#Colin Wright

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

Community Notes to the rescue.

“Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.” ― George Orwell, 1984

[thearbourist]

Debunking Myths about the Biology of Sex - ICONS Conference

Science Saturday folks.  Drink it in. 🙂  

[arcticdementor]

On November 17, 2021, the Women’s Liberation Front, or WoLF, filed a civil rights lawsuit in California that drew almost no coverage. A press corps gearing up to be outraged en masse by the Amber Heard-Johnny Depp defamation case had zero interest in a lawsuit filed by far poorer female abuse victims.

Janine Chandler et al vs. California Department of Corrections targeted a new California state law, the “The Transgender Respect, Agency, and Dignity Act,” a.k.a. S.B. 132. The statute allows any prisoner who self-identifies as a woman — including prisoners with penises who may have stopped taking hormones — into women’s prisons. There was nothing TV-friendly about the scenes depicted in the complaint:

…

After a week spent denounced for reviewing the Matt Walsh documentary What is a Woman?, and for saying things I think will be boring conventional wisdom within a year, I was ready to never go near trans issues again and move to the impending financial disaster. But accident sucked me back. I’d made a point of pride of not reading a line of commentary about Heard-Depp, but listened to an episode of Blocked and Reported that touched on it after it was over, and learned three things that made me furious and think immediately of Chandler.

One, the ACLU, in apparent exchange for a pledge of $3.5 million, ghost-wrote Heard’s offending editorial, and in particular a line about her having “felt the full force of our culture’s wrath for women who speak out.” Two: Guardian writer Moira Donegan declared, “We are in a moment of virulent antifeminist backlash.” Three: Vice proclaimed without irony, “We’ve all failed Amber Heard.” Almost as one, the establishment press declared itself concerned with the suffering of a rich actress. However, there’s a gaping loophole in their concern for women, and Chandler sits in the middle of it.

Let’s talk about “the full force of our culture’s wrath for women who speak out” in the context of this case:

…

The group bringing the suit, WoLF, has been targeted from every conceivable angle by pressure and censorship campaigns. While we at least heard about protesting Canadian truckers having their GoFundMe campaigns frozen, WoLF didn’t even bother trying to raise money on that platform, “because they just ban you really easily,” as legal director Lauren Adams put it.

They moved to a purportedly speechier platform, GiveButter, hoping they would have “less of a censorious kind of view.” But even GiveButter soon gave WoLF the boot (I reached out to the company, which hasn’t provided public comment yet). “It was just a general fundraiser,” Adams explains. “And they said we violated their community standards. So now we’re on GiveSendGo, which is a Christian crowdfunding site.”

If there’s a better illustration of the upside-down state of politics in 2022 America, it’s a feminist activist group forced to seek cyber-refuge in a Christian fundraising company.

…

Even people who submit declarations in WoLF’s prison case may not be immune. On May 31st, biologist and Substack author Colin Wright submitted a declaration in the Chandler case essentially testifying to the biological difference between men and women. “Being male or female is an immutable characteristic of each human,” he wrote.

On June 10th, Wright was informed by the online commerce platform Etsy that, after a “comprehensive review,” his account was permanently closed. A letter from the firm’s “content moderation team” deemed him guilty of “glorifying hatred or violence towards protected groups.”

Wright, known for writing on Quillette about gender, science, and speech, and for being one of the few PhDs still willing to publicly endorse “biological sex” — the iron unanimity on the cultural left against this once uncontroversial scientific tenet goes beyond anything I remember from the winger anti-evolutionists of the eighties and nineties — started selling merchandise on Etsy as a secondary revenue stream. His products included stickers and hats marked with the logo, “Reality’s Last Stand.”

…

Clearly, Wright’s merchandise reflects a point of view about a controversial topic. But his ban came from a company that also sells “Fuck TERFs Skateboarding Cat” stickers and “Fuck J.K. Rowling / STFU TERFs” handmade greeting cards. Etsy did not respond to requests for comment.

…

The payment processing company PayPal also told Wright it had “decided to permanently limit your account.” This ban chronologically took place before Etsy’s move, and the company denies it had anything to do with his editorial stances. There have been cases where PayPal has been open about suspending service over content, for instance in the historic decision to stop transfers to Wikileaks in 2010 after urging from the U.S. State Department. This instance is less clear, but that’s part of the problem with the content moderation era: the processes are so opaque that even in cases where reasons aren’t announced, service terminations still end up having a chilling effect on speakers.

“There have been organizations who’ve made promises,” says Wright. “They said, ‘We’re pro-free speech,’ only have to have them update their terms-of-service and retroactively start banning people,” says Wright.

…

The Green declaration highlighted a growing schism on what was once the political left. The ACLU just proudly announced an attempt to challenge Chandler with other “LGBTQ organizations.” It’s weird enough to see the ACLU — which historically has used most careful language in defending everyone from Neo-Nazis to NAMBLA — issue a press release bluntly describing a feminist organization like WoLF as “bigoted.” It’s weirder still when the complainants are women, many with extensive histories of sexual abuse, suing on behalf of a community that is disproportionately LGB, as 42% of incarcerated women identify as lesbian or bisexual.

“It’s a huge disproportionate number,” says Adams. “Almost half. So it’s concerning when you have these publications who are supposed to be speaking for this population, who are dragging them for even speaking up about documented incidents.”

…

A prison case like Chandler will be the last taboo to fall, as that issue getting real coverage would punch a big hole in the mania. Even if you believe that transgender people need a full complement of rights and better protection in prison, and I’m in that category, there can’t be that many people willing to stand up and argue in favor of housing un-transitioned inmates with penises and criminal sex-abuse records in cells with women. Can there? If agitating against that is bigotry, what’s progress?

[oodlesofd00dles]

Did Colin and Walter know each other before they got Hologasted or did they just get wighted and go, “Lmao vibes.”

Once again putting this under a read more <3

FIRST OF ALL the way you phrased this is fucking hilarious to me. Second, yes they did :eyes: they're twin brothers. That is honestly all I know about them from before...apparently turning into a hollowghast completely wipes your memories. Something about you losing your peculiar soul. I haven't read the series in AGES and I am winging it because I do not have the time or energy to read them all again plus the new books but I'm like 99% sure that is correct.

So even though they did know each other, it doesn't matter. They do not remember who they were so they are definitely going off vibes. Walter is a hollowghast and while he can understand Colin, he can't communicate back- hollows have funky vocal cords. He also cannot be seen by Colin unless he's eating, and he has a tendency to wander off when he's hungry. Colin has gotten good at figuring out where he is though, either by sound, his shadows, following up on reports of farmer's animals being slaughtered by (what they believe are) wolves, etc etc. He'll be standing there and will say something like, "I know you're there. I can smell you. go brush your teeth, you smell like sheep guts" and Walter will trip him with one of his tongues. They may not remember being brothers but they act like it sometimes

[more-relics]

Pink Floyd Ruskin Park, Denmark Hill, London 1967 by Colin Prime.

[r0semultiverse]

Mr. 6 made you do a good show to be released?? 👀 um....

This is already giving serious eye vibes.

A whole show dedicated to public humiliation?

The Mr. Bonzo suit started moving??? 👀 Serious stranger vibes. 🤡

"It actually became a sort of ritual"

I've seen people being like "don't cross tag" but buddy... the writing cross tags itself here I mean c'mon! 😂 Something something ritual of the stranger- okay, I'll keep listening!

Hey, what's with the music?? Hey, who is Terrance Menki???👀

"The police said there were eleven bodies in total and his wardrobe was full of all sorts of homemade costumes." BRO IS ACTUALLY MAGNUSPOD WILLIAM AFTON-

"It certainly had a profound effect on the Mr. Bonzo brand." Oh I'm sure it did, holy fucking shit. 👀

Oh, me using this image is rather ironic now.

"In a lot of ways I’m more his prisoner now than I ever was on my show." WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT? 👀

"The witness statements from three murders over the last five years that claim a person in a Mr. Bonzo costume was at the scene? Do you think there could be a copycat?" Has the fear of clowns manifested as an actual clown-guything?

"Don’t contact us again." "Us?" "Why am I still trapped dealing with all this this- Why won’t he let me go?! Why-" So Mr. Bonzo is absolutely a clown cryptid of sorts with some sort of hold over Nigel.

Oh no, Gwen's about to fuck around & find out, isn't she? 👀

Hey, is Colin still himself & is he supposed to be back?

Hmm, okay, I guess that's him (hopefully).

"Maybe don’t tell them I’ve been on their terminals. They’ll only get the wrong idea." "If Lena asks, I wasn’t here." Seems like everyone's got their own little secret investigations going on, fun! This can only go well! 🙃

One of the episodes absolutely no one shows up to work except Lena is there & is like "where the fuck did everyone go?"

"Time to get some new hires again I guess."

Let's go!! Ruin exploration gang!!

"Like, it’s Saturday night and I’m choosing to hang out in a hole with you. A wet hole. And not the good kind either."

Alice with the absolute best quotes. lmao

That sounds like something with giant wings like a bat or some sort of cloth flapping in the wind. Let's hope it's the latter!

Oh a rusty old filing cabinet! Wait tetanus- 😭

"That carved floor in the big atrium – I don’t know what’s going on with that." Ah so we're just gonna breeze past that then. 😶

These are probably the remnants of old avatar creation test areas like mentioned in the Gerry & Gertrude episode. I'm just assuming here.

A key? Big find! Let's go!

AS I WAS SAYING-

Gwen, it was nice knowing you. 🫡

"Now get out of his house."

Archivist! 👁👄👁

"symbols of ancient otherworldly power"

Wait could this be a timeline where this universe's Jane Prentiss actually did manage to invade the building & succeed? I'm thinking out loud.

21:10 that sounds like critters, insects specifically 👀

"I have memories of weird stuff I saw here, but no context. I want to know what was happening, why they chose us… why they didn’t choose me. Maybe find the bit where everything started to go wrong." I am so captivated & intrigued please recount said memories to us- I mean Alice so we can learn more. Please. 👀

EXCUSE ME, WHO THE FUCK WAS THAT?!? WHO IS "[ERROR]?"

WHY DO THEY SOUND DISTORTED AS FUCK?? ARE THEY FROM THE PRIME TIMELINE OR IS THIS A NEW THING?

ARE WE GAZING OUR EYES UPON A WRETCHED THING FROM THE MAGNUS ARCHIVES?!

edit:

Is Lucia Wright an avatar of The Flesh now (in this universe or from the original timeline somehow)? Because it sure fucking sounds like it! 👀 Well, at least that key was put to good use! 😂

Also, supposedly Mr. Bonzo is a reference to Mr. Blobby.

Gwen, I'd be quaking in my boots too. That thing is terrifying!

Late observation but this universe & story seems to focus a lot on the cryptids & I like the direction it's going in! Loving this plot of cryptid hunters, childhood avatar experiments, a strange institute where our main character has past trauma, & just all of it is so good! 💜

Amazing episode, 10/10, I was at the edge of my seat the entire time! 💜 That Bonzo scene & the sound design were absolutely horrifying, thank you! The ending too! 🔥

[ilikestuff69]

‘The Batman’ (2022)

Directed by Matt Reeves

[moviesiveseenandwanttoremember]

Matt Reeves’ “The Batman” March 4, 2022.

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

OLD THREAD:

Divorce her. Present this to the court as Exhibit A. Anyone who talks like this, this is just the tip of the crazy iceberg.

Have you noticed that the people who insist that they won't be defined by other people always insist on defining everyone else? It doesn't matter if you "identify" as a Nazi or not, they'll declare you to be one. It's irrelevant whether you're a Democrat or a classical left liberal, they'll designate you "far right."

They have to force you to play along because their claims don't even make sense, much less stand up in reality. When "gender is a social construct" untethered from anything real such as biology, as with gods, it requires others to play along and pretend to keep up the ruse; when society doesn't prop it up, your "gender" disappears.

The only time you entertain the delusions of crazy people is in order to get away from them. Otherwise, you tell the truth: she's a woman. Narcissistic, coercive controlling and crazy-eyed, but still a woman.

[thearbourist]

This is the madness that parents and sane teachers are up against.  Read and learn so you can pick apart their bullshite and get to the truth.   Go to Colin Wright’s Substack for the full essay.   Question: How are the terms “man” and “woman” and “boy” and “girl” defined? Kyle: “Oh wow, this question is going to be difficult to answer ‘cause it’s a bit philosophical.” Jessie then answers: Well…

[riddles-n-games]

Spoiler Warning: The Brothers Hawthorne Character Discussion

Ok, this might be a bit of a bonkers theory but hear me out; what if Phone Girl has some kind of relation to the other boy that died on Hawthorne Island? David Golding, that is our last victim that we never discussed in detail or had a full on dive into his past from when he was mentioned in The Hawthorne Legacy. I know we had a look into Thomas Thomas's file but given the set up in the story and this girl clearly being a mysterious figure, there's a lot more to her, of course. All three of the other characters that had to do with the Hawthorne Island fire were discussed at length and they all have some sort of ties, most of them familial ones, to our main cast and one with a romantic liaison. What if there is something about this David that somehow also ties into Phone Girl's father's suicide? Most of our main characters' opponents have had grudges and issues with the Hawthorne family or just Tobias Hawthorne specifically circa the time of the fire and Grayson's birth so it would tie in almost perfectly. If Phone Girl is around the age of our main characters this could have been a trigger only a few years after the incident and set up this coming plot that we may get in The Grandest Game.

[more-relics]

Pink Floyd - Ruskin Park Denmark Hill, London. April 1967. Photos by Colin Prime.

[itsmyfriendisaac]

A Home At The End Of The World: Michael Cunningham's poignantly written story follows childhood friends that have reconnected in adulthood. Bobby, Jonathan, & Clare ignore traditional romance by nurturing their own unique relationship!

[starxcxboy]

— The Batman (2022), directed by Matt Reeves.