malkahaolam

[malkahaolam]

Boston Post, Massachusetts, July 7, 1921

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In the early 70s Sesame Street was created with an eye towards educating poor, inner-city children for free, and became a massive hit with all children. In 2016, faced with going off the air forever after facing conservative efforts to destroy public broadcasting since basically its beginning, new episodes became a timed exclusive for premium cable network HBO. In 2022 HBO Max, newly merged with and taken over by reality TV channel Discovery, removed Sesame Street episodes and spin-offs from streaming as a tax write-off and scheme to avoid paying residuals.

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shoutout to boring queer people who don’t do shit. just go to work or school and then come home to watch shows. while gay

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not enough people understand that disability benefits are basically what it would look like if you turned "if you're too sick for school you're too sick for video games" into an official public policy

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Everyone else talked about outdoor cats, it's time for me to talk about offleash dogs

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people with medical issues are not “putting a strain on the medical system”. that’s what the medical system is for. yes this includes people with substance use related medical issues and other people often considered undeserving of help

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So it turns out that ChatGPT not only uses a ton shit of energy, but also a ton shit of water. This is according to a new study by a group of researchers from the University of California Riverside and the University of Texas Arlington, Futurism reports.

Which sounds INSANE but also makes sense when you think of it. You know what happens to, for example, your computer when it’s doing a LOT of work and processing. You gotta cool those machines.

And what’s worrying about this is that water shortages are already an issue almost everywhere, and over this summer, and the next summers, will become more and more of a problem with the rising temperatures all over the world. So it’s important to have this in mind and share the info. Big part of how we ended up where we are with the climate crisis is that for a long time politicians KNEW about the science, but the large public didn’t have all the facts. We didn’t have access to it. KNOWING about things and sharing that info can be a real game-changer. Because then we know up to what point we, as individuals, can have effective actions in our daily lives and what we need to be asking our legislators for.

And with all the issues AI can pose, I think this is such an important argument to add to the conversation.

Edit: I previously accidentally typed Colorado instead of California. Thank you to the fellow user who noticed and signaled that!

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Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, Washington, D.C., October 11, 1987

Sections 553 and 554 of Article 27 of the Maryland Code prohibited sodomy (punishable with a sentence of “not less than one year nor more than ten years”), oral sex, and “any other unnatural or perverted sexual practice with any other person.”

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bingo

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there's a new harry potter video game coming out. jkr was not involved, but that doesn't mean we should stop criticising her, or that we should stop criticising the game. we do, however, need to be precise.

it is very important to me to criticise jkr, but also to be accurate about what she did and didn't do or say. for instance, she did not say hermione was black all along; she said she approved casting a black actor to play her. (this one is conjecture but) she didn't retcon dumbledore being gay; that was basically the first 'revelation' post-septalogy of something that hadn't been mentioned, literally years before she started obviously retconning stuff in to fill in the gaps or address fan questions or out of boredom or whatever. she didn't write about a race of big-nosed bankers; she wrote about a short, 'swarthy', oppressed-and-yet-also-unfairly-powerful, not-permitted-to-do-jobs-other-than-finance-but-then-resented-for-being-involved-in-finance, stereotypically 'bloodthirsty' race that speaks a 'guttural' language and is believed by prominent equality activists to not need allies because they're 'clever' enough to defend themselves and probably also align themselves with the fascists who hate them. (this stuff is a mixture of antisemitic conspiracy theories/stereotypes & actual legit things that have happened to jews, but a lot of people aren't informed enough about antisemitism to recognise that.) the filmmakers took all that in and went 'ah, yes, clearly this is the nose tribe™, let's put that in our character design.' she didn't randomly invent a single jewish character when confronted about the lack of jewish people; there is literally photographic evidence of anthony goldstein being a character from the very beginning, plus he is in the books, albeit not mentioned to be jewish. she didn't say there was a magen david on the floor of gringotts bank; the filmmakers chose to use a building that had that floor pattern as their set for gringotts, which is super fucked up. she didn't write one single irish character who wants to drink alcohol from a young age and blows things up all the time; that was a single joke that the filmmakers decided to turn into a years-long running gag.

she did create a world where you're supposed to be against bigotry, and yet the reasons behind the bigotry are actually objectively true. werewolves are objectively dangerous and lycanthropy is objectively harmful to the sufferer. trolls and giants are violent and fundamentally lack the mental capacity to understand why violence is bad. goblins do control the economy and hoard their literal and metaphorical wealth. house-elves want to remain enslaved despite the abuse they suffer. the list goes on.

i genuinely think this came primarily from ignorance. she had a bunch of unchecked prejudices, and like many self-proclaimed allies, did not pay enough attention to oppressed groups to understand what they actually need from allies. (for instance, based on things she's declared publicly, she honestly believes she is an ally to jews.) she naïvely believed herself to be progressive and open-minded, and when it was explained to her that this was not the case, it made her uncomfortable and she rejected the information instead of taking it in.

this is speculative, but i also don't think that she was secretly a massive transphobe all along. the progress of her transphobia is pretty clearly identifiable as a process of radicalisation as she doubled down and learned new rhetoric to justify her pre-existing prejudices. it is indeed disgusting, and she has actively contributed to the persecution of trans people both in the uk and in other countries.

people who defend her believe that people who criticise her are spreading misinformation. don't confirm that belief for them. the things she actually has said and done are bad enough.

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sex is fun but it isn't sacred which is part of why we even fight for bodily autonomy and privacy in the bedroom. one night stands and quickies and casual sex are all morally neutral. to mythologize sex as the ultimate intimacy through which people eternally connect is ridiculous and serves only to empower the christofascist regime which uses sex and intimacy as simultaneous weapons of oppression and beneficiary incentives for everyone to stay in line with the status quo.

sex is fun and it feels good and there is nothing wrong with having sex. at the same time sex is nothing particularly special or great either. It's just another thing humans are capable of. we give the concept of sex too much power tbqh.

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Ok yeah you’re a leftist but are you normal about Jews