#like even in the context of the video alone the guy counter argumenting him had reason to say what he said he had beliefs and shit

[the-acid-pear]

I love moist cr1tikal but I cannot get over him acting like "debate brained" is in any way shape or form and insult or a negative trait to have on its own. Like what, are we crying and pissing people people disagree with you? Be for real now.

[redsletterday]

The Difference

#26 In this generation, reaching 2 years in a relationship is either a triumphant achievement or a worrying feat.

When I gave thought to how I should write my anniversary Tumblr post (which Babie always remind me to do! Sorry only got to it now), I always thought of writing about how we made things work to reach two years together. To sum up my thoughts about it, we were and are a complementary pair. Babie was always up in the clouds from the way she would act and speak to the ideals and traits she possesses. I was on the other side of the coin. Babie would be the loud one always stuttering excitedly sharing a story. I would be the silent one listening to the story processing what I hear. Babue would have these intense emotions giving her a hard time putting them into words. I would have this unwavering tenacity to find those words for her. I could go on and on, and as is, I intended to write less about this than I already have. I don't wish to write about this now because this was the topic of my 2nd anniversary with Yela and I said the same thing - that we were complimentary opposites.

No, Babie is different. So many things are different which is why now is not the time to write about it. But what I would like to start writing about is that difference.

Whenever they ask how my relationship was with Yela or how it all ended, I would immediately reply "it was toxic" as if it was my second nature to reply tnat way. While it straightforwardly answers the latter, I would fail at making it clear that the toxicity was not always there throughout the whole time with her. At a point, we did grow. After all, I learned a lot from her and hopefully she did too from me. The toxicity, I believe, began on our second year together. The eight months after that was just us trying to save what we already knew was going to end.

In a few months after our first year anniversary, the whole situation of having and losing Max was what shook and tested our relationship. Nearly everyone from ViARE found out about it because Yela got drunk in in her birthday party at her house. I wasn't able to go because I didn't have the same freedom back then and that I needed to attend a cousin's debut (which, if the same scenario happened "again" this year, I would've ditched it anyway). Long story short, I got judged hard by the people and the verdict was understandable - that they advised Yela to break up with me. This was an interesting case too. Yela stayed with me despite it. I had nothing to offer. I was only a 2nd year college student that came with a lot of naivety and immaturity. Both of which I did not understand until then when Yela told me the reasons for our friends' verdict on our relationship. I hated them for it. Told myself that they merely misunderstood my motives. I would fall into the trap of self-pity to make Yela stay with me. Add in to how she has this sense of messianic complexity and you're in for a recipe of a Titanic disaster. I would think that this boat would last a hundred years only for my naivety to be exposed and be broken by a mere iceberg. The sink would last for several months until the boat is finally underwater and Yela finally decides to give it up. I'd get constant reminders that Yela tells me that our friends and even some respectable higher ups would want us to break up. The way I saw all of those was like taking candy from a baby. Only that the baby had diabetes and that the baby can't understand how that's any better for him because of how he associates happiness with the mere feeling of pleasure in whatever form - from holding the candy, knowing he has it, or the taste of it. I am that baby.

I need not to go on further explaining events that led to our break up. Suffice to say that I'd cling on to her and bet on the feelings aspect to make us last long. I explained my situatuin with Yela quite lengthily and ironically this is supposed to be for Babie. But it is with this in mind that I know that Babie and my time with her is different. After all, if there is one thing that both Hum and IMC agree to, it's that "content is king, but context is King Kong."

In my second year with Babie, I unfortunately fortunately found myself in a parallel situation with her. We get too intimate close enough to almost have another "Max" situation. Real close, if I may say. But I was given a second chance of not repeating the same sins from the past. I finally learned how to stop my urges. With that, I let go of feelings and know how and why to choose to stay. No longer do my choosing to stay be motivated by feelings alone. Of course, there are many counter arguments that my mind has come up with. Valid arguments, I believe.

One of which is the how the choice to stay might only be motivated by my sense of fear of Babie's parents. Had we found ourselves in the exact situation with Yela, the consequences would be more unbearable as guilt will definitely consume me knowing that most of my achievements in the past few years was almost entirely because of their support financially. However, I've moved past those thoughts in two ways. One, financials was not a problem for Babie's parents. After all, if it were, they should be bugging me about paying it soon but not once did they say anything about it in the past year. Two, even if I did stay for the sake of fear and compensate by cheating on Babie - and may I mention thay I had many chances to do so - I still don't find myself being able to do it. At the end of the day, I come back wanting to be with her.

I put emphasis on "at the end of the day." And by "day," I mean it even on a day filled with outings with friends as opposed to a day filled with just staying at home because Yela wouldn't leave me alone with my friends. Even if I hang out with girls alone with some girls she knows that like me and I know I find attractive (outside physicality too), I end up finding myself turning around and wanting to go home where Babie. In fact, if you haven't noticed it yet, this leads me to another point. That she actually allows me to be out doing a lot of things that many other girls would already end up calling their man worrying if they've somehow secretly cheated. I used to hang out with Jayce a lot. I'd have friendly lunch or dinner with Rensa. I'd do many things alone with my friends like partying or 2am drinking sessions and yet she's fine with all that. It's in the trust that she gives me that makes me trust myself.

That said, of course, I'd allow her to do the same. I never found myself getting extremely jealous of guys she hangs out with (unlike me towards DJ back then). In fact, I'd even want her to hang out with her friends more. After all, it's in the freedom of our individuality that we grow together.

It's like taking video games from a teenager because his grades are getting lower. Only now the teenager understands because his parents were finally able to properly negotiate with him that it's for his own good and the teenager understands. That baby from before is no longer a baby. That baby has grown. I have grown.

Happy 2nd anniversary to the 2nd and last person who reached the 2nd year with me. I love you. 🙇🏻‍♂️

P.S. As I've promised to write more, comment on my posts about what topic you'd want me to talk about next. It could be a person, a thing, a concept, idea, anything. Of course, that's aside my usual posts!

[dis-easedfairy]

Impulsive Decision pt.2

Chapter 2: The Duck Tape Pillar

WARNINGS: SWEARING/STRONG LANGUAGE | KIDNAPPING | MENTIONS OF MURDER |

Pairing: BTS x Reader / Kim Taehyung x Reader

Word Count: 2,723

Summary:  Y/n is the owner of a very wealthy and successful company, Barnanby Inc. Y/n attends a BTS show. They make a very impulsive decision to show a loophole in BTS’s security and end up kidnapping BTS and 2 girls. In a fit of panic Y/n stashes BTS and the girls in a very luxurious bunker for the time being, but Y/n’s world slowly starts to crumble the longer the boys are out of the public’s eye.

A/N: This is mostly angst with a small amount of fluff at the end.

"Okay, my friend is gone, I'm calm, I'm confused and mildly stressed, aka me most of the time. I'm sorry you had to see me pop off on 'My-Daddy-Is-A-Lawyer' over here, but I'd like to show you the rest of the bunker. If any of you try what she or Jimin did, you will be exiled to the ducktape pillar until you learn manners, are we clear?" I stated, walking out the bathroom in front of them all. 

Everyone nodded, all but the girl ducktaped. I walked over to the double doors and slid them open revealing a very open layout. It was a nice spacious living room with three couches, large tv, and speakers. A normal sized kitchen behind the living room and a dining room with a large table.

I had the whole place black, white and gray besides a few things here are there that were different colors of the rainbow to add some personality. I walked into the dining room with them following. There were two openings on the left and right of the dining room. 

I turned around to face them

"To your right is a hall that leads to a gym, a locker room, an office, a library and a bathroom. To your left are the bedrooms. There are only 4 done so you may have to share rooms. I was supposed to have the other four rooms fixed up, but never got around to it and never saw a need to. Also, there is a laundry room and 3 large bathrooms in that hall because I prepped this bunker for my family and they take like 3 hours in the bathroom for some reason. You are free to play my arcade games, eat my snacks, drink my alcohol and do as you please. Be sure to eat dinner and I'll be back." I announced and began to walk out. 

"You're not staying?" Jimin asked quickly.

I stopped to turn to them, they all seemed panicked.

"Don't worry this place isn't riddled with traps or anything. I'm only leaving to tell my company I'm taking a week off, get food and inform my family that I'm going rogue for a week or so."

"'Going rogue'?" RM questioned.

" Your company??" J-Hope asked.

"Yeah, I do this thing where I just drop off the face of the earth for a few days. It usually happens when I'm depressed, or just want to be alone. They understand already. Yes, my company, I inherited it from my dad. It started from cartoons to TV to toys, how else does someone acquire enough money to build a bunker with 8 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, large TV and speakers, a nice kitchen, a gym, office, library and gaming room all well stocked with top of the line equipment? I'll be back in a bit." I began walking out once more.

   I ended up over-shopping. I got too much food and bought clothes for the boys, hoping they'd fit. I got out my car and started loading everything at the dial door. I made sure I had everything before I closed and locked the vault door and opened the punched in the code, loading everything in the now empty feeling room. I noticed the girl wasn't taped to the pillar. I sighed. I slid open the doors dramatically.

"HeLLO FELLOW BITCHES!" I called out moving bags to the kitchen.

Jimin and Suga were sitting on the couches, mindlessly watching TV, I could hear an argument happening between Jungkook and Jin along with a Mortal Kombat tune playing.

Jimin jumped up and went to grab bags from the previous room and Suga gave me a look I couldn't figure out.

"What's with the look?" I asked, starting to load things in the fridge.

"Why so many bags? Are they too heavy?"

"I got a lot of food and clothes for you all. Unless you like using the same underwear and hoodie for a week, then be my guest." I tried to make it seem like his sudden concern didn't faze me.

Jimin came in with a ton of bags, dropping them on the floor and started helping me put things away. 

"Since when did you become helpful?" I asked Jimin suspiciously. 

Jin walked into the dining room, he saw me and gave me a small smile.

"Hello, how was the trip?" He asked softly, walking up the counter, looking curiously through the bags.

"Fine, I guess. I got a lot of food and got you all clothes, where is everyone?"

"Jungkook, Taehyung, and Hoseok are in the gaming room cheating," I let out a small giggle. "Namjoon is in the library with Seongmi and Linza."

"Which one is the one I dislike? Ducktape Girl I mean."

Jin was trying not to laugh as he got the name 'Linza' out. 

"How's your back?" Jimin asked quietly. 

"Okay, what's going on?? Suga looked at me funny but asked if the bags were too heavy. You held a knife to my back and are now asking how my back is feeling like you weren't threatening to stab it a few hours ago. Jin has been mostly calm this whole time and it's starting to freak me out." I admitted. 

"Yah! When I have I not been calm!?" Jin almost demanded, making me smile.

My phone gave off a notification that I had lost cell service from being in the bunker. It made me freeze. I walked over to Suga and held my hand out. 

"Hand over the phone."

He looked as if he was going to challenge me, but decided against it. He handed me his phone. I turned on the screen. An app was open, a recording app that had several 10-20 minute recordings on it within the past 4 hours. Since I kidnapped them. I frowned and handed his phone back. That's why he and Jimin seemed so concerned with me, they wanted to not be suspicious. They wanted to seem compliant.

"You're not deleting anything?" Jimin sounded timid, like he was afraid to say the wrong thing.

There was no doubt that he recorded me popping off on 'Ducktape Girl' when I was angry. Out of context, I would be painted as an unhinged monster in front of a judge, especially since 'Ducktape Girl' insisted her father was a lawyer. Not only that but my family's reputation with the law since my father passed was an extremely unsturdy bridge that was one gust of wind away from completely disintegrating. The police in the area were just praying to get a family member of mine to harass every day. I could go to jail for life.

I was going to jail for life. 

I felt my eyes begin to water at the thought. I didn't even consider how long I'd go to jail for this, or how much more my family would be ridiculed when I did go to prison. All because of my poor impulse control, all because I made a stupid decision and didn't back out of it once I saw it go south.

"I'm not deleting anything; That's destroying evidence. I'm going to bed. I had ruined my life enough today." I emotionlessly spilled out, turning to the big double doors. 

"You should eat something! Or at least a snack." Jin called out.

"You can eat all you want. I'm not hungry." I closed the double doors behind me and got on the large bed. 

I pulled out my phone. I saw I had a call from my mom. I pulled myself out the bed and opened the dial door, closing it behind me. I got outside the bunker and caught service, despite the bunker being in a forest in the middle of nowhere. I tapped 'call back' and waited.

"Hey, Y/n your brother and I were just having a debate, want to settle it?" I smiled a little.

"That depends, what are you two arguing about NOW?"

"Mom wants to make HER 'Watermelon Wonder' bullshits for our sister's picnic." My brother butt in.

They were clearly drinking. My mother would never let my brother call her 'Watermelon Wonder's 'bullshits' without some kind of influence.

Our family was into charity events, whether it be picnics, fairs, library 'parties' or even college parties, we always liked to help out those in need. We did this all year round whenever given the chance, but summer was our busiest season.

'Watermelon Wonder' was a concoction my mother forced us to drink when we were younger. My MOTHER'S recipe had different types of melon, plus every leafy or healthy green thing she could get her hands on. Broccoli, spinach, kale, peas, you name it, blended into a thick liquid that was practically paste. 

My FATHER'S recipe was just melons, mint and a small amount a lime blended into a smooth refreshing drink that was meant to be kept ice cold, we sold it in cans at our toy stores, it was a fundraiser tradition. 

"No mom, DAD'S 'Watermelon Wonder' is the only one that shall ever have our involvement." 

"HA! Remember when mom put WASABI in them!?"

I shivered at the memory as my mother and brother began bickering. No fun fundraisers in prison. No family dinners. No Drunk Family Night. No fulfillment of the promises I made to my father. My chest tightened making me let in a shaky breath that made my family stop bickering.

"Y/n? Honey, are you okay?" My mother asked.

The tears in my eyes spilled over.

"Yeah, just...depression." I lied. 

"Are you taking your pills?" 

"Yeah. I think I have to up the dosage. We still can't get it right. I'm sorry I can't be at the fundraiser, but I'll be sure to donate. I uh, need to make an appointment with our family lawyer too. I've been getting a property offer and want to make sure everything goes to you guys." 

"Seth hasn't seen you since your father passed, I'm sure he'd love to know you're scheduling. I heard you're trying to expand to games?"

I smiled and I began to cry more.

"Yeah, dad loved them so much." My voice wavered.

My mom let out a dreamy sigh. "I remember our first date was in an arcade. He joked that if we'd have kids, he'd ignore me and play video games with them. Sure enough, your brother and sister showed up, you shortly after, then your little sister, I barely got to see him out of office or off the living room floor. He somehow always remembered anniversaries, birthdays and what I was wearing on the 13th day of that month. He never, not once, made me feel neglected or not paid attention to. He loved me. He loved all of you."

"Sorry mom, I have to go, work is calling." I managed. 

"Okay, don't forget about your Dad's birthday coming up. We have a big even set up!"

"I won't, love you all." I hung up quickly and let out the sob that I was holding back.

I had so much to lose. I was so angry at myself. I texted Seth, the family lawyer to schedule an appointment, sent Jason a text, threatening him, telling him if he told anyone I'd let out all the details about the dirty magazine I found in his room when we were 10 and went back into the bunker. 

I fell into the large bed, hoping Freddy Kruger would do me a solid and pull me far away. No such luck.   I heard a soft knock on the double doors.

"You may be blessed with my presence," I called out loud enough for them to hear. 

The door slid open, showing V in a large white T-shirt and boxers, hugging a pillow. I sat up.

"What's up?" I asked softly, my voice was still hoarse from crying. 

He frowned, stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. He climbed on the bed in front of me and sat there looking at me for a bit. 

"I want to get to know you." He stated matter-of-factly.

"Not much to know, just a crazy fan who kidnapped everyone." I laughed bitterly.

"I don't believe that."

I looked into his eyes, almost silently asking if we was serious. He was waiting patiently. I sighed, running my hands through my hair as I lied back. He quickly lied beside me, making my heart nearly jump out my chest and make a run for it.  I tried to stay as calm as a possibly could. The luminous god beside me was making it pretty difficult.

"I own my father's company. He was an aspiring game designer until he met my mother who was an animator. Most of the companies she went to, to sell her work denied it for more popular animators. Talent didn't get her anywhere. So my father switched gears for her and became a business student. He didn't even finish college but managed to win over anyone who got within 100 yards of him. People loved him. He made a ton of connections, got a lot of job offers, made a lot of money from 2 to 3 years of hard work, bought a company, named it after my mother's first character, 'Barnaby' and had his new buddies run ads, shorts and other animations on their networks.  My family's company got bigger, started showing their animations on their own platform. My older sister helps run that side of the company, Broadcasting and Entertainment. People wanted merchandise, my father expanded to toys that he and my mother designed. My younger sister helps with feedback and my older brother helps run that side, Toys and Merchandise. I was planning on moving to video games, my father used to love them. Every time he had a day off, I'd wake up to waffles with a tower of whipped cream on top, bacon, eggs, sausage, every berry he could find and every video game he could get his hands on. We'd all sit in the living room, until he had to go to work the next day, just playing games, having fun until that sun came up." I ranted, looking at the ceiling, smiling slightly.

"What happened to him?"

"He was murdered. His car somehow didn't have breaks suddenly in the middle of a busy highway. He crashed. The police said there was no foul play, My father was diligent with the car around that time since I was learning how to drive. The breaks weren't worn. Someone wanted him dead. They succeeded. My father always thought I was the most caring, likable, wittiest, smartest, bravest and most cunning of his children, so he gave me the company in his will." I let out another bitter laugh.

"He's probably the most disappointed billionaire ghost." I sighed feeling a sense of acceptance wash over me.

"Why would he be disappointed."

"Because I 'yeet'ed that shit out the window as I ran 12 red lights with 7 very famous idols and 2 innocent people in the back of a limo. All gone because I wanted to see how far I could go. Once I saw how far I could go, I was too afraid, too stupid to back out. Now I have a girl who says her father is a lawyer, an innocent girl whose family misses her dearly, 7 idols who are either terrified or disgusted in me in which case two of those idols have evidence that can destroy me, a best friend who can be labeled an accomplice,  a police force who hates my family and is just waiting for the moment when one of us slips, and a family who will get blindsided by the news that their 'Golden Y/n' finally snapped."

"I'm not terrified or disgusted in you." V whispered softly. 

"Are you saying this because you want plushies?"

"Yes." His boxy smile lifted my entire soul. 

I giggled. "I'll get you one tomorrow, any color preferences?"

"Gray. I'm sure everything will turn out okay." 

I turned on my side to look at him.

"I hope so. You know, V, you may be my new favorite." I yawned.

"Good, I like the crazy ones."

We both let out tired laughs.

"Call me Tae." He whispered.

"Okay, Tae. Call me, N/n. Nightie night."

( Previous Chapter ) - ( Next Chapter )

[icymirss]

I'm Breaking Up With the Atheist Community

This piece was originally published on Sunday, 11 Sep 2011 00:45:04 +0000 by PaxSkeptica (@PaxSkeptica) and originally hosted at http://pax.skeptica.net/. We are republishing it here as it does not appear to have been archived anywhere else.

Twitter Tagline: "Guys, it's been a good run – I think we gave it our best – but it's over. #atheism"

I've been telling everyone today that I'm breaking up with the atheist community. Two questions came up that required a rather lengthy answer and involved several links, so I turned here. (Besides, it may as well be a matter of record.)

The questions:

What brought you to this conclusion?

What would you suggest as an alternative for the atheist community?

What brought me here? I don't know. A lot of things. I'm tired of reading the same shit every day that's just pissing on Christians and science-worship (yes, I mean that; more on that in a second). I'm tired of listening to people who would as likely as not primarily define themselves as skeptics, when by their behavior you can see that they are not particularly skeptical people. I already wrote about the weird response I got when I questioned a racist joke made by a prominent atheist. I guess the straw that broke the camel's back came today when I asked JT Eberhard why he was bothering to debate this moron.

You can see from said moron's "opening" (I love how this is described like it's going to be some kind of high-stakes chess match) that he's pretty much just shoveling the same shitty, thoroughly-and-repeatedly debunked half a dozen arguments that have been limping along since the 13th century.

Origen – God is the best explanation for the universe. The argument is as follows:

Whatever begins to exist has a cause,

The universe began to exist,

Therefore, the universe has a cause. This cause I call God.

Brilliant. That frankenstein bastardization of Aristotle and an unsubstantiated claim about a deity wouldn't pass for logic in an introductory class at a public high school. This isn't a serious debate any more than me punching an old lady is a heavyweight prizefight. So what's the point? Why waste time skewering an opponent of zero intellectual value when the cost involves diving into a cesspool of stupidity, ignorance, arrogance, and hatred all destined to be slung your way? Why, to convert people.

When I asked JT (and, unexpectedly, several of his followers who chimed in) what the reason was, he started telling me all about this duty to those of us in our 'religious' demographic (his words; I can't quote it here because it was not shared publicly, as much as I'd like to). He basically said that even though I had undoubtedly "read and memorized" all the arguments and counter-arguments, some had not, and that by doing this he was increasing the accessibility of this information. Now I could do a whole post on just what's wrong with that line of reasoning, but let me just say this: That's as religious as anything I've ever heard. To read the quote (again, I wish I could show it) gives the sense that JT is some sort of shepherd guiding newly minted atheists into the fold.

Another commenter gave me his... testimony? Untestimony? "I'm with JT, entirely," he began; and he proceeded to tell me of his difficult and laborious (de)conversion that would have been sped along if only some righteous preachers bloggers like JT Eberhard, PZ Myers, and Greta Christina (his list, not mine) had been there to help him through the transition. (Oh, glory!) Even JT answered at first (and perhaps most tellingly) by saying that his reason was "because a lot of people read this guy". That's the same kind of perverted marketing Christians use to evangelize. That's all it is: evangelism.

I recently rearranged all my lists on Twitter, with one primary purpose in mind. I gutted sec-r, my list of secular humanists, skeptics, and atheists. The reason is, and I experienced the same thing on Google+, most of what these people share is utterly vapid. It's a mix of self-righteous quotes, bitter condemnation of Christians mixed with "OH MY GOD WHAT HAVE THEY DONE NOW" link-sharing, and ejaculations about science, logic, reason, the Archimedean point, or whatever other naturalist trope is floating around the tubes. Seriously, what's the difference between this and this, when you get right down to it? Everything on #atheism is stupid quotes, usually about how atheists are better than believers. Here's a small fraction from my access just now:

@JakeCatrain Jake Catrain Atheist: One who has no belief in god or gods. (Sorry christians, thats it) #atheism Retweeted 4 times

@GodlessAtheist Godless Atheist Christians worry about internal damnation. I just have to worry about what's for dinner. #goodtobeanatheist #atheism

@agaytheist Geoff Robert Warning! Clicking on a Deepak Chopra video link takes you directly to a Deepak Chopra video. - George Hrab #skepticism #atheism

@Monicks Monica Dear Theist: do you fear god? You might suffer Bogyphobia: Fear of fictional characters. Look it up! #atheism #atheist #snark (◕‿~)'

Seriously. Those aren't hand-picked. They're the first four results. What's the difference between that and this kind of crap? I can tell you the difference as I see it: nothing. Nothing at all.

My point is that criticisms of atheism that used to offend me now strike me as basically true. "Atheism is just another religion," Christians sometimes say, or, "What's the point in believing in a negative?" Well, for these people, it basically is. I know there's a hundred one-liners out there already zinging toward me to prove me wrong: "atheism is a religion like bald/not collecting stamps/off is a hair color/hobby/television channel." I would like to start that sentence with the words not believing in god, which – though some of these same practitioners would define 'atheism' as such – is clearly not all that's going on here. It's not just believing in a negative, it's reveling narcissistically in believing in a negative. What else could you call rubbing in people's faces that you don't believe in something which they hold very dear? And not just once, as a mean joke, but basing your entire life and personality around it?

I remember watching the South Park episode about atheism, where Trey and Matt had Cartman go to a future world where religion was no longer, and factions of Atheists fought wars and killed each other while screaming, "Science, damn it!" When I first saw it, I thought it was an infuriating caricature. But then you see these atheists all over Twitter who painstakingly list quasi-synonyms in their Twitter bio ("science, reason, logic, naturalism, antitheism"), and endlessly retweet Randall Munroe's, "It works, bitches!" and all of a sudden you can see the "grain of truth" behind this particular stereotype.

It's certainly not everybody. Consider the context – a Maddox-style rant penned half at two in the morning – before you judge me too harshly. I'm still an enormous fan of CFI, and applaud efforts like FFRF. Obviously I'm still interested in science for the public interest. I love being an atheist because there's no religion in my life, as far as I can help it, and for the reasons outlined above and more, I view a large swath of the atheist subculture (at least online) to be more or less a pseudo-religion: a community built around (the denial of) religious ideas. Even that is too much religion for me, so I'm just going to gracefully back away and let them do their thing. JT also told me something like, "Everybody has their niche and what they're good at." Maybe he's right. Maybe we're like vampires, and we're each individually shaped by the Embrace that was our faith snapping in half and reason inexorably leading us to atheism. Maybe we're all left bitter or wounded in a different fashion, so each has a way of dealing with it. I'm not categorically against what they're doing: it's just not for me.

As for a replacement for the atheist community? It hadn't really occurred to me. After all, I'm not really in the market for one. I much more strongly identify with late 19th century leftist politics (libertarian anarchism, secularism) and pacifism rooted in skepticism than I do with atheism per se, let alone the "gnu atheism" that is so preponderant online. So unlike, I suspect, most members of the online mega(un)church, I'm not so much a part of the community that I'm going to feel any withdrawal. There's no void for me to fill.

PS – Since you read all that, here's your reward: http://www.youtube.com/embed/Ti3t7MAwaaM

[megacircuit9universe]

Mistrial

SAT FEB 01 2020

So, the question and answer phase of the impeachment trial went on for two days... Wednesday and Thursday... with the typical back and forth that we expected. 

The prosecution provided well spoken, logical answers to the questions directed at them, and used the opportunity to restate the case for witnesses over and over, from different angles, always coming back to the fact that without witnesses and documents... it’s not really a trial.  It’s just a performative hearing.

The defense... did in a few places actually scrape up some hyper technical excuses for why Trump didn’t obstruct Congress... cuz they didn’t initiate the impeachment inquiry with a full house vote... which is bullshit because the executive branch doesn’t tell Congress how to do impeachments, but anyway, they were trying at least... in a few places.

Dershowitz, however, destroyed any credibility for the defense when he launched into a freestyle rant, in the well of the Senate, about how nothing a President does to get reelected is impeachable, because in the President’s mind, it’s for the public good, or some crazy bullshit like that.

And this, from Dershowitz, went viral the same day, really pissing off the electorate who, by this point, were up to 78% in favor of hearing from witnesses such as Bolton.  That was up from 70% earlier in the week!  And again... 78% public agreement on anything in this era is flabbergastingly rare.

Then, Dershowitz doubled down on a mainstream cable show the next night, ranting that the liberal media had taken him out of context and that he never said any of those things (even though it’s all on video and happened live), because in the full context, he was not talking about the facts of the trial at all, but just posing a hypothetical that really didn’t have to do with anything, but also was true!  But he never said it!  Just let me explain!!!

In other words... he was barking like an agitated dementia patient, and that too went viral.

The other insane thing that happened during those two days of Q&A was that when Chief Justice Roberts received a written question from Rand Paul to read aloud... he refused to read it, because it was an attempt to name and expose the whistleblower.  

This refusal to read the question caused Rand Paul to bolt up out of his seat and run out of the chamber, so that he could scream to reporters about how unjustly he was just treated by Roberts... and when the reporters refused also to air the footage and expose the whistleblower... Rand Paul went on twitter to complain about it, and expose the whistleblower on that platform.

Still, over those two days, Wednesday 29, and Thursday 30, no new bombshell hit the airwaves from outside the Senate... no new revelations from Bolton, or FOIA requests, or the like.

And Dershowitz’ demented melt down, and Rand Paul’s felony fit of pique were not enough to shake the rest of the GOP Senators... who, by this point... had been brought back into line by McConnell.

Last I wrote, that needle had been shaking... at least on the matter of witnesses, but after McConnell raised the hue and cried publicly that he hadn’t enough votes to prevent them... Fox News and other right wing fringe media did their jobs and went into intimidation overdrive... and McConnell himself doubled down on the threats of nobody getting any super-pac money for their campaigns if they dared to stray from the prescribed vote.

That was enough to do the trick, and on Friday, January 31st, when it came time to vote for witnesses and documents to be allowed into the trial, all votes split exactly 51/49 against... with two Republican Senators, Mitt Romney (Utah) and Susan Collins (Maine) voting with the Democrats.

So... no witnesses.

But, the stupid thing was, that the very same day... more news broke from both Bolton and from Lev Parnas... that was very damning for Trump.  Where was this stuff two days earlier?  Who knows?  

From Bolton, he shared that Trump told him first hand that Ukraine was not going to get the military assistance until they agreed to announce an investigation into the Bidens... and that Pat Cipollone was in the room with him at the time.

Now, Pat Cipollone was then and is now, White House Council, and has been the very man in charge of the entire impeachment defense team.  So... hey!  Trump is definitely super guilty, and Cipollone is a lying sack of shit with huge conflicts of interest that should have forced him to recuse from ever heading up the defense in the Senate.

Meanwhile, through his lawyer, on Cable TV, Parnas, among other revelations, named everybody he knew to be in the loop about the Ukraine extortion scheme, and it not only included Mike Pence, and Devin Nunes... but also our old friend, Senator Lindsey Graham!

Where were these bombshells in the two days before the witness vote?  Who knows?  But when they hit the airwaves, that vote had already been taken, so it was too late.

Myself, I would say, these latest revelations, along with the stunt by Rand Paul, and the breakdown by Dershowitz, all add up to a mistrial.  

Why?..  Okay, first you have the head of the defense, Cipallone being a first hand witness to Trump’s confession of guilt.  He should have recused from the impeachment trial, but didn’t, and now should be disbarred.  That alone is grounds for a mistrial.

But you also have a scholarly adviser to the defense, Dershowitz, clearly mentally unstable, and ranting nonsense on the Senate floor that he would publicly attempt to deny later on TV.

Third, we have two Senators (in this case Jurors) who should be ejected from the hearing; Rand Paul, for violating his oath by attempting to out the whistleblower three times in one day, while trial was in session (outing whistleblowers is a felony).  And Lindsey Graham, for failing to inform the managers that he was in fact a witness, involved in the matter being adjudicated, and therefore too biased to be a juror.

But Chief Justice Roberts lacks the courage to honor his own oath to defend the Constitution by declaring this a mistrial, because he’s doesn’t want people to say he chose sides... cuz he’s an unelected official (that was his statement in session for why he would not break a tie vote, if one were to come).

But hey!.. Roberts!... Founding fathers put the Supreme Court Justice in charge of the fucking trial for a reason! If Senators are clearly attempting to commit felonies on the floor (Paul) or hiding their involvement in the corruption (Graham) and if the President’s defense is headed by another guy involved in the corruption (Cipollone) then it’s your fucking Constitutional duty to declare a mistrial, at the very least!

Still... with all that said, the fat lady has not yet sung...

Though Congress will be off Sunday 2, they will reconvene for some final procedural arguments and such through Monday 3, and Tuesday 4, with the final vote on the fate of President Trump, not slated to happen until Wednesday the 5th.

Now, at this point, everybody else in the country believes that Trump’s acquittal this Wednesday is a foregone conclusion... now that witnesses have been voted down.  And hey!... they’re probably right.

But, I’m an optimist, so... I’d like to point out that we do still have three long days, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday... for things to continue shifting and changing.

And these will not be three ordinary days.

Tomorrow, Sunday 2, is the Superbowl... one of the most supercharged events of the year, for people to get together with their friends, get drunk, and vent their spleens about politics, if it happens to be an election year.

The next day, Monday 3, is the Iowa Caucuses... another super-duper-charged political event, that will kick off the 2020 primaries, and election season.

The day after that, Tuesday 4, will be the State of the Union Address, in which Trump will appear before a joint session of congress... his impeachment trial not yet completed.  Himself... not yet acquitted.

Given that nearly 80% of the public already feel that the impeachment trial thus far should be declared a mistrial at this point*... and given the high emotions that are gonna flare nonstop over the next three days.... I would say there is a non-zero chance, that come Wednesday... something other than what’s planned will take place.

Clearly, I’d like that something to be a flash removal from office... just a blindsiding, out of blue unanimous vote to remove Trump, from all 100 Senators.

You know, like... the public gets all torqued up on Superbowl Sunday, and polls suddenly say that 90% of them are calling for heads to roll, and it’s trending on all social media platforms and freaking everybody out...

Then like... Bernie Sanders blows everybody out of the water in Iowa the next day, signaling that a populist movement to counter that of Trump is fully underway.

Then like... Trump, all shook and angry, goes before Congress and the nation on TV the next day and just... fucking loses it like he’s never lost it before... full dictator mode, threatening everybody, threatening nuclear war, just frothing at the mouth.

All of that might make for a Wednesday the 5th where the minds of those GOP Senators are in very different places than McConnell put them... waaay back on Friday the 30th when it seemed like the immediate threat of just one manuscript leak had blown over.

You never know.

Even if they do acquit him, as everybody seems to accept, well, the damage to Trump is done...

...at least this round of injurious damage to Trump and his Junta is done, but far more damage is coming soon, and will keep coming daily... all this long year ahead.

The damage, as I’ve said in earlier entries, of the impeachment stigma alone, is radioactive, but now the House prosecution has had time to spell out an extremely damning case to the public, with everybody listening intently, and the defense, meanwhile, has been not only pathetic, but now, with the Cipallone revelation, discredited completely.

The GOP Senate also, has been exposed for the frauds they are, beholden to pac money over all else and, at least in Graham’s case**, conspiring to short circuit the trial to save himself from going to prison for his part in the criminal conspiracy.

Thanks also, to Trump’s nearly starting a war... every voter from 18 to 25 has been mobilized against him like we haven’t seen since VietNam.  And their sudden, but now dedicated levels of political activism are inspiring those 25 to 55 to get off their butts too and stop this maniac in 2020.

Bolton’s book, meanwhile...will come out.

The House will continue to hold oversight hearings.

Lev Parnas, with all of his insider receipts, will be heard.

FOIA requests, Court judgements, yet unknown whistleblowers, all... coming in the weeks and months to follow.

Pandora’s box has been opened.  The genie is out of the bottle. The train has left the station.

From the air, this is a simple number’s game.  The vast majority of the voting public is Democratic and left wing in their values.  So, in a situation where every one of them, from 18 to 98, is up on their toes, eyes wide open to the mutually existential threat, that is Trumpism... it will be exterminated at the polls.

Even if every last magical thinking, low information, Nazi fringe, authoritarian wing nut also gets out to vote.

Because they are the minority.  

They are 30% of the public, on their best day, when all the wishy-washy old school conservatives are siding with them.

They can be beat... and in a year like this they will be, because we let them have the reigns for four years, and they didn’t just do a poor job... they shit all over everybody and everything, hissing with spite the whole time.

Okay... that’s enough for this entry.

I’m going to bed.

*At the time of writing, I am the only person I know using the term, mistrial.  The press and public are still too dazed and demoralized by the vote to bar all witnesses to be thinking this way, but my guess is they will come around in the near future. 

Most people are calling it a sham trial, or something other, but in very legal terms, it is, and should be recognized as a mistrial. 

** If Lindsey Graham was in the loop, as far as the Ukraine extortion scheme to get dirt on Biden...  you can bet your ass other Senators were as well. My guess is McConnell himself is among them. 

Time will bear this out, I suspect.

[heypoliticsdad]

NYC General Election Endorsements November 2017

Oh yes, y’all, strap in. Another long one awaits. I am not weighing in on every race here; there’s too much for me to keep track of and there’s a lot I don’t know. Especially in city council races, it’s so local that it’s hard to keep track if you’re too far away. It’s also true that a lot of these races aren’t that contested (have you changed your party affiliation?), so there isn’t much to say. In races where there is a clear front runner, even if I kind of hate them, I’m not bothering to weigh in. 

I also am noticing two things about these endorsements: one, that there are two places where I recommend a male upstart over an existing female candidate; two, that I am clearly biased against incumbents. I’m not quite sure what to do with either of those things, but I wanted to name them as important. The city council stands to lose several women this time around, and while my feminism isn’t as simplistic as “women are automatically the best candidate,” I am still unsure what role misogyny is playing here, especially when incumbency means you have more to be hated for.

Want to know who’s on your ballot? Go here. Want to know where you vote? Go here. Polls are open 6am to 9pm so you really have no excuse.

Finally: when in doubt, write in Beyoncé. 

Mayor: Write in Beyoncé I can’t in good faith say vote for Bill de Blasio. He just hasn’t done enough good. The approval of the Bedford Armory redevelopment is just the latest fuckery in his “affordable housing” plan; he has the stank of corruption around him. He’s done some cool things but a lot of those cool things were already in process. Short of some kind of freak occurrence, he’s going to win (I’m not even going to bother looking up the correct spelling of his GOP opponent’s last name, it’s like that) and so you might as well write someone in. Beyoncé gets shit done. She would be ruthlessly effective and the longer she goes the more politicized she becomes. If we’re going to live in an oligarchy, I want my billionaire overlord to be the one that sunk a police car in a music video.

Public Advocate: Team Tish! I like what Tish James has done for us. I feel like I am waiting for the romance to be over and it’s possible I’ve missed some things. But she’s been a good public advocate, has stuck up for people, and I feel an overall sense of goodwill about her. The Public Advocate job is a weird one – tasked with advocating for the public – and I think necessarily this requires about some grandstanding as well as actually resolving complaints. It seems like she’s done good work so far, has the work to back up the grandstanding, and she’s definitely the best of the options.

Comptroller: Oh whatever, just go for Scott Stringer, or Beyoncé He’s better than the other guy, I think.

Manhattan DA: Write in Marc Fliedner. Remember the Brooklyn DA primary? With 500 people lining up around the block to be the most progressive? Marc Fliedner was one of those. He actually got ranked the best by the 5 Boro Defenders, a largely POC group of public defenders in the city. I ended up going for Anne Swern by a hair; Marc would have also been a good choice. Now he’s running in Manhattan as a write-in against Cy Vance, the sitting DA who is recently best known as declining to prosecute people who contributed to his campaign. (de Blasio, the Kushners, Harvey Weinstein). I feel great endorsing Marc as a write-in. Tell your friends!

District 1: Christopher Marte, I think I don’t know a lot about the long-term context of this race. I know that Margaret Chin is one of these funny third-term council members, a long-time incumbent. It’s hard to tell what her district thinks of her. I can’t find a good reason she gives for not doing participatory budgeting and it seems like there’s a lot of rage in the neighborhood around her work to preserve affordable housing, especially around the Two Bridges development. I’m a pragmatic guy at heart and her answers were, well, pragmatic; however, they’re a lot of that weird “people don’t really know what went into making these deals, we really tried” without actually telling people what went into making the deals and what she tried. Christopher Marte is from the neighborhood, evidently very involved, but in the way where it’s hard to know if what he does is as important as it looks on paper. He has the League of Independent Theaters’ endorsement, which also matters to me, although Chin’s overall list is much longer and includes Make the Road NYC and Planned Parenthood. She’s squarely in the middle of the City and State NY’s ranking of city council members. I read both of their responses to the Citizens Union survey about open government and found his more compelling. So vote Christopher Marte, I think, but I’m willing to be wrong about this one.

District 35: Jabari Brisport Laurie Cumbo sold out her district to the Bedford Armory. She has repeatedly bowed to developer pressure and the people just don’t like her. She attracted primary pressure, but the power of incumbency propelled her; luckily, people are still running. His Citizens Unite survey is full of the kind of truisms about government you get from the idealistic left, but what the eff, he’ll be a strong member of the progressive caucus. It’s a shame Ede Fox didn’t beat Cumbo in the primary, but I am happy to open the door to Brisport. I don’t think Cumbo is bad – she’s actually very highly ranked as a councilmember in responsiveness to her constituents, and she’s been the prime sponsor on a lot of bills about things that I think matter (% for arts reporting, public art, sex ed, multilingual information on housing.) Butttt…..I’m leaning Brisport. By a hair.

District 40: Brian Cunningham, Brian Cunningham, Brian Cunningham Mathieu Eugene has been a trash councilman. He has been the lead sponsor on only 7 bills in 10 years. He can’t even get a crosswalk made for a school. He might not even live in the district. Cunningham is young, he’s full of energy, he’s from the neighborhood, he’s worked with youth, and even if he ends out to be no good he’ll be no good in a new, better way. Cunningham is endorsed by the Working Families Party, the Stonewall Democrats, Planned Parenthood, TenantsPAC, and the Brooklyn Independent Democrats (we like them! They’re not the IDC!) 60% of the district voted for someone other than Eugene in the Democratic primary, but the vote split; Cunningham had the Reform endorsement which meant he could be on the general ballot on their line. He’s got good ideas about housing and more than that seems to actually care about what he does. You’re going to have to go to the Reform Party line to vote for him – he got the WFP endorsement too late to be on the ballot with them – so scoot that pencil to the right column and fill in that box. (Full disclosure: I’ve been volunteering with them.)

Prop 1: The Con Con:……no, but I hate myself a little and I might change my mind. Oh, the Con Con. I have been wrestling with this one and frankly it’s part of why this is coming out only one day before the election. There is so much good that could come from this, and so much bad that could come from it. The right says it’s a bad idea because the left would control the agenda; the left says it’s a bad idea because the right would control the agenda. Public unions are against it because of the risk to pensions. It’ll cost so much! (Will it cost so much?) It’s the only way to make change aside from our dysfunctional system! (Is it the only way to make change aside from our dysfunctional system?) The last one did nothing in the end! The one before that did so much! Most of our progressive laws come from constitutional conventions! The Koch brothers would take it over! NYCLU is against it; Citizens Union is for it. Unions are against it; progressive politicians are for it. The New York Times is against it; Newsday Long Island is for it. I have been watching debates and reading articles and it is one giant, messy ball.

The fact of the matter is this: no one knows what will happen because everything goes up for grabs. Everyone agrees on this. The pro side is arguing this presents an enormous opportunity for change: home rule for cities! Gender expression could be a protected class! Early voting! Legislative term limits! A unicameral legislature! The con side is basically making the same argument, only the bad side: loss of union pensions! Rolling back of the right to shelter! Gerrymandered senate districts leading to a conservative delegate base! The pro side says this is a chance for the government to truly be shaped by the people; the con side says the process will be hopelessly corrupt and just cost people money.

Voting yes hits all my love of sweeping action and big change. Past conventions are what have given us many of the things that already make New York relatively progressive: the “forever wild” land preserve, the right to welfare, expansion of voting rights. It’s a seductive argument. How often do we as progressives get a chance to build something from the ground up?

And yet. You might have noticed this isn’t a great time for progressives at the ballot box. One of the few things that I have not heard countered by the pro side is the fact that the statewide left is weak; Democrats aren’t even organized enough to get rid of the IDC, let alone a statewide progressive caucus. The unions are against it because they don’t feel they can guarantee a progressive outcome, and to me when someone publicly says they aren’t sure how powerful they are, you listen. That gerrymandering is real, and while a majority of the state senate districts went for Clinton over Trump, the state Senate is split more or less evenly. 

How all that translates to a vote really boils down to this: are you a pragmatist or are you an idealist? Are you a risktaker or do we play it safe? In my heart of hearts, I want to believe in the con con. I want to believe we can do something great. But…I just can’t get over the feeling in my gut that this is not the moment. Politics worldwide don’t look good for progressive, expansive views, and especially in the United States it’s a moment for the left to be very careful with the risks we take. So I say vote no, but grudgingly, and I reserve the right to change my mind at the last minute in the voting box and make an idealistic, possibly reckless vote.

Prop 2: Cut Pensions for Public Officials Convicted of Corruption Yes really. It’s a question. FOR GOODNESS SAKE’S VOTE YES. It doesn’t even automatically cut these pensions. It just makes it an option for judges when the circumstances warrant it. VOTE YES. I’m not even giving you a link; if you vote against this, just go home.

Prop 3: Land Bank for Modifications for Forever Wild This is one of those upstate questions that we down here don’t really think about. Basically, it comes down to this: right now, the “forever wild” lands upstate can’t be developed for any reason. This seems good until you realize, say, a bridge needs to be repaired, only it can’t be repaired without a constitutional amendment because the repair would need to use some small corner of the forever wild land. This proposition would create a bank wherein the state would buy 250 acres of new forever wild land and then make the same amount of land available for projects like bridges and internet cables. This makes sense and is endorsed by the Nature Conservancy as well as a broad coalition of preservation groups for both the Adirondacks and the Catskills, which is good enough for me. 

Ok, if you made it to the end, one more thing: this ad for Kalman Yeger in Boro Park. That race is its own hot ticket - Yoni Hikind, Dov Hikind’s son, against Kalman Yeger. The Forward goes into the underground heat, but I just want to give Kalman Yeger an award for the jingle of the election (and for all I know, this is a dis track, but I don’t know enough Yiddish to figure it out):

[marrowskies]

that post i promise is here

and it’s long

imo you can see moffat's failings even in the episodes he's hailed for. like okay so one of the things is that in empty child everybody lives, but the everybody lives thing gets twisted as the show continued under him because... well... he's the doctor! everybody lives!

EVERYBODY.

LIVES.

EVERY. BODY.

THE time lords? his entire race dead to separate it from the original show in a definable story driven way that elaborates on an aspect that the doctor always had? terrible decisions he's had to make for the sake of good, even though he dislikes making horrible decisions that kill people????????????????????????? WHICH MAKES THE DECISION REALLY BAD???????????????????????????????????? AND DIFFICULT?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

fuck that shit the doctor is awesome! everybody lives!

"JUST THIS ONCE?"

HOW ABOUT JUST THIS EVERY SINGLE FUCKING TIME EVEN IN RETROSPECT BECAUSE FUCK YOU. I WANT THE DOCTOR TO BE AN INFALLIBLE MESSIANIC PIECE OF SHITTY WRITING but not in like an interesting but flawed way that RTD always tried to do even if he didn't always succeed but at least messianic bullshit was presented as a FUCKING FLAW and not just another DOCTOR IS AWESOME HIS FLAW IS JUST THAT HE IS TOO AWESOME ALL THE TIME

LIKE okay so I've seen that post going around that's like HAHA LOL NUWHO FANS DON'T KNOW THAT THE DOCTOR WAS ALWAYS MORALLY AMBIGUOUS BECAUSE IN THE FIRST EPISODE HE NEARLY KILLED THAT ONE GUY WITH A ROCK BECA-FUUUUUUCCCCKKKKKK OFFFF

that scene is so poorly indicative of what the doctor's character would become that it's been post-explained TWICE in TWO DIFFERENT FORMATS OF THE SHOW. YES the doctor can be morally ambiguous YES he has done horrible things and HE WILL GO ON TO DO HORRIBLE THINGS EVEN IN CLASSIC!WHO - but that is typically, for the rest of the show's existence, brought up as a THING HE'S GOTTA DEAL WITH, not some bullshit as "but he knows best" fuckery. the way that the Eight Doctors deals with it isn't half bad, actually, considering he basically confronts his younger self as a cocky "i know best" kind of idiot who hasn't had the 7 lifetimes to understand that it's not the right thing to do (especially when by now we understand that he's been living on an entire planet of "snarf snarf we're the best and lower lifeforms are primitive and pointless" assholes)

this argument also bothered me because OF COURSE nu!who fans would think this! there are lines all over the series indicating how awesomely badass the doctor is, how wonderful, how amazing, how just so fantastically remarkably brilliant and good he is to the point that MOFFAT RETROACTIVELY REWROTE THE FOUNDATION OF THE REBIRTH OF DOCTOR WHO ON THE SIMPLE INSISTENCE THAT THE DOCTOR WOULD NOT DO A BAD THING. of COURSE there are people confused about the mixed messages the show is giving them! is he an infallibly good awesome messiah? IS he MAYBE perhaps SOMETIMES BAD? oh, let me just HINT AT THAT A FEW TIMES but OVERALL NAH! HE GOOD! good is always a real, quantifiable thing that you are, and difficult decisions are... never difficult! because there's always a good one!

moffat's ALWAYS been like this! even in empty child i will argue! even in blink!

blink and empty child are often bandied about imo as "when moffat was good" and the video makes a point about how moffat is good in small doses, but empty child and blink are recycled so constantly that you realize that moffat's shit stank from the beginning much in the way that s4 sherlock reflects how sherlock has always been shit. empty child's premise worked because it was out of context with moffat's overall writing - how everyone ALWAYS lives, how women are ALWAYS WRITTEN through his perspective.

blink is so caught up in its obsession in being a cool thing for cool people that it shits on its own premise eventually. that becomes more clear when moffat brings it back constantly. but it's still pretty evident in that episode alone

"you can't look away from the angels because that's when they move"

"well we've figured it out! so we'll keep an eye on them now!!!!"

"well you can't because they can turn lights off for no reason!"

"what? why?"

"because FUCK YOU IS WHY also there would be no tension going into this final scene if i didn't make some bullshit up to make your solution pointless but anyway let me also ruin this two seasons from now by letting you see US MOVE"

blink's premise is fucked just mildly enough that we can ignore it and then because moffat has been squeezed of what creative juice he had left and then fucked it up some more, but more flashily! with budget! and guns!

god and his stupid fucking "crying is happy for sad people" just fuck entirely off moffat, yes? keep the preteen "i'm sad because i'm emotional and deep" shit to your 40 year old journal you keep up to date on how misunderstood and genius you are.

i haven't even gotten to the fact that sherlock isn't even sad or validated when moriarty dies. he isn't like well that fuckhead who was fucking with me is dead but at least crime is over. the video doesn't even go into a core aspect of sherlock holmes which is that he solves crimes because he wants crimes solved. that he maybe solves this stuff in particular because he cares about people and dislikes bad things because he’s a person, even if he does morally ambiguous things for the sake of a mystery. one of holmes’ enduring traits is supposed to be THAT HE GIVES A SHIT ABOUT PEOPLE. that he wants murder to have justice, that he wants a thief to be caught, and if he didn’t want those fucking things he wouldn’t solve crimes, he’d be fuckin mycroft. THAT’S BASICALLY LITERALLY THE WHOLE FUCKING POINT OF MYCROFT AS A CHARACTER, TO SHOW WHAT SHERLOCK WOULD BE IF HE WAS AN MISANTHROPIC PIECE OF INCONSIDERATE SHIT, holing himself up in an intellectual elite club full of uncaring shits who work in underground politics i mean i know that gets sort of elaborated on later on but CHRIST sherlock!sherlock would fit right fucking in at diogenes, except it wouldn’t be silent because he’d constantly need people to tell him how fucking smart he is all the fucking time

i'm so sick of this character on a fundamental level because moffat isn't the only one who does this - yes he's the one who has unfortunately laid waste to my current enjoyment of two of my favorite stories - and for those of you who counter often with "well you don't have to watch it" - you're right. I don't. and i've honestly never given Sherlock the time of day past its bullshit Orientalist episode, but as a fan of Holmes it is literally impossible to say that name without people pouncing in with how awesome Sherlock is. it's impossible to talk about Doctor Who without someone talking about the more recent season. DO YOU SEE? DO YOU SEE HOW UNAVOIDABLE.

Moffat as a writer has always capitalized on a particular archetype, the misanthropic genius. the misanthropy can be on a scale, but the genius part is paramount. the misanthropy adds a mystery to the character - because he doesn't LIKE people, his inner machinations lay undetect, but this can be done through various means. sometimes it's just done through being so sheer genius that they cannot be understood, like sherlock-archetypes almost always are, or they're so WACKY that they cannot be understood. whatever the case is, they're sometimes unlikeable, and are paired with people who don't UNDERSTAND them, but *understand* that they are so brilliant that they cannot be understood and therefore put up with whatever shit bullshittery they might be going through. (usually they're queerbaited because that character tends to be male)

here are some examples i can think off the top of my head: kingkiller chronicles, big bang theory, pure genius, dirk gently as written by douchebag mcfuckface Max Landis, frankenstein as written by douchebag mcfuckface Max Landis, most main male characters in stuff written by douchebag mcfuckface Max Landis, stargate atlantis (shared by mckay and shepard), basically every single adaptation of Holmes that didn't understand the fucking point (including house), arguably Elementary too tho that's actually dealt with in the show as a real tangible character flaw, Ender's Game, honestly as much as I love LeGuin - Wizard at Earthsea, and Catcher in the Rye to be honest, and... and... god what was that show about the guy who takes a FUCKING PILL TO BE SMART? (looked it up: Limitless), Will in Hannibal, APB WHATEVER THE FUCK THAT WAS?, HONESTLY JAKE FROM BROOKLYN 99 ALSO TOES THE LINE FOR ME especially in the early seasons but Jake is a NICE. BOY. AND christ the list goes ON and it NEVER ENDS WE ARE STILL WRITING THIS STUPID FUCKING CHARACTER.

this. shitty. character. a deep, philosophical, genius so beyond our normal human being's conception that they don't have to be nice to be liked. they just have to be smart. beyond smart. amazingly, stunningly, inconceivably smart. so smart that even their bad thing is a good thing. even their bad decisions turn out to be good ones, and their flaw is some manufactured bullshit like drugs! (House) or unfairly poor! (Kingkiller) or possibly autistic! (bbt). none of these aren't real, actual that real people have to deal with, of course, but they're USED in these cases to artificially insert a character "flaw." (and being an addict or poor or autistic isn't a fucking flaw! fucking stop it!!!!) the ultimate male wish-fulfillment character. don't require physical attractiveness or humor or charm or kindness or money. just smarts. then the women will love you!

this character has been around for so fucking long in media i feel like we've been tricked into thinking it's a good character. it's in so many well known classic things because shitheads like moffat and joss whedon and max landis and patrick rothfuss have been around forever, perpetuating their own bullshit since forever and i'm fucking sick of it. it's the writing equivalent of a white guy with acoustic guitar. a lazy, self-serving piece of writing that only serves to help the writer put his head up his own ass in an attempt to outwit himself with the most uninteresting archetype that exists. this is worse to me than the DREADED Mary Sue, because Mary Sues don't tend to be FUCKING ASSHOLES that people LOVE ANYWAY. They're just blank slates for people and that's FINE. everyone needs that at some point in their life! DO WE NEED MORE WHITE GUYS BEING AMAZING GENIUSES BUT WACKY ASSHOLES BUT SO GENIUS THAT EVERYONE LOVES THEM???? DO WE? DO WE NEED TO PERPETUATE THIS EXHAUSTING PERCEPTION THAT BEING RIGHT IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN BEING KIND????????

WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

[disparition]

I want to talk about this whole “punching nazis” thing, which I have been thinking about for some days.

To start, let me clarify that I have no moral or ethical qualms with Richard Spencer getting punched in the face on tv. I’d be happy to see it happen again.

But I do have a couple issues with much of the dialogue that has emerged in the wake of this event.

A lot of the people suddenly talking about nazis right now are people who didn’t seem to even realize they existed in this country prior to this election.

A lot of people seem to have gotten some strange ideas about how and where nazis are typically encountered, or who they actually are.

So, I’d like to talk about some of the times in my life when I’ve encountered nazis.

Before I do that, let’s try to establish a definition. There are a lot of different stripes of fascists and white supremacists out there, with varying agendas and varying degrees of organization. In the US we’ve got many types, ranging from the KKK and Aryan Nation to various unorganized skinhead rabble to the newish group calling itself the Alt Right. It seems easiest, at least for the sake of this argument, to lump those all together under one general “nazi” category. But does that really make sense? I’ll come back to that. But for now, in most of the examples I will describe below, these were people who openly called themselves such.

Also, I want to establish a bit about who I am. I don’t like to discuss any of these things publicly, but I also feel like I kind of have to, to explain where I am coming from. So: I am Jewish, I am bi, I am neurodivergent. Due to this last thing, I have certain issues navigating the physical world. I am physically fit but not athletic. I have very little self defense training. By occupation I am a musician.

And lastly I want to point out that these examples are from 15-20 years ago and describe some of my earliest encounters with these forces to provide context. And I’m going to start with some clear cut cases:

I first became aware of the existence of modern nazis my first year in high school. This was in the suburbs of San Francisco. I had a few friends who were into punk music and culture. I heard about “white power punks” and nazi skinheads who would sometimes show up at shows. When I started going out I would see them every once in a while. When I started going up to the city, at that time there were places that were absolutely notorious for nazi skinheads. I never interacted with them, I always steered clear of them, and never really fell in with the punk scene anyway. But that’s when I first became aware that there were people in modern America who called themselves nazis and directly advocated for white supremacy.

To be honest I did not think of myself as their “target” because (in my mind, at that time) Jewish culture in the SF Bay Area was practically invisible and unlikely to be on their radar. In fact I didn’t think too deeply about who their target was. I mostly thought they were crazy people who loved violence and called themselves “nazis” because it was the meanest thing they could think of, that they were in favor of “white power” because it was so obviously wrong. At this time, there was fair amount of tension in the state around the issue of immigration from Mexico. But it did not occur to me then that there could have been any relationship between the xenophobia I saw expressed by mainstream circles in conversations about Proposition 187 and the blatant, violent white supremacy expressed by the skinheads on the periphery of local punk scenes. (also please note that I am aware that not all skinheads are nazis and that there is an anti-racist element within skinhead culture as well)

In college, in Pittsburgh, I lived on a store with a convenience store on one end. One of the people who worked in this store was a skinhead who wore a jacket covered in various white power/“rock against communism” band logos. He had a group of similar buddies that often hung around nearby, a couple of whom had aryan nation tattoos. On several occasions when I woke up in the morning I would find leaflets distributed up and down the block decrying the Holocaust as a “Jewish scam to make money”. These flyers were attributed to Church of the Creator, one of the more active neo-nazi groups in Pennsylvania at that time. Every once in a while I would cautiously engage in arguments with some people on the fringes of that crew of guys who hung out in the area. Things were sometimes tense but never got physical. Soon after 9/11 most of them disappeared. I don’t know why or where to.

While traveling alone in Slovenia, I nearly ran into a parade of about 40 skinheads chanting and marching in the street while I was on the way back to where I was staying. I do not know what specific group they were affiliated with but wore patches with the common “celtic cross” symbol used by far right/white nationalist groups all over the world. At that time, fascist graffiti covered Ljubljana.

Those are just a few of the more blatant examples from that time. These experiences were not rare. The KKK and various neo-nazi groups held public parades and rallies all throughout this period, and sometimes showed up as counter protestors or forces of violence at protests for progressive causes. They marched through downtown Pittsburgh - with the local government’s blessing - and many other cities in that region.

There were protestors at those marches, and there were people who fought the nazis directly, but the general consensus in mainstream liberal circles at that time seemed to be that nazis had the right to march just like anyone else, that any violence against them would be bad. It certainly wasn’t at all common to hear college educated, NY Times-reading liberals talking about the glories of “punching nazis”. This is a problematic but very complicated phenomenon: they were to be tolerated up until the point at which they’ve come into power.

But let me explain why _I_ didn’t go around punching the nazis I saw, during those times when I encountered them personally. To some extent, part of me did follow that logic mentioned above, but that’s not the real reason. The real reason is pretty simple: most nazis are a lot better at fighting than I am, they do it more frequently, they usually travel in numbers, they are often armed, and in almost every circumstance when I’ve encountered them the odds would not have been remotely in my favor had things gotten physical.

Richard Spencer was alone and unarmed standing in front of a video camera busily talking about an internet meme while he was sucker punched. This occurred in broad daylight in a very crowded, open area with a ton of media and police present. While I applaud the anonymous puncher for seizing upon that opportunity, that’s not really a typical situation in which one encounters nazis.

Recently, Richard Spencer posted a video in reaction to this incident. In this video he mentions that the Alt Right will not succeed if they are unable to be who they are in public. I’ve seen a lot of people pointing to this video as a sign of victory over the Alt Right, a sign that they are scared. I think the latter half is true but not the former. What Spencer is saying is that they are going to ramp up security. And I would anticipate that these people will begin to receive even more protection from the current administration.

So, this is one conclusion I’d like to leave here - in most cases “punching nazis” means getting involved in serious physical violence in which your life will be at risk. And that risk is only going to increase in the future. Fantasizing about punching some idiot talking about a frog on tv is fun, but I think it ignores the realities that many have faced and many more are about to face. And while many of us have disabilities that hinder us in this department, I think it would behoove anyone who is serious about getting physical with fascists to study and learn how to do so before getting involved in a situation you are unprepared for. I would also think long and hard before making that demand of anyone else. But that’s not the most important point.

I’d like to circle back to talking about definitions. The examples I gave above are obvious. These were people who, in almost all cases, were openly wearing the actual logos of white supremacist organizations. So let me bring up a different example:

About one year after 9/11 I was in Budapest, taking an overnight train to Amsterdam. I had a spot in a sleeper compartment on a train. I got on and a couple other passengers came in. One of them was a young guy, a little older than me (I was in my early 20’s at this time). He spoke English very well and we got to talking. It turned out he was an Austrian who worked in finance. Middle management at a major bank. He bought us a couple of beers and we were getting along. Inevitably, the topic of 9/11 came up. Seemingly out of nowhere, he explains to me how “there were no Jews in the building that day”. He then goes on to explain how 9/11 and the entire War on Terror that was then unfolding was all a Jewish plot to direct money to Israel’s armed forces. And hinted that the Holocaust was a similar plot. I tried to argue with him for a bit (without letting on that I was Jewish) but it was nearly impossible to get through to him, and he soon became surly and then passed out. I tried to do the same. But what caught my attention was that this man was well spoken, dressed conservatively, he looked every bit the upper middle class finance professional. It was difficult to imagine him in a street fight. No one would have described this person as being on the fringes of his society.

Up until a year ago, if I told this story to a European, or to an American person of color, they were unsurprised. But if I told it to a white American their reaction would usually be “yeah, well, that’s Europe for you”.

But that’s never been the case.

One common narrative is that many of the groups of fascists have figured out that they aren’t going to get very far if they are seen just thugs who march around on the street wearing in leather jackets getting in scraps. many of them have figured this out some time ago, and have been infiltrating mainstream education and corporate life. And yes, that is happening.

But there is a big problem with that narrative: it ignores the fact that many of America’s institutions and businesses are, themselves, organizations that promote white supremacy. Many of our banks, many of our police departments, our prison system, much of our media. Does these mean they are all “nazis”? Not really. But what it does mean is that white supremacy is not some outside force that just suddenly popped out of Steve Bannon’s suitcase. It’s been here for a long time. It is deeply engrained in our society. Fascism is not some new danger that we suddenly need to prevent from being “normalized” - for much of America, fascism has been the norm for a very long time.

Here’s my point with all of this: sooner or later, Trump will be defeated. This regime is monstrous, but I have seen the power and anger and sheer volume of opposition to it, and I do not think that this regime will last. My worry is, once this most obvious of enemies is defeated, the liberal establishment will go right back to completely forgetting that white supremacy and fascism are a major problem in this country. The sad fact is, even when Democrats in power, even when the POTUS is the most progressive sounding person electable, the nazis are still here, white supremacy is still here, fascism is still here. And not always on “the other side”. We need to remember that, we need to keep pointing to them and ostracizing them and speaking out against white supremacy and fascism even when it looks like things are more comfortable, because that comfort is a trap.