Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

"'Life's not fair' should really be reserved for things that cannot be made fair. Arthritis, lightning strikes, that sort of thing. Shit just happens. But stuff like, why does EBT have a work requirement, why do teachers take bullies' sides over victims? MAKE IT BE FAIR." -- Lanthir Calendae (Lanthir44), 2021-07-25

[I've been saying something similar for a long time: the universe isn't fair because it's random and impersonal, but people should try to be fair, and we need to make human-built systems fair. Fairness is on us.]

"I love laughing, but I hated my laughing orgasms. They made me feel like such a weirdo. Every time I had one, I felt embarrassed.

[...]

"Reading about those made me reconsider what a normal orgasm is. Even though we have a lot of access to porn, most of us only get to witness a handful of people having an orgasm. So, it's easy not to realize that there's no such thing as a normal orgasm and that your own weird reaction to intense peaks of pleasure is just as fine as anyone else's.

[...]

"I had already made peace with my laughing orgasms. But learning that I only laughed after some of my best and strongest climaxes made me love them.

"Why I Decided to Share My Laughing Orgasm

"As far as I can tell, there isn't a lot of research on laughing orgasms, apart from a few case studies. So, there's no clear answer about why they happen.

[...]

"Because there isn't much research on these types of orgasm, I have no idea how many people experience them. But I know they're out there. That's why I wanted to do something to normalize laughing orgasms, so other orgasmic weirdos like myself wouldn't feel so bad about their predicament."

-- Emma Austin (EmmaAus27418832), "Laughing Orgasms Are Weird But Awesome", 2020-01-22

[Interesting essay I stumbled across while looking for something rather different from this. Laughing, as one of many possible responses to / effects of orgasm, makes sense to me (and is something I find sexy) ... Her description of originally thinking it made her weird, and later in the essay writing, "I wished I had been exposed to this before. I wouldn’t have felt like such a freak if I had seen or heard — or even heard of — other people having laughing orgasms. If it was just a Google search away, I would’ve been able to embrace mine a lot sooner,", made me think her essay is something I should boost. It's about five pages. Enjoy.]

"One of the biggest problems we have in our culture is the assumption that if someone else makes choices we would not make, then there must be something wrong with that person. We are terrible at recognizing our own lack of insight into or context for other people's lives." -- Lilah Sturges, Trans "Cool Mom" (LilahSturges), 2021-07-28

"Some people misconstrue empathy to be 'what would I do in that person's shoes' as opposed to the more constructive 'how can I respect or understand what that person does.' (As usual, your tweets distill a sense of real empathy, which is all about context.)" -- The Comic Book Dad (dan_rucker), replying to Lilaj Sturges

"If there's one takeaway from Hubbard's disappointing finish, it's that trans women are not a threat to women's sports. We could have spent all those headlines and Twitter threads on the incredible Li Wenwen, who set an Olympic record in the event early Monday." -- Katelyn Burns (transscribe), "Olympic athlete Laurel Hubbard just shattered a transphobic myth", MSNBC, 2021-08-02

Avenger Resister (AvengerResister), 2021-07-25:

Sen. Pat Toomey,

An insurrection without prosecution is a test run.

Hillsong is a 'hipster' megachurch with millions of followers around the world, including many American-based celebrities, with a storied history of promoting conversion therapy, preaching or standing against gay people, and refusing to employ LGBTQ people as church leaders or even volunteers.

[...]

Collier praised the partnership as furtherance of 'the Great Commission,' referring to Jesus' instruction to his disciples to continue spreading his gospel after his resurrection.

He also told the Times this would 'directly impact and help churches navigate and reach the consumer better,' before correcting and saying 'parishioner' because 'consumer isn't the right word.'

[...]

Leaders of member churches in The Church of God in Christ (COGIC) denomination have received 'early access' on features that further monetize their Facebook presences. That includes revenue on streams, subscriptions for exclusive content, donation acceptance, and even in-video ads, all of which are either newly available or refined for easier navigation for churches.

[...]

Facebook's new collaborator just made its position clear on the vaccine front as well this week. After a Hillsong church member died from COVID-19 after refusing to get vaccinated, Houston shrugged it off as 'a personal decision for each individual.'

Facebook also has a storied history of censoring all kinds of content that is from, or ostensibly related to, LGBTQ people -- although they have also been notoriously slow to remove anti-LGBTQ posts or accounts, even when they are promoting false information or hate speech."

-- Juwan J. Holmes, "Facebook is working with an anti-gay megachurch to monetize the 'future' of religion", 2021-07-28, LGBTQ Nation

"Password must contain at least one capital letter, one number, two female characters, they must both have names, and they must talk to each other about something other than a man." -- Molly Kessler (molly_kessler), 2021-07-22

On searching for, speculating about, or imagining extraterrestial being: "In some ways humans are like little kids: we deperately want there to be somebody next door to play with." -- Retured 747 (747Retired), 2021-07-25 (private communication, quoted with permission)

From "Police Are Telling ShotSpotter to Alter Evidence From Gunshot-Detecting AI" by Todd Feathers (Motherboard, 2021-07-26):

During the trial, Greene testified under cross-examination that the initial ShotSpotter alert only indicated two gunshots (those fired by an officer in response to the original shooting). But after Chicago police contacted ShotSpotter, Greene re-analyzed the audio files.

"An hour or so after the incident occurred, we were contacted by Chicago PD and asked to search for -- essentially, search for additional audio clips. And this does happen on a semi-regular basis with all of our customers," Greene told the court, according to a transcript of the trial. He later ruled that there were five additional gunshots that the company's algorithms did not pick up.

Also, later in the same article:

"These tools are sending more police into Black and Latinx neighborhoods," Alyx Goodwin, a Chicago organizer with the Action Center on Race and the Economy, one of the groups leading the campaign, told Motherboard. "Every ShotSpotter alert is putting Black and Latinx people at risk of interactions with police. That's what happened to Adam Toledo."'

Motherboard recently obtained data demonstrating the stark racial disparity in how Chicago has deployed ShotSpotter. The sensors have been placed almost exclusively in predominantly Black and brown communities, while the white enclaves in the north and northwest of the city have no sensors at all, despite Chicago police data that shows gun crime is spread throughout the city.

"The cognitive dissonance required to believe we are a christian government and nation, run on biblical beliefs, but it's not the governments job to help the poor, oppressed, immigrant, and orphaned really boggles my brain." -- Mariah Lee (riahthelee), 2021-07-25

"Most tr*nsphobia is couched in the underlying idea that being trans is inherently bad and that people should be 'saved' from having to transition.

"This is bullshit since transition saved me and it was trying to be cis that was slowly killing me"

-- Jasmine('s boobs hurt) (Ranting_Trans), 2021-07-25

"We all want the perfect. We want it yesterday. And it is true without question that if we do not get voting rights legislation done our nation as we know it is in serious danger of losing its democracy. I am not unaware.

"However this President took over a complete and total gut job. If this nation were a house another contractor might have advised to take it down to the studs or just tear it down for the land value. Nothing did not need fixing. So imagine you are a wise, seasoned, and talented builder. But everything you want to do is blocked by the Republicans. Let's call them a flipper.

"They want to let you do nothing. Zip. They want to do this so you give up, and they take over the property and try to flip it. But on top of that, there is reticence among your own crew to do the rehab.

"Too costly you are told. Time consuming, impractical, in fact, some say impossible. But you have to have some crew in order to get any work done. So you eschew arguing publicly for a more nuanced, hands-off approach to management. You put the onus on them to come up with a plan.

"But the investors, we voters, want it fixed fast. They see your style as delay and procrastination, because they want this property fixed now. You try to explain that while you may be the contractor in charge, one person can not rebuild an entire house. You need partners.

"You don't want to run crew off, or you will not be able to do any repairs and you might lose the property.

"So here we are. America is less of a mess than it was, but still just because the rain is not pouring in through the roof does not mean the foundation is fixed."

-- Rule of Claw (on Dkos), 2021-07-23 [thanks to extraarcha for pointing this out to me]

"This first brave act of free will becomes defining for humanity. This was the decision to choose understanding over blissful ignorance, engagement with the world and its pain instead of remaining in a comfortable bubble. This was the decision to learn and grow and face hard truths-even if doing so sometimes came with difficult consequences.

"This is also the story of the transformation from a transactional relationship into one where both parties' created-in-God's-image-ness is seen and acknowledged. It's not perfect, and it's not without struggle -- after God apprehends them for eating the fruit, Adam's first instinct is to blame his wife -- she gave it to me!' (Genesis 3:12) -- but eventually he sees her, renames her as Chava (translated to English as Eve), which can be translated perhaps as 'lifeforce'; for she was 'mother of all the living.' (Genesis 3:20) (To get a sense of the wordplay, imagine the verse read, 'And Adam named her Livvie, for she was mother of all the living.' Dig?)"

-- Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg (TheRaDR), "Perhaps the most subversive act of all: Humankind's first act of free will is a profound act of bravery.", 2021-06-21

"I love the thrill of impending, weightless doom..." -- Jennifer Niven, All the Bright Places

On Twitter 2021-07-20:

Katelyn Burns (transscribe):

Just got a press release for this new product called "pronoun water" I shit you not

Gwendolyn Ann Smith (gwenners):

"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then they market cheesy products to you, then you win."

Erin Go Braless (asapherpes):

Then they market classy products to you while funding politicians who crusade to destroy your current rights and blockade progress.

"Anyone who doesn't see the point of this entire situation [the Wi Spa hoax and subsequent protests involving Proud Boys] is to incite violence against trans women is either willfully ignorant or lying" -- Eilis, Trans Identified Erinyes (Any/All) (lisaquestions), 2021-07-18

[Even though police and the spa say there's no evidence any trans person was even present the day of the false report, IIRC at least one trans woman living in the area has already gotten death threats based on the assumption she was there.]

"A New Shepard engineer just used the phrase 'professional astronauts' which is a fascinating new construction.

"One of the things that bothers me is calling these passengers 'astronauts.' Spacefarers, yes. I've felt like astronaut ought to be an earned term.

"To me, an astronaut is someone who is engaged in space exploration, and science, as part of public service. Are they paid? Yes. Do they have to be flown?

"According to NASA, after completing three years of astronaut training, you're an astronaut.

"But not a 'flown astronaut.'

"This has been consistent from the beginning. It wasn't crossing the threshold of space that gave you that title, it was the years of training and the purpose that did.

"So, you'll hear me talking about these folks as spacefarers.

"Except Wally Funk, who is a goddamned astronaut.

[...]

"Part of why I can't get mad about any of the passengers choosing to go is because I would go if someone offered me the option.

"I can get salty about the selection process and the gatekeeping. But not about choosing to go.

"(Still not astronauts. Except Wally)"

-- Mary Robinette Kowal (MaryRobinette), 2021-07-20

[As I remarked elsewhere yesterday, I would love to go to space, but if I merely bought a ticket or got invited as an artist or something, then despite childhood dreams of becoming an astronaut, it wouldn't occur to me to call myself anything more than a passenger. Anyhow, a bunch of interesting observations in the thread I quoted from.]

"In the Middle Ages and later on the image of Wilgefortis provoked anxiety on the part of the Churc officials, but simultaneously it was very attractive for large audiences of the faithful. The mysterious saint was not merely the product of ac onfusion, but she was also the embodiment of a certain ideal, that of a God who is both masculine and feminine. Christ represents all the humanity, hence his ideal representation should imply the two genders instead of simply one of them. In the image of a feminized Christ God transcends the limits of gender. David Williams maintains that the iconographic texts having Wilgefortis as their object revealed specific expectations towards an ideal icon representing God: 'Far from being the product of a confusion of Christological iconography, Wilgeforte may be seen more informatively as a symbolic encodement of the concept of a hermaphroditic Jesus as God'" -- Anna Czarnowus, "A saint who never existed : extrahistorical texts about St Wilgefortis", 2004

Transphobes imagine that trans people existing and having human rights at all is a social ill that is being done TO society, by some shady group, who are making people trans to damage the society they live in, for some sinister reason...

This is just 'Cultural Marxism' innit?

It's not a dogwhistle, it's a bloody foghorn!"

-- The Lady Weird Sloth Cow (CaseyExplosion), 2021-07-18

[CaseyExplosion quote-tweeted the first tweet of bean (christapeterso)'s thread from the day before, which starts, "In her new book, the Economist's Helen Joyce claims the trans 'global agenda' is 'shaped' by three Jewish billionaires. The sourcing is vague in the book, but she has previously cited Jennifer Bilek. Bilek has previously cited an explicit Nazi. Gendercrit launders antisemitism." and goes into detail from there. Connections between anti-trans campaigners (including allegedy-feminist, allegedly-liberal, and allegedly-pro-queer ones) and vocal neo-fascists are not a new discovery, but appear to be getting more significant.]

"It's hard to remember. It's even harder, when everyone is gone." -- Eric Marcus, Making Gay History, "Coming of Age During the AIDS Crisis: Chapter 1: Buried Headline", 2021-07-01 (first full episode of season 9, after a preview episode)