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The gay movement went and demonstrated [...] at the American Psychiatric convention because in their workbook [...] homosexuality was listed as a disease [...]. And these guys had signs saying "Heterosexuality can be cured" [...]. There was this great militant confrontation and that year the psychiatrists turned around and deleted homosexuality [...] from their list of diseases. I thought it was just weird! I said: "Wait a minute, what's so scientific about that conclusion? You just did it because some gays came in and kicked your ass and made you do it". So it wasn't scientific when they called them sick and it's not scientific when they don't call them sick. It was a political struggle of people fighting for the democratic rights which changed the mind of these "scientists".

Michael Parenti, The Political Economy of Gender Oppression.

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PLEASE for the love of the universe read anti-colonial science fiction and fantasy written from marginalized perspectives. Y’all (you know who you are) are killing me. To see people praise books about empire written exclusively by white women and then turn around and say you don’t know who Octavia Butler is or that you haven’t read any NK Jemisin or that Babel was too heavy-handed just kills me! I’m not saying you HAVE to enjoy specific books but there is such an obvious pattern here

Some of y’all love marginalized stories but you don’t give a fuck about marginalized creators and characters, and it shows. Like damn

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[marxismrepostism]

starlink pisses me off

the issue of its impact on astronomy and light pollution has been discussed a lot, and is a very real issue (i've noticed up to 10% of the frames i take while doing astrophotography being rendered unusable by starlink trails), but there's an even bigger issue

not only does starlink constitute the majority of active satellites in orbit, with over 6,000 already up and potentially over 30,000 planned, but these satellites are disposable

each satellite only has a lifetime of 5-7 years (not including satellites that prematurely fail), and re-enters earth's atmosphere and disintegrates at the end of its life, and is then replaced by newly launched satellites

it's also worth mentioning that aluminum from re-entering satellites forms aluminum oxide, which can damage the ozone layer and risks reversing the recovery of the ozone hole

and this is touted as progress, "the future"! the way we bring high-quality internet to anyone who doesn't live in a big city or a wealthy country. a gift to all humanity! (except elon musk gets to deny it to whoever he wants)

and it is literally unsustainable

the so-called internet infrastructure of the future relies on frequent rocket launches spewing carbon dioxide and black soot into the atmosphere, and disposable satellites that destroy the shield that protects all life on earth from UV radiation

the atmosphere is a global commons. orbit is a global commons. yet a single company owned by a single fascist billionaire has appropriated a vast swath of orbital space and filled it with infinite trash machines - without any international regulation. but bring this up in any space fan circles, and you'll be met with techbros screaming at you and calling you an enemy of humanity for not thinking that elon musk should be able to do whatever he wants without regulation

starlink isn't the future, it's a cancer filling our sky with trash (and i guess some people get kinda expensive internet along the way? oh yeah btw the poor people they're talking about starlink helping can't afford it)

anyway fuck starlink, they should stop launching these trash satellites, if you want everyone to have internet we should build more publicly-owned fiber instead

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[marxismrepostism]

it's absolutely frustrating to see that for many people, the main point of contention with the internet archive lawsuit is that they personally do not feel like what the internet archive did in 2020 was copyright infringement. it literally does not matter if what the internet archive did was copyright infringement, because copyright is a blight on society and largely exists in service of whatever multimillion dollar entities can afford to "own" concepts or ideas. the art world suffers from people interacting with art within this framework. I don't understand how you can be someone who claims to hate corporate slop but endorse the right for branding to exist.

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The US military has completed its 500th flight airlifting over 50,000 tons of weapons and equipment to the Israeli army for its over ten-month onslaught against Palestinians in Gaza, the Israeli Defense Ministry announced on 26 August. In addition to the weapons and equipment airlifted to Israel since 7 October, Washington has sent Tel Aviv 107 shipments of military supplies by sea. A Defense Ministry statement said the shipments include “armored vehicles, munitions, ammunition, personal protection gear, and medical equipment, which are crucial for sustaining the IDF’s operational capabilities during the ongoing war.” The weapons shipments – that have enabled Israel to kill over 40,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and render Gaza uninhabitable – come as White House officials claim that US presidential candidate and current Vice President Kamala Harris has been “working tirelessly” for a ceasefire agreement. Muhammad Shehada of EuroMed Human Rights reported on 25 August that, according to multiple senior officials in Doha who were directly involved in the Israel–Gaza ceasefire talks, “There are currently no negotiations, only a sham theatre play.”

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“Oh boo hoo you shouldn’t ask your friends for favors we’re all adults”

I just spent three hours pulling up carpet and staples for a friend’s home renovation and we all did nothing but chat and joke and have wonderful conversation the whole time.

Helping somebody move or renovate or giving them a ride to the airport is functionally the same as going mini-golfing or playing a board game: it’s an activity that you do that is made more fun by having good company, and which provides something to talk about when the conversation lulls.

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you've heard of "quiet quitting," now I'd like to introduce you to the next level, The French Work Ethic:

Do exactly what you're paid for and nothing more

Absolutely refuse to be available to contact when you're off the clock

Never prioritize work over your own health, wellbeing, or family because that would be insane, it's just a job.

Have a little glass of wine

Take as long as you feel like for lunch

Deeply understand that work doesn't matter

Make sure your boss knows they're always your second priority ❤️

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[marxismrepostism]

“Rich kids should go to public schools. The mayor should ride the subway to work. When wealthy people get sick, they should be sent to public hospitals. Business executives should have to stand in the same airport security lines as everyone else. The very fact that people want to buy their way out of all of these experiences points to the reason why they shouldn’t be able to. Private schools and private limos and private doctors and private security are all pressure release valves that eliminate the friction that would cause powerful people to call for all of these bad things to get better. The degree to which we allow the rich to insulate themselves from the unpleasant reality that others are forced to experience is directly related to how long that reality is allowed to stay unpleasant. When they are left with no other option, rich people will force improvement in public systems. Their public spirit will be infinitely less urgent when they are contemplating these things from afar than when they are sitting in a hot ER waiting room for six hours themselves.”

— Everyone Into The Grinder