#the recount

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Conservatives are fuming after Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called out Ohio and Indiana for restricting LGBTQ+ and reproductive rights in her 2023 State of the State address.

“Bigotry is bad for business,” Whitmer exclaimed while discussing the need for Michigan to expand reproductive rights and LGBTQ+ anti-discrimination laws in the state.

Whitmer explained that not only is protecting these civil rights the right thing to do, but it’s also good for the economy because states lose talent when their laws are too extreme.

She then issued a direct challenge to her neighbors.

“Together, we are going to change Michigan from a state with century-old bans to forward looking protections. Our message is simple: we will fight for your freedom. And you know what? Let’s go on offense. I’ll go to any state that restricts people’s freedoms and win business and hardworking people from them. I’m looking at you, Ohio and Indiana.”

Michigan is currently experiencing a Democratic trifecta, with Democrats holding a majority in both legislative chambers and the governorship. Democrats also control the office of the Secretary of State and Attorney General. It is reportedly the first time in 40 years that Democrats control all levels of power in the state.

Ohio and Indiana have the exact opposite, with every significant office dominated by Republicans.

The Michigan GOP was not happy with Whitmer’s comments.

Republican House Rep. Andrew Beeler, told Fox2, “I think that it is remarkable that our state plan for economic development is to lure more businesses and people with the prospect of being able to kill unborn children.”

The state GOP, itself, tweeted out angrily, “No. You know who is losing talent? Michigan. Here it is again, Gretch – more people moved OUT of Michigan in 2022 than in.”

But many were quick to criticize the tweet for failing to recognize that last year, Republicans were in control of the legislature.

[vinecine]

ANOTHER right wing conspiracy proven correct and real

Article here

[kelcipher]

[breadandblankets]

Duke: "So then Ra's went-"

Damian: "You know that's not grandfather's name right"

Duke: "Hm?"

Damian: "that's not his name it's a title, you're supposed to say the whole title, his name isn't 'Head'"

Duke:

Damian:

Duke: "She give me Ra's on my Ghul til I…"

Damian, sighing, unsheathing a sword: "Thomas, I know you will survive this, so I will not be holding back"

[livwritesstuff]

Honestly, Eddie doesn’t know why it had taken so long for him to realize his and Steve’s children could understand the shit that came out of his mouth.

(It took an embarrassingly long amount of time).

Even when Moe’s third or fourth word was fuck, he didn’t realize it (and she was using it mostly correctly too, which should have been a serious flag, but nope).

What made him realize it was when they started repeating the shit that came out of his mouth. 

To strangers.

In public.

The first time Eddie had been really caught off guard by something one of his daughters said was when Moe, who was three at the time, had proudly announced to an unsuspecting grocery store cashier, “Daddy says my Papa’s a DILF!”

And, like, Eddie had just heard the term for the first time, and obviously he was goddamn delighted by it because…duh. Steve. 

It just hadn’t occurred to him that his toddler might have caught it too, but little pitchers have big ears, or so the proverb suggests, and Eddie had taken it as a wake-up call that Moe isn’t a baby anymore (tragic as it may be).

He’s not the only problem though – Steve is just as bad, (if not worse, because he really doesn’t bother to check where their kids are before he starts running his mouth).

One particularly damning incident was at a restaurant, which is something they don’t even do all that often because, seriously, going to a restaurant with very young kids should be an Olympic event or something.

(The last time they all went out to eat, Nancy and Robin had made a drinking game out of all the times Steve and Eddie had to take a child to the bathroom and ended up so far gone that Eddie had needed to drive them home).

The incident started with the waitress asking, “Can I get you started with anything to drink?”

And it had ended with four-year-old Moe confidently announcing, “My Papa needs a fucking margarita.”

Thank god, the waitress had been a twenty-something college student and thought it was hilarious, but Steve had still been completely mortified.

[graphicpolicy]

Scout Comics' Final Order Cut Off includes Two Debuts, a 1 of 1 Printer Plate Pack, and The Recount… with coffee!?

Scout Comics' Final Order Cut Off includes Two Debuts, a 1 of 1 Printer Plate Pack, and The Recount... with coffee!? #comics #comicbooks

Category Zero Conflict #2 Adem Kiamil (A/CA) Ton Lima Phillip Patterson gets even closer to unravelling the truth about STRIX. Twenty years later, his son Jake has set in motion a series of events that can’t be undone as he helps One Percenters escape from Omega. Meanwhile, Neve has disturbing visions of the future! Red Winter Fallout #2 Michael Gordon (A/CA) Alberto Massaggia Joseph Winter…

[egophiliac]

I got a really tough question.

What’s your favorite Twst event of ALL TIME?

I like Harveston

this truly is the hardest question. :( but after much consideration, I think Endless Halloween Night wins out for me, because it's nonstop Characters Being Silly the whole way through. the whole thing is just lots of these little dorks having the most ridiculous interactions, which is always my favorite! and of course the big twist is SO delightfully stupid and doubles down SO hard that it becomes AMAZING and I 100% unironically adore it. AND it's Halloween! everyone is in their cute little costumes and having a spooky adventure! it's great!

however, I am ALSO a big fan of the Harveston event! how can I not be! everyone is wearing comfy winter outfits and getting along really weirdly well with Epel's grandma and he's getting a little worried about that! my terrible loud son sews a plush squirrel and then gives it a silly little nickname and refuses to leave it behind when it breaks! the ending shot with the sled! I LOVE IT.

obviously we need the best of both worlds now

[puppyeared]

slow

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

had a weird dream where I was somehow trapped in a Where's Waldo book Pride Month Edition. and the color motif was (obviously) rainbows set amidst the colorful crowds of a pride parade. and it must have been a fever dream of some variety bc like a complete fool i ran around and around, entwining myself every further in desperate urgency, hunting, hunting for the red-and-white stripped sweater of my prey, Waldo--and he was nowhere! nowhere i say! and then the strobe lights started up and the music was too loud and i was about to cry in frustration, i was tired and overwhelmed and where the FUCK was Waldo.

And there, on the center float--I saw them!!! But it wasn't Waldo, it was WENDY. she had transitioned and yes, was wearing a dorky pink-and-blue stripped sweater and she was beautiful just BEAUTIFUL I TELL YOU MOTHER FUCKERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I (at which point i woke up and had to drink 2 cups of lukewarm tap water bc dehydration)

tldr i had an exhausting fever dream where I was looking for Where's Waldo at a pride parade but instead i found Where's Wendy wearing a trans pride sweater

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Lindsey Graham introduced a federal abortion ban on Tuesday, just weeks after declaring the issue should be left to the states.

“I think we should have a law at the federal level that would say that after 15 weeks, no abortion on demand,” the South Carolina senator said at a news conference to discuss the bill, which would indeed ban abortion nationwide after 15 weeks gestation, a far cry from the “late-term abortion” ban Graham is publicly marketing.

Graham wants to overrule the right of states to set their own abortion laws despite having said on several occasions that abortion should be dictated by states, not the federal government. “I think states should decide the issue of marriage and states should decide the issue of abortion,” the South Carolina senator told CNN last month.

Graham also tweeted in May that if “the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, which I believe was one of the largest power grabs in the history of the Court, it means that every state will decide if abortion is legal and on what terms.”

When asked on Tuesday about Republicans who believe the issue should be left to the states, Graham reportedly said, “That’s great. That’s their position. That’s a sound position. That’s not my position.”

Graham and Republicans lauded the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade a month later, arguing that abortion rights should be left to individual states. It took less than three months for Graham to take the lead in proposing a federal ban.

Public backlash to the overturn of Roe and the subsequent flood of state-level measures restricting aborition access have worried Republican leadership. In August, voters in Kansas rejected a ballot initiative that would have amended the state constitution to allow the implementation of new restrictions on abortion. Additionally, voter registration among women has surged in the aftermath of the Roe decision.

The Senate, which returned from its summer recess this week, plans to vote on a bill that would guarantee the right to marriage regardless of the sex and gender of the couple. The bill is an effort to codify rights currently only guaranteed by Supreme Court decisions, following comments from Justice Clarence Thomas indicating that the court should reconsider previous rulings that used the “right to privacy” to establish the right to contraception, same-sex marriage, and protections for same-sex relationships.

Graham and a coalition of anti-abortion organizations announce the introduction of the bill on Tuesday. It was reported not long after that a group of House Republicans were introducing a similar measure to ban abortion after 15 weeks.

[fluentisonus]

thinking about it again (saturday night at sea by george cruikshank)

[spocks-kaathyra]

thoughts about the Cardassian writing system

I've thinking about the Cardassian script as shown on screen and in beta canon and such and like. Is it just me or would it be very difficult to write by hand?? Like.

I traced some of this image for a recent drawing I did and like. The varying line thicknesses?? The little rectangular holes?? It's not at all intuitive to write by hand. Even if you imagine, like, a different writing implement—I suppose a chisel-tip pen would work better—it still seems like it wasn't meant to be handwritten. Which has a few possible explanations.

Like, maybe it's just a fancy font for computers, and handwritten text looks a little different. Times New Roman isn't very easily written by hand either, right? Maybe the line thickness differences are just decorative, and it's totally possible to convey the same orthographic information with the two line thicknesses of a chisel-tip pen, or with no variation in line thickness at all.

A more interesting explanation, though, and the one I thought of first, is that this writing system was never designed to be handwritten. This is a writing system developed in Cardassia's digital age. Maybe the original Cardassian script didn’t digitize well, so they invented a new one specifically for digital use? Like, when they invented coding, they realized that their writing system didn’t work very well for that purpose. I know next to nothing about coding, but I cannot imagine doing it using Chinese characters. So maybe they came up with a new writing system that worked well for that purpose, and when computer use became widespread, they stuck with it. 

Or maybe the script was invented for political reasons! Maybe Cardassia was already fairly technologically advanced when the Cardassian Union was formed, and, to reinforce a cohesive national identity, they developed a new standardized national writing system. Like, y'know, the First Emperor of Qin standardizing hanzi when he unified China, or that Korean king inventing hangul. Except that at this point in Cardassian history, all official records were digital and typing was a lot more common than handwriting, so the new script was designed to be typed and not written. Of course, this reform would be slower to reach the more rural parts of Cardassia, and even in a technologically advanced society, there are people who don't have access to that technology. But I imagine the government would be big on infrastructure and education, and would make sure all good Cardassian citizens become literate. And old regional scripts would stop being taught in schools and be phased out of digital use and all the kids would grow up learning the digital script.

Which is good for the totalitarian government! Imagine you can only write digitally. On computers. That the government can monitor. If you, like, write a physical letter and send it to someone, then it's possible for the contents to stay totally private. But if you send an email, it can be very easily intercepted. Especially if the government is controlling which computers can be manufactured and sold, and what software is in widespread use, etc. 

AND. Historical documents are now only readable for scholars. Remember that Korean king that invented hangul? Before him, Korea used to use Chinese characters too. And don't get me wrong, hangul is a genius writing system! It fits the Korean language so much better than Chinese characters did! It increased literacy at incredible rates! But by switching writing systems, they broke that historical link. The average literate Chinese person can read texts that are thousands of years old. The average literate Korean person can't. They'd have to specifically study that field, learn a whole new writing system. So with the new generation of Cardassian youths unable to read historical texts, it's much easier for the government to revise history. The primary source documents are in a script that most people can't read. You just trust the translation they teach you in school. In ASIT it's literally a crucial plot point that the Cardassian government revised history! Wouldn't it make it soooo much easier for them if only very few people can actually read the historical accounts of what happened.

I guess I am thinking of this like Chinese characters. Like, all the different Chinese "dialects" being written with hanzi, even though otherwise they could barely be considered the same language. And even non-Sinitic languages that historically adopted hanzi, like Japanese and Korean and Vietnamese. Which worked because hanzi is a logography—it encodes meaning, not sound, so the same word in different languages can be written the same. It didn’t work well! Nowadays, Japanese has made significant modifications and Korean has invented a new writing system entirely and Vietnamese has adapted a different foreign writing system, because while hanzi could write their languages, it didn’t do a very good job at it. But the Cardassian government probably cares more about assimilation and national unity than making things easier for speakers of minority languages. So, Cardassia used to have different cultures with different languages, like the Hebitians, and maybe instead of the Union forcing everyone to start speaking the same language, they just made everyone use the same writing system. Though that does seem less likely than them enforcing a standard language like the Federation does. Maybe they enforce a standard language, and invent the new writing system to increase literacy for people who are newly learning it.

And I can imagine it being a kind of purely digital language for some people? Like if you’re living on a colonized planet lightyears away from Cardassia Prime and you never have to speak Cardassian, but your computer’s interface is in Cardassian and if you go online then everyone there uses Cardassian. Like people irl who participate in the anglophone internet but don’t really use English in person because they don’t live in an anglophone country. Except if English were a logographic writing system that you could use to write your own language. And you can’t handwrite it, if for whatever reason you wanted to. Almost a similar idea to a liturgical language? Like, it’s only used in specific contexts and not really in daily life. In daily life you’d still speak your own language, and maybe even handwrite it when needed. I think old writing systems would survive even closer to the imperial core (does it make sense to call it that?), though the government would discourage it. I imagine there’d be a revival movement after the Fire, not only because of the cultural shift away from the old totalitarian Cardassia, but because people realize the importance of having a written communication system that doesn’t rely on everyone having a padd and electricity and wifi.

[wigglys-dikrats]

i counted so you don’t have to and the fuck word is said 88 91 times in nerdy prudes must die

[torturedpoetdean]

imagine one day you’re on your third flight of the day doing your silly little flight attendant job and you’re exhausted, and ready to be home, and you’re smiling and dissociating as your greet passengers as they come on board and suddenly in walks jensen ackles, dean winchester himself, and he smiles and says “thanks” as you hand him a silly little disinfectant wipe. You proceed to hand the basket of wipes to your coworker as you rush to the bathroom to have a full blown panic attack because DEAN FUCKING WINCHESTER is on your flight and you are going to have to talk to him and interact with him and be professional and pretend you aren’t having a meltdown cause you would know those eye crinkles ANYWHERE. Imagine you’re taking dinner orders and you’re repeating to yourself in your head “be profesional, smile and ask for his order, just breathe” and he proceeds to order the cheeseburger and a whiskey neat and your brain short circuits and in your most sarcastic tone out of your mouth comes “yeah sure thing dean” AND THEN YOUR BRAIN EXPLODES CAUSE YOU JUST SAID THAT OUT LOUD TO JENSEN FUCKING ACKLES!!!!! Anyways he laughs and says “my wife says that all the time” then you proceed to die and blackout and work the rest of the flight on autopilot yeah imagine if that happened 😅

[pendwelling]

save me from the fires of hell.

[graphicpolicy]

Review: The Recount: Preamble #1

The Recount: Preamble adds some more depth and motivation to the already fantastic original series #comics #comicbooks

Set years before the shocking events of The Recount, Preamble details the life of Phil Pontus, the tragic death of his mother, his military service and subsequent decision to enter politics, his assent to the office of Vice President, and the terrible events that culminated in his assumption of leadership of a terrorist group known only as “The Masses.” Story: Jonathan HedrickArt: Rubén…