acacia-roots

30-something, Texas born, black, pansexual, and genderfluid. I'm trying to figure out this adulthood thing, so in the meantime I'll spill my brain here. Be warned, I'm sarcastic, I blog about social justice, I like cake, and I'm really into women.

[ms-demeanor]

You know how there's that genre of posts that's like "[screenshot of something horrid and dystopian happening with technology] hahaha, I sure hope nothing bad comes from defunding humanities while pouring boatloads of money into STEM"?

I need an inversion of that that's like "hahaha, I sure hope we don't run into any problems with masses of artists and writers deciding that it's fascist to understand the law and computer science."

[moniquill]

Can you cite evidence of 'masses of artists and writers' who state that understanding law and computer science is fascistic?

[thepoliticalvulcan]

Seems like there's a whole heap of artists and writers who create very angry work precisely because they understand law and computer science and have found a great many of its applications (not all) to be quite fascistic.

And to be a bit more nuanced (and again I think writers and artists by and large understand this) law and computer science themselves are neutral, people make them fascistic when they make fascistic decisions based on data they don't understand and refuse to acknowledge that at some point in the process a human being had to make a judgment on how to code an event, a person etc. or that intentional and unintentional biases can be ingested into LLMs through the human created work that goes into training datasets.

An artist and writer is also entitled to feel that computer scientists are being fascistic when they explicitly state they see no value in the work of artists and writers or that their great work is too important to pay the creators providing the data Legos that LLMs scramble together on command.

Similarly, writers and artists probably understand better than a lot of people that "criminal" is a socially constructed label that is applied to a person to make it legally possible to do the sorts of things to that person that are usually crimes: like commit violence against them or detain them against their will.

What is a crime or is not a crime or what is a law or not a law is not derived from a telescope or microscope, its decided upon by humans. People who are in the "imagining new things" business probably understand law and computer science quite well in the sense that laws and computer programs too were just imagined into existence and they can edited, deleted, or used very differently according to all too human motives.

[what-even-is-thiss]

You know as an American born in the late 90s I’ve watched my country blow up foreigners on tv supposedly in the interest of national security since I was a toddler but quite frankly we live on a natural fortress of a continent with friendly nations to our north and south and have been attacked on our own soil literally two times in the past hundred years and we have military bases on every inhabited continent on earth. It’s never made sense to do these things for “national security”. It never will make sense unless you value the shareholders of weapons companies over the lives of children. And apparently a concerning amount of people do.

[hobbies306540111]

women should lift weights because it prevents osteoporosis in old age and makes you a more capable person in everyday life please shut up about butts and waists and hourglasses i'm going to fucking kill

[endangeredlove]

;___;♡♡♡♡

[mothric]

genuine question from someone who would rather chew their arm off than go to a public gym, and also doesnt have a lot of money: how do you safely get into strength training? are there youtube channels, apps (android), etc anyone recommends that makes it approachable and don't lean into diet culture / body shaming?

also the biggest thing that keeps me from working out is that I already have joint and spinal issues and moving the wrong way can fuck up a knee or a shoulder or my spine for days. I really don't want to injure myself, and have unwittingly done so before. resources that are extremely clear on exactly how to move and offer gentler / alternative ways to move for people with limited range are vital.

[feenyxblue]

Okay, so this may not technically be strength training, but muscles are dumber than bricks and cannot tell the difference between your own bodyweight and actual weights.

So, may I recommend:

Hybrid Calisthenics

Hey everyone! My name is Hampton and my brand is Hybrid Calisthenics. You can find me by that name pretty much everywhere on social media.

He runs a YouTube channel where he goes over how to work your way up to more complex exercises (for instance, his pull-ups videos start with using a door jamb and moving your weight back and forth) so it's good for easing yourself into things.

[bundibird]

You also don't have to fork out for expensive weights and such if you don't want to/can't. Substitute with stuff you either already have at home or can get from the supermarket and build up the weight you can exercise with. 500 gram cans of butter beans then 750 gram bottles of pasta sauce. 1 litre drink bottle then your 1.5 litre milk bottle. 3 litre bulk-buy bottle of laundry detergent. Etc. One of my dogs weighs 13 kilos and I pick her up on the regular (to her delight). One weighs 16 kg and I pick him up too (to his consternation and mild disapproval). You don't have to fit out some fancy home gym before you can start strength training.

[theygender]

I second Hybrid Calisthenics, that's the program I use. It's run by one guy who's taken it upon himself to make exercising more accessible and it's completely free! Each exercise has different variations based on your ability and each variation is further divided into different levels of difficulty so you can work up to where you want to be. If you can't do a single push up for example then this program will help you work up to the point where you can, and if you're a master of push ups then there are more advanced body weight exercises you can tackle so you can keep moving forward in your training without stagnating. The routine offers a full body workout with absolutely no equipment required for the beginning levels. The only reason you would need to buy anything is if you want to work up to a full pull up, at which point you would need actual pull up rings

Here's his actual website which I feel is easier to navigate than the YouTube channel on its own and organizes things in a way that's easy to understand. He explains everything you need to know about the routine and each individual exercise has both a text description and a video tutorial

Hybrid Calisthenics

[peppermintquartz]

I also recommend Yuuka Sagawa's channel. Ignore the clickbaity titles, the movements are gentle and easy and each workout is seldom more than 10min.

Yuuka Sagawa

株式会社YOU STYLE　 東京都中央区銀座5丁目15番1号 機能的で美しく、しなやかな心とからだづくりはこちら：【YOU STYLE FITNESS】

Also, check out workouts for seniors, particularly if you have joint issues or you haven't ever really exercised. Exercises for the elderly are gentler and really focus on essentials (balance and strength), and once you've gained more confidence, you can look for other workouts. Think of these as building the habit of moving. If you do something to move every day, you're building the habit that will compound throughout your life.

If money allows, hire a personal trainer for say 8-12 sessions, there's always some kind of promotion somewhere, and have them teach you proper form for basic movements (squats, rows, lunges etc) so that you can do them on your own properly without hurting yourself. Then ask them for a workout plan for home workouts using bodyweight, and they'll help design one just for you.

I've done this myself and now I lift heavy shit in my early 40s after just 1.5 years of regularly exercising, so start anytime!!

[stroebe2]

[queeranarchism]

Oury Jalloh was burned alive in a German police cell while his hands and feet were cuffed to a bed. the cops claimed he had set himself on fire but offered no evidence. No one was convicted. It took 2 more violent deaths in the same police building (Hans-Jürgen Rose, died from internal injuries from blunt force impacts, Mario Bichtemann died from a skull fracture), before one cop had to pay a fine. No cop faced real consequences.

15-year-old Jerryson Noor was shot and killed by police in the Netherlands after being accused of trying to steal a bicycle. We was running from police and clearly posed no threat.

[telavivdelhi2]

Independent forensic tests and later expert analysis commissioned by Jalloh’s family suggest it would have been very difficult for someone bound to ignite the mattress on their own and that fire accelerants such as petrol may have been involved.

A 2019 autopsy commissioned by the family also found fractures (broken rib, broken nose, skull base fracture) indicative of serious injuries before the fire — a point the courts did not allow as decisive evidence. (DW)

[anarchistmemedistro]

Between 2020 and 2022, thirteen EU countries reported a total of 488 deaths occurring in custody or during police operations. Despite international calls for transparent reporting on such fatalities, most European countries still do not meet UN standards for investigating these deaths, leaving persistent gaps in accountability and oversight. Inconsistencies and inadequacies in data availability further underscore the challenges in maintaining adequate transparency in law enforcement practices.

Deaths in custody and police operations - 2024 - European Data Journalism Network - EDJNet

Deaths in custody and police operations Between 2020 and 2022, thirteen EU countries reported a total of 488 deaths occurring in cus

[writer-fennec]

Not long ago a Moldavian man was killed in a small city near venice, this shit happened close to me

Sergiu Tarna ucciso a Venezia: vigile urbano arrestato per la morte del barman

Il movente legato forse alla droga

Remember that All Cops Are Bastards

[polyg-lotte]

sammy baker, a 23 year old who had a psychotic episode, was shot and killed by dutch police in 2020. the police claimed he was threatening them with a knife, but footage shows that he was not threatening them at all and that there was no danger to the cops. this constantly happens in europe

[darlinggofindyourself]

and it has been happening for a while. Makomé M’Bowolé was murdered in custody in France in 1993, allegedly because one officer’s gun “accidentally” went off, which is the real event that inspired matthieu kassovitz’ La Haine

[nightcoremoon]

love when europeans act like they don’t have the exact same problems with racism and police brutality as the states do

[thewitchoftheweed]

We live in the dumbest, lamest cyberpunk dystopia possible.

So LA has been — and continues to — protest against ICE. These protests haven’t gotten any smaller or lost any momentum, but social media wasn’t reflecting it.

TikTok users, realizing that the platform/other social media are censoring/deleting/shadowbanning these protest videos, decided to find a workaround.

They’re calling it the LA Music Festival. Ice detention centers and other protest locations are “stages.” The hottest band is Rage Against the Machine. “Here’s what gear you should be bringing to stay safe at the LA Music Festival.”

And it fucking worked.

TikTok has become a proving ground for a lot of new music, meaning lots of labels and organizations have lucrative deals with TikTok to promote their new artists and music festivals. So they absolutely cannot censor the words “music festival” or train the algorithm to ignore it, or they risk endangering that very important revenue.

So now protest videos are flooding feeds again, but it’s the LA 24/7 Music Festival. Truly an incredible timeline we’ve landed in.

[alienlike]

the "transfeminist" discourse on this website is so like... white trans women need to be more aware of the fact that asians assigned male at birth are often perceived as more feminine than their white counterparts. if you're black, it's the opposite. they speak like everyone starts out the same, but that's just not true. you, as a white person, are far more free to explore femininity/masculinity than people of color are.

[alienlike]

they also don't seem to understand the ways in which cis women of color are forced to interact with western ideas of gender. the darker your skin is, the more masculine you're often thought of being. i said this the other day, but not all cis women get to enjoy the cliche soft femininity filled with flowers and rainbows. darker-skinned women are not handed femininity on a silver platter. maybe take that into consideration the next time you try to pull some theory out of your ass

[syzygyblvd]

this. another reason why the TMA/TME binary doesn't work. cis black women are far more likely to be transvestigated, but I'm supposed to believe they're exempt from experiencing transmisogyny? no, that's fucking bullshit. everyone can be affected by transmisogyny, or transandrophobia, or just transphobia period. even perisex cis people.

[discoasphodel]

this is something i see missed a lot in white transfeminist spaces and that i'm grateful for the chance to hear folks discuss. i think the tma/tme binary also fails to support our two-spirit and transgender native relatives whose genders and gender presentations are violently policed and managed by colonialist gender standards.

and it abandons ALL native people who experience this gender-coercive violence. a cisgender lakota man whose gender is wičháša is cisgender and yet also white colonial violence will be done against him on the basis of his gender expression. he will be policed on his hair and sacred braids, he experiences increased risk of violence and sexual assault, he lives with the effects of trauma and their relatives alcoholism and addiction and suicidality, and ultimately has a far higher likelihood to attempt suicide. or be murdered.

Remembering Cole Brings Plenty - ICT

Indigenous people continue to honor the Mniconju actor and call for justice

this is not a hypothetical lakota man. justice for Cole Brings Plenty now, and remember that your campaign to guarantee freedom from medicalized coercive assignment of sex and gender needs to also defend the gender expression of native peoples.

the crisis of MMIW and MMIP directly reflects how limiting and violent white colonial expectations of gender and sex are for First Nations, pueblos originarios, indigenous, native, and American Indian people.

[autisticadvocacy]

April isn’t just Autism Acceptance Month, it’s also National Deaf History Month! As we continue to promote autism acceptance and advocacy, we also encourage people to take time to learn about Deaf history this April. Look Deaf-led orgs like the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) to learn more!

[myspace]

Six flags commercial from 2004 you most likely forgot about.

[patrochilles-or-bust]

The audacity. I would never forget about such a cornerstone of culture.

[acaciaroots]

Who could forget this masterpiece

[chaumas-deactivated20240115]

It’s really so obnoxious when white people are like “Oh no, my hair isn’t inspired by Black fashion in any capacity! The Vikings wore their hair like this!” when it’s like 1.) no they fucking didn’t, that YouTube comment is not a primary historical source and 2.) even if it were true it’s so crazy how you somehow aren’t influenced by the living breathing Black celebrities and trendsetters you see on TV every day with that exact hairstyle and instead get all your style influence from 8th century engravings that you clearly haven’t even seen before.

[chaumas-deactivated20240115]

Hot take but I think it’s probably Less Racist to be like “yeah I thought Janelle Monae’s hair looked cute in this picture so I styled mine to look similar” than it is to denounce Black influence on your life and attribute it instead to an ancient race of Super Whiteys you are incredibly credulous about. But that’s just me.

[chaumas-deactivated20240115]

Cultural appropriation discourse has truly failed so spectacularly when the takeaway so many people have is “okay, so I need a racially viable Excuse to style myself how I want that excises any influence from people of color” lmfao that’s worse!!!! That’s worse!!!!

[champagnemoon]

body positivity has largely failed because people started arguing for attractiveness and romantic prospects instead of respect and dignity

[carewitchproject]

this is truly the best summary of what all of this SHOULD be about

[chilipepperconverse]

posts i can only make today

[ubernegro]

Oh he is about to have Iran nuked or hit by a MOAB. And he just admits that he wants to install a puppet dictator just like the Shah. The man is unhinged.

[anonajn]

relentlessly funny to me when people treat a relationship between someone in their 30s and someone in their 40s as "age difference". bro i cannot tell you which of my friends are 34 and which are 44. i can probably tell you which ones aren't 30 yet, but it's probable some of them are 50 now and i didn't notice. if you're over 30 and don't have kids, it's kinda all one age until you can collect social security.

[promptcalender]

Non-Sexual Intimacy

washing the other's hair

giving a massage

reading with legs stacked on top of each other

swapping clothes

casually bringing their favorite snacks without being asked

comfort when upset

sharing secrets

putting their necklace or bracelet on for them

caretaking after a bad day

making eyecontact and immediately smiling

confiding in one another

casual touches and hugs

knowing the other's tells for being stressed and immediately working to help them calm down

[Prompt Calender: April 6th, International Asexuality Day]

[spaceshipsandpurpledrank]

[aloeverawrites]

tw medical abuse

"Mentally competent patients typically have the right to choose their medical care — or refuse it. But there is one notable exception: pregnant patients."

"Not long after, a patient named Laura Pemberton, who did not want a C-section, left a hospital in Tallahassee, Florida, against medical advice. A local judge sent law enforcement to her house to bring her back. Once she returned to the hospital, the judge ordered her to have a C-section, which doctors carried out. She later sued in federal court and lost. The 1999 decision by a federal district judge found that the state had a right to override her wishes."

"Pregnancy is the only condition where Florida courts have ruled that a patient can be forced to undergo unwanted treatment. Even a state prisoner on a hunger strike has more rights to make medical decisions."

"

Bennett said she found it offensive that so many people were concerned about the method of her delivery without taking into consideration how difficult it would be to take care of both herself and her baby while recovering from a C-section. “Are any of you gonna help me bathe or shower? Are you gonna help change my pad? Are you gonna help lift the baby out of the bed and put me in the bed because I can’t lift my legs? Is anyone going to help me?”

Campbell told ProPublica that he felt the hearing was necessary to save two lives, Bennett’s and her baby’s. “I’m real comfortable with what we did here,” Campbell said. “I hate the fact that she’s upset about it.”

"She said a doctor who visited her room during recovery told her she should never get pregnant again, according to a civil rights complaint filed with federal regulators."

"Overnight, doctors said the baby’s heart rate dropped for seven minutes. Doyley woke to her hospital bed being wheeled into surgery."

They Didn’t Want to Have C-Sections. A Judge Would Decide How They Gave Birth.

Two Florida women had to attend virtual court hearings while in labor to argue for their right to choose their own medical care. As their st

[marisatomay]

Apollo astronaut Jim Lovell recording a message for the Artemis II crew welcoming them to his “old neighborhood” before he passed last summer at 97….how can you not be romantic about humanity

[skyline-sunset-in-my-veins]

[anotherdayforchaosfay]

A whole lot of military films will be coming out soon. You'll see older ones showing up on streaming service and new ones soon to follow. Sure, a few are, in fact, very good movies. But here's the caution:

Any film featuring the US military is paid for by the US military. They have the final word on what comes out. These films are recruitment tools. Same applies to TV shows, and doubtless many will soon be showing up.

Do not be fooled by these films and shows. They are designed to bring in new recruits. When these are released, there is a surge in new people enlisting in the military. These recruits swiftly discover they were fed bullshit, but now they're stuck due to a contract. Going AWOL, away without leave, is desertion. You will be caught and put on trial for desertion, and they are not light with the sentencing.

Please, for the love of fuck, do not enlist with the military. You are cannon fodder. They do not care about you.

Recruiters are told to lie. To do whatever it fucking takes to enlist new people. Do not fucking fall for it.

These films and shows are recruitment tools paid for by the military. It's why they're so big, glamorous, and quickly made. Enjoy what you see, but don't sign up. It's a fucking lie.