[homunculus-argument]

"But won't children be confused by all the LGBT-"

Yesterday I saw a mother with a baby carriage, being followed by a girl of about 4-6 years old on a bicycle. The kid started ringing her bike bell like RING RING RING RING RING RING RING, and the mother turned to look behind them to see whether they were being followed by a cyclist who desperately needs to pass them for the sake of everyone's safety.

And the little girl - who just rang the goddamn bell herself 5 seconds ago - also turned to look.

Kids are confused by everything at all times. They don't know jack shit. About anything.

[jumpingjacktrash]

i remember being like 8 or 9 and being told that my dad’s ex-wife was no longer diane and we were to address her as daniel now. my reaction: “ok.”

me and my brother later had a small discussion about whether that could happen randomly (conclusion: no, he probably had to file papers or something) and whether daniel should now be referred to as dad’s ex-husband (conclusion: yes but only to see the face he’ll make) but at no point did we find it like... alarming? the world is big and weird. we were used to it.

finding out a sorta-relative could just change genders off camera, as it were, was a whole lot less head-splodey than finding out there were no squirrels in australia!

[scattered-to-the-winds]

There’s no what

[ashfae]

"Won't they be confused by all the--" So what if they are? Life is often confusing. That's part of how we learn. Part of the job of an adult is to help confused kids learn and understand things. There's no obligation to protect the kids from the confusing things. Quite the reverse.

In my experience anyone using this BS excuse isn't worried about a child's potential confusion, but their own, which they don't want to admit to having.

[indieninja92]

theres no squirrels in australia???

[marleythegoldfish]

Aussie here, I DIDN'T KNOW SQUIRRELS WERE ACTUALLY REAL FOR THE FIRST EIGHT YEARS OF MY LIFE NO JOKE I THOUGHT THEY WERE A MYTHICAL ANIMAL LIKE UNICORNS

[alostpan]

WHAT??

[mariposakitten]

Also kids are far less likely to be confused by something the younger they learn about it. Kiddo had queer people in his life and casual references to queerness before he could even talk. It was never confusing for him. It was normal.

[galadriel1010]

Squirrels were an invasive species to Australia but they never managed to gain a foothold and were eradicated within a few years of their arrival.

[maimonideznuts]

I remember the Palm Squirrels in Perth... But I think they've been eradicated too.

Also my older sister thought Narwhals were mythical for an embarrassingly long time.

[wholesome-animal-images]

[ufonaut]

Beyond his art, Neal Adams is rightfully remembered as an eternal champion of creators’ rights and for the part he & his work played in the Comics Code revision of ‘71 but his contribution to John Stewart’s creation is – I think –  a rather underrated aspect of his career, especially as it’s such a great reminder of the kind of person he was. Taken from an interview conducted and transcribed by Allen W. Wright over at the Green Arrow: Bold Archer fansite, here’s Neal discussing John’s beginnings (x).

[pmamtraveller]

by Bien Moreau

[morbidology]

Panjin Red Beach is located in the north east of Beijing and is appropriately called this due to the seaweed which turns to a bright red colour in Autumn. It has become known as the “home of the cranes” and is the home to 260 different types of birds, including the endangered Crown Canes and Blacak Beaked Gulls, and 399 different types of wild animals.

[straycatj]

おいわいメシは？おいわいメシ

きょうはうちのこきねんびなのよ？

Hey, you should serve me some celebration yummy, because it's the family anniversary today

[daysao-moved-deactivated2017071]

[werewolf-transgenderism]

teeny tiny baby reticulated glass frogs from the Nashville Zoo I would lay down my life for you. look at them they are one molecule tall and made out of jello

[werewolf-transgenderism]

and perhaps you are thinking "wow this baby frog is so tiny it is like the size of 1/6th of a penny, I wonder how big the grown-up reticulated glass frogs are":

they are one ☝️ penny big and fashionably polka dotted

[afloweroutofstone]

Google quietly added generative AI capabilities to Google Earth, allowing anyone to generate false images on top of real satellite imagery. It seems pretty rudimentary, but the potential for disinformation is sky-high.

Anyway, did y'all hear that they nuked the White House?

[afloweroutofstone]

Within the first few hours of its discovery, people on Twitter used this tool to generate an Epstein Island attraction at Disneyland, a mega-prison within Google’s headquarters, and a sequel to 9/11.

Google has already announced that they will be “rolling back” this feature because of screenshots like these:

The fact that they want to bring it back with “guardrails” is ridiculous. Screenshots like these are not the work of some malign actors, they’re instant proof that your idea is terrible on its face

[important-cat-pics]

[gandalfsbignaturals]

what if instead of paying companies to delete our info off of databases periodically we like. idk. passed a law that said companies couldnt do that anymore. and set up some kind of task force to disband all the companies that do that. thatd be cool

[importantcatpics]

[breakerofcurses]

[segamascott]

[bigmouthbuffalo]

[hugh-lauries-bald-spot]

whats a stereotype for your country that you absolutely do. mine is that i unironically go "eh" and apologize a lot and i often drink maple syrup straight

[asteroidtroglodyte]

The grip that Burger & Big Drink has on the American People cannot be overstated

[kropotkindersurprise]

July 22, 2026 - People around the USA are taking down Flock AI surveillance cameras. [video]

[noneedtofearorhope]

DeFlock

Find license plate readers (LPRs) near you.

[nevermindirah]

direct action works!!

physically interfering with the cameras is highly effective but obviously it's not a type of activism that's accessible to everyone — so if like me you think warrentless surveillance is never ever ever a reasonable thing for a government to do, but you're also like me and can't personally climb camera poles to dismantle that shit:

check out the August 16-22 week of action!

National Week of Action Against ALPRs | DeFlock

Mass surveillance doesn't equal safety. Join the movement to dismantle automated license plate readers in our communities.

big and small cities all over the US (and one so far in Canada!) are holding events like education sessions, marches, and public lobbying meetings with the local governments and police departments that decide whether to spend taxpayer money on warrantless surveillance. maybe my city and yours can join the nearly 100 places that have already rejected or ended contracts for mass privacy violation cameras.