Alt Blog of @nitpickrider
For whatever other fandom stuff I want to reblog or comment on.
Keeping my main blog uncluttered.
We Support Jews Here.
In my second Brony Era. No It's NOT ending any time...ever.
Ok ok. Obviously there are some nuances, because race is a social construct, and Argentina is the victim of American imperialism in part because it is seen as an ethnic other. But Argentina is nearly entirely of European descent, so pretending that itâs like, the decolonial option is comical because itâs basically the exact same as Canada or Australia. You donât need to speak English to be a colonizer.
Starting to think all the backlash to the idea of the trolley problem is just people trying to hide the fact that, deep down, they know they would be too scared to pull the lever.
I suppose one of the advantages I've gained from having been in the military is that I went from a suspicion I would have the conviction to make those kinds of calls, an absolute certainty that I do have it. I've held lives in my hands, but thankfully I rose to my training and my convictions. I chose the best of the options I had available to me at the time.
There is nothing shameful about being too afraid of making the decision, in my view. But yeah, it's cowardice to project your anxiety by claiming the philosophical quandary itself is meaningless.
No reason to wonder. A ton of people openly bragged about how morally pure they were for not pulling the lever in 2024. They just hate it when you contextualize it like that and insist they were taking a third option to sound less terrible when their actions are 1:1 compared to the thought experiment.
If anything, the reason I reject it is because I consider the thought experiment ITSELF to be cowardly.
All human lives are worth the same amount, and any LOSS of human life is as large a tragedy as any other amount of lost human life. You aren't doing a GOOD thing by condemning one person to die to save four more, you're not even doing a BETTER thing. It might be the more valuable thing in a coldly utilitarian point of view, but from my moral stance death is death. You don't get to compare and contrast your way out of that.
No, I'd pull the damn thing. There'd just be no moral improvement for it, just a cold utilitarian one. Morally speaking, both options are as damning as each other
Hearing people describe Ashkenazi Jews as "white" meanwhile I've literally had a black-skinned Hijabi acquaintance come right up to me in college and wish me Eid Mubarak.
I've been variably pinned as Turkish, Arab, Greek, and Lebanese. Or failing that, quizzical looks from people asking me "What ethnicity are you? You don't quite look white but I can't tell what."
I look like somebody whose ancestors are from the Levant. And that's because my ancestors are from the Levant. I have tanned skin, thick dark eyebrows, thick dark curly beard. People say I look like I come from some Mediterranean country because my ancestors do in fact come from some Mediterranean country.
I've said this before, but my 99.9% ashkenazi father was actually consistently victim of anti-Arab racial profiling in the early 2000s during the era of post 9/11 security theater. As soon as he grew a beard (thick and curly, as you say, the parts that weren't gray very dark) he matched the stereotype so well that he got "randomly selected" for security theater at-the-airport-gate second security screening every time he flew.
He ended up having to shave his beard purely so he wouldn't suffer from anti-Arab racism despite, y'know, the only nonashkenazi ancestor 23&me was able to identify being some unknown western European about a dozen generations back.
Almost like ashkenazim look so middle eastern Americans have trouble distinguishing us from other middle eastern groups.
Leftists don't seem to like the idea of equal protections under the law in general, but a big reason WHY is because it keeps them from hating Jews as publically as they would like to
Regular reminder in light of the popularity of that article about entryism subverting the DSA and now the democratic party that that is not the only front:
The new threat to Judaism from political missionaries
Like genuinely, if I see one more person, but especially one more queer person, whipping out "Lady G" or photoshopping big tits on Graham or making the most fucking boring-ass poppers jokes, I'm gonna fucking lose it.
You can talk about the fact that it's really fucked up that his frequenting of gay sex workers was an "open secret," as was his sexuality full stop, without making jokes that boil down to "hahaha look at the faggot."
Starting to think all the backlash to the idea of the trolley problem is just people trying to hide the fact that, deep down, they know they would be too scared to pull the lever.
I suppose one of the advantages I've gained from having been in the military is that I went from a suspicion I would have the conviction to make those kinds of calls, an absolute certainty that I do have it. I've held lives in my hands, but thankfully I rose to my training and my convictions. I chose the best of the options I had available to me at the time.
There is nothing shameful about being too afraid of making the decision, in my view. But yeah, it's cowardice to project your anxiety by claiming the philosophical quandary itself is meaningless.
No reason to wonder. A ton of people openly bragged about how morally pure they were for not pulling the lever in 2024. They just hate it when you contextualize it like that and insist they were taking a third option to sound less terrible when their actions are 1:1 compared to the thought experiment.
If anything, the reason I reject it is because I consider the thought experiment ITSELF to be cowardly.
All human lives are worth the same amount, and any LOSS of human life is as large a tragedy as any other amount of lost human life. You aren't doing a GOOD thing by condemning one person to die to save four more, you're not even doing a BETTER thing. It might be the more valuable thing in a coldly utilitarian point of view, but from my moral stance death is death. You don't get to compare and contrast your way out of that.
i have a longstanding suspicion they think their job is "make skinny people feel good about seeing a number on a tag" not "assist people in locating clothing that fits them"
(because why else would 'vanity sizes' be the standard method of doing this?? is it rlly so much to ask that the numbers on a pair of trousers match the actual circumference and length of said trousers smh)
Hi hello! A writing discord I'm in shared your thread about golems and that's how I discovered Kabbalah is a closed practice. On that note, I'm working on a fan oc for a game that uses Kabbalah for name inspiration(Chinese companies stop using closed practices challenge failed forever).
Because I didn't know Kabbalah is a closed practice, I was going to use the name Keter for a weapon since another character's weapon is named Thaumiel. The two are intended to be a pair.
Should I keep the name Keter or change it?
Keter literally means crown đ in Hebrew if that also influences your naming scheme, the crown is also a symbol of divinity. Thaumiel according to "hermetic Kabbalah" occultists is the state of being separate from G-d. Which to put it mildly feels like people who weren't Jews inverting Jewish culture to be edge lords.
"Hermetic" Kabbalah is a bastardisation of Jewish tradition by western occultists and Thaumiel crowns the "tree of death" which lists the names of demons as though they were holy, which is again a bastardisation of the Eyn Sof which shows interconnecting aspects of G-d.
I can't tell you what to do with this information, but as you can imagine, I'm not a fan of the so-called "hermetic Kabbalah"
Running into someone who is very excited to tell you that they "practice Kabbalah" is honestly so grating. No you don't, none of what you do is Kabbalah.
Ran into a disability support worker like this one time... The worst.
It wasnât long after Hamas carried out its attack on Israel in Oct 7, 2023, that Taryn Thomas found herself swept up in the chorus of pro-Palestine activists mobilising against the Jewish state.
Even before Israelâs ground invasion of Gaza following the Oct 7 massacre,âI was scrolling through social media, and I only saw support for Palestine,â she recalls. âPeople I know, whether it was activists or people I look up to, were already posting their thoughts.â
Then aged 19 and studying biomedical science at the elite Stanford University in northern California, Thomas, an African American, was first introduced to the anti-Israel movement at Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, where Palestinian flags were flown by some activists. âI never really understood why, but we were told that in order for us to be free, Palestine has to be free,â she says.
She subsequently helped lead large protests against Israel and, within two weeks of Oct 7 2023, had joined an encampment of activists on campus protesting against Israelâs invasion of Gaza. Like many others, she donned a keffiyeh, the headscarf worn to demonstrate solidarity with Palestinians. âI really loved it because of the sense of belonging and the sense of purpose,â she says of the encampment. âIt was like an instant community.â
Besides fellow students, Thomas was encouraged by âfaculty members like history professorsâ who âvalidated the movementâ. âIt seemed like everyone was a lot more educated than me and very certain and sure of themselves that this is a genocide,â says Thomas, who is now 21. âThe only safe position was the more radical one in the encampment.â
âI was confused by what our mission wasâ
Thomas grew up in Riverside County, one of the few Republican counties in the otherwise âvery liberal Californiaâ. That, together with racist abuse at school, influenced her political outlook. âI thought going further to the Left would be the solution to the extremism I was seeing from the Right,â she says.
Huge demonstrations took place at universities across the US in the months that followed Oct 7, with protesters confronting the educational institutions with their demands â including to divest from Israel and cut ties with counterpart Israeli institutions.
While the movement was largely peaceful, some demonstrations turned violent and led to clashes with police. âOne of our protests got out of hand, and that kind of made me take a step back,â says Thomas.
This was in June 2024, when several militant students broke into the office of Stanfordâs president, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage. âThey spray-painted disgusting things, such as âPigs taste best when deadâ, âDeath to Americaâ, âDeath to Israelâ, and âKill copsâ,â Thomas recalls.
âI was confused by what our mission was. At what point did the pro-Palestine movement turn into this anti-Israel, anti-America movement? We completely lost sight of the victims we were claiming to be supporting and fighting for.â
Yet those behind the vandalism âdoubled downâ, she says, and justified their actions, âeven though Jewish students said they felt unsafeâ. She explains: âThey felt like they couldnât go to their classes, they were getting harassed and doxxed [having personal information published online] and things like that. Essentially, we completely lost our minds.â
A drastic change of heart
Then, in October 2024, Thomas was one of many students who received an open invitation to the Nova Music Festival Exhibition in Los Angeles. Recently opened in London, the exhibition aims to recreate the festival site where 413 people were murdered by Hamas, and many more were injured or taken hostage.
Nova exhibition
The recently opened Nova exhibition in London commemorates the 413 young people murdered by Hamas at the festival Credit: Jeff Gilbert
âInitially, I laughed, thinking, âWhatâs this propaganda?ââ Something piqued her interest, however, so she decided to go. âIâd heard about the festival and was curious, but Iâd only really heard the reasoning, âWell, why would you have a festival next to a contested border? Essentially, they were asking for it.â
âI was hoping it was going to reaffirm my position, that I would find Zionist lies and whatever. I went with a very closed mind.â Three hours later, Thomas emerged feeling âso lostâ.
âI experienced a lot of cognitive dissonance â what I was seeing versus what Iâd been told. It was like I arrived a year too late to a funeral. I had so many questions, but I really had no one I could talk to about this. All of my friends were from the encampment. Iâd never met an Israeli or talked to them about their experiences â I was fluent in the stateâs sins, but I was illiterate in its people.â
Seeing pictures and footage of the young festival-goers hit home for Thomas. âThey were kids my age, just dancing, and then fleeing for their lives the next moment. I could see myself in them. I could have been sending a last âI love youâ message to my mum. I felt so much empathy and sadness.â
One element in particular changed everything â an audio clip of a jubilant Hamas fighter phoning his father to let him know heâd killed 10 Jews. âMy heart sank because these [were meant to be] our martyrs. [This was] the resistance we were claiming we wanted. When we called for any means necessary, I didnât realise thatâs what it meant.â
Months later, Thomas was invited on a trip to Israel organised by a group combatting anti-Semitism on campus. âI knew if I was going to continue to speak on this, I needed to see it for myself,â she says.
During the 10-day trip last March, she met with Israelis, Ethiopian Jews, Palestinians, Druze and Bedouin. âI was shocked at how much diversity I saw â I didnât even know Israel had black people,â she said.
On the fourth day, the group had to take cover during a missile attack. âOur guide told us to get on the ground, and I put my hands over my neck and prayed. âI thought about the irony of how Iâd called for the divestment of the very system I was praying for,â she says. âIt [the missile] didnât care about my politics or what I posted or any of that. I was a target, a body on the ground, and I felt utterly useless.â
Fortunately the missile was intercepted and the trip continued, but the experience left Thomas shaken. She says it made her realise âhow cushy and comfortable a lifeâ she had in America, and that sheâd not realised the âreal consequencesâ of what sheâd been calling for.
âIt felt like being stoned publiclyâ
Back home, she posted a picture of her trip online â a decision that cost her dearly. âMy best friend of three years asked, âIs this in Israel?â I said, âYeah, do you want to talk about it?â She immediately blocked me. I hadnât even expressed anything. I literally said I went. Period.â
Her post opened the floodgates. âI lost every single friendâ, while her classmates âposted really disgusting thingsâ, including labelling her a âgenocidal apologistâ. Thomas says she was doxxed, and received death threats and racist abuse â and that her family was also targeted. âIt was like a crusade and felt like being stoned publicly.â
She now takes a dim view of the encampment atmosphere. âIt completely insulates you in this echo chamber and indoctrinates you. If you had any questions, youâd lose your social belonging â the last thing you wanted to be called was a Zionist.â
She adds that the protestersâ âattention turned into this hatredâ and there were constant calls for the ânormalisation of violenceâ. Some activists, for example, celebrated the assassinations of Charlie Kirk, the Right-wing political activist, and Brian Thompson, the UnitedHealthcare chief executive, she says.
The mental toll had become so heavy on Thomas that she stepped away from her studies late last year. What helped get her through this tough period is the new friendships she has formed, including some with Jewish students.
âThey knew I came from the encampments and they engaged with me, intellectually argued with me, disagreed with me, but we still broke bread on Shabbat,â she says. âI learned from my [now] best friend that she was doxxed because of people within our movement. I know I have to repair some of those damages.â
âOpen your heart and put down those megaphonesâ
Thomas says her family are not politically engaged in the issue of Israel and Gaza and she has faced questions from her mother about her involvement. âShe was just like, âWhy are you doing this? It isnât your burden to shoulder.â She just wants her family to be safe and protected.â
But Thomas hopes that by sharing her story it will encourage others to experience the Nova exhibition. âI hope the people who are protesting will come â I just want them to go inside,â she says. âNone of this is political. Just look and learn the stories â you donât have to agree. Come in with an open heart and an open mind and put down those megaphones.â
As for Thomas, she hopes to return to university in September, but in the meantime, she is determined to do what she can to increase cross-community understanding. âA lot of us on the pro-Palestine side were recruited through empathy, so I think we can be reached through it too. Because of this unique perspective I have of what changed my heart, I think I can hopefully change other peopleâs.
âIâm not Jewish. Iâm an African American woman. But a lot of our struggles are parallel,â she says. âWeâre seeing an increase in anti-Semitism, weâre seeing an increase in extremism and political violence. Thereâs just no way that I can now sit back, kick my feet up and call it a day.â
vaporwave
2087
turnnoffyourmind
snowghoul
titsay
