#threadreader

[arcticdementor]

Deportations are anti-American. Traditionally, we do not “deport” invaders; the government pays citizens to legally execute invaders in self defense.   Here is a history of laws passed that traditionally allowed Americans to defend our nation from hostile foreigners: 

…

Many European settlers came to our lands as Christian extremists who were devoutly pacifistic. This all changed, however, once we began to interact with the warrior culture of the Indians.

…

Think back to 1640. Imagine you're a Dutch settler in New Amsterdam like my family. You're surrounded by enemy Indian tribes who want the land back that you purchased from them in a 1626 trade agreement. Now, you're being raided. You're losing men and fast.  What do you do?  Enter the first bounty hunting laws, authorized by Dutch Governor Willem Kieft. The strategy was simple: Pay your enemies to kill themselves. Offer 10 fathoms of wampam per enemy scalp to other tribes - this is equivalent to 60 feet of shell beads for just one head!

…

The price paid to early settlers ranged between 10 - 20 pounds (Virginia) to 130 Spanish silver dollars (Pennsylvania) per dead Indian. To clarify, 130 Spanish silver dollars in today's currency, adjusted for inflation, would be valued between $19,000 - 25,000.

…

Such early bounty-hunting practices were essential to defend colonies from invaders. They created a culture that promoted self defense of our lands by force. I assert that the American rights to bear arms and engage in self defense were a direct result of these practices.  When we pose the question of "Are deportations ethical?" to early American settlers, their answer is a stern "No!". It was only because they were given the legal allowance to defend our land with violence that they were able to forge a nation — these are our founding principles. Deportations, a resettling of captured Indians to a new location would have been seen ridiculous as it should be viewed today. We are the most armed population in human history. We should be allowed to maintain our ancestral traditions of invader removal in legal self defense.

…

Bounty Hunting and Indian Removal acts continued to be legalized until the 1900s. In 1838, the Texas Republic legalized the scalp bounties. In 1885, Arizona authorized local scalping laws that paid $100 - $200 for the removal of Indians to protect mining and ranching lands.  If our government was willing to pay us tens of thousands of dollars in the past to self police our lands then, that same privilege should be allowed to us now.

…

It could be argued that deportation is an American tradition, citing the Indian Removal Act of 1830 in which 80,000+ Indians were forced to migrate off more than 100 million acres of land. This resulted only in 10 - 20,000 Indian deaths, across 7 years, proving effectiveness.  However, we had one Indian removal act but dozens of bounty-hunting and scalping laws passed. If we are to call deportations an American tradition because of one act, then it should be considered an American tradition to revive bounty hunting laws as well.  It is necessary that we question why the government alone should be allowed exclusive opportunity to cleanse our lands from invaders. We should have concern that something more nefarious lays hidden, especially since the number of deportations under Trump is less than Obama.  It is more likely that deportations will be used to manufacture citizen consent for the expanssion of the surveillance state. Create a problem: "illegal immigration". Manufacture a solution: Deportations. Elect a false savior to authorize the manufacture solution.  With the false savior idolized, when you're distracted, when you're in pain, you'll give him the power via your consent to create a far worse evil. Enter Palantir Technologies. Their offer will be to use ai technology to profile illegals for targeting and removal.  Ai systems will be promised to only target illegals and to classify them similar to domestic terrorists. Private citizens will be promised absolutely never to be targeted. This lie is what was promised by the Patriot Act, only to end in mass surveillance of private citizens.  The Left and Right have worked together for generations. One creates the problem. The other manufactures a controlled solution. Then we consent to accept the controlled solution that, surprise, erodes our rights and destroys our nation! They are all guilty of treason.

…

No deportations. No more power to the government. Advocate for total self reliance with full rights to self police our own communities and borders. Accept nothing less.

[unsolicited-opinions]

You might have seen this BBC headline (or one like it from other Western news agencies) claiming that the IDF killed five journalists in Gaza:

The headline is a lie. The BBC even admits in the body of the article:

"The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had targeted "Islamic Jihad operatives posing as journalists" and that steps were taken to avoid harming civilians.

...

The BBC has not been able to verify claims made by either side, with international media being prevented by Israel from entering and freely working on the ground in Gaza."

But they still ran that headline, didn't they? (How is this anything but dishonesty?)

Here are the five men the IDF killed, all Islamic Jihad operatives posing as journalists:

We don't have to take the IDF's word that they were Islamic Jihad operatives, either.

More here

Same thread via ThreadReader for those who understandably don't want an account on Musk's platform, formerly known as Twitter.

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: The Heretical Liberal

Published: Jun 18, 2024

Lots of responses to this post I made the other day laying out the case for why trans activism is homophobic, most of them supportive. For the few that weren't, here's a thread where I brought the receipts. If my earlier post was opening arguments, consider this the full case: 🧵

First up, the charities, such as Stonewall and GLAAD. These are the groups that were originally set up as gay rights advocates, but were retooled around 2015 into trans rights advocates, and - since trans activism seeks to erase homosexuality - promptly began to do exactly that

With the anti-gay activists now in charge and setting the tone, media now takes the reins and begins subtly erasing the very notion of same-sex attraction, suggesting that lesbians who don't want to date ppl with penises, and gay men not interested in vaginas are hateful bigots

And more of the same nonsense:

With the activists dictating, and the media following their lead, the homophobia inevitably trickles down. This manifests in different forms, but one of them is the psychological torture of homosexuals, some of whom have come to believe their innate orientation means they're bigots

But mostly the biggest effect is in the trans community itself, who have increasingly internalized the idea that same-sex attraction doesn't exist, and thus, any ppl who claim to be exclusively same-sex attracted are actually just transphobic bigots who can be abused at will

The rest is just gonna be a firehose of hate, as I try to dispel the idea that this homophobia is "just a few bad apples" instead of the truth: it's a core component underpinning the entire ideology transgenderism, as are the violent threats that often accompany it:

I could go on and on, but I think the point here is made. Homophobia doesn't just exist in the trans community, it's RIFE in it. It's a feature, not a bug, the erasure of sex (and by extension, homosexuals) is a core goal of trans activism. Hopefully this has opened some eyes /end

--

Threadreader:

==

Firstly, if you're shocked by this, then you haven't been paying attention.

This is what it looks like when the mentally ill use academic gobbledygook to pathologize the normal and normalize the pathological.

You're not crazy: same sex attraction and opposite sex attraction are real things and completely normal. You may have either or both (bisexual). Their stupid buzzwords don't - and can't - change that. Nor turn it into a "genital preference."

If you take away nothing else, know that an accusation of being "transphobic" is a predator trying to emotionally manipulate and blackmail you into allowing access by the predator beyond your boundaries. Whether that be sexual boundaries, to simply how you address others, and anything and everything in between.

You never have to justify your boundaries. Someone who tries to make you, or who tells you that you need to "rethink" your boundaries, or particularly who acts morally superior about their purported higher evolved absence of boundaries is a full-blown predator. No, I'm not being hyperbolic. When I say "predator," I mean they're a predator. You're talking to someone who is dangerous and not to be trusted, because they see your boundaries as something to be overcome, circumvented or "fixed." They do not respect you and they feel entitled to what they want from you. They are dangerous. They are a predator. By definition.

In the very definition of an abusive relationship, these virulently anti-gay fanatics also won't let LGB operate without them. Because they'll lose their human shields and their stolen valor they've misappropriated from the gay rights movements. Which is the point in the movie where the abuser shouts, "without me, you're nothing! I won't let you leave! If I can't have you, no one will!" And then something horrible happens.

[dsmpartarchive]

is there a thread reader version of the supahcoolkid wilbur babysits michael comic? i don't have twitter but would still like to read it. no worries if not!

Really sorry I don’t know how to do threadreaders!! but the artist said this so I might copy and paste it if they aren’t on tumblr already

[triflesandparsnips]

When something is definitely not a game, but most definitely a gift

or, after sufficient thought and also some really very clever meta coming out of Good Omens fandom: What Javid Denkins means to me (and what I probably don't mean to "Javid Denkins")

Recap time!

In December of 2022-- wait, no, I already wrote that post, go read that. To summarize, though:

The (real) show Our Flag Means Death has a showrunner named David Jenkins. He started posting on tumblr in mid-July 2023.

The (fictional) show Blow the Man Down has a showrunner named Javid Denkins. He started posting on tumblr in early December 2022.

There was a period of time where OFMD fandom was uncertain whether these two people were one and the same, which led to a great deal of interest in the "season 2" puzzles, hints, breadcrumbs, and other fascinating bits of interactive, cross-media engagement coming out of the Javid Denkins account.

I was one of those people having A Good Time with the interaction -- I constructed puzzles for whoever was on the other end of the line, with no real belief that they would be engaged with. It was fun to do, though, and-- what if? (Bookmark this, I'm going to come back to it.)

Eventually it shook out that BTMD was a fictional show in an OFMD alternate universe fic, and from there the interactive multimedia elements expanded beyond just tumblr-- and beyond the edges of my first linked essay above.

And then, in June 2023, with the end of the story and a final post to the Javid account, it came to an end.

A brief rundown of the areas of play

There are multiple elements to the Javid Experience (tm) -- so far as I can tell and/or has been recorded by better fans than me (i.e., @eefaevie) [EDIT 9/27/23: twitter has shat the bed entirely, so here's a link to the threadreader collection]:

1. The Javid Denkins tumblr account: starts the experience, introduces the concept of games/puzzles, slowly introduces the show Blow the Man Down

2. The AU fic Blow the Man Down: makes clear the connection between the real Our Flag Means Death with the fictional BTMD, makes clear the use of games/puzzles, introduces the use of social media as an important driver of the plot and the characterization, and introduces the inciting incident for the story: Javid Denkins, showrunner of BTMD, saying that he would start a Twitter account (thus making him not the same as tumblr-Javid -- and also, unlike the other characters in the AU, not a one-to-one alt of the real David Jenkins -- which will become important later)

3. The BTMD fic collection: an open, unmoderated collection of fic that references only BTMD, treating it as a fandom in its own right while providing elements (and themes) for the main AU fic to reference

4. Several twitter accounts and group chats: these comprise, I would say, four groups/entities acting in real time and in concurrence with or directly affecting the plot of the AU. @turq8 put together a spreadsheet with the handles (as well as the assumed BTMD canon), but in short, these groups were:

the main characters of the AU (Ed and Stede, from OFMD, who in this story are fans of BTMD);

"fan" accounts for BTMD, some of whom are tied to fic authorship within the BTMD collection, and who served here as a mirror of fandom dynamics;

real accounts of fans of OFMD who were following the AU and were engaged in the Javid Experience;

Javid Denkins-- not the same Javid as tumblr-Javid or the fic-Javid, but rather one who was sockpuppeted by the Ed character

(For those keeping track, we are now up to... three different Javids: tumblr-Javid, fic-Javid, and Ed-Javid. Bookmark that.)

5. Several ancillary sites and social media accounts to add to the reality/unreality of the alternate universe, including but not limited to:

tumblr-Javid's site and its sub-pages, providing more clues/games than could necessarily be supported in tumblr's interface;

Stede's Pinterest board, providing real-time meta-narrative to support the story and the interactions the Stede twitter account was having with the OFMD fan accounts;

the instagram account and website for an in-universe animal rescue (with an event advertisement that became Relevant);

a fanzine and accompanying Mad Magazine-style fold-in (which led to a mirrored fanzine by the OFMD fans playing along);

a photograph of the alternate-universe's TV Guide with synopses of all 10 episodes of the first season of BTMD

a fake interview with the actors of BTMD ("fake interview" you say, BOOKMARK THAT);

and a youtube account ostensibly owned by one of the Javids that concluded the twitter aspects of the narrative by posting the "trailer" for season 2 of BTMD

These five areas are, I would say, the publicly accessible and still (to a degree) trackable elements of the experience, though their ephemerality is being tested with the changes to twitter and the general nature of digital-heavy works.

Now, with all that... I want to talk about two elements that aren't particularly public, and the one that finishes off the whole thing.

Three is a magic number (to triangulate a Theme)

1. The Letter

In the penultimate chapter of the AU, the author, Javid Denkins (which one?) describes a real life location, with a fictional hidden treasure, but with a real life pair of photos attached at the end.

What isn't clear, and what won't be clear to outside readers, is that there was, in fact, a real life treasure in that real life place.

I know this, because I went there. And I found it.

I describe the whole thing here, along with my Feelings about it, but in short, there was a letter that read:

In looking for the story, you became a part of it. Thank you for playing. Thank you for letting me believe it can be real. Javid

(Which Javid?)

2. The (First) Interview

The next thing that I imagine few outside readers would know about is the results of that Fic Club discord server interview I couldn't attend from the beginning-- but, thank all the little fishes, I was able to crash partway through and back-read.

Here's what you need to know:

There were not one, not two, but three Javids answering questions, demarcated by different colored icons.

Over the course of the hour, it became clear that one of the Javids was Ed-as-Javid (unaware that he exists in an AU, assumes he's dreaming up this interview); another was tumblr-Javid (aware of the AU, aware of the puzzles and games on tumblr, but unaware of The Letter); and then there was a third unknown Javid (who asked questions, cut off questions, and, in the end, was revealed to definitely know about The Letter).

The Javids answered a limited number of pre-defined questions, though there seemed to be some cross-talk and allowances for fan interaction -- thus making this, if it wasn't already obvious, a performance piece. A piece of the whole story.

The questions chosen can be found on the previously linked spreadsheet, under the "Q's for J.A.V.I.D." tab-- they mostly matched up with A3, A2, A4, A7/B2, B7, A7, C2, D4, F8, and C6, for those who want to dive in. (@clairegregoryau, who moderated, is working on releasing the transcript for public consumption, so you could also wait for that ETA: nope, just a summary/analysis -- though with the scripted nature of the Q&A, maybe someday Javid'll release that end of it? Whatever comes, I'll update here when it goes live).

But in the shortest possible sum up: the questions chosen/answered were about audience participation, unreality, and the nature of "Javid(s)" anonymity.

tumblr-Javid gave the most concrete answers to things; Ed-Javid provided a sort of meta-narrative similar to Stede's Pinterest in terms of inner-thoughts and whatnot, providing a "real person's" perspective to the fictional drama of the AU; and mystery-Javid... was a sharp-edged mystery. Until--

3. The (Second) Interview

On June 25th (the date listed on the pet rescue instagram), at 9:30 AM (the time listed within the post itself, making this a "real time" event), the tumblr account made its last post: an interview with Javid Denkins.

It's not the transcript of the first Fic Club interview. Rather, it's more of an essay, written in the style of a GQ or Esquire piece, with a first-person interviewer describing their sit-down with the showrunner of BTMD. It starts with the sentence:

Javid Denkins is not interested in answering questions. 

From there, it's slowly revealed that the second interview is, in itself, just a figment of Javid Denkins's imagination. And so is tumblr-Javid. And so is Ed-Javid. And more than that: This Javid imagined our entire universe -- OFMD, David Jenkins, the creation of the Javid tumblr and character, the BTMD augmented reality game, everything...

...as a thought experiment.

To see if, in some reality, somewhere, it was possible for him to be authentic and open as an artist-- and not be punished for it by an ouroborosing fandom.

It's an astonishing (and complicated to work out, because hooboy, did I need to sit down and diagram some stuff) piece. I have the barest edges of Feelings about it in this reblog, but as I say there: this second interview is about art, and celebrity, and fear, and humanity.

...but it is also about audience participation, unreality, and the nature of anonymity, as in the first interview. Because that's who this ultimate-Javid is -- he's the third Javid from Fic Club, still testing. He's the Javid from the AU (the one that doesn't match up with our universe's David Jenkins), self-inserting to try and explain again and again, to an audience that can't seem to hear him, why he's so angry.

Why he's so afraid.

(Anger, they say, is a secondary emotion.)

This second interview explains why this entire Javid Experience exists-- but even then, it's not entirely truthful, because it's still a story. It's a story that tells the truth through fiction. It tells the truth without revealing the magic behind it.

And it also makes me... look into the mirror, perhaps. Look deeper than I have until now, and question what I see.

Who am I (to Javid Denkins)

Here's the thing: Javid has never, ever spoken to me.

There was, for a long time, a pleasant fuzzy feeling when there appeared to be coincidences (such as the use of book codes, when I had referenced them earlier, etc). In my heart, though, and in my Very Reasonable brain, I knew that that's what they were: coincidences.

And then, when the chapters for the AU started to drop, I started noticing... more coincidences. More things that seemed to line up with someone, on the other side of the enclosure, talking back to me. I talk about this a little (a lot) in my original summary post. But it still wasn't anything direct, not really. I could play with the idea of being referenced, of being connected to, but that's all it could really be unless I was contacted directly: just a playful notion, a fun idea. Positive parasociality, I suppose.

Then, The Letter happened. And I was the one to find it. Things I knew to be coincidence -- because it literally could have been anyone! I didn't really have the time that day to go, but got swept up in the adventure! -- took on the weight of Significance. It felt real, in ways I can't even describe without going into personal details beyond the reach of a silly tumblr post.

Who was I to Javid Denkins? What did he want from me? It was exciting. It was thrilling. It was frightening, in a way, but to be perceived-- to be known by someone I admired-- felt like a kind of vindication.

Every good intention I had ever had regarding keeping a cool head and a distant interest: gone. I was all-in. I reveled in what I felt was attention.

...and then I read the first interview. I read the second interview.

I looked in the mirror. And what I saw:

1. There was someone on the other side of it. (There always had been.)

2. And that person was so angry (so afraid) of people finding meaning where none existed. Of people tearing down the walls of the enclosure, fists raised, to get that meaning whether it was freely given or not.

Here's the thing (again): There were things said in the essay that could apply to me. There are things that could apply to @eefaevie, and @turq8, and @clairegregoryau, and every other fan who participated in Javid's experiment.

But.

There are things that could apply to someone who has never heard of Our Flag Means Death. There are things that could apply to a musician, taking a smoke outside their venue and hoping no one bothers her. There are things that could apply to a puppeteer, glad he can go to the store without being bothered but upset, too, that he will never be known enough to be bothered.

There are things that could apply to a writer on the picket line, striking well after this story was written. There are things that could apply to an actor, decades dead, worried about coming out of the closet. There are things a painter, not yet born, will be scared to let drop from their brush.

Here's the thing (one last time, because three is a magic number): Javid has never, ever, ever spoken to me. Not directly, and not-- I believe now-- even indirectly. Because it's not about me. To assume it is, is... to find false positives in patterns that repeat across all public and private faces; across art, and the painful arithmetic of artist and audience. To take something universal and true, and make it small and mean and about just one thing: believing myself the main character.

What hubris. To make myself the main character of someone else's self-reflection. And to lose the world entire because of it.

Who am I to Javid Denkins? Nobody. Everybody.

The beauty of the Experience in its totality is that it is so deeply, painfully personal, so wrenching in its honesty, that it seems to speak directly to you. To reach out a hand, offering a gift that only exists if you don't demand its existence.

Each of us can accept this gift. None of us can claim it as our own, because it's not our gift to give. We can only hold out our own hands, give our own gifts, and hope that so many people find joy and comfort in it, as we did in our turn.

It's a gift that feels heavy in my hand, and I know now that I will give it over and over. For those who stumble close unseeing, until: a gleam.

[lains-reality]

do you know what happened to choroukgod? I saw you had the link of one of their deleted threads in one of your posts but I can’t find them on twitter anymore

they deleted their twitter, they said they were gonna leave it once they said all they had to. their tumblr was also deleted too, so i'm guessing they left loa community.

threadreader link. i would recommend saving these in case they get deleted. luckily their best threads were saved!

[holmoris]

If it's twitter and you really want to see a reply chain throw it into threadreader and you can generally see it without an account since several prominent internet communities use it as a twitter-with-context archiver. If it's washington post, medium or any other site that just pops up CSS or something to obscure the content after you've scrolled a little just hit the reading mode button (far right in the address bar if you're in firefox, looks like a sheet of paper) and you'll usually get the whole thing with no ads or nagging.

Barring that, try internetarchive/archive.md. Most sites will let archival spiders in without accounts, so you can just use the archive.

[arcticdementor]

Yesterday @realchrisrufo asked why we should repeal the Civil rights Act Today @AcademicAgent_X dropped a bombshell report about a secretive agency with the job of silencing Americans and covering up antiwhite violence Let's talk about the Community Relations Service🧵/1 

…

Virtually nothing CRS agents do is entered into public record The CRA is basically immune to Freed Of Information Act requests /2  All notes drafted by CRS agents are destroyed and those agents may invoke a confidentiality privilege for both Congress and the courts, which they have done previously 

…

The purpose of the CRS, as described by one of its founders Bertram Levine, was to prevent white backlash to the CRA

…

The CRS was involved in the forced integration of Catholic communities in Boston, and when 17-year-old Michael Faith was stabbed in 1974 CRS was on the scene immediately, not to help the victim or protect the community, but to prevent white students from fighting back /6 

…

The CRS also set up operation Rumor Control, which still operates to this day Rumor Control manipulates local media sources to control reporting on the damage done during riots and downplay the role of Civil Rights leader in instigating them /10  The CRS is responsible for stage managing the entire Trayvon Martin incident including parading the family before Congress, carefully managing protests in Sanford Florida, training activists, and astroturfing progressive organizations like Dream Defenders /11 

…

The most despicable aspect of the CRS is its murder cover up operations You've seen the pattern: A white victim is killed by a minority assailant, family members come out and make a gratuitous and obviously scripted statement downplaying the racial motivation on camera /14  The spokesman calls for fogginess and peace, condemning anyone who would use the incident as a rallying point  The common script isn't an accident, its coordinated by the CRA

[memegetter]

Thought it was time to make sure tumblr has an archive of the dick whisperer tweets. Link to original (via threadreader)

[realmaxavery]

If you want to check out some of my tweet threads, they get indexed on Threadreader

[cryptorushsnap]

An article that explains how web development and SEO work together to create a successful website. It covers why things like site speed, mobile-friendliness, and clean code are crucial for both user experience and search engine rankings. It also highlights how on-page elements like headings, image optimization, and internal links help search engines understand the content and more info here https://dev.to/eric_plotts/seo-and-web-development-work-together-2kgg

[arcticdementor]

President Trump strolled into the Capitol. No script. No filter. After meeting with House Republicans, he stepped in front of the cameras for a showdown. He unleashed hell. He dropped major details on the Big Beautiful Bill... Then hit the press with a savage question about Joe Biden no one dares to ask.  🧵THREAD

…

Trump wasn’t having it. “That’s a lie! Wait a minute. Wait, wait, wait. Who told you that?” The reporter stammered again: “We heard from… uh… people… inside the room.” Trump didn’t let up. “Oh really? That’s totally untrue. I never used the term. I didn’t say losing [patience]. I didn’t even talk about it.” “In fact, it’s the opposite. I think we’re going to get it done.” “I’m not losing patience. We’re ahead of schedule.” And then came the finishing blow: “Anybody that told you that… is a liar.” “Why don’t you go back to your source and tell them they’re liars? If the source even exists.” In a single exchange, Trump flipped the narrative—and the reporter was left scrambling for cover.

…

A reporter tried to weaponize the Justice Department narrative again, this time using the recent charges against Democrat Rep. LaMonica McIver. She had gone on an unhinged tirade and assaulted federal officers at an ICE facility in Newark.  The charges were serious. But the media, predictably, tried to make it about Trump. “Is your DOJ weaponizing with the arrest of a Congresswoman? Democratic Congresswoman?” the reporter asked. Trump didn’t even blink. “Oh give me a break! Did you see her? She was out of control.” And he made it clear that the days of lawlessness from the Dems and their woke tantrums are dead in the water. 

…

He reminded the media just how bad things had gotten under the last administration. “We were losing $5 billion a day under the past administration,” he said. Then he dropped the hammer. “And by the way, you oughta—the real question: who ran the auto pen?” “Okay, who ran the auto pen?!” The room fell silent. Trump was referring to mounting evidence that critical documents from the Biden era were being signed without the president’s full awareness—or possibly without his involvement at all. With Biden’s cognitive and physical health now finally under public scrutiny, the question isn’t rhetorical.  Trump spelled it out for the press unwilling to do their job: “Because the things that were signed, were signed illegally in my opinion. I think we’ve just proved that.”

[stillmasking]

Is another COVID wave coming to the US?

July 18th Twitter thread from Noha Aboelata, MD (a physician in Oakland, CA).

(Link to threadreader app for accessibility.)

(Threadreader link

[uncleasriel]

For those now illing to track this dogshit down on Twitter, here's an essay anthology here and ThreadReader summary here.

It's not half as detailed as I like, and hasmore of a Pop Puff Piece analogy than I'd care for, but I do love the chance to look at historical parallels and seeing exactly how they conform to patterns in history.