#especiallly everybody

[futurewriter2000]

hey I liked a few of your posts I saw. Was wondering if you could tell me a bit about who I am based on my inner planets?

Leo rising, Scorpio sun, Aquarius moon, Sagittarius mercury and Venus, cancer mars.

hope to hear from you! xx

Hi! I would love to tell you about your placements but you should know that when it comes to astrology, stars and planets tell you a pattern that you work under, it doesn't tell you who you are as a person. You are who you are and you don't need the stars to tell you that.

Now, I am no professional, I am mostly just an astrology hobby geek. Plus, I believe that the ones everybody should be focusing on is Uranus, Neptun and Pluto. They are the big three that nobody really tells you about and they have more power over your life than the other placements.

Let me get a few of my books first because... like I said, I am no professional and I am way in the beginning phase of everything because Astrology is huge, so I'd have to know your houses and degrees and conjunctions to understnd your patterns but I can scratch the surface a bit with what I do know.

So, looking at your placements, I would say that for a person, I would see you as a light blue colour, with a little bit of fiery orange and a tad of deep purple. Now, I know how it sounds but colours do tell a bit of your personality as well. So with that said I will do this a bit of mix up.

Light blue illuminate more your Saggitarius placements and your Aquarius moon. Now, I find both of those signs one of my favorites, especially Aquarius moon. When it comes to that, I'd say that Aquarius moons are quite an intellectual thinkers. You have the power of intellect. Aquarius is an air sign and just like any air sign, they are an intellectual person. From all the threee of air signs, I'd say that they think the most out of them. Aquarius is their own person and they don't need other people to get any validation. When it comes to moon, they are always in a deep thought about everything but they don't show that to the other world. They present themseleves as quite hilarious, always in a goofy, fun mood- which makes them so lovable. They have such a unique personality, the one you meet once in a lifetimes and it stays with you forever. ( I would know, I fell in love with one Aquarius moon).

With you, I'd say that I would fall in love with you as well, if I ever met you. And your Leo Rising and Scorpio sun prove that. Scoripos are known for their intensity and their sexuality. They aren't always hoes- not at all. I haven't met a Scorpio sun that would act like a whore. They just have this magnetic, intense and deep energy. They are also hard-workers and ambitious but with your Cancer in Mars, I'm a little doubtful. Perhaps you are ambitious and a hard worker but when it comes to actually starting things, you might get a bit in a complaining mood or procrastinating energy. As I said Scorpios have that energy to them and with your Leo Rising, it amplifies that. You have the power of the most seductive signs in the Zodiak and the intellect of the smartest of them. You better be using that because your chart is the one that would probably make you a boss and a Black widow, if I can say. YOU BETTER BE USING THAT POWER because if you aren't you should start. You should see how things will start to fall into place for you. Especiallly for your charming Sagitarrius Mercury and Venus. You might jump from a flower to flower, you know, get bored quickly from some people and search for more people. I don't think you'd be making friends hard, but more or so easily. With your Aquarius and Sagittarius placements, I'd say you don't mind cutting people off fast and quickly, except with your Leo Rising, you would enjoy the attention of people and would not want to cut off people very close to your heart. That would probably tear you a bit.

With Leo Rising, I'd say that you are a bright person. Your Aquarius might amplify that mask that Leos like to wear without even knowing they are. They enjoy the company of others, like to take the lead, love to be the center of things but your Aquarius might pull you back a bit in that sense, where it needs its alone time to fill up the batteries and take time to process things in peace. Aquarius are already in an overdrive, that's why they get stressed so easily but Leo Risings, need to keep up with the persona (talking about the fiery orange) as I said and your Cancer mars might be the right dose of that, since Cancers are also bright and loving to engage in social events or gatherings, then go back into their shell for a while with your thinking Aquarius.

When it comes to Saggitarius of you... well... hahaha... umm.. well, Sagitarius, they are adventurists (and also quite spiritual and wise once you get to know them). They have an open mind, a really REALLY open mind, when it comes to Venus and Mercury, you'd search for the adventure in people. That would be the one thing that attracts you. That a bit of material. Saggitarius people like to live on the high foot, you wouldn't see a Sagitarius settling for a hole in the wall of the apartment or something. They love-LOVE money and they would do everything to achieve that. With your ambitous and hard-working Scorpio, you aren't afraid to run some people over to get the things you want. You are driven and excited, also perhaps a bit of a control freak, when it comes to Scorpios. They like to be possessive and a bit revengeful. It's their nature and I can vouch for them that it's pleasing AF when they get that revenge.

God, I wrote so much. Let me know if you want a part two because I love writing these things.

[mizgnomer]

Behind the Scenes of The End of Time (Part 15)

Excerpt from The Writer’s Tale: The Final Chapter by Russell T Davies and Benjamin Cook:

From an e-mail exchange between RTD, Julie Gardner, Tracie Simpson [producer], Peter Bennett [first assistant director] and Andy Pryor [casting director] on what might happen if they can’t get the full list of guest stars booked for this episode.  As of this discussion, the list was: Catherine Tate, Jacqueline King, Bernard Cribbins, Billie Piper, Camille Coduri, John Barrowman, Freema Agyeman, Noel Clarke, Jessica Hynes, Elisabeth Sladen, and Tommy Knight.

From Julie:  The budget is going to be well and truly spent across these episodes. Russell - do you agree, as you’ll be facing a possible rewrite if we fail on this?

From RTD: Oh, of course. Anyone falling out would have a knock-on effect, though. I’ve got to say: If, for example, any one companion said no, then the omission would look weird. It’s inviting a tabloid story saying that we snubbed them, or that they snubbed us. More importantly, for kids, it would just look odd - from the Doctor’s point of view, he’d never leave one of them out! If that happened, we’d have to drop everyone, except Billie and Camille (because that’s going to be a nice coda to the whole of our time on the series), and Donna (because Donna, via Wilf, is more woven into the story). But let’s see, as we go along. If we did lose one of them, then we could try something very clever and have the Doctor looking on from afar with previous footage. Oh, I’m cunning. Easier said than done, mind you.

Having said that, if there’s a problem with Jessica Hynes, then that scene is a bit of a luxury and is independently droppable.

Thank goodness everyone they asked said “Yes!”

Other posts from this set:  [ one ] [ two ] [ three ] [ four ] [ five ] [ six ] [ seven ] [ eight ] [ nine ] [ ten ] [ eleven ] [ twelve ] [ thirteen ] [ fourteen ] (or click on the #whoBtsEot tag)

[welcome-to-green-hills]

I watched sonic2 three times and omg I love this movie soo much it has so much heart and soul and love put into it and each watch I picked up a couple new things each time like the knuckles da wey meme reference at the start, the fact that the plane tails flies is actually the one used at the wedding (I didn't get that the first time!) and I got to really listen to and appreciate the soundtrack too! and appreciate the animation and special effects! (and voice acting!) Also I loved seeing everybody's reaction to SHADOW being revealed! (especiallly all the kids who got excited and all went "omgg shadooooow!!") Just this movie is pretty much everything I wanted it to be and It's definetly a new comfort movie I'm so happy

There was an Uganda Knuckles joke?

I think that Tails taking the Tornado (that’s what I’m going to call it until noted otherwise) could’ve been explained better, but it was still AWESOME to see it and all the modifications to it! I love Shadow! I, along with others, screamed when we saw him on screen! It’s so wonderful to see him a part of the Sonic Cinematic Universe! I have 100% trust in Jeff Fowler that they’ll do him good!

[elbiotipo]

As someone who was raised both Catholic and Evangelical (long story), you can see from a mile away when a non-religious writer tries to write a *religious* character or setting and has no idea how religion or belief works. For example:

A character is supposedly religious, but when faced when extreme distress, tragedy, or danger, they never pray, not once.

Similary, they are never thankful to God (or their respective beliefs) when good things happen to them.

In fact, they don't mention God at all. Which is even weirder with religious beliefs that unlike Christianity, don't have a taboo of "taking the Lord's name in vain" and who invoke God all the time in daily life.

The Church Is Evil. Which, yeah, of course I can see where it comes from. But what I mean by are the setting portray The Church as an institution where everybody is forced into it, nobody really is faithful or wishes to serve God or their religion, nobody goes willingly...

Similarly, no mention whatsoever of the spiritual or emotional component of religion. It's all about The Church as an institution. Peasants don't REALLY believe in God, silly! They go to church because the nobles tell them to!

That goes with that smug little aura of "oh, they don't REALLY believe this don't they like, it's all made up anyways and even they know it". Evil believer characters are of course shown as evil and use religion for power. Good believer characters are a little misguided, they believe in this silly stuff haha! but they're still good, even if dumb lol.

I can't quite explain it, but it's just the feeling of some authors going, especiallly on fantasy settings: "oh of course everybody went to church back then because they were oppressed and dumb, and I have to write an equivalent for it I guess, but they didn't really believe on that stuff, they were just forced on it, not like me, who I am smart, like my characters."

(Yes, I'm looking directly at GRRM. Also, 90% of horror movies.)

On the other side of the spectrum, believer characters who follow All The Rules. Everybody knows that for good or ill, most religious people don't follow every single of their beliefs; some bend to their own personal desires, others don't follow the rules they disagree with or have their personal reasons to do things differently, and some just forget or don't care, but they still believe.

When there's a single monolithic way to believe, both in real life and fantasy settings. I come from Latin America, and there could be whole encyclopedias written about the syncretism of the Catholic Church with native beliefs here. People believe in God, Jesus, and pay homage to Andean dieties like Inti and the Pachamama (associated with the Virgin Mary), spirits and curanderos (which some evangelicals consider witchcraft, despite most curanderos telling you their power comes from God first and foremost), and see no contradiction whatsoever.

By that same token, witch hunting as portrayed in fiction is often based in the Salem Trials, which ocurred in 1692, far, far from the Middle Ages and in the extremely fundamentalist Puritan Colonial US. "Witchcraft" and spiritism have been coeexisting, if uneasily, with exclusive monotheist religions all over the world for millenia, yes, even in medieval Europe; the puritan take on it is far from the only or the mainstream position on it.

Let's not forget all the different denominations and theological debates present in every religion. Just take a small look at the Christological debates or the many denominations of Hinduism. There is just NO way any kind of belief can be monolithic.

In fantasy settings, no mention of religious festivals (which are often an excuse to party) and rituals. For us in modern times it sounds strange, but life in pre-industrial civilization was SET by religious calendars and festivals, they were incredibly important (and still are in rural areas).

Neatly defined polytheist gods every single one with their own portfolio: the Death God, the Sun God, the Sea God, with fixed relationships and heirarchy. In real life, polytheist religions assigned many different roles to their gods (Poseidon was the god of the Sea, Horses, and protector from Earthquakes, just an example) and often changed their power dynamics (see the Egyptian pantheon and Aten, or the cult of Isis (previously a secondary goddess), or how Inti "replaced" Viracocha as the main Andean god when the Incas expanded their empire).

Polytheist religions with no fixed scriptures often have MANY different, sometimes contradictory, ways of interpreting the gods, and often take gods from other cultures and incorporate them into their pantheon, sometimes upholding some gods over others, sometimes even going into montheism or monolatrism. A culture worshipping the same pantheon with no changes for millenia, even centuries, is just silly.

I frankly could go on and on but really...

Yes, you don't have to tell me that there have been major atrocities and suffering commited under the name of religion to justify some of these tropes. I am painfully aware. I do believe that settings with Evil Churches or characters who are supposedly believers but don't mention God at all are dime a dozen, so I'm entitled to complain.

[sisterofthewolves]

WOLFDOGS AS PETS

There seems to be a little heated about wolfdogs on Tumblr (again), and I have gotten a few questions about it, so I thought I would give my opinions on it. And I want to clarify that this is my opinions. I do not have experience with wolfdogs as pets, but I do not think that is required in order to have a valid opinion on something.

DESIGNER BREEDS

To get my point across it is inevitable to not talk about dog breeding. I have a big heart for working dogs -  for breeding dogs for purpose and functionality. I am very against buying dogs for looks or for status. Breedings where purpose is first priority tends to be more serious and knowledge-based, whereas breeds that are bred to be cool/cute/special tends to attract money-driven, shady breeders and clueless dog owners that just want a cool dog. 

In my opinion, wolfdogs are just another designer breed, and personally I do not see a good reason for breeding them. A very large amount of them end up in shelters, and I think people have to ask themselves why that is. I get that it is cool to own an animal that stands out from your regular dog, but that really is not a good reason to buy or breed an animal. It would actually be very interesting to hear what wolfdog owners would give for an answer to that. Why wolfdogs? What do they have that you can’t already find in dog breeds? We already have wolfdogs that are considered dog breeds, such as the saarloos and czech wolfdog. 

ARE WOLFDOGS DANGEROUS AND UNPREDICTABLE?

Again, I am no professional on wolfdogs or owning them, but I would say no - they are not any more unpredictable than dogs, but they are more. More resource guarding, very opinioned and fast on the trigger. If you get a wolfdog and think you an alpha roll it into submission, then you probably have a more dangerous pet than your regular golden retriever. If you are not experienced in reading subtile signs and well educated in dog/wolf language, then you can also probably find yourself in tricky situations when your wolfdog is stiff and growling in front of you. Most dogs are way more forgiving in that way. 

Wolfdogs are not more unpredictable if you know what you are doing, and if you don’t know what your doing, I would say: definitely yes, wolfdogs can be more dangerous/unpredictable than most pet dogs. The same can be said about dog certain breeds too, but it has more to do with the owner’s knowledge and experience than the dog/wolfdog’s actual unpredictabilaty. 

ARE WOLFDOGS GOOD PETS? SHOULD I GET A WOLFDOG?

I think they definitely can be, and I know of good people that take good care of their wolfdogs and live happy lives with them. I think it is important to remember though, that just because some people live happy lives with an animal doesn’t mean that everybody will. For instance the malinois would be a disaster in a lot of families, but work perfectly in others. 

I personally don’t think wolfdogs should be a thing, especiallly since they involve breeding with wild animals. I personally find the breeding of them problematic, just like i find breeding copperdogs, cockapoos, pugs and pitbulls problematic. I think puppy buyers have a huge responsability when it comes to what breeds and breeders we support. So if you ask my opinion on wether to get a wolfdog or not I would advice you not to. If you are going to get a wolfdog, then at least educate your self on them both practically and theoretically. I think it should take years to make a desicion to get an animal of a wolfdog’s calibre. 

[chaotic-lydia]

This is a Charles Deetz appreciation post

I don’t see enough credit for my boy Charlie so here we do!

Charles Deetz who loves so fiercely everybody he becomes attached to

Charles Deetz who loved his wife so much that it pains him just to say her name. That he has to pretend it didn’t happen and carry on because he can’t handle it. Charles Deetz who’d rather stay in denial than accept she’s gone.

Charles Deetz the incredible dad, who has been given this title of being a poor dad because the musical is from Lydia’s perspective and... well, he’s in mourning. Charles Deetz who goes out of his way to put space between his daughter and anybody who he deems a threat. Charles Deetz who BEGS Lydia to come to him so they can escape Beetlejuice and braves a haunted house just to get her back. Charles Deetz who JUMPS INTO HELL to make sure his daughter is safe. He never gives up on Lydia, he’s so patient with her; he’s just in a different stage of denial. He wants his family back.

Charles Deetz who falls passionately in love with Delia. Who shows that there is another chance. That love is not reserved for teenagers and people in their 20s — you can be head over heels in middle age too. Who finds her quirks strange but doesn’t judge because... she’s a great person and he loves her. He opens his heart and trusts her (like with the Otho thing)

Charles Deetz who doesn’t know how to express his emotions. Who feels the need to hide his feelings, to appear stoic and strong whether or not that’s what’s good for himself and Lydia. He hurts himself more and more because he refuses to acknowledge that he’s hurting at all. Please can somebody give this guy a hug? He makes me heart hurt.

Charles Deetz who’s content to share his daughter with these two ghosts who live in his house. Who doesn’t push or get jealous because Lydia loves them and the Maitlands love her. If that’s what makes her happy then he’s happy. It means he has somebody he can trust to look after his daughter when he’s away. Somebody with genuinely good attentions.

Charles with all of his flaws, but his acknowledgement that those flaws make him whole. He’s trying so hard to keep his family life in check along with a slowly suffering career (I’m taking this from the movie but I think it fits, especiallly after the bit with Maxie D: “I was never going to invest in your stupid gated community”). He’s tries so hard and I love him.

In conclusion: GIVE MORE CREDIT TO CHARLES DEETZ. HE’S SO SOFT AND NEEDS MORE LOVE. THANK YOU.

[ziracona]

Can we get more detail about the Christmas party at the end of ILM, since tis the season? Any info about future Christmases?

Sure! What would you like to know? Just skimming through the time, I know I have mentioned some of these before, but:

Anna arrived and tackled Michael /through/ a wall because she thought he was hurting her son. This is how they met. Wildly, they vibed well after.

Anna recognized Philip immediately and was all “:DDD!!!!” And he was all “ (’•n•`;)” and got hug jumped with no gd clue why or that he knew her. Anna was ecstatic to see him again. Philip, after hearing how she met him, regained a few orphaned memories of the event lile he did being captured in the lab, and while not anything like a full recolection, was very happy to get a little back.

They put on Dirty Dancing the second to last day of the trip, and it was amazing. Made some super basic quick sets out of stuff in the house, and did costumes, and it was goofy but amazing and they worked hard and it’s a treasured memory for everyone. (Also it was a ton of intensive training. Joey was excited he made it into group dance cutoff and was super happy. Also the ‘rents and various family greatly enjoyed. It was recorded from multiple angles, too, and Jane edited a cut with various imput (mostly from Ace and Meg), and they all have dvd copies. It’s a fun goofy holiday rewatch now.

Massive dinner. With like, a wildly varied buffet with a ton of different cultural backgrounds. Everything was amazing but Adam did a hot pot that went empty almost immediately and then was requested every year after and he doesn’t talk about it but it made him really happy because he worked hard learning to do that in prep and even Min and Jane who have the most refined pallets liked it a bunch. Incredible mess from making desserts and decorating them. Jeff is baked goods king.

Stuff was easier with Legion, but still kind of awkward. It was okay though, and sometimes really good, and it was sucessful enough to be an important and valuable memory to the lot of them.

Philip’s family had a bunch of fun and got to meet everyone else for the first time (had met quite a few before but it was the first time with everyone). Isa absolutely roasted his brother and Philip died but he’s okay now. Sometimes siblings just be like that and what can you do. Mostly, he was just incredibly thrilled to see them and have good stories to tell and to have enough money himself to help the people he loves financially and buy nice gifts a little too. Philip made a bunch of his gifts by hand because he is very good at sewing, and his gifts are always increidbly popular.

Most of the gang in attendance played live mafia in the Indiana House and it was the wildest fucking thing it went way too hard people were losing it like they were in a world championship or shooting an impromptu horror film. They all had a ball and almost everyone was like “Yo lets do it again 👀.” (When I say they went hard I mean one time Jake was a killer, from upstairs saw Kate making a run for the safe room on the ground floor, and he fucking jumped off the second story onto her to get her and could easily have injured either of them but I mean it’s Jake and Kate so they were fine but like. It was that level of unhinged almost from the start. Ace had a terrifying like Wicked Witch of the West classic scream laugh he did both as killer and when found to startle the killer and it was both horrifying and incredibly effective. Meg saw him do that to Tapp once and she laughed so hard she cried bc of his reaction).

Big old OG campfire style blankets and pillows on the floor slumber party Christmas Eve. :’-] The OG crew always kind of misses the community vibe they so crucially depended on, and they feel really safe and happy when they get to relive it. They need it sometimes.

Uhhhh as far as future Christmases go, most of the time they meet in the Indiana house for tradition, but sometimes they gravitate around to other places. They got a nice heavy snow a few years in and the young adults made huge snow forts and tried to kill each other in snow battle, and Joey prooved to be an especiallly acomplished snow engineer.

It’s always a big occassion, as are any holidays or events the fam can possibly claim as an excuse to meet up. A lot of them start to develop little traditions, like Meg, Jake, Nea, and Fenf putting up lights on the roof and trees in the most wildly reckless ways possible just climbing on shit chucking lights. The old feral friends crew needed to live their best lives, so they sure do.

The animals get more used to each other the longer the meetups happen. Alex and Michael Cat have a wild almost rivalry friendship going. Also, Alex likes to give Jake gifts and often steals them from other people. Sometimes it’ll be super weird stuff nobody has any idea where it comes from, like one time she gave him a knife (like a little snapped pocket knife blade) and Jake almost lost his shit when his crow came swooping at him cawing excitedly and wielding a blade directly at his arm 🔪. Michael Cat is obsessed with Claudette because she saved him once and always does like an excited announcement myrrp when he sees her and scampers over and just climbs up whatever she is wearing and latches to her top and purrs like the world’s best living brooch for a minute or two. She is used to it now and it makes her very happy.

Overall, they’re just very happy. Sometimes stuff messes up, or people can’t be there, but usually, Christmas is one of several times everybody like including extended fam gets to see everybody else, and so it’s a big favorite time of year. It’s home. :’-) 💙🎄

[5amfries]

Who are your faves in my hero and do you have any burping headcanons for them? :)

i’m an all/might stan all the way. he’s my favorite out of everybody! i like ai/zawa, night/eye and fat/gum too. as for the kids, i really like todo/roki, mo/mo, mi/rio and bak/ugo! i’m probably missing some characters lmao

i don’t really have headcanons for them but here’s some all/might hcs:

all/might would be the embarrassed type, especially since he has really loud, bassy burps (no matter what form he’s in) 

all/might follows the strict hero code which includes not being rude and having some shame/decency and he would like to uphold that code so i can see him kind of not liking belching especiallly in public

but he’s also against it because of how much pleasure he gets from letting out state sized belches, not that he’d let anybody know that

i also see all/might as a stuffer with a sensitive stomach, but he stuffs on accident. being in his bigger form, he can take in a lot, even the food that messes with him, but he suffers once he returns to his true form. after he loses one for all, he forgets that he can’t really do that anymore and will stuff himself and end up gassing out whatever building he’s in

[morlock-holmes]

I’ve seen some of the ink spilled on how men react to #MeToo but I’ve not yet seen anybody directly address the performance anxiety part of it.

The messages I’ve gotten from the current moment have been: 1) All the old methods for asking women out, or making sexual overtures are outdated, patriarachal, sexist and oppressive.

2) But straight women will still generally expect men to make the first moves in a relationship.

3) If you’re a good man you really ought to be able to figure out what non-oppressive versions of those moves look like. So if you’re having trouble figuring those out then that must mean...

4) If you do them badly there’s every chance you’ll be called out in a public forum.

So every attempt to date is an incredibly public referendum on whether or not you have any moral worth and there’s no help to guide you through it. I don’t know why men are so nervous right now. Must be fragile masculinity.

There’s a sort of conversation I have in Social Justice-y type spaces pretty often.

SJ Type: All men are sexist trash. All white people perpetuate racism. All straight people are homophobes. We need to understand this in no uncertain terms. Nobody is innocent, nobody is outside of this.

Me: I am constantly dealing with thoughts about how terrible I am. I am so lonely but I feel like I could only ever be a toxic presence in a woman’s life. I am so nervous around everybody. I have tried so hard to make myself as small and quiet as I can but I am still terrified that I’m not doing enough and my presence only contributes to everything awful in the world.

SJ Type: Whoa! That’s so crazy and weird! Where do you think this is coming from?

And I am still trying to process this dynamic, to understand how it makes any sense. I think when I started admitting these feelings to others I expected them to... Well, to understand at all. I sort of had this assumption that of course lots of people felt like this. That the people explaining how we need to be constantly conscious of our complicity in evil would be, well, constantly conscious of it, and that thinking of themselves as participants in evil would be upsetting.

That they would say something like “All those thoughts make perfect sense, but here are the ways I act to make sure I’m minimizing the damage I do.”

But the people who understand these thoughts tend to be either apostates from the social justice ideology or a strange underclass of people who are struggling with similar thoughts and also don’t know how to deal with them.

People who are successful and happy in SJ circles are simultaneously constantly reminding people that they must always remember how awful they are and yet are genuinely baffled when someone says, “I constantly think of myself as an awful person.” Like, it genuinely confuses them. It’s utterly incomprehensible to them.

What I think is happening is that there is a sort of assumption that correct action is an incidental, emergent property of correct thinking. I’m not really sure on this but it’s my best guess.

The idea seems to be that if you recognize yourself as, e.g. sexist, this self-consciousness will inevitably express itself as non-sexist action. Authentic expression of correct attitudes will always create correct behavior, so once you’ve properly internalized your own sexism, this paradoxically relieves you of worry about acting in a sexist way. Action is an emergent property of attitude.

Even more than SJ types, I find myself surrounded by people who seem to think that discussion of proper behavior is not really anything to do with the public. Your idea of proper behavior is something you create on your own, or if you are nervous about it, with your therapist.

Like, @bambamramfan, I get that I am very timid and probably unhealthily worried about what other people think of me. But I also struggle so much to understand what they want. I have done all kinds of at least minor rude things to people because I wouldn’t have minded if people did them to me. I have lots of trouble reading body language. Eye contact is overwhelming and it is still really hard for me to tell how much is too much or too little. I can barely tell different faces apart. I don’t trust my ability to just figure these things out from first principles.

I got really angry a little while ago and wrote about being a host at a restaurant. Like, a real example of a thing I deal with relatively often is homeless people who want to use our bathroom. This has a moral dimension and I just go around and around and I can’t figure it out.

The public bathroom in the park across from the restaurant closes pretty early, and I don’t want people to have to just go on the street; on the other hand, that park is a hangout for drug dealers, and people go into the garage underneath it to get high all the time. One of the women I work with has talked about how nervous it makes her to go down there to get her car and find strange men sleeping in the elevator, and I understand we’ve already had one OD in our bathroom.

When I try to think about how to balance these things, my mind goes around and around in circles and I can’t seem to get it to stop and I don’t know how to come to a conclusion about what my behavior should be. 

I have to say, I think one of the attractions of religion, or even Jordan Peterson, is the idea of linking your ideology to your actions in some kind of concrete way, when they just seem so unmoored from each other in the modern world, and especiallly in left-wing ideology:

1. There is no ethical consumption under capitalism 2. I must consume in order to survive 3. Therefore, there is no ethical way for me to survive. 4. And so, in conclusion, I should just... do my best, I suppose.

Or, the left-wing advice I get about women is basically “Women are constantly navigating a toxic world of patriarchal values and being slowly crushed by the toxic entitlement of men, and stopping that is one of the most important projects of our time and also it’s important to be confident and you shouldn’t worry so much because what’s the worst that could happen? Sure you might accidentally make some woman feel creeped out but that’s not the end of the world, come on.”

I very much understand the appeal of having an explicit conversation about how to embody your ethical precepts in actual actions in the world, because it is so hard to find it these days.

[liesmyteachertoldme]

Emperor's New Clothes

"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy." - Ernest Benn

Timothy Ball has a Ph.D. in climatology and an extensive background in the reconstruction of past climates and the impact of climate change on history and the human condition. Why is it that when scientists who have studied the Global Warming phenomenon for years say that humans are not the cause nobody listens? Why does know one acknowledge that the Emperor has no clothes on? Believe it or not, Global Warming is not due to human contribution of Carbon Dioxide (CO2). This in fact is the greatest deception in the history of science. We are wasting time, energy, and trillions of dollars while creating unnecessary fear and consternation over an issue with no scientific justification.

No sensible person seeks conflict, especially governments, but if we don't pursue the truth, we are lost as individuals and as a society. That is why I (Dr. Ball) insist on saying that there is no evidence that we are, or could ever cause global climate change.

No doubt passive acceptance yields less stress, fewer personal attacks and makes career progress easier. What I (Dr. Ball) have experienced in my personal life during the last years makes me understand why most people choose not to speak; job security and fear of reprisals. Even in University, where free speech and challenge to prevailing wisdom's are supposedly encouraged, academics remain silent. Sadly, my experience is that the Universities are the most dogmatic and oppressive places in our society. This becomes worse as they receive more and more funding from governments that demand a particular viewpoint.

Another cry in the wilderness is Richard Lindzen. He is an atmospheric physicist and a professorr of meteorology at MIT, renowned for his research in dynamic meteorology - especially atmospheric waves. He is also a member of the National Academy of Sciences and has also held positions at the University of Chicago and Harvard University. He frequently speaks out against the notion that significant Global Warming is cause by humans. Yet nobody seems to listen.

I think may be because most people don't understand the scientific method. A scientist makes certain assumptions and then produces a theory based on these assumptions and the theory is only as valid as the assumptions. The theory of Global Warming assumes that CO2 is an atmospheric greenhouse gas and as it increases temperatures rise. It was then theorized that since humans were producing more CO2 than before, the temperature would inevitably rise. The theory was accepted before testing had started and effectively became law without any proof.

Now any scientist who dares to question the prevailing wisdom is marginalized and called a skeptic, when in fact they are simply being good scientists. The normal scientific method is effectively being thwarted.

Meanwhile, politicians and celebrities are being listened to, even though most of them have no knowledge or understanding of science, especiallly the science of climate and climate change. Hence, they are in no position to question policy on climate change. Moreover, using fear and creating hysteria makes it very difficult to make calm rational decisions about issues needing attention.

Michael Crichton is a graduate of Harvard Medical School and a former postdoctoral fellow at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies states: "Nobody believes a weather prediction twelve hours ahead. Now we're being asked to believe a prediction that goes out 100 years into the future? And make financial investments based on that prediction? Has everybody lost their minds?"

Global Warming is politics pure and simple.

Climate Change is the realm of Mother Nature and is pure arrogance to believe mankind has any power to change it.

To believe otherwise is to be a victim of the propaganda of those who would profit finanacially from it.