rarely talked about when the Holocaust is mentioned, despite losing up to 50% of their total population at the time.

Arab and North African folks are usually considered white on the US census but that isn’t really an accurate picture.

Race is a social construct that doesn’t have clear borders. Racial categories mostly exist as a way of creating division and limiting access to resources, to flatten the diversity of individual cultures represented by a racial category… or to inflict direct and systemic violence. The experience of being a racialized person is entirely the creation of the society that a person lives within; for example, African folks usually don’t self-identify as “black,” within Africa, but that’s an important racialized experience that people can speak to in a place like the US.

Pretty hopeful news actually.

MTG is among the most seemingly dedicated to being a horrible, bigoted piece of shit, and yet even she is recognizing that a platform of being a horrible, bigoted piece of shit is no longer serving her.

Fuck her forever. But I’ll take this specific brand of opportunism as a positive sign.

Yes. And also the explanation for why they’re worsening is not exclusively because of fossil fuels/climate change. That is a factor, but others include terrible forestry practices (including, somewhat paradoxically, fire mitigation and fighting).

Not trying to let oil and gas companies off the hook. It’s just an issue that has a lot of shared blame between different industries.

That’s a good point. It’s just kinda funny because my reaction to it is basically “wow. maybe he actually used to be a real human.”

I think probably this just illustrates that he’s not genuine. That said I like your reflection that past behaviour should not be used as evidence against who a person is currently. That’s probably a good baseline, even if the past evidence could actually be viewed in a positive light.

Anyways. Thanks for the thoughtful exchange.

I basically agree with you, but the subtext is a little different.

I don’t think this photo is damning in any way. It looks like some kids having fun in a pretty typical way. It’s pretty normal for kids to “joke,” and play around with gender. But this dude had some fun as a teen and now he’s trying his damnedest to ensure no one ever gets to express themselves in a way that is incongruous with their agab. It’s worth pointing out that that’s shitty for some specific reasons.

It is however a classic trope. Being “one of the good ones,” affords certain privileges until is doesn’t. It is also absolutely a despicable card to play.

Say that’s true. Do you then actually believe that if you’re not smart or you “don’t have drive,” you somehow deserve to be unhoused or starve, to be unable to access healthcare?

I’m all for people improving their lives, but as a baseline I just don’t believe that certain people deserve the consequences of horrible poverty just because they didn’t or couldn’t perform academically.

Also what’s the justification for having a system that allows employers to exploit workers by paying poverty wages while materially benefiting from that labor?

Even barring actual harm done against the queer community, there really should be a requirement that companies using pride flags for advertising contribute in some way to LGBTQ+ organizations. Otherwise all it will ever mean is: “we’ll take your money.”

Just a heads up: you put the closing parenthesis and period inside the hyperlink you posted.

Nbd, and good comment, just letting you know.

I legit can’t imagine hurting a bee. Wasps I’m less sympathetic to. But I love bees.

Technically ticks are arachnids, not insects.

And also yeah. Fuck ticks altogether.

Minority groups are among the fastest growing groups of overall gun owners, for reasons outlined here.

I don’t disagree with the sentiment, but all of the people who are trying to hound juries are, in fact, extremists.

The only comfort I can find in this is that in a constant battle of consolidating an individual’s power, it is very difficult to maintain a cohesive political movement in the long term.

In other words, I think these people are too selfish to build or maintain any society at all. This is bound to crumble sooner than later, but it is sad to see underprivileged and stupid people be taken on this shitty ride. And it really fucking sucks that the rest of us get swept in their shitstorm.

I think maybe y’all need a couple more Stonewalls to get the message right.

It is an unfortunate thing, because tankies are actually a problem. And I do mean the real term, as in the folks who identify with dictatorships that are so-called communist.

The reason it’s a problem is that the folks who are left-leaning but uneducated sometimes get swept up in pro-authoritarian rhetoric that happens to oppose the west. I’m anticapitalist, leftist, etc. I see tankies and fascists having a lot in common. That seems dangerous in the sense that fascism is a real threat. Also, then, our ranks are being thinned out and co-opted by specific bad-faith actors. At the same time, when people buy into tankie (pro-Russia, pro-China, pro-North Korea) propaganda, this more or less consolidates some of the power that opposes actual leftists (as in, people who support human rights, equitable societies, environmental protection, etc).

Not really any argument against what you’re saying. Just kind of adding that the term tankie is actually useful to describe a specific viewpoint, but obviously not in the way that the previous commenter used it.