Empress of Mars: Undisputed @zebratron2084@awoo.space

@mawr And here's a video version of the book I was referencing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5um8QWWRvo

Which reminds me that I forgot to add "What Color Is Your Parachute" to my above litany...

@mawr @Phorm God damn it, Awoo won't let me upload the cat video I just took so you'll have to take my word for it that a minor miracle of positivity did occur:

For the first time in our acquaintence, I said Shemp's name to him -- granted, 5 or 6 times -- and he ACTUALLY LOOKED UP TO ACKNOWLEDGE ME.

If that's not proof that "impossible" good things can come out of nowhere, I dunno what the fuck is. 😼​

@mawr @Phorm If Shemp licking himself isn't positive enough for you both, IDKWTLF you want out of my life. 😽​

@mawr @Phorm oh and just in case my goodwill is not 100 clear i am taking the conciliatory kitty pics as we speak because you are both still good creatures :D

@mawr @Phorm That... uh... is not untrue but really not my point at all? I am just responding to your flat dismissal that such a thing is even possible, which is unfair to people who feel they've suffered from it.

I am not talking about "hey guys anybody got kitty pics" or "if we all stick together we'll get through this" or even "you know we are probably not DOOMED" all of which you should know by now I see the value of.

It's the toxic positivity of telling a terminal patient who's suffering that they HAVE to "fight" and do chemo because YOU need them to, even when their odds are 1 in 500 (like my parents did to my brother). It's the toxic positivity of telling a CFIDS patient "oh, everybody gets tired at work, it's nothing to complain about." It's the toxic positivity of The Secret telling you you're sick because of your negative attitude. It's the toxic positivity of a culture that won't talk about the fact we're all mortal and death is real. It's the toxic positivity of "let's all be color blind" and "all lives matter."

That's all I was saying, and... yeah. I'm QUITE happy to just drop this because I do sympathize with the worldview you pounced to defend here. I just react badly when someone says something I am concerned about simply does not exist -- ngl, it's straight up Transliminal trauma speaking and I do apologize if it sounded like I was assaulting your own FDA GRAS brand of mostly healthy positivity.

@mawr @Phorm if you dont think toxic positivity is "a thing" i strongly suggest you read barbara ehrenreich's "smile or die"

Huh. I just got a $60 rebate from my old Washington healthcare plan because they failed to meet some ACA standard for healthcare vs. corporate investment.

I'm gonna miss civilization.

The older I get, the more I sympathize with this classic Comedy Bang Bang bit...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHIegpSmIyw

I was 45 years old when I realized that Norman Wilson from The Wire was Smilin' Al Gorithm from Square One TV.

(Reg E. Cathey RIP. :( )

(This opinion may or may not be caused in part by biases instilled from DEEP SEATED HATRED of my ex-girlfriends dipshit ancap space nut filker friends :p )

@LexYeen@snouts.online "Soviet candy bars killed twice as many people*, checkmate liberal scum!"

* this factoid will of course prove to be based entirely on a single chocolate factory explosion in 1957 that was caused by the CIA** and when you point this out, the Skittles apologist will immediately ghost the thread

** Confectionary Imperialism Agency

I'm answering this here instead of Reddit, because Reddit and I are Unhello at the moment...

Somebody asked "Does it depress anyone knowing that we may *never* grow into the technologically advanced society we see in Star Trek and that we may not even leave our own solar system?"

And my answer is "No, for the same reason it doesn't depress me knowing we will never be raptured into heaven, never discover the Secret City Of The Enlightened at the core of the earth, and never meet the Green Sex-Bee Maidens Of Venus."

Interstellar travel -- in anything resembling a form comfortable or even recognizable for modern humans -- is the stuff of science fantasy. We didn't know that then. We know that now. The rest of the cosmos is huge, unspeakably hostile, and utterly impractical to aspire for.

Let's just accept it and fix our own damn planet instead.

(Plus, um, extreme virulent systemic racism but I couldn't figure out how to work that into the Skittles metaphor 'cause it's 1 AM ffs. n.n; )

I'm fucking sick of seeing lazy-ass dehumanizing hyperbole like "there are no good cops," but... yeah.

Poison Skittles metaphor. It's not our goddamn job to tell the good ones from the bad ones; any number of bad ones whatsoever is too many; the number of bad ones seems to be rising, not falling; and every time someone dies from pulling a bad one, their manufacturers are more concerned about their brand than getting the damn poison out of the factory. >__<

Plus, every so often one comes out of the bag with a swastika on it instead of an "S" and if you're thinking "yeah, but those S ones are usually a really good wholesome snack" instead of "who the fuck is making poison Nazi skittles" there is something wrong with you. >____<

No CW for this one, it's too important. Every #BLM supporter needs this excellent video by the inimitable T1J in their debate arsenal. It's just a really good solid factual/statistical takedown of anti-BLM talking points like "cops kill more white people."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAA-w5DiAAU

"Justice for some people is an evil for others. Good intentions, kindness, and hope will not necessarily make people happy." -- Gen Urobuchi

@Phorm I should really get back to that, I'm sure I missed dozens of good candidates...

@kistaro yes this will do nicely thank you

@Thaminga Added to stockpile.

@kelseyhusky @anthracite Found it!

https://colestia.itch.io/a-hand-with-many-fingers