birdie-does-sci-fi

[birdie-does-sci-fi]

I used to say stuff like “antizionism does not equal antisemitism” so I could be respectable or whatever, but no, you know what, it is antisemitism.

If you believe Israel doesn’t have the right to exist because of bad things Israel has done or is currently doing, and you don’t apply this logic to any other country, you are singling out Israel because it is the only Jewish state. You are antisemitic.

“But no, I don’t think Israel should be wiped off the map, I’m an antizionist because I don’t blindly support all the actions of the Israeli government.” That’s not what Zionism is. You are taking a word created by Jews to describe a Jewish thing and ignoring the definition that Jews say this word has, and you probably believe that doing this to any other minority is wrong, ergo, you are antisemitic.

The only thing I can sort of respect is if you are an antizionist by virtue of thinking all nation states should be destroyed. I think your beliefs are utterly ridiculous, but I appreciate the consistency of holding the Jewish state to the same standard you hold all states.

[birdie-does-sci-fi]

[birdie-does-sci-fi]

GUYS. DID YOU KNOW YOU CAN WRITE CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE FICS ON AO3

[birdie-does-sci-fi]

I thought y'all would like to see some of the worst AI generated "Hannukah" products on Temu that I could find.

I like it. Shout out to that one monstera leaf, all alone in that vase. 5/10 hold it together for the hannam season monstera.

"There are not enough candles on the hannukah menorah" the Jews complain. That's OK, have....13! That's probably about right! 9/10 would have rated it less but then I read you can also use it for weddings AND birthdays, so special.

Shana tova! Oh, no, sorry. Rosh Hashana! Oh, no, not that either... uh, happy 60th anniversary? Congrats on your....blue apples. 10/10 extremely confusing and hurtful to the brain.

This is the best one. The way there is a Christmas tree, no hannukaniah, but MAYBE a basket full of Torah fondant scrolls and some gold coins? No notes. Chag sameach specluc! 11/10 specluc.

[birdie-does-sci-fi]

[birdie-does-sci-fi]

every time i ask people if they do any new years resolutions its all ooooo i dont like making them bc i fail or ohhhhh no i couldnt keep up wiht that and then when they ask me and i tell them about Pasta Quest (i am eating as many different pasta shapes as possible in the space of a year) or when i did Fruit Adventures (every time i saw a fruit i had never eaten before id get one and eat it and read the wikipedia article about it) theyre like hang on i forgot you can make Fun Ones i want a fun one

[birdie-does-sci-fi]

A strange alien doctor stands near the unconscious body of Padme Amidala. “It appears she has lost the will to live.” A older man with a limp hobbles closer with the aid of a cane. “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,” says Dr. Gregory House.

[birdie-does-sci-fi]

Hold their feet to the fire

[birdie-does-sci-fi]

once again wishing there was something kinda LIKE harry potter but like.

without the shitty author, aimed at an older audience, and also not conflating the "older audience" part with "making it lean way too heavily into being depressing, cynical and over-reliant on dark comedy"

and ALSO not something where you can only find it by hunting down some indie book with a miniscule fandom, thereby making you feel like you're just screeching annoyingly into the uncaring void once you want to actually talk about it.

[birdie-does-sci-fi]

There’s a bunch of right-wing people posting memes about “”DOGE”” making the government more efficient by removing funding from “”dumb bug researchers”” and I am now realizing how little the average person knows about entomology and its importance

Excuse me while I get sad .

[birdie-does-sci-fi]

This too shall pass but like holy fuck

[birdie-does-sci-fi]

I'm certain this is on Tumblr somewhere, but I haven't seen it around, so I'm sharing it myself

[birdie-does-sci-fi]

Reblog for a miracle to happen tonight

[birdie-does-sci-fi]

[birdie-does-sci-fi]

IF YOU LIVE IN THE US AND WOULD RATHER NOT DIE FROM BEING HIT BY A CAR

please submit a comment on the NHTSA proposal to implement pedestrian safety test requirements for cars and trucks!!

It would finally make manufacturers design vehicles that are safer for pedestrians and cyclists, instead of the massive wall-of-steel front ends that are excessively deadly for no reason. Europe already has rules like this, but unless we comment in approval, they're not going to do anything to halt the increasing pedestrian deaths in our country.

And please share, even if you don't live in the US!

[birdie-does-sci-fi]

My dream for the election is that it’s definitive. I want a 2012-style Election Day where everyone built it up beforehand to possibly be close but then the results start rolling in and it was like “Oh, nevermind. It’s obviously Obama. Everyone go to bed.”

I just want voters to put a stake right through the heart of Trumpism so that it crumbles to ash before our eyes. That’s the dream.

[birdie-does-sci-fi]

Like, getting political for a moment. A thing a lot of people need to understand is that, ultimately, rules only exist if they are enforceable. The mechanism of enforcement is what determines the realness of a rule.

If you're playing Monopoly and you decide that being in Jail sucks so you move your piece to Go and call it a tunneling loophole, there's nothing built into the game to actually stop you from doing that. Other players yelling at you and banishing you from the table is how the rule is enforced. But if they don't, if they let you do that, then I'm sorry but that's just how the game is played now. If you're allowed to do it then it's not against the rules.

We all instinctively understand that when you're running track, you're not supposed to cross the lines into someone else's lane. But the lines are not a wall. They're not physically preventing you from doing anything. If you decide you want to run into the lane to your right and jump-kick the other racer, you physically can do that.

The line on the ground is a social construct. It's part of the magic circle; A thing that takes on special meaning, even psychological power, so long as we exist within its play space. But it's not real, and it only has power if somebody comes over and drags you off the field for striking that other racer.

At the highest echelons of power, a lot of what "can" and "can't" be done are actually just the boundaries of a magic circle with few real enforcement mechanisms. The President can't do that. But. Like. Who's going to stop him if he does?

The biggest thing we learned during the Trump Presidency was just how many restrictions on government power are illusory. Trump spent his four years in office testing the limits of what he can and can't do. Stepping over the lines of the magic circle to see which ones had enforcement mechanisms and which were merely decorative. And revealing that an alarming number were decorative.

Because the thing about the highest offices, about POTUS and SCOTUS and Congress, is that they're the highest offices. There's nobody above them. The only check on their power is each other and, contrary to what high school social studies might tell you, those checks aren't very strong at all.

Trump wants to redefine the game rules to be dictatorial. The magic circle says he can't do that. But the only factor that truly decides whether he can or can't is whether the other players at the table will let him do it. And if you listen to the way Republican Congressmen talk, it's not reassuring.

There are no executive super-cops who will arrest Trump if he breaks the rules. The Avengers are not going to show up and stop him from continuing to reconfigure the magic circle to his liking. The only thing, the only true restriction on his power, is the vote. It's the fact that we, as a population, get to make a choice as to whether or not he even gets to sit back down at the table to play again at all.

In a democracy, voters are the enforcement mechanism. Let's try and remember that when November comes around.