#mitigated news

[mitigatedchaos]

Kontextmaschine is Dead

(~1,000 words, 5m)

Noted blogger @kontextmaschine is presumed dead, following the discovery that the sole resident at his most likely residence was found deceased during a wellness check initiated by concerned Redditors.

Prior to his last post on Aug 22, which indicated a serious health problem, he reported taking over twice the dose of creatine he had been taking at the beginning of his lengthy post-COVID health saga, in which he also reported becoming bisexual, having "zero" anxiety, gaining 3D vision after years of not having it, becoming incredibly convincing, and having to learn to walk and use his muscles properly again. At the time, he felt he was becoming trimmer and physically stronger, and reported engaging in a long project of yard work, although photos from the inside of his house generally looked somewhat messy.

A Tumblr user who met him briefly in person after the beginning of the health saga but before these most recent events reported that he was friendly, charismatic, hospitable, and clean, but "physically, a mess," with motor control issues on one side of his body.

Topics of discussion were similar to the content of kontextmaschine's blog, such as differences in east and west coast government in America, said to be "totally on brand," but it was said that the prolific poster seemed "less self-grandiose" in person.

Redditors theorize that the decline of kontextmaschine's health following his first self-report of COVID-19 infection may have been due to undiagnosed brain cancer, which could be more consistent with observed changes in behavior than the after-effects of a viral infection, given that most reports of "long covid" are about effects like fatigue, and not total loss of anxiety or alteration of sexual orientation.

Despite multiple suggestions, from both anonymous and pseudonymous users, kontextmaschine refused to seek professional medical care for his condition.

Regarding the mourning of public figures, in 2018, a period of increased Progressive sensitivity during the Trump Administration, kontextmaschine wrote,

through the years realized that through whatever blind groping the ‘90s-ass “edgelords” were desperately trying to save us from this, through proper gatekeeping and filtering at first I’d thought it was gratuitous and supported it being relaxed, maybe not shaming everyone who publicly mourned a suicide, mea culpa, mea culpa, I have debts to pay

In 2019, he added:

That was how we kept the internet culture from growing mawkish and cry-bullyish: basically, if you were so weak as to get weepy over corpsemeat you got cancelled, the shame would follow you forever and you’d never be allowed to forget it.

Given his writing, it is likely that kontextmaschine would not have supported excessive public mourning over his death, though in 2017, following the theft of his motorcycle, when the popular blogger @argumate jokingly criticized him by writing, "no references to pinball, no insight into historical Americana, this isn’t the kontext I signed up for," kontextmaschine wrote,

“when bad shit happens people mock me accurately” is the community I’ve been looking for my whole life so

Like argumate, perhaps the most famous of the rationalist-adjacent bloggers on Tumblr, screenshots of kontextmaschine's Tumblr posts would end up on outside websites.

Kontextmaschine was generally considered an interesting, if controversial writer. One Tumblr user characterized him as a member of the "obnoxious Tumblr right," though another user asked, "wait, how is kontextmaschine is right wing?" After another user claimed that the nuclear bombing of Oregon would be a net improvement in the world due to kontextmaschine's residence in Portland, tumblr user @random-thought-depository wrote a 2,400 word theory post arguing that kontextmaschine's philosophy was a means to coordinate to join a future political coalition favoring the formation of a more brutal and oppressive hierarchy in pursuit of his own advantage.

Though kontextmaschine's ideology advocates that humanity should adopt "r-selection," meaning more offspring with less investment in each (or youth, sex, and death), this blog dissented against the coalition theory, arguing that motorcycles, kung fu, women, Hollywood, and not having to report to HR are all traditionally cool, and the causality of the kontextmaschine ideology could easily run the other way.

Though he had a period of identifying as female in his youth, appropriately LGBTQ for a Tumblr user, his 2011 statement of principles, including "the lesser yields to the greater" and "suffering is the mark of a wrong person," and general body of work, could be described as a strain of right-wing thought, though not of the traditionalist Christian or rational technocratic varieties.

Prior to the post-covid health saga, kontextmaschine's health posting was primarily about his bipolar disorder, with both manic and depressive phases.

Kontextmaschine maintained generally friendly relations with other bloggers in his sphere of discourse, sometimes debating but rarely aggressive, except in response to anonymous hatemail. In response to one particular piece of hatemail, kontextmaschine stated that as a writer, of course his primary form of influence would be his posts.

In a post chain reblogged by dozens of Tumblr users, multiple Tumblr users wrote that they enjoyed his writing and are disappointed by his death, describing him as a unique thinker that will not be easily replaced. Several felt that there was not much they could have done, as after returning from his covid infection, he was not taking medical advice.

One Tumblr user wrote, "rip. Inspirational manic poster," while long-time and prolific poster argumate described him as, "one of the bloggers of all time."

Internet users speculate that Kontextmaschine is survived by his outdoor cat, Badger, about whom he posted frequently. He may also be survived by other members of his family, with whom he apparently did not live, and rarely spoke about.

It is recommended that enthusiasts of kontextmaschine's blog make backups of his writing for archival purposes.

[halorvic]

Futurama S11E07

[t8oo]

got a lil fiat model for christmas

[stirdrawsandreblaws]

tfw you find the exact arrangement of pillows that makes your spine and ribs stop inflicting you with horrendous, stabbing, breath-stealing pain so you can finally relax

[muzzleroars]

Ok... now we NEED that family photo of the 4 of them together. Raphael just keeping everything positive despite the fact Gabriel is a fallen angel and Michael is basically rotted. How would that sort of reunion go anyway?

they're doing great!!!

there is. a lot of strain, but raphael is determined not to allow it to create so much tension that it eventually causes collapse. plus he does begin to see that all of the issues they have now, at least on an emotional level, are things that have been there for EONS, so maybe it was about time they had to face those problems. obviously michael and gabriel's relationship is the biggest issue, and it goes both ways - mike of course has massive problems dealing with gabriel's fall and his choice in v1, while gabe does feel that michael kind of abandoned them and then he comes back to everything all fucked up to pass moral judgment??? raphael is similarly frustrated if not to the same extent, with his family being more important to him than anything else when he can no longer be so sure that their existence is infinite and assured. uriel is dealing with severe anxiety over it all since his life had been incredibly quiet with little drama involved - he wrote god's knowledge constantly, a meditative practice he can no longer channel. and not knowing EVERYTHING is actually really stressing him out, plus he's really, really terrible at approaching interpersonal issues and he's by far the most introverted of the four so he can easily get lost in the shuffle. and they're all just intensely worried about michael besides, mentally and physically since it's actually hard to tell where he's doing worse. but at the end of it all, there is still love in them, and something in each of them refuses to let this die...it's just going to be quite the process finding peace again

[svtskneecaps]

i should be sleeping but i do want to reiterate how much i love that our collective fan community and also the streamers are constantly like, so new members when? new language when? a teaser drops and we're all like germans???? german time????? asiatic language time??????? new faces??? new friends?? new communities????

i've said this before but it just constantly makes me feel all warm n fuzzy to see it. i'm really happy we're all so excited and united in this.

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Nearly five years after the City of Vancouver declared a climate emergency, projections show the municipality falling short of its climate target. The update came in an annual report on the city’s efforts to tackle climate change presented to council on Wednesday. “It’s obviously not a problem Vancouver is going to be solving alone, it’s a global problem that demands a global solution, but we do have an important role in that,” said Matt Horne, the city’s manager of climate mitigation.

Continue Reading

Tagging @politicsofcanada

[darkwood-sleddog]

does it bother u how many ppl these days buy huskys or mals for cosmetics? Like ppl who live in places where there is no cold weather and the dog only gets walked like every other day???? I feel like same as shepherds ppl get them bc they r trendy and pretty when there is no way for them to provide a dog built to go MILES in the snow proper stimulation.

I don’t feel negatively about responsible owners that have sled dogs in warm weather climates just as in the same breath I don’t feel negatively about responsible owners that own short haired dogs in cold weather climates. There are many owners that have dogs in not necessarily the perfect climate for that dog (a majority in fact) and give their dogs fulfilling lives (I know mushers in Georgia, southern California, Arizona etc.)

And it doesn’t bother me that people get dogs for aesthetic reasons either. The malamute appeals to me not only because of its temperament and workability, but it’s looks and it would be disingenuous to say the looks of northern breed dogs didn’t drive my initial interest and appeal towards those breeds. People that get intense working dogs for looks either step up to the plate and give their dogs fulfilled lives, often learning a sport and finding a supporting community while doing so or they become overwhelmed and regret their purchase. At that point a person has two choices: Rehome to somebody that can handle the dog or don’t. It is only the later in which the dog suffers so that is the only situation that bothers me and a big reason I think we need to destigmatize rehoming.

[tinkerclaw]

Lunar New Year effects overwhelm mitigation.

If you're like me and get really tired of fireworks, to the point of actively skipping out on the festival. Here's the options to mitigate most of the overwhelming effects.

[ravengales-glade]

When will we be able to trade with other players

[semiotomatics]

😭 once again i come out of therapy feeling 20 (psychological) pounds lighter

[antisisyphus]

.

[reasonsforhope]

“In an effort to combat flooding, a Yorkshire woman realized that thousands of wasted Christmas trees every year could be used as natural flood protection, and started a unique business to do just that.

The Rooted Christmas tree rental delivers a potted Christmas fir, pine, or spruce to a family for the festive season. When the lights are taken down, the company then collects their rentals and replants them to enjoy another growing season.

When the trees get too tall, they are placed on the slopes of the nearby Calder Valley as natural floodwater breaks.

The Sunday Times reports that the towns of Mytholmroyd and Hebden Bridge in Yorkshire have been inundated by serious floods 4 times in the last 15 years, with the most-recent one causing $180 million (£150 million) in damages.

Rooted founder Sara Tomkins established a Christmas tree plantation in the spring of 2020 with 400 trees. Dozens of those original 400 have now become too large for the average living room, and have been hauled off for planting in the upper parts of the Calder Valley to stop floodwaters running down into the two towns below.

What started as a sustainability project turned into a flourishing commercial enterprise. When residents learned how their Christmas tree purchases could be used to protect their towns from floods and reduce waste from rotting trees, all of Tomkins’ original trees were rented out.

According to Tomkins, people pretend the trees are members of the family, and like to rent the same one over and over again to “watch them grow up with their kids...”

Tomkins feels that demand might be 3x her current supply, but as a music venue director, she does the job only in her off hours.

“I do this in my spare time so I don’t have the capacity or the physical space to make it any bigger,” she told The Times. “But the demand being there is such a positive thing because, if we can reduce how many Christmas trees we cut down, that is a massive environmental win.” -via Good News Network, 1/11/23

[hydrachea]

The Special Analysis Zoom Lens was 200% made to make people pull for Charlotte... But I am having the time of my life with it I admit it.

[deweydecimalchickens]

The face of a woman who can stop Googling "how to pick a bike lock with a pen".