Politics, Fandoms, And A Bunch Of Random Shit

alex / pansexual / feminist / they/them (genderfluid) / fandom trash / poet / CTY

[slyandthefamilybook]

Dispelling myths about the USPS

The USPS is a government-owned corporation. The USPS is an independent government agency in the executive branch of the federal government. The U.S. government began its mail service on July 26, 1775, and the Post Office Department was created in 1792 with the Postal Service Act (PSA). In 1872 the P.O.D. was elevated to a cabinet-level position, meaning it was under the jurisdiction of the President. In 1970 the Postal Reorganization Act (PRA) turned the P.O.D. into the United States Postal Service. It's still a federal agency, but it's no longer in the cabinet. (Other independent agencies include the CIA, the EPA, the FCC, NASA, and others.) The confusion comes from the USPS being organized like a company, with managers and executives instead of agents and officers

The USPS is underfunded. Since the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970 the USPS has been self-funding. It does not receive tax dollars except for the conduction of certain duties like overseas mail. That doesn't mean the USPS isn't strapped for cash, but it's not an issue of congressional funding like it is for other agencies. All of the USPS's revenue is made from the sale of products including postage and merchandise (which can be bought here)

The USPS has to pre-fund retiree benefits. This was a provision of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA) of 2006. It was repealed in the Postal Service Reform Act (PSRA) of 2022.

The USPS doesn't lose money, it costs money. This is only sort of true, in the sense that it's not money lost but rather money not made. While the USPS does charge money for its services, the amount made in revenue has only recently begun to add up to the amount spent. For example, one of the provisions of the PSRA was to forgive $57 billion in debt. The sad reality is unless the USPS becomes tax-funded its financial troubles are most likely not going to end

The USPS is mandated by the Constitution. The Constitution authorizes Congress to establish a Postal Service and to build postal roads. It does not mandate either of these

I can't send a brick in the mail. You can.

[campmiasmas]

“What transness and especially a pre-transition dysphoria actually feels like, to me at least, is much more internal and intangible. The language that I use to try to talk about it is language that I'm borrowing from the surrealism of David Lynch — the dreamlike nature of his films — or the body horror of David Cronenberg.” — JANE SCHOENBRUN, I Saw the TV Glow writer/director (x)

@lgbtqcreators​ creator meme (v2): [1/3] free choice

[honeylemony]

The most inconvenient truth is that men do misogyny because they get something from it. They get labor from intimate partners, they get social capital in their public circles, they get the benefit of the doubt, they get default respect and promotions and people listening to them and people afraid of them.

[honeylemony]

"" oh he did xyz because he's traumatized"" ""he was a monster bc he was misunderstood""

He did it because he benefitted.

[joeyclaire]

let the world never forget that it's AMERICAN weapons being used to wipe out Gaza. that it's AMERICAN tax money funding this genocide while the AMERICAN president and AMERICAN leaders support this mass murder of innocent people. let the world never forget America has Palestinian blood on its hands.

[dreadandbread]

Accidentally opened my eyes during the Shema and saw god hitting the stanky leg

[michaelwaev]

I really think we should stop saying "kid-friendly" and start saying "ad-friendly". We shouldn't indulge these companies and their excuses anymore. I also think that continuing to pretend that this is about "protecting the children" pushes a lot of the blame onto kids and teens, who don't have the political power to push through any of this censorship legislature. Corporations and governments are to blame.

[depsidase]

[roughkiss]

I was able to find the original cartoon on the author's website. It does indeed have copywrite 1966 in the corner. R. Cobb died in 2020 (according to Google, mostly just wanted to confirm where this one came from.)

Ron Cobb, Cartoonist, Film Designer, 300 cartoons, 40 films, Artwork and Design!

[mossdftba]

[image description: a black and white political cartoon of police officers viewed from behind doing gun target practice on images of protesters holding signs that say I hate cops, stop police brutality, stop killer cops, and police review board now. a caption at the bottom reads this cartoon is from 19 66. you can't reform the police. end ID.]

[keirametzbrassknuckles]

RIP Richard Serra. You made so many people so so so mad

[keirametzbrassknuckles]

In honor of this guy's passing let me once again tell the story of my favorite piece of art ever - Tilted Arc.

Commissioned by the US government in 1979 the work was made up of a 12x120 foot sheet of cor-ten steel which bisected Foley federal plaza in Manhattan. That's it. Just a sheet of metal in a plaza between several government buildings. It doesnt do anything. But it made people So Angry and also made the best argument I've ever seen for the worth of public art.

Foley square is the sqare around which the NY County courthouse, US Court of appeals, and several international ans national seats of law are positioned, which makes it a very important governmental spot in the US. These are the courts that don't send billionaires to jail and rule in class action suits against the prosecution.

The sculpture was installed after a lengthy period during which Serra carefully watched the way people interacted with and moved through the space. His artwork was as much a piece of participatory performance as it was a piece of sculpture, using the general public as part of the piece itself.

Of course everyone fucking hated it.

Because of the way the structure was positioned, lawyers and government employees had to walk around the structure, not only disrupting their habitual path of movement and allowing time for contemplation, but also making them contend directly with the people they were supposed to be working in the best interest of. The sculpture became a site of impromptu games of soccer between neighborhood kids, a makeshift arena for buskers because of the accoustics, and a windbreak under which the homeless could take shelter. It was a sculpture which made one intensely aware of their trajectory in space and thereby the world. While, granted, not as good as the park which had been initially considered (and which is there today) it did function as a living community space in ways it previously had not.

There were multiple hearings at which artists such as Claes Oldenburg, Joan Jonas, and Keith Harring argued in support of keeping the piece. But to no avail. After a protracted legal battle -- during which Serra stated his right to free speech and that the government itself had greenlit the commission and the government argued that the curvature of the piece would cause bomb blasts to ricochet into the courthouse (what?)-- the piece was dismantled in 1989 and is stored in a warehouse somewhere in Brooklyn to this day.

Ultimately the commission and subsequent censorship of the piece triggered long running debates over Institution vs. Public, general poor urban planning, public perception of art, and the creation of environments as art which continue to rage within sectors from public policy to architecture to art. It really shifted the discourse and formed the basis of a lot of my own academic inquiry.

Public art should not (and arguably can not) be just pure aesthetic frosting on the cake of life. It needs to activate a space, and, more importantly, activate people within that space. Contemporary art should make you uncomfortable, should make you think, and this piece really speaks to the general societal fear of anything that disrupts our routines or makes us think about our environment too much. It was a wakeup call and a community space and a free speech argument and an example of the stupidity of the US government all wrapped up in one thing and I love it so so so very much.

Anyway, RIP Richard. You made so many people so mad and so many people so happy. Hope you're frolicking in a field of rusty steel monoliths as was your happy place.

[cookiethebirddoll]

it sucks that even todo lists get affected by the adhd 'absorption of stationary objects into their environment thus leading to effective invisibility' thing

[cookiethebirddoll]

yeah my to-do list is empty. what do you mean "what about those five items?" those are just part of the ui obviously

[stantler]

Many lgbt teenagers and young adults growing up on the internet today have socially conservative beliefs that they voice at all times that they got from their conservative parents which they’ve never challenged because they think the life experience of being gay or trans makes them politically progressive

[stantler]

This is why I hate it when people say something homophobic and then go “so you’re really accusing me, a whole ass lesbian, of being homophobic 🙄” like yeah

[crownofstardustandbone]

Just because you’re part of an oppressed party does not mean you cannot hold bias against other groups or members of your own group. Bias is learned and ingrained through society and family and it takes real work to unlearn it. No one is perfect, no one is without bias and you are in fact going to fuck up now and again—what matters is if you learn from it and grow.

[otatma]

this is what people are talking about when they say "do the work"

[distressed-devilsitter]

Seeing as how the Big Beautiful Bill just passed, here's are some websites that offer discounts on medications:

- GoodRx

- SingleCare

- Pharmacy Checker

- WellRx - this one compares prices across different pharmacies

- Cost Plus - thanks to @thedamnqueenofhell for suggesting!

-NeedyMeds - a nonprofit that helps pay for prescriptions. Thank you to @allitdoesispause for the suggestion! They also suggested checking the manufacturers website for a paitent assistance program, which can give you a coupon for free or cheaper meds.

-Ask for a discount card - thank you to @cccshutdown for the reminder!

Stay safe, everyone. Things are about to get much, much worse in the US.

EDIT: if you're worried about doctor/therapy appointments, see if there's a sliding scale clinic near you (and ask your therapist if they offer sliding scale prices)

[liberalsarecool]

Sharing space is nothing new. Sharing bathrooms is nothing new. The reactionary outrage is so manufactured.

[theconcealedweapon]

The parking lot? As in the gender neutral parking lot? As in a place where you have no privacy?

[greatmountainfloofsquatch]

These are the bathrooms at the airport in question:

As you can see, complete privacy for all waste-expulsion activities. You only encounter other people around the sink.

[aspiringwarriorlibrarian]

This just proves a point that I’ve repeatedly noticed and it’s that every time a bathroom goes gender neutral it gets about a hundred percent safer.

I distinctly remember coming back from college to find that they’d converted the two of the bathrooms into all-gender restrooms. Among the changes were doors that went all the way up and down, a locking mechanism within the door, and actual door handles. Even the single-occupancy bathroom got a wall for extra privacy.

In contrast, I remember the women’s bathrooms in my old school. They were broken as shit. Some doors needed to be held by a friend, some doors you held with your foot from inside. The wheelchair-accessible bathroom straight up did not have a door at all. And yet we all pretended this was okay because hey, the womanly honor code. You think that shit would have flown if there were two gender-neutral restrooms?

All I’m saying is that if I were fleeing a predator or wanted to be absolutely sure I was private, which one would be the better option? The one that assumes that a “no penises allowed” sign will be enough? Or the one that actually, physically protects me?

[aurpiment]

Also, nongender restrooms are better for parents. My brother and I grew up raised by my mom. While nothing ever happened to him going into the bathroom alone, not even like a poop accident that he would have needed help cleaning up with, my mom certainly got anxious sending a seven-year-old into the men’s room unaccompanied. A nongender restroom means that parents of small children can worry less about their kids.

[roseintherainforest]

Gender neutral bathrooms are The Shit. I love the privacy. Like as someone who gets menstruation related intestinal issues, the ability to just have an actual fucking door, and some goddam privacy is awesome. Gender neutral bathrooms benefit everyone. And back to the parents/caretakers of children thing, imagine if you’re a dude who’s out with a fairly young daughter or niece, what the hell do you do if there’s no family or gender neutral washroom? Use the womens’ and deal with the weird looks and/or comments, or chance it with the guys bathroom? Gender neutral bathrooms solve dozens of problems at once, including partially eliminating a need for family washrooms, as a gender neutral bathroom with change tables would take care of all that.

[leebrontide]

ALSO, this addresses the CONTINUING issue of changing tables only being in women's bathrooms, which honestly in 2025 is just fucking embarrassing.

[tilthat]

TIL “Yankee Doodle” was written by the British to mock americans. “Doodle” is thought to come from the German “dödel”, meaning “fool” or “simpleton” and “macaroni,” a flamboyantly stylish type of dress, painting the Yankees as morons who thought placing a feather in one’s cap made them a “dandy.”

via reddit.com

[toastpotent-deactivated20250619]

so you’re telling me that “stuck a feather in his hat and called it macaroni” would be like saying “wrote a G on his belt and called it gucci”

[beggars-opera]

that’s…a pretty good analogy actually

[ti-bae-rius]

US moron came to town

Hunting for some coochie

Wrote a G up on his belt

And this bitch called it Gucci

[ti-bae-rius]

Seeing my notifications get flooded with this every July 4th is the only thing I respect about America

[depsidase]

[bisexualmindcabin]

Rewatched The Good Place for the first time since s4 dropped and. Oh my god. The Good Place said "people are a result of their environment but we always have a moral responsibility to be better" and The Good Place said "every day the world gets a little more complicated and it gets a little harder to be good" and The Good Place said "even in the face of total nihilism, when nothing you do will matter, you still have to at least try. Because trying is better than the alternative" and The Good Place said "if you have bills to pay and shit to deal with you don't have time or energy to become a better person" and then The Good Place really said "people get better when they get external love and support. How can we hold it against them when they don't " and THEN The Good Place really said "no one is irredeemable. Everyone can try to be better today than they were yesterday" AND THEN! The Good Place said "Heaven is just enough time with the people that you love" OH MY FUCKING GOD.

[alexaloraetheris]

More people could stand to watch the Good Place

[enbyzombies]

how are you people alive.

[ivebeensetonfire]

theres an old cold war joke that goes like this: a KGB agent and a CIA agent meet up for drinks off the clock, and after a few drinks they start to talk shop. the CIA agent extols the strength of the Party's propaganda, "All your citizens believe the propaganda! it's incredible! So little dissent." and the KGB responds, "No my friend no, we are good at what we do, but you are the true masters of the art. No one at all questions your propaganda!" to which the CIA agent says, confused, "What do you mean? We don't have propaganda?"

[facts-i-just-made-up]

What determines luck?

According to the Talmudic Mishna, it's is a result of tiny beings in our cells called "Mazel-chrolrians" that secrete a force that determines luck. The earliest Amoraim of the Gemara have no comments, but later generations including Rabbi Abbahu felt this was an unnecessary addition to the Hebrew Canon, stating that the mysteries of Hashem are not for us to know and that this only weakened the Torah by attempting to make it "Hard Sci-Fi" at the cost of the Jewish fandom.

Rashi expands on this to state, "Always two there are, a Schlemiel and a Schlimazel. But which is the Schlemiel... And which is the Schlimazel?"