Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

lauren (NotABigJerk), 2022-07-07:

VULCAN: the mind meld is my culture's most intimate and personal ritual. sharing one mind, becoming one consciousness, is no light thing to ask of me

HIS HUMAN BEST FRIEND: you're avoiding my question. if we mind meld at lunch would we taste both our sandwiches at the same time

"The road to fascism is lined with people telling you to stop overreacting." -- William K. Wolfrum (Wolfrum), 2020-09-21

"Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." -- first recorded in The Rhythm of Life: Living Every Day with Passion and Purpose (2004) by Matthew Kelly, in which he attributed it to Albert Einstein (which is why lots of other people attribute it to Einstein), but Quote Investigator, looking into it in 2013, found no evidence the quote actually came from Einstein (but did pull together an assortment of allegories based on unfair expectations of animals)

"And the sunlight clasps the earth
   And the moonbeams kiss the sea:
 What is all this sweet work worth
   If thou kiss not me?"
     -- Percy Bysshe Shelley (b. 1792-08-04, d. 1822-07-08), "Love's Philosophy", 1819

"Does anybody else find these state laws letting people sue people who help assist a person getting Healthcare in a free state EERILY reminiscent to the bounties slave states used to set up in free states?

"Just realized I said free states and not blue states. It's still accurate."

-- It's James & the Awful Truth (TweetFiction), 2022-06-30

"A republic, if you can keep it." -- Benjamin Franklin (b. 1706-01-17*, d. 1790-04-17), when asked, after the signing of the US Constitution, which style of government had been decided upon

This was recorded in the diary of James McHenry (b. 1753-11-16, d. 1816-05-03), another delegate to the Constitutional Convention, the following day (1787-09-18): "A lady asked Dr. Franklin Well Doctor what we got a republic or a monarchy -- A republic replied the Doctor if you can keep it. The lady here alluded to was Mrs. Powel of Philadelphia."

This is usually told as having happened right outside Independence Hall, as the delegates were leaving, with the woman being anonymous, but as pointed out by Professor Buzzkill (Dr. Joseph Coohill), it more likely happened at Elizabeth Powel's house, where movers and shakers in Philadelphia were often guests at parties and salons. (But Prof. Buzzkill also points out that Mrs. Powel wrote to a relative in 1814 that she didn't remember that specific conversation with Franklin.)

[*] Recorded as 1705-01-06 because when he was born England and her colonies used the Julian calendar (with 25 March as the date the year number changed, not 1 January).

I wish everyone celebrating it a good United States Independence Day. And whether you're feeling like celebrating today or not, I hope that in this precarious time with various forces trying to preserve, usurp, or divide our republic, we do manage to keep it.

"Life is the march of all things resurrected and being resurrected. Behind each flower, every tree, each nesting bird, every breath that we take, and every cherished dream that we hold there runs this irrepressible theme of resurrection. For life is not so shallow or weak or inattentive as to permit the finality of an end." -- Craig D. Lounsbrough

"hate how people say 'all kink is nsfw' when gas masks and harnesses are literally osha-required ppe for a lot of jobs" -- Len the raptor (LenKusov), 2022-06-22

"Canada is a country that works better in practice than in theory."
[I've seen this attributed to Stéphane Dion, Josh Freed, and "a Canadian cliché". Whoever deserves the credit for the line, cheers to my friends up north celebrating Canada Day!]

"I get a call from a physician who tells me that our patient is 28 weeks pregnant and the fetus is dying from a naturally occurring condition. As the fetus dies, the woman's body can quickly become infected and she can die as well. So, why are they calling me?

"Because in Missouri (in public facilities), if there is still a heartbeat, it is considered an abortion to terminate the pregnancy. So, the question becomes...is the woman close enough to dying to justify the abortion.

"Let me repeat that: me, a lawyer, has to help a trained physician make the decision of whether their patient is near enough to death (under the law) for them to take action that is agreed to by the patient (and often their spouse).

[...]

"And, under the heartbeat rules (now standard in several states), there is serious question about whether an ectopic pregnancy can be treated before the Fallopian tube ruptures (a life threatening condition).

"Here is my point to this story. The government is incapable of drafting legislation that can cover all of the nuances of human reproduction."

-- Lisa Larson-Bunnell (L_LarsonBunnell), 2022-06-27

"My regular friends 'do you think they will really go after gay marriage'

"My lawyer friends 'Do you think women owning property in their own name is clearly established? It was not at the time of the signing of the 14th, would a trust survive?'"

-- Melissa Hall (CasualLaw), 2022-06-25

Selected tweets from a thread posted 2021-10-28:

"The ADA was only passed after wheelchair users physically blockaded the Capitol.

"Women's right to vote was only granted after feminists bombed powerful men.

"The Civil Rights Act only went through after Black people shut down D.C.

"'Civility' is bullshit and history proves it."

-- Vivian (muchnerve)

"There were numerous LGBTQ+ "Protests" for rights back in the day. They'd dress in their sunday best, carry picket signs, quietly march in circles...

"What finally got the ball rolling? A muthafuckin' RIOT!"

-- Ashleigh's Paradigm Shift (ParadigmPins)

"Civility works only on the other end---the impeccable lily white gloves as they essentially push a button to consign all manner of Others to death or worse the world over." -- Brian Jeffears (getter7seven)

"This whole situation -- what the Supreme Court did in multiple cases -- is not about justice. It is about power, and control, and overweening smugness. Smugness should not be used to create or abridge law." -- twistedchick (twistedchick), 2022-02-26 -- or see the longer version

"no american journalist of this century has ever asked whether or not it is morally acceptable for an authority of any kind to tell another person what to do with their body. they report on abortion and trans rights like they're the controversial rebrand of a popular snack food

"the disassociation of action from meaning in journalism, politics, and every day life has been incalculably disastrous. how on earth have we gone this long pretending there's no moral dimension to policy or reportage?"

-- sarah zedig! (hmsnofun), 2022-06-23

"I spent about four summers professionally organizing orgies because, my background is in stage management and event planning, and what I realized is that planning an orgy is fundamentally no different than putting on a production of Hamlet except that weirder [bleeped] happens in the fifth act." -- Cate Osborn (CatieOsaurus), interviewed on Stuff Mom Never Told You, "ADHD, Kink and Sex with Cate Orborn", 2022-06-22 (approx. 1:01:00 to 1:02:45 in the copy I got in Podbean; timing may vary in other feeds)

"If transphobes were genuinely worried about kids being confused about what it means to be trans the first thing they would do is stop spreading disinformation about what it means to be trans." -- take it e zje (emmy_zje), 2022-06-12

"One of the most common forms of copaganda in the news is when pundits pretend that people proposing science-based public safety solutions 'don't care about crime' simply because the are proposing real solutions that don't rely on more investment in police and prisons." -- Alec Karakatsanis (equalityAlec), 2022-06-21 (start of a short thread -- 6 tweets -- with examples)

From Skin Horse by Shaenon K. Garrity (shaenongarrity) & Jeffrey C. Wells (JeffreyCWells), color by Pancha Diaz, 2022-02-03 and 2022-02-04 (n.b.: not a good place to start reading if you're not already familiar with later events in the strip -- if you're planning to read more for context, start a few chapters back, or from the beginning ... but there's rather a lot of context to catch up on):

[Interestingly, when I read Mr. Green's eplanation that others were 'ruining' the country "by being weird", in my head I heard that line in my sister's voice.]

[ Listen to Nicholas Mongiardo-Cooper (NMongiardo) reading this, for the full effect.]

Gretchen Felker-Martin (scumbelievable) writing in Orson Welles' voice, 2022-06-06:

Where do I stand on the -- on the WHAT? The "Transgender Question"? Well for one thing, sir, I recall the last few usages of that particular phraseology. A group of millions is not a question -- I have not yet finished speaking -- not a question, but a demographic.

The Romans had their castrated priestesses, the Hindus their Hijras, but my god, let us take to the barricades because Uncle Al came to Thanksgiving in a skirt and pantyhose! It's the province of rubes. Hayseed reactionaries and the worst effluvia of America's suburban colon.

And Chapelle! My god, Chapelle. Embarrassing as only a true great can become in his declining years -- I speak here with complete self-awareness; kindly hold your barbs -- as he tires of innovation and falls back into the soporific cushion of the lowest common denominator!

One joke stretched until you can hear its joints popping like some poor bastard broken on the rack. "Oh my car has pronouns, I identify as a bird, I'm trans-Chinese." The laziness of it -- shameful. You should see the transgendered roast themselves; there's true scorched earth.

I had not intended to mention Gervais -- one forgets the presence of rodents about one's feet so easily -- but the man insists on rearing up onto his haunches to squeak for the camera. A gerbil which has somehow mastered the projection of smugness. Repellent.

[Happy solstice to everyone to celebrates it or just likes to mark it! (If you like to know the exact time, not just the date, it was just over ten minutes ago.)]

"The fact that my elderly aunt & uncle were hospitalized recently with COVID-19 & some of their Facebook friends were stunned asking them how is this possible worries the hell outta me for millions of vulnerable elderly Americans who have been gaslit into believing covid is over." -- David Christopher (MLS_Dave), 2022-06-07