#is an immediate block

[kensatou]

i'll let phie-san say it:

[nikxation]

PSA, there's a really nasty Discord scam going around rn. If one of your friends DMs you, starting off with a simple "hello" "how are you", may even joke around a little, and then starts asking you to look at a game/project they're working on, don't click the link, don't download anything. If you can reach that friend through non-Discord means, reach out and let them know they got hacked.

One of my friends said the link takes them to a very convincing video game page that has in-game screenshots and stuff, and then gives you an option to download a playtest zip file or something. That download exploits a weakness Discord apparently has for password protected zip files and steals your Discord log-in and changes your account info to the scammer's account info. Two of my friends lost their accounts. Be careful.

[thebibliosphere]

Hey, US citizens who are eligible to vote, today is National Voter Registration Day!

As someone unable to vote in the country I live in, I’d like to take a moment to encourage everyone who is eligible to vote to check their voter registration.

Deadlines are coming up fast in many states, and many states have been purging their voter rolls to try and suppress the vote. Don’t let them take it from you.

You can use this link below to check your voting status, and remind your friends/family/followers to do the same; it only takes a couple minutes.

And remember, if you’re vote didn't matter, the bastards wouldn’t be working so hard to take it from you.

[bittsandpieces]

in honor of me being freed from the shadow realm (shadowbanned) I'm reposting my recent fave pics 😇

[iliothermia]

I'm done being polite and patient with people who want to theorize about secret evil hidden messages in my work. If you're going to question what my values are because you saw scary Hebrew letters or are suspicious because a Jew is expressing frustration/anger in their art you don't need to be around me. I share the meaning and my thoughts in my directly Jewish work to not have my art twisted by others- but even with in-depth explanations of my thoughts some people just can't help themselves. I know some of you genuinely don't mean ill but I shouldn't have to talk about my experience being assaulted a few months ago in order to make angry artwork about it or be kind to make someone realize they're being foul to me. Thank you to those who've been kind and supportive of my art while I've been struggling immensely lately.

[evercelle]

[chamerionwrites]

Possibly The most surprising thing I have discovered on the internet is the number of people who will unironically refer to others as "degenerates" without expecting anyone reading this to immediately assume that they are a straight-up fascist

[winkleclit]

Does this count as a birthday post?

[hiphopcherrrypop]

a cat with homophobia in its eyes ❤

[maladaptivewriting]

i think it’s funny when people get up in arms about someone shipping two men because they think it’s cause the person “hates women”

like just on a personal level, irl, i hate men. i believe they should start off in jail and work their way out.

[mofsdoodles]

Hello Mortal Kombat fandom

[bisexualfagdyke]

people actually sit here and believe that the whole point of gender is "man oppresses woman" and apply that to conversations about trans men. As if we exist as trans men just to oppress women bcuz ... apparently that's why gender exists. Great heavens.

I think they hate the idea that trans men are actually not oppressors, and are in fact oppressed, because its challenges their view of gender when all they know is "men exist as a class to oppress women" (which is... so radfem. And probably why all the "trans inclusive" radfems hate trans men)

[gayjaytodd]

one argument I keep coming across in relation to Israel is that "no one deserves an ethnostate" and, even ignoring my own discomfort at applying a white supremacist term to a Jewish state, it's an argument I hate for a few reasons:

It's wrong - Israel may be a Jewish state and thus built on Jewish traditions, culture and religion (but is that any different than Muslim nations like Pakistan, or even Western countries which have Christianity built into their foundations?), but not all Israelis are Jewish; there are Muslim Israelis and Buddhist Israelis and Christian Israelis

'ethnostate', by virtue of having been coined by white supremacists, bring to mind a swathe of white, US/European colonisers, and while many Israelis have European/USamerican ancestry, there are Israelis from North Africa and the Middle East and South Asia as well - many of whom came to Israel fleeing persecution in their own lands, which brings me to:

the argument is ignoring historical context; Israel is not the result (solely) of a European imperialist mindset - why do Jews, specifically, get a state of their own? Well, because historically, we have been kicked out or (attempted) ethnically cleansed from all other countries - the fear of pogroms, the anxiety of wondering when we'll have to flee again, is built into our culture, traditions, our DNA, and the only way to avoid a government that'll suddenly, from one day to the next, decide that it hates Jews and wants us dead, is to make our own country and our own government

and finally: it's a useless point to make. Whether you think Israel is a legitimate state or not doesn't actually matter or make any difference; the fact of the matter is that Israel is an internationally recognised state, and that's the fact we have to work off.

Does all of this mean Israel hasn't committed war crimes? No. Does this mean that Palestinians deserve to be murdered and driven from their homes? No.

But it does mean that, once again, leftists online need to come and join the rest of us in the real world - which includes nuance and historical context and other such complicated things - if they want to help foster real change.

[snailification]

[pudgybun]

I bring a kind of "McDonald's uses slave labor and has horrible ethical practices, I refuse to eat there and I refuse to endorse them even in hypotheticals and fantasies" vibe to the function that a lot of feedists find off putting and strange 😁👍

[chaotic-archaeologist]

https://nypost.com/2024/08/28/world-news/boy-4-accidentally-smashes-bronze-age-jar-that-was-at-least-3500-years-old/

Your thoughts?

Personally, I'm kinda sick of museums being required to cater to kids so much. If you're going to do this open air exhibit, kids who don't know how to keep their hands to themselves just shouldn't be allowed in. The glass is there for this very reason.

Actually, I'm with the museum on this one. Is it unfortunate that the vase was broken? Yes. Was the vase a valuable piece of the past? Also yes. But I think the museum did something very cool by not having the artifacts behind glass and are handling this with good grace and the sense to make this a learning opportunity.

Sometimes we overlook the fact that museums often attempt to arrest or freeze artifacts in time. They are kept in controlled conditions to prevent them from deteriorating and even treated to reverse damage. Many things on display on museums are elevated beyond their original value, alienated from their original purpose, and closed off from interaction.

It's incredible that this jar survived as long as it did—and its age is what makes it special—but at the end of the day, it is still a jar. It has now experienced the thing that happens to pretty much every jar that has been or will be. After all, decay is an extant form of life. (If you want to read a very well written and interesting take on decay and archaeology, check out this article by Caitlin DeSilvey.)

The article I linked above provides some important context and the update that the museum is planning on using this as an opportunity to teach about the conservation process. The jar's story is not over; it is being pieced back together and in this next chapter in its life it will be able to tell two stories: one of its life and the other of its rebirth. The museum's approach embraces that, exactly like the Japanese art of Kintsugi.

I also agree with the museum's decision not to punish the child or his family. Things go wrong in museums all the time despite their highly controlled environments, and this is why they have artifacts insured. Sometimes the thing that happens is a child, and by and large museums do not seek damages.

I would encourage you to rethink your stance on museums and children. Museums are for everyone. Children have a right to experience museums and what they have to offer just like anyone else. There are also many studies that discuss how going to museums benefits children.

In this case, perhaps the exhibit design was slightly flawed, but the four year old boy accidentally knocked the jar over because he was curious about what was inside and wanted to investigate. Curiosity is exactly what museums should be encouraging. In an ideal world that curiosity would have been channeled into some other kind of engagement, but the folks who work in museums have a lot on their plates and cannot plan everything perfectly all the time. Even if they could, they often do not have the resources to do so.

Finally, the AP article mentions that the boy and his family were visiting the museum to get away from Hezbollah rocket fire. Regardless of your opinions on the current conflict, everyone deserves to have a safe place to exist. That museums can serve as those spaces is an honor.

I commend the Hecht Museum and the people working there. They 1) successfully provided a place of learning and refuge, 2) opted not for a punitive approach—which is often the default Western model for justice—but a compassionate one, and 3) are using this twist of fate to create programming that will further engage the public.

@museeeuuuum and @museum-spaces would you care to comment?

-Reid