[doyoulovethewayzeylily]

you'll feel like a total dipshit train wreck and no matter what some girl is gonna see you and think "role model". you can't kill yourself you have to go be clocky in the gas station so a 14 year old can have the trajectory of her life altered forever

[duchessvongooseberg]

as annoying as it is to work fast food, at my previous job one time a kid recognized the theta delta pin on my hat and was so fucking excited because i was the first other therian they had ever encountered offline.

"hey....are you a therian?" "yeah!" "what kind of animal?" "eh, some kinda dog" "😲😀 im like a wolf coyote hybrid" "that's fuckin awesome"

to be weird is to cast lifelines all around you

[doyoulovethewayzeylily]

tags from @k1ntsug1-r0b0t-g1rl

what really drives me nuts is that like. this happens an average of x times per year as a visibly weird person, but we only get made aware of it a small fraction of the time. you can't kill yourself you have to be clocky in the gas station.

[analog-delight]

Being clocky when i was working as a barista was one of my big joys. Being clocky when i was teaching high schoolers how to play the marimba was my reason for being for half a decade. It sucks how scared I am to leave the house I live in now. But I still need to try and be clocky at the grocery store. I wish i had a job to be clocky at. Being visibly me is one of the most radical acts I'm capable of, and I hope that one day we live in a world where it isn't radical at all.

[fleshengine]

Something that really helped ground me in my transisition and helped me kill a lot of my dysphoria was getting on tumblr and being exposed to a bunch of girls who were clocky and happy and stuff. A lot of issues of my evaporated when my mental model for trans women went from "pretty women with millions of followers on tiktok and instagram" to "normal women living their lives."

[creatingblackcharacters]

"Many white people like to think that racism is really just a Southern problem. Sure, there are ignorant people everywhere, and yes- occasionally- racist incidents happen in California or New York, but those are exceptions. The South was the place that wanted slavery, and the rest of the country fought to end it, right? So how bad can it be once you leave the South?

The answer is very bad. Rodney King was not beaten in the South; he was beaten in Los Angeles. Eric Garner was not choked to death in the South; he was choked in New York. Laquan McDonald was not shot sixteen times while walking away from police officers in the South; he was shot in Chicago. I could, to my great despair, go on for quite some time.

Although white people in our progressive cities and towns may pat themselves on the back for having never called anyone a nigger, many of them also hope we will not notice the strict racial segregation of neighborhoods and schools, the overpolicing of Black and brown neighborhoods, the job discrimination, or the persistent racial wealth gaps.

The concept of race in America was created for the subjugation of Black and brown bodies for the seeming benefit of white Americans. There are no pockets of America that are exempt from this. There is no liberal utopia that got a different memo. The story of hardships that people of color have faced in this country does not end when Black people left the South, and the story of white supremacy doesn't stop at the Mason-Dixon line."

Chapter 4- Mediocre, Ijeoma Oluo

[swiftrunnerfelidae]

"Kill your local sex offender!" Oh, you mean the guy who went streaking at his local college football game on a dare one time? That's a sex crime.

"No, I mean-"

Oh, maybe the woman who had to pee in a public park that only had pay toilets, so she tried to hide behind the bushes but got caught? Public urination is a sex crime.

"What? No, I mean-"

Oh, maybe you mean the homeless guy who had to strip down to get his clothes in the laundromat to clean them for the first time in weeks? He tried being subtle, but someone called the cops on him, and now he's on the sex offender registry for public nudity.

"Rapists and pedophiles! Kill rapists and pedophiles!"

Oh, like the trans woman who got called a pedophile groomer for helping a trans kid escape her abusive parents?

Or maybe the black man who got labeled a rapist because he came on to another man's wife, and he decided to get back at him by charging him with rape?

How about the 17 year olds who were fooling around, fully consensually, in one of their bedrooms? That's still technically underage sex and thus rape of a minor.

Oh, or maybe you're talking about the doctor who performed genital reconstructive surgery in a state that just voted to get that classified as rape?

People will do everything they can to get you convinced rape and pedophilia are the worst crimes possible, then accuse whoever they like the least of being either a rapist, a pedophile, or both, counting on you turning on them just for being accused of the crime.

"Oh, so you're saying you don't want to kill a serial rapist?"

That's exactly what I'm goddamn saying.

Once we decide a group is okay to kill, the government will do everything they can to convince you that their political enemies are either part of that group, or just as bad as that group, to get you to kill their enemies for them.

The only way out is to accept every life as worth saving.

[imkeepinit]

Judith Butler, philosopher: ‘If you sacrifice a minority like trans people, you are operating within a fascist logic’

[douche-canoe-regatta]

Hey guys! I've seen a few posts about this but I think people assume it's fake or "free real estate."

Canada's new citizenship law (Bill C-3 passed, early March 2026) dictates that if your grandparent, great-grandparent or great GREAT grandparent was born/spent significant time in Canada, you are now automatically a Canadian citizen and can apply for dual citizenship. You do NOT have to move to Canada to do so.

How do I apply?

First you must gather as much documentation as you can - birth, death, marriage, immigration and any other records showing a direct relative spent significant time in CA. First source documents are imperative, meaning photocopies or internet downloads won't cut it; you'll likely need to travel to CA to procure them. You can hire an immigration lawyer for much of this (especially if you live far away) or do your own research and collection. Once the documents have been accepted and your citizenship verified (current wait time is 10 months) you will receive your passport and dual citizenship status.

If you have or can find relatives from further back - as far back as possible! - you can still apply, but the process may be more time-consuming.

While partners and spouses can't take immediate advantage of the program, you having citizenship will pave the way for them to apply in turn.

As this is such a new program, the wait times are likely to increase significantly - I urge anyone who may be eligible to get started NOW. Even if you don't intend on moving to CA, having citizenship in your back pocket is never a bad idea in These Troubling Times.

[mysweetoddbird]

i actually do think too much emphasis is placed on regret rates in the trans community despite said rates being absurdly low. like even if regret rates were at 90% id still support access to gender affirming care because i think people have the right to do whatever the fuck they want with their own bodies. regret is the price you pay for autonomy man get over it.

[olliemnjones]

[tommyssupercoolblog]

Because the notes are full of people arguing over which game is better

[mindflamer]

honest to god we've got to start naming the elderly as a vulnerable group & calling their disabilities, disabilities. we sugarcoat and distance these things by only calling them "elderly," "old & frail," etc. most of them are disabled.

too many people completely separate disability from themselves in their mind. it's something that happens to other people. other sad people i don't want to think about. are they really even people, it's too much to bear thinking about that happening to a person... those background characters over there. it would never be me, i can't cope with thinking about that possibility.

this mass denialism of the fragility of the human body (YOUR human body) has created a whole category separate from the disabled - the "elderly." since anyone can join it if they live long enough.. no they can't be disabled. that's scary, and worse it's political. so they are just "old." so what they lost their hearing, their mobility, their heart function? that's just how it goes for old people. as if that's not a person as real as you. as if you wouldn't be devastated if that happened to you today (and it can btw). as if you won't be when it's your turn to be old, and disabled.

simultaneously the disabled are dehumanized as not people, and the elderly are dehumanized as not disabled. so the illusion of disability as separate can be upheld.

[artsekey]

Listen to me. I. Will die. On this hill.

My grandparents lived to 98 and 103. Read that again— 98 and 103. My grandmother died 5 months ago and was born in 1923.

She was extremely wealthy. My grandfather left her millions. She paid about 13,000 a month for her care.

And her nurses abused her. She could do nothing. She could not speak for herself, feed herself, clothe herself, and the humiliation they made her endure was disgusting. When she tried to express discomfort, they gave her drugs to “keep her calm” (keep their shift easy). We fought like HELL to hold that fucking place accountable. The only reason we were aware is because we hired a private nurse on her behalf, too.

The elderly are a massive, extremely vulnerable, and disabled group. You cannot leave them out of your advocacy, you cannot leave them out of the conversation. “They’re loud, they smell, they’re opinionated, they’re rude, they make me uncomfortable”. I don’t care. I don’t care! They need your advocacy too! I want you to think, if my grandmother— who was in the best retirement home she could afford, with a personally hired third-party nurse to step in where the other carers failed, had such abhorrent care… what about everyone else? What about all the elderly who don’t have a support system?

Don’t leave them out.

[probuccalfat]

every time a young gay person quits smoking or makes the decision that they want to quit, the sun shines on us all with the promise of happiness and beauty.

[probuccalfat]

i appreciate everybody that’s sharing the sentiment that it’s good for anyone to quit smoking (it is) but i very specifically wanted to highlight and encourage LGBTQ youth because lesbian, gay, and bisexual people are about 1.5 to 2.5 times more likely to smoke cigarettes than heterosexual people, and the statistics for transgender people are even higher than cisgender people. this is due to tobacco companies marketing heavily and aggressively to LGBTQ communities and exploiting the higher rates of mental health struggles prevalent in our communities.

i want and hope to see all my LGTBQ people live long, healthy, fulfilled lives despite how predatory and punishing this world can be. you should stay around as long as you can to make it a little better in your own way.

[once-a-polecat]

It's also important for people in the LGBTQ community because we often have less family & community support in old age, when the consequences of smoking become most dire.

[mumblesplash]

no but the “”ai”” boom is crazy bc they made the entire internet so shitty that the only reason to use it is because it’s where all the people are and now they’re getting rid of the people. like i’m straight up logging off and going to the library there’s nothing on here anymore

[mumblesplash]

‘here’s how to tell if an image is ai’ ‘signs the person you’re talking to is a bot’ ‘how to tell if a song is ai generated’ ah but consider this: i am shutting my laptop and walking outside

[jedusaur]

I saw a bsky post last year where someone said their grandma couldn't tell what was real on the internet anymore so she stopped using it and I really, genuinely think the techbros currently ruining everything have never even considered that possibility. their projections and pie charts and market share research and whatever simply do not take into account a scenario where people lose interest in being online. like yeah we're pretty much all gonna keep using the internet to book travel and look up words and order pizza, but in terms of how we spend our leisure time? I'm still extremely online, but in the last few years I've been learning candlemaking and carpentry and sewing, and I was already spending a lot of time cooking and reading books and skating at the rink and hiking, and an afternoon spent on any of those things always leaves me feeling better about myself than an afternoon spent doomscrolling. I think my daily life is going to keep reflecting that more and more as the slop encroaches, and it sounds like I'm far from the only one feeling that way. silver lining to everything, I suppose.

[recently-reanimated]

[ladyshinga]

Really wish we'd, on the left, stop laughing and assuming this is ACTUALLY about strippers. I'd be willing to bet this ISN'T about some one with the actual job of stripper being somehow hired and sent to a school, that indeed DOESN'T happen - instead it will be used to target any female teacher who, like, wears a bikini on social media one time. She'll be called a "danger" to children and fired, as a cover for the fact that she's pro-queer or too far left or doesn't support ICE enough on that same social media. The bikini pic will just be the legal tool used to ruin her life

[ladyshinga]

A friend helped me out by looking up the actual bill and YUP, it's to target queer people and sex education. NOT. STRIPPERS. STOP MAKING IT ABOUT THE FUCKING "STRIPPERS".

[theshampyon]

Anyone who thinks ladyshinga might be off track, here's the breakdown.

Actual bill name: Stop the Sexualization of Children Act.

Purported purpose: "to protect children from being exposed to explicit material in the classroom".

How it's sold in the press: "Ban strippers and porn from classrooms!"

Actual text of the bill: Expands the meaning of "sexually explicit content" to include the words "or involves gender dysphoria or transgenderism".

Not and. Or. Meaning "involves gender dysphoria or transgenderism" is in and of itself enough to be classified as sexually explicit.

Actual result: Illegal to mention the existence of trans people or admit to being trans in a classroom under threat of being prosecuted as a child sex offender.

[philcollinsenjoyer]

saying this in a soft tone but i dislike this presentation of artemis 2 in the least political way possible as a wholesome and uncomplicated win for humanity as a whole like it's not american propagandism of the highest and most vulgar degree

[voicelessv]

"For me, the most ironic token of [the first human moon landing] is the plaque signed by President Richard M. Nixon that Apollo 11 took to the moon. It reads: "We came in peace for all Mankind." As the United States was dropping 7 ½ megatons of conventional explosives on small nations in Southeast Asia, we congratulated ourselves on our humanity. We would harm no one on a lifeless rock."

Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space

[ash-rigby]

[ash-rigby]

some additions 👊💥

[anarchistmemedistro]

[iverna]

I've seen a few comments now like "but without chatGPT I don't know what to make for dinner" or "but character.ai is vital to my mental health" and those are not arguments for genAI. They're signs that you need to sort yourself out.

An adult human being should be able to decide what to have for dinner. Yes, some days it's rough and you don't wanna, but the point is, you can do it. And if you can't, you can learn. Hell, make post-it notes with dinner options, stick them on a dart board, and on days when you really can't decide, throw a dart.

You'd really rather put these decisions in the hands of an AI? As in, a company? And you don't see the issues with that? You don't see how easy that makes it for companies to manipulate you, influence your choices and your spending and your entire life?

And if your mental health relies on talking to a robot about your issues "because it listens and cares" - no, it doesn't. It can't listen. It can't care. It's lying to you. It's parroting phrases said by other people in similar contexts. It's an elaborate predictive text machine.

And again, you're just giving all of this information about yourself to a company. A company that wants to make money and likely has no compunctions about selling your data. You're trusting a software run by a company. And you don't think that'll be used to manipulate you? I've got a bridge to sell you.

What you need is actual human connection with other humans. And if you don't know how to connect with other humans then it's time to learn. Start by caring about other people. Take a genuine interest in them. Listen to them. That's how you connect. Not by treating others as entities to dump all your issues on or monologue at about your boring life. Sure, character.ai will put up with that and humour you, but there's literally nothing genuine about it and you will never ever learn to make actual friends.

Relying on genAI for any of this means you'll never learn, in fact you'll get worse, and if genAI ever goes away or you find yourself without access to a computer/phone/internet or the people running chatGPT or character.ai take down the website or put it behind a paywall, you'll be completely adrift. You are handing control of your life over to a piece of software run by a business. Instead of developing skills and independence you're just handing control over to someone else, someone who by the way does not care about you, someone who's only here to make money.

"But some people need--" to stop infantilising themselves, to start taking responsibility and control of their own life, to realise that they have agency and power, to learn that agency and control are not the same as blame and guilt and that someone trying to help them reclaim control is not trying to blame them for their situation.

People, yes even people with your exact diagnosis or background or medical history, were living and making decisions and dealing with their issues and going to therapy and learning and coping for millennia prior to 2022. As in, before genAI was even an option. You can do it. Trust me.

[preheville]

‘Pokémon Go’ players unknowingly trained delivery robots with 30 billion images

The massive crowdsourcing effort could use real-world to help robots deliver pizza.

😃

[absolutebirth]

dude shoshana zuboff talks at length about pokemon go in her book surveillance capitalism, not only about how niantic used pokemon go for data mining-- like this article is talking about-- but also how it was used for direct behavior modification. starbucks was the first brand to make a deal with niantic. every starbucks became a pokestop, and so suddenly you were digitally incentivized to go to starbucks-- go enough times for the pokestop and you just become someone who goes to starbucks. plus niantic's ceo was literally the former lead of Google's Geo division (which handles google's maps/earth programs)

[rohirric-hunter]

I love how the article packages it as a fun trivia thing -- helping pizza delivery robots! -- when it's actually people being tricked into contributing to mass surveillance by being exploited for free labor 👍

[rohirric-hunter]

The notes on this post are really interesting, anyway I think everyone should make a point to call their offline boomer mom or someone in that vein and tell them about the Honey scandal or something because when I told my mom about that (framed as 'I'm getting advertising emails from HONEY of all places the ABSOLUTE nerve') it really opened my eyes as to how little the average non-Tumblr person knows about the way they're exploited in the digital world AND gave me a new appreciation for just how scummy it is because people who are not locked into that area of life really are clueless about it and completely unable to make informed decisions about how they are used by corporations.

[rohirric-hunter]

Please tell me we don't actually believe, "It was in the TOS," is an actual defense in the court of public opinion

[thehmn]

Wait…why are busses depicted as a dangerous way to commute in American media?

I never really thought about it before but busses are one of the safest ways to commute to work I can imagine. I’m not ever worried when I take the train but if I had to pick which I’d feel more safe on it would be the bus.

I used to travel between towns late at night when I was a teenager/young adult woman and it would be straight up cozy and a nice way to end my day.

I think a bus feels safter to me because the driver is always right there in case something happens, while you’re kinda on your own on a train late at night.

[aetherograph]

So did you ever see Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Remember the plotline about the Red Car trolley being bought out and dismantled by Cloverleaf, and the villain's Big Reveal that they planned to demolish Toontown and put a highway through it, and people would use it because the Red Car trolley wasn't there to use anymore and so they'd be FORCED to buy a car?

That really happened, in the US. Only instead of the villain being an evil cartoon posing as a judge, the villain was General Motors and Ford and all the big car companies. They bought public transit lines and dismantled them. They lobbied congress to fund the interstate highway system and they CONTINUE to lobby the us govt to keep trains and public transit from having any money, while making sure the roads get lots of it. They are responsible not only for the dismantling of public transit but also the public's perception that public transit is bad and even dangerous.

American media thinks busses and trains are dangerous because the car companies have spent DECADES and billions of dollars on propaganda making sure Americans think that so they will continue to buy cars and not question how much roads and highways have destroyed the landscape.

[alessandriana]

ICE to Buy Tool that Tracks Locations of Hundreds of Millions of Phones Every Day

Documents show that ICE has gone back on its decision to not use location data remotely harvested from peoples' phones. The database is upda

Stolen from the Electronic Frontier Foundation:

[mikkeneko]

Here's a link to the EFF page that contains this information:

How to Disable Ad ID Tracking on iOS and Android, and Why You Should Do It Now

The ad identifier - aka “IDFA” on iOS, or “AAID” on Android - is the key that enables most third-party tracking on mobile devices. Disabling

On Android 

With the release of Android 12, Google began allowing users to delete their ad ID permanently. On devices that have this feature enabled, you can open the Settings app and navigate to Privacy > Ads. Tap “Delete advertising ID,” then tap it again on the next page to confirm. This will prevent any app on your phone from accessing it in the future.

On iOS 

To see which apps you have previously granted access to, go to Settings > Privacy > Tracking. You can set the “Allow apps to Request to Track” switch to the “off” position (the slider is to the left and the background is gray). This will prevent apps from asking to track in the future. If you have granted apps permission to track you in the past, this will prompt you to ask those apps to stop tracking as well. You also have the option to grant or revoke tracking access on a per-app basis.

Apple has its own targeted advertising system, separate from the third-party tracking it enables with IDFA. To disable it, navigate to Settings > Privacy > Apple Advertising. Set the “Personalized Ads” switch to the “off” position to disable Apple’s ad targeting.