#no wonder conservatives are frustrated with liberals

[spythebandana]

. . . . . . . Uh . . . . These are not the same . . . They both are different reaches and considerations. Use of the CO law to keep Trump off the ballot brought up 2 important questions 1) Can you punish someone for being an insurrectionist if they haven’t been found guilty of insurrection in a court of law? 2) What role can a State rightly play in determining candidates for a federal election? Does the State have the right to remove a candidate from consideration for a federal election or is that overstepping their bounds?

The Supreme Court already ruled that it’s up to the individual States to determine how abortion is handled within that State. The Court has NOT made this determination in terms of ballots.

Different laws, different implications = a completely different treatment

This isn’t a double standard or the “patriarchy.” These are two VERY different legal cases. Please stop trying to simplify things in order to try to make a poorly conceived point.

The patriarchy demands double standards.

[iamnmbr3]

You might not be interested in this ship, but I was wondering what are your thoughts on lucissa? It seems many people think that it was a marriage of convenience and that they didn’t really like each other.

It probably was a marriage of convenience to some extent - I mean, there are only so many eligible pureblood bachelors, especially if you're a Black and thus have very high standards in terms of who has an acceptable level of wealth and social standing and blood purity. Interestingly Lucius is the first Malfoy on the official Black family tree. I've always liked to headcanon that the Malfoys were a bit newer on the scene compared to the Blacks and thus slightly looked down on and that it was a big victory for Lucius to finally land a Black as a bride. I also like to imagine that maybe Abraxas had designs on Walburga but couldn't get it to work. It's a good match for Narcissa and for Lucius. Perhaps given Lucius's accepting attitudes towards Snape in the book 7 flashback as opposed to Bellatrix calling Harry a filthy half-blood, the Malfoys might be considered a bit too liberal for the tastes of some more conservative family members, but are able to make up for it with their tremendous wealth. That said, it's certainly a respectable, acceptable marriage by her family's standards, and probably a mark of how the Malfoys have come up in the world.

That doesn't mean that there wasn't also affection there too. They certainly don't seem to dislike each other - and are definitely seen together a lot more than Bellatrix and her husband for example. Narcissa certainly gets angry on several occasions when Lucius is insulted in her presence. I do think she is markedly more protective of Draco, much quicker to speak up in his defense no matter the circumstances, and more concerned with his safety and his interests. You could say that's just due to the different relationship that a parent and child have versus a wife and husband, and while that is undoubtedly part of it, I also tend to think that her love for Draco is perhaps a bit stronger and more uncomplicated than her feelings for Lucius. She likes Lucius, and she cares about him. But I'm not sure it's a great love for the ages.

Especially in the later books when she has to step out of her traditional pureblood wife role I think perhaps she starts to find him a bit lacking and her respect for him diminishes a bit. I think they are both changed by the war. She draws on skills and fortitude she never knew she had. And in contrast he becomes diminished, unable to navigate the complex and dire situation he has unintentionally condemned his family to, and too overwhelmed and afraid to truly try. For example in the beginning of book 7 it is she who is able to discern how they should react and who has to take charge of the situation. It is she who is looking out for her family, with little support from Lucius who seems mostly concerned with looking inwards. (Admittedly Lucius has the most to worry about since Voldemort's anger is especially focused on him.) This may leave Narcissa feeling isolated and frustrated and make her respect Lucius less than she once did.

I think Draco takes after his mother a lot more than his father - especially in terms of his magical skill, his aptitude for occlumency, his resourcefulness and creativity. And I think he's more appreciated by his mother. Lucius always struck me as a bit colder towards Draco - willing to send him far away to Durmstrang till Narcissa intervened and publicly humiliating him in book 2 etc. I think perhaps part of Lucius's affection for Draco is more for the idea of him as the Malfoy heir than as an actual person. And I'm sure Lucius is disgusted by Draco's lack of stomach for true violence or cruelty. After all, Lucius's idea of a good time is getting drunk and engaging in a bit of muggle torture with his mates. This too probably proves a source of tension, especially in the later books.

However, I really can't imagine them with anyone else. I think they are both generally aligned in their world views and attitudes. While the marriage may well have been semi-arranged I think both believed in the process and probably went into the marriage with enthusiasm. And I think they're happy to continue the relationship after the war though I'm not sure either would contemplate dying for the other or anything like that. I also don't think interpretations where Lucius is going around terrorizing his family or beating/torturing/abusing Draco fit with canon. I don't think he would do that. Nor do I think that Narcissa would allow it if he tried.

I think their relationship is flawed - but so are they. A nice little, 'awful people being awful together' ship. And I think iterations of them where they are a bit more lovey dovey with each other than I see them are also a valid reading that has a good basis in canon too.

[runawaysiren940]

Hi Siren, I really enjoy your channel and appreciate all of the work you put into it. I was just wondering if you had any recommendations for other radical feminist Youtube channels? It really bums me out that so much of the gender critical content on Youtube seems to be from men and/or conservatives. Even leftist/liberal men making gender critical content on Youtube usually frustrate me and I'm tired of listening to their voices and often find their perspectives to be limited and shallow. Do you have any radical feminist and/or gender critical female Youtubers that you'd recommend?

To be honest, I don't watch much gc or radfem content; I like to keep a healthy divide so I don't get consumed by the sad reality of gender ideology. But I am working on some content with sistasepratist, and use tiktok's from Hannaha Berrelli and Amy Sousa quite often (all three on tiktok, not sure about youtube). I also have some stuff planned with radical ramblings, but my recommendation list is rather small.

[peach-and-bugs]

I have been wondering what you think the girls would study in college (if they were teenagers in 2021 and no crash happened) (including Jackie obvs)

oooo! This is actually such a fun idea!!! I'm also adding Laura Lee bc she deserves it and I love her! I also kinda went into what they would do with their degrees after school

What would the Yellowjackets study and major in college (no crash)

tw: religious themes with Laura Lee

Jackie

✰ So, Jackie is a hard one. She's the kind of girl who goes into school thinking she's got the world figured out, only to realize that no, she doesn't, and get hit with quite a rude awakening

✰ She'd go in choosing something rather ambitious, having a hard time with it, and possibly taking a gap year to figure herself out

✰ Ultimately, I could see her as an early education major. She didn't think it would be something she'd enjoy, but to her surprise, she does, and eventually, once she graduates she becomes a kindergarten teacher at Wiskayok Elementary

Laura Lee

✰ Laura Lee Is so dedicated to her religion, and I have to have respect for that. But I could easily see her going into youth ministry with a degree in theology and possibly a minor in religion studies

✰ However, I could also see her minoring in music because of her piano! While she doesn't like her teacher much, I really do think Laura Lee enjoys the piano itself and I could see her leading a youth choir in her church

✰ She's definitely working in a progressive church. personally, I think she was raised to be more conservative, but in a world where she gets to go to college and grow more away from her family, she developed her own opinions and becomes a far more open person, viewing god as someone far more excepting then what she was initially taught

Lottie

✰ I fully see Lottie going to college knowing from the start that she wants to study teaching/education. She'd go back and forth about wanting to teach little kids and older kids, but she'd ultimately settle on teaching middle schoolers

✰ I could see her being an English teacher or possibly a history teacher! She loves connecting with kids and giving them a voice and lending an ear, especially with them being at such a frustrating age

✰ I can also see her minoring in French! Yes, Lottie isn't supposed to be good at French, but I think that's a complete lie. If her school doesn't have a French program, she'd 100% start an after-school club or run summer classes for students interested in learning

Misty

✰ I could see Misty sticking with nursing, but she's also a giant theater kid. She seems like the type to go to a small liberal arts school for musical theater or improve with huge dreams of acting on stage

✰ I really think she'd find a great community in a theater/arts program because even though she's always gonna be a weirdo, she'll definitely find more weirdos to be her friends (this is coming from someone who has theater majors as friends)

✰ This could be some of my own self-projecting, but I think she'd get really involved in the nightlife of college and eventually frequent the drag scene with her friends. She's also always going to rocky horror. Ultimately that's how she realizes she's gay

Natalie

✰ I think the only way Natalie is going to school is on a full-ride scholarship, but even then, college doesn't seem like her thing. I could see her following one/some of the girls to their college campus to screw around and figure herself out, living some of the college life without actually going to school

✰ Natalie would try to pursue a music career, no questions asked. She's shown to have a love for music and she already looks like a rock star, so it just makes the most sense for her. She'll crash on couches, eventually getting her own apartment while she writes her own music and I think she could eventually really take off

✰ she'd get a band together and eventually tour, writing music kinda along the lines of classic rock and grunge with some riot girl in the mix. Think pearl jam, foo fighters, and le tigre (all great groups that I highly recommend)

Shauna

✰ Shauna is 100% getting a Literary Arts degree, no questions asked. Or an English degree with a focus on creative writing

✰ She gets to explore herself, take her semester abroad in Paris like she'd hoped, and eventually she becomes a New York Times bestseller for her works of poetry

✰ She'd also delve into fiction and I could even see some of her work getting turned into limited series or films eventually. She's quite humble and lives a quiet life, though she enjoyed being in the spotlight for her work

Taissa

✰ I still think Tai would study law and become a Lawyer and potentially still go into politics. But part of me kinda wants to say she'd take an interest in environmental science and possibly become an environmental lawyer?

✰ I really don't know why I thought of that, but I think it would be really interesting for her. I think she'd still end up with Simone and Sammy and she'd go to New York for work a lot of the time

✰ If she did run for office again, she'd have a heavy focus on environmental conservation. I could also see her getting into National Park works

Van

✰ So, originally I kinda thought Van would be a dropout, which sounds bad, but I was thinking about her store. But then I realized that she'd only got her store because she was stuck trying to relive her life before the crash, so no crash, no store

✰ Ultimately, she's a film major. She's either getting a film studies or production degree. Van loves movies and would want to get involved with that world, creating movies like what she grew up watching, like The Goonies and Alien

✰ She absolutely hates remakes and remasters, so if she's directing or writing her own films, they're going to be originals that still hold the nostalgia of the 80s and 90s

[aliosne]

So we had a provincial election last week and they’re still tabulating results and figuring out what our government is gonna look like bc—in a province where for as long as I remember there have been zero conservative seats won—we are staring down the barrel of a potential conservative government, or if not, a burly conservative opposition.

It’s freaking me out. For what it means for this province, and what it’ll mean for the next federal election.

I know a lot of people are frustrated with the NDP but don’t want the liberals back either. I’m frustrated too. I’m also desperately fucking scared my rights are going to be ripped away. And it’s disheartening bc like. I live in a staunchly NDP riding. Again, this election has seen a lot of upsets in that regard, but ours is still bright orange. So like. Idk what I can do exactly. Stay on top of my MLA I guess.

I’m just really scared about the future and to be quite fucking honest, every day I wonder if it would be kinder to my family to off myself now.

[hippieghost]

You know, I think all of this online discourse surrounding the election would be a lot less frustrating if people would take into account that most of us want the same things.

I'm a leftist, and while I don't particularly push too deep into conversations of what kind of system I would want to see to make it happen, I believe really strongly that we should be putting in the work to build a society where no one's worrying about where their next meal comes from, you know?

But when I see people online bashing the people who are trying to work within the current system to make it maybe a little more tolerable, it gets frustrating. It comes across as being less about wanting to advocate for bigger changes and more about holding some sort of moral high ground.

And I get it, I do. It sickens me to see representatives I used to think were reasonable applaud for a man that's responsible for genocide. It's sickening that so much fight has to happen just to get the elected to acknowledge the horrors that Palestinians have been going through. It's heartbreaking just to see it. I doubt I could even begin to fathom how terrible it must be to live it.

We all need to do more to support Palestinians, however we can. Keeping up to date on the boycotts, donating where we can, and participating in whatever protests we can find. Personally I like donating the esims, but there's a lot of options out there.

But we also need to do our part to keep things from getting worse. I don't like Biden's "both sides" attitude towards Gaza and Israel. I think the US absolutely needs to pull funding and needed to do it back in October when this all first started. I do admittedly have more hope for Harris, who to my understanding has been pushing Biden to be more sympathetic to Palestinians, but I recognize that this election is not going to free them.

But when I see other leftists bashing and ridiculing people who are just trying to keep everything from getting worse under a trump administration, it makes me wonder if they actually care about any of this stuff. I think it'd be one thing if these people were bashing conservatives just as often, but it seems like the liberals are the only ones getting any flak from them.

And I get it, I do. As I've said before, it's frustrating being told to vote for a lesser evil, and I think we all would rather have a better system.

But I guess what I'm saying is that, when you spend all of your time fighting against the lesser evil, to the point where you do nothing to stand against the greater evil, who are you really helping?

Is this really going to make anything better?

[lettucedloophole]

hello, i'm so glad i found this blog! it's amazing to know that there are people in this space doing the work. if you don't mind me asking, how did you turn away from terf ideology? i find it frustrating that many radical feminists are terfs and i'm wondering if there is a way to bring more power to the side of trans-inclusive radical feminism, or arguments that cause terfs to realize transphobia is not feminist. not all people are the same or will have their minds changed by the same thing, of course, but if you have any insight on this, please share it!

hii :D i don't think of myself as doing work really, just kind of talking here, but i'm glad you like my blog!

this issue is a tough one. at it's core... people aren't going to change if they don't want to. i think it's especially hard to deradicalize as most of the time the spaces younger terfs are coming from are liberal queer spaces, and they're obviously very terf-exclusive places despite the fact that there's still rampant transmisogyny there. so essentially it's like, you can't acknowledge you're wrong, because if you're wrong then you're a bad person who's harmed a vulnerable group and no one will accept you anymore. but the solution to this isn't to be like "well just stop being angry that people are/were oppressive" because that also leads to more bigotry. i guess it's a catch 22 of sorts.

it's kind of haunting to think about but some of the people i knew in terf spaces even privately admitted to me that they felt bad about what they were saying but in the end, their ideological beliefs told them it was okay and they didn't want to lose that sense of belonging. as you know, being in proximity to terfs as someone who even so much as sympathizes with trans people makes them rain hell down upon you.

i think it's best to focus on preventative measures. mainstream trans (and left) spaces should have a better understanding of misogyny, transphobia, and transmisogyny. the reason i rejected transness is because i thought i understood what it was and the social conditions around it, and especially if you're tumblr socialized, you're aware of the ways in which you're disprivileged and if you're multiply marginalized (like myself and a handful of terfs) it's easy to think you can't be in the wrong, wielding power over people because you're the victim. hence the necessity of learning about transmisogyny.

for people who are terfs now, though... well, the way i got out was on the grace of trans inclusive radfems, largely trans women. being in proximity to terf spaces really took a toll on them mentally, though. i think it's best for tme people or, more particularly, cis women to step in and try to educate about transmisogyny while leaving trans people out of the line of fire. in mainstream spaces, however, it's best to support trans women and boost their voices. yada yada. all that ally stuff.

idk if you were looking for particular arguments to sway terfs. ideologically and materially, they're just wrong. trans people, esp transfems, are oppressed. even if they can bring up 1000 bad trans women in news articles by conservative media, that's still such a small fraction of the trans population and we can recognize fearmongering when we know better, like right wingers who post about how many latino immigrants killed and raped Real™ us citizens, logically in that scenario you can go... but that doesn't mean EVERY immigrant. but fearmongering preys on your ignorance. education is the only shield.

idk if you're trans but i would say if you're not, consider engaging with terfs or just kinda transphobic people seeking out other opinions genuinely. it takes time to grow out of a mindset but if they're willing to listen, it might help to point out logical inconsistencies, bring up statistics (i have learned. so much about transmisogyny in particular just from pulling up fucking stats to argue with terfs), share transfem experiences & perspectives you've heard (but. not their accounts in case they decide to be assholes to them. use your judgement here)

i have faith that you'd be good at that. i argued with terfs earlier on this blog but it's something i'm growing increasingly erm, allergic to as it just kind of dampens my spirit and harms me mentally. idk. maybe it's cos im transitioning now or my immense guilt at ex-tervery. Probably Both.

i appreciate that you're looking for a way to help the issue. i would say... don't worry about radical feminism too much in particular. it was important to me too to clear radical feminism's name before as well, but really, when you see the sheer amount of terfs in rf nowadays, they make up the majority or at least, the vocal majority, you have to understand why trans people are weary. the name of radical feminism isn't more important than the justified fear trans people have of transphobia, and it's not more important than the ideas in radical feminism themselves, many of which are expanded upon in transfeminism. would def recommend you look into transfeminist theory or, transfeminist accounts. i believe radical feminism will absolve itself in time, it won't be seen as perfect but as it is, flawed yet valuable.

so yeah! i don't know if that's the sort of answer you were expecting but i hope i could provide some decent guidance in some way. you're always free to ask more questions or shoot me a message. and, thank you for the ask. have a nice day :]

p.s. kinda realised i should put some actual arguments here so uh....

sex is not real! social constructionism beam wooshwoosh

statistics

yeah that's all i got but really that's all you need. lol 😭

[miochimochi]

I also want to say that people in America today don't fucking know what "liberal", "leftist", "communist", "Marxist", "conservative", or "right wing" even mean. They've lost all historical and political context and are now simply buzzwords to attack those they don't like. For example, "conservatives" will call someone a "Marxist" or some shit when they're all for gun control, but Marx was against gun control.

"Under no pretext should arms and ammunition be surrendered; any attempt to disarm the workers must be frustrated, by force if necessary." - Karl Marx

I'm no Marxist by any stretch of the imagination... but that quote is rather based and I wish people who wear shirts with his face on it and "conservatives" actually knew that's his position on guns. You want more examples? Just look at any heated political argument on the internet and you'll see it full of people who don't understand what these terms mean. If it were a consistent trend that this term is now used this way, that'd be fine, we would have a baseline for mutual understanding, but they're being used 50 different ways by 20 different people. And people wonder why we have a breakdown in communication today...

[eradicatetehnormal]

Terminally Online, Pseudo-politcal Rant.

I was watching a video essay the other day about how right-wing talking points are bad. Its conclusion was that they don't have to be good or compelling arguments because they're appealing to people who already agree with them. To a certain extent, they're correct. It does seem that as of late, the right-wing has resorted less to debating people on the street or on college campuses and more to circling their hatred for trans people and other "degenerate" groups.

In a way, that might signal a good thing. A party that's increasingly incapable of defending itself? Doesn't seem very strong to me. They're still pretty being, of course, if MAGA and Project 2025 are to indicate anything (for fucks sake, give me money for a passport). I do wonder where they'll be in the next 10 years or when Donald Trump dies. A lot of Republican politicians have been having "negative rizz" as of late. I'm side-tracking, though.

The problem I have with that essayist leaving the conversation there is that it might perpetuate this very Twitter, lazy leftist idea that there's no point in refuting bad talking points or educating people about a subject. That's likely not what that person meant, but it's where that idea could lead.

I'm not saying that people should just go around, looking for right-wingers to debunk and dunk on. That carries its own set of problems by making the left wing look catty and disingenuous. People can use their own platforms to talk about various issues and the right lens to see something. The thing is, not engaging and just yelling in an echo chamber, over time can make the left wing look incoherent and nonsensical.

Imagine you're just a normal, center-leaning person logging into Twitter to keep up with your favorite celebrity, and you see a right winger being like, "Western society won't be fixed until the perversion or trans ideology and crt is pushed out of our schools." To which that centrist might think "What the fuck is crt and trans ideology? This person sounds outlandish." Then they see a left-winger all like, "The rates of women who have reported being SA'd are abysmal, but let's not forget about our black and indigenous sisters who were trafficked and never had a search done for them." To which the centrist might say, "Why is this person centering black and native women on an issue that affects all women? This person also sounds outlandish." From their perspective, there's not just one dumbass in an echo chamber, but two dumbasses in an echo chamber, since they didn't grow up around an outwardly conservative community and don't listen to enough of those people to flat out being transphobic or racist, nor do they have an understanding of intersectional politics.

Some might say, "Well this post is just making people engage with optics and identity politics. We have nothing to prove!" I get where this is coming from. A lot of great people and activists were pushed out of communities or silenced because people felt that they optically made them look bad. To the person who says this, though, have you ever supported the de-platforming of a leftist or liberal because of their bad takes or terrible behavior? Guess what? You care about optics. Part of the reason you wanted them gone was because, they were toxic and annoying to deal with, but another part of that reason was likely because they were garnering an audience who may go around acting like them or using their arguments, which could lead to a large group of people misrepresenting and hurting a movement.

We need to get better at distinguishing people who are trying to insult or belittle us from people who are asking questions in good faith. We also need to learn when to end a conversation. Having the last word does not always make you look good. If you get frustrated easily or you get nervous, you don't have to engage. It's just worth explaining what you mean, on occasion. Throwing in a statistic every now and then (rarely ever personal life experience, because not only is it not the best evidence, but people will try to belittle it).

[yallcantread]

The difference is, South Park is good at satire. Matty is not good at it. South Park makes fun of Cartman and other racists to show they are in the wrong, Matty does not. The podcast is a good example of bad satire where everyone is just laughing at horrible jokes, not calling them out.

Matty himself said art isn't worth hurting people, and that's what he's done. Are you POC? Are you a member of one of the communities his satire has effected? Stop acting like you know everything when you are nothing more than an obsessed stan that can't admit maybe he isn't a great guy.

Could you provide specific instances of satire from Matty Healy that go beyond his appearance on a podcast known for its controversial content? Furthermore, when it comes to shows like South Park, which often uses accents and stereotypes for comedic effect, how do you differentiate those jokes from the episode featuring Matty Healy on ‘The Adam Friedland Show’? While you may personally believe he falls short in his attempts at satire, that is subjective. I, for one, don’t place much importance on your dislike for him based on what I consider to be trivial reasons.

Matty Healy has not caused harm to anyone. If you find yourself ‘hurt’ by his comments, it may be worth considering seeking support or assistance. As for your question about my ethnicity, whether I am a person of color or not is irrelevant to our discussion. The validity of my opinions or beliefs should not be determined by my minority status. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, regardless of their background. But you obviously didn’t read my blog post where I talked about my race just to avoid questions like this one but clearly people like you don’t read. Which is why we are here right now.

Let’s move away from identity politics for a moment. It’s important to recognize that personal experiences shape our perspectives. However, claiming to be hurt by sarcastic comments made months ago can sometimes seem like an attempt to show concern based on others’ expectations rather than genuine personal impact. ‘South Park’ is known for satirizing a wide range of individuals and groups, including both conservatives and liberals. It’s worth noting that the show has criticized people with viewpoints similar to yours in numerous episodes. If you’d like, I can provide you with a list of ten episodes that may challenge your perspective, PC Baby.

Why would they call out the jokes if they are intentionally bad and offensive? As for your assumption that I think I know everything, that’s not true. I’m just here to provide a perspective and engage in a discussion. It’s ironic that you’re trying to pick a fight with someone you don’t know, projecting your own frustrations. Some of us normal people can simply like artists without “stanning” them. Try it out sometime!

“Maybe he isn’t a great guy” to who? I don’t know him. Your reasons for why you believe he isn’t a “great guy”aren’t valid considering you don’t know him either. And the things you do know about him are pretty limited. 8 My opinions like everyone else are based off of what I’ve personally seen and have heard about through interviews, music and colleagues. I have worked with people in the music industry that have also worked with both the 1975 and Taylor Swift on individual occasions. Those individuals have told me that Matty and the band and Taylor Swift are wonderful individuals to be around. I have no reason to assume that his or her intentions are harmful. Thanks!

[tmarshconnors]

The Great British Conundrum

Ah, Britain my homeland a nation famed for its stiff upper lip, common sense, and a long-standing tradition of political pragmatism. But recently, I’ve found myself feeling a deep-seated shame in my country’s political trajectory, a feeling that's hard to shake. It’s like we've lost our compass and don’t know which direction to follow. To put it politely. We’ve had Conservatives elected to lead, yet, rather than implementing conservative policies, we saw them governing like liberals. And now, the Labour Party sweeping in on a wave of frustration seems dead set on imposing an outright socialist agenda. I can’t say I’m thrilled.

In a time when true conservative values should be the answer to the social and economic chaos around us, the Conservatives barely held onto their ideological roots. They became lost in a desperate attempt to appeal to everyone, trying to be all things to all people governing like moderates when they should have drawn firm lines. People expected robust action on immigration, crime, economic growth, and more, but instead, we got half-measures, compromises, and a heavy dose of liberal appeasement.

So, it’s no wonder that Labour found an easy path to power. People were tired of the Conservatives’ wavering, their failure to take a stand or implement anything truly conservative. Labour painted themselves as the refreshing alternative, promising solutions for those left disillusioned by years of fence sitting. But let’s be honest: Labour’s brand of 'solutions' isn’t designed to make Britain prosperous or independent; it’s aimed at pulling the country leftward at a startling speed. And it’s not a course correction; it’s an overhaul.

We are a country now faced with a government that believes in bigger state control, wealth redistribution, and policies that echo socialism. I am no fan of this trajectory. AT ALL! The Labour Party may be all about fairer society rhetoric, but the methods often involve policies that weaken individual freedoms, inhibit entrepreneurial spirit, and crush personal responsibility. It’s as if we’ve forgotten that a prosperous nation doesn’t come from more bureaucracy but from empowering individuals to rise, contribute, and thrive.

The political landscape of Britain has come to look like a parody of itself. Conservative leaders acting like liberals, liberal ideas embedded in every institution, and a left-wing government now preaching values antithetical to the very foundations of British life. This isn't the Britain I know, and it’s frustrating to watch.

But we must remember, as bleak as it feels now, the pendulum always swings back. There’s an audience in this country for true conservative values policies that uphold national sovereignty, encourage economic freedom, and foster individual responsibility. We can only hope that our next wave of leaders embodies those principles with conviction, not by pandering but by presenting a genuine vision for a prosperous, strong, and free Britain.

For now, I feel disillusioned and fed up. But I also know that there's a spark of resilience in this country, one that has carried it through challenges before. The British people deserve better, and I believe, eventually, we’ll find our way back.

[radsloth95]

This is crazy! I pay for the NYT and they literally disable comments on most trans stories to prevent people from even having a conversation about anything instead of just accepting their 'facts'. The only time I have seen them present anything that shows the view point of those 'average Americans without an agenda' was a recent story about how some teachers are calling students by different names and pronouns based on student preference, and purposely not alerting their parents to these changes. The article discussed how many parents are upset by this blatant dis-involvement and purposeful hiding of information related to how their own children feel about their core identity.

The Bradshaws have been startled to find themselves at odds with the school over their right to know about, and weigh in on, such a major development in their child’s life — a dispute that illustrates how school districts, which have long been a battleground in cultural conflicts over gender and sexuality, are now facing wrenching new tensions over how to accommodate transgender children.

The Bradshaws accepted their teenager’s new gender identity, but not without trepidation, especially after he asked for hormones and surgery to remove his breasts. Doctors had previously diagnosed him as being on the autism spectrum, as well as with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, PTSD and anxiety. He had struggled with loneliness during the pandemic, and, to his parents, seemed not to know exactly who he was yet, because he had repeatedly changed his name and sexual orientation.

Given those complexities, Mrs. Bradshaw said she resented the fact that the school had made her feel like a bad parent for wondering whether educators had put her teenager, a minor, on a path the school wasn’t qualified to oversee.

The only 'agenda' this article discussed was a parents' right to be involved in major decisions about changing how their child is referred to and thus how they are perceived by their classmates and the world at large. And most of the parents voted liberal on other issues but discussed how they could not talk about their frustrations because people are so quick to label anyone with a dissenting voice or even a questioning one as 'transphobic', thus leading them to seek out allies on the other side of the political spectrum.

But how schools should address gender identity cuts through the liberal and conservative divide. Parents of all political persuasions have found themselves unsettled by what schools know and don’t reveal.

Mrs. Bradshaw said she wouldn’t align herself with Republican lawmakers who sought to ban L.G.B.T.Q. rights, but she also felt as though her school’s policy left no room for nuance.

“It is almost impossible to have these discussions,” Mrs. Bradshaw said. “There is no forum for someone like me.”

Other self-described liberal parents said they registered as independents or voted for Republican candidates for the first time as a result of this issue. Although they haven’t sued, some have retained lawyers affiliated with the largest legal organization on the religious right to battle their children’s schools.

The best part of this random call to eliminate 'anti-trans' stories is that even some transgender people support the right to have an actual discussion about social transition and for parents to be involved in their own children's major life decisions, so I'm not sure how they can possibly claim articles like these ones as being biased against trans ideology when they are going out of their way to get the opinion of both sides.

In November, Erica Anderson, a well-known clinical psychologist who has counseled hundreds of children over gender identity-related issues and is transgender herself, filed an amicus brief in a Maryland lawsuit in support of parents represented by a conservative law group. The parents have argued that their district’s policy violates their own decision-making authority.

Transitioning socially, Dr. Anderson wrote, “is a major and potentially life-altering decision that requires parental involvement, for many reasons.”

She told the Times that she had to push aside her qualms about working with conservative lawyers. “I don’t want to be erased as a transgender person, and I don’t want anyone’s prerogatives or identity to be taken away from them,” she said, “but on this one, I’m aligned with people who are willing to advocate for parents.”

So far, this is the first and only article I have seen from the NYT actually having a discussion about gender ideology rather than blatantly shoving it down our throats as 'science', and if an article showing both sides of an issue is really so offensive to some people, then those people don'tunderstandhow journalism works. All they are doing by shutting down any dissenting voices is proving the point that many of these parents made regarding how quickly anyone questioning these liberal doctrines are slapped with the 'transphobic' label.

There is a network of internet support groups for “skeptical” parents of transgender children, some with thousands of registered members. Detractors have called the groups transphobic, because some want to ban gender-affirming care for minors, or have amplified the voices of people who call transgender advocates “groomers.”

But members say these groups are some of the only places to ask questions and air their concerns.

One Saturday morning shortly before Christmas, a meeting of one such support group was held in Westchester County, just north of New York City. Sitting in a circle in a member’s living room, 12 mothers and one father spoke of the ways they said they had been sidelined by their children’s schools.

One mother said her middle-schooler had secretly changed names and pronouns without her knowledge, even though she had worked as a teacher at the same school. Another mother shared how high school teachers had hidden her teenager’s social transition from her until graduation because they thought she wouldn’t be supportive enough. A mother of a 14-year-old who had spent time in an inpatient therapy facility said she had sent her school a letter from the student’s psychiatrist outlining concerns that the school had ignored.

Most said they identified as liberal, and that the living room was a rare safe space for them to voice their fears. Some parents didn’t think their teenagers were really transgender. Others thought it was too soon to know for certain. Most said their children had mental health conditions, such as bipolar disorder, or autism.

Here they could ask: What if their children had been unduly influenced by their classmates to ask for hormone treatments and surgery? What if teachers were encouraging students to see their families as unsafe? And were right-wing partisans their only sympathetic audience?

“It’s just been such a hard thing to navigate, because on the one hand, I’m dealing with my very extreme liberal values of individuality, freedom, expression, sexuality, wanting to support all of this stuff,” said a tearful mother. “At the same time, I’m afraid of medicalization. I’m afraid of long term health. I’m afraid of the fact that my child might change their mind.”

Collecting information on and being empathetic to the indivuals on both sides of an issue in order to try and understand the influences on and made by that issue doesn't make a journalist phobic of anything, it just means that person did their research. TRAs need to stop this absolute insanity of trying to emilinate discussion on gender ideology. They are pushing people out of their own political circle by refusing them a voice, and the consequences of a political spectrum where neither of the major parties allows for free speech and discussion in a respectful manner could be drastic.

last line is me circa 1543 when that loser galileo dared to suggest that the earth revolves around the sun

[theorist-influencer-untitled]

4.21.24 Sunday

2:37 am

I still have windblow... Hmmm... Weird... I already posted here about my view on getting pregnant... But we all have our own views about life....Life is a case by case and sometimes the situation that applicable on other people, might not applicable on you...

For the judgemental, mind your own lives and stop judging people....We all have our own definition of LIFE and RIGHTS. We all have RIGHTS or FREEWILL...

I'm not liberated nor ultra-conservative... I'm conserberated...

My life before was different on my life now....Our family is in chaos, we are not ohkay coz of what they did to me for 17 years. Aside from other people and some old friends that are missing... Weird!!!

If ever on example if Pilot Garret is here... My example subject matter....I really like him when I first saw him on youtube...

If the topic or question if I want to have a child, yeah! But it is it depends on the situation... But I want to have one supposed to be but there is part of me that I'm between ready and not ready... This is difficult to explain....I have windblow...

But sometimes I'm worrying... I know, I'm religious enough... I'm 44 on my first life, on my repeat I'm only 17 on my 2nd life ( My cat side will come out ) hahah but originally my nature wasn't rude or wasn't mean...

I feel bad and I feel old and I truly feel fat and ugly....Yeah! There are so many 17 years old right now who already got some lines on their faces coz they wanted to be the older person or their situation stressed them out so much or someone is stressing her unfairly.

I don't know if the windblow will be good to me, if the time comes that I'm ready to have a child...

I remember Mike Shawn the one that I met in cuddle-lite from last year but the app just lasted for 4 years, then it was closed last year....The app which you can only have voices of people and not live chat with face but only pictures, only live chat using your voice.I was so desparate and I have this intuition that probably Mike can take me seriously but he is just suddenly gone.I told him I have windblow and I'm a college graduate and I know I can work but I don't know what happened but there was a "pandemic of coronavirus" . Everything changed from there...

It is totally unfair in my part that someone planned to bury me here plainly, it is super ugly tomb, coz it is "Untitled" ... Worst they changed me into a wrong or cheap version of me since 2007...

3:39 am

I still have windblow...

Did Mitch give me that "simple battery"??

Where is Mark, is he here for 17 years? Simply observing me but why??? Not normal...

Hmmm....I feel betrayed...

This song is for the one who inspires me these days...

12:59 noon

John is on over-heat...I wiped him a towel of iced cold water... Later will try to post our video...

1:31 pm

I still have windblow... I wanna leave Cavite.I didn't interfere on whoever they are...

I just don't like anyone here... I feel out of place here... I don't like people who talk bad things about me that they didn't know me at all... I don't like people who are below of my ability to analyze things.

2:06 pm

Yehey!!! Angels got my coffee frother! Wow!!!

2:59 pm

I have windblow...

I just don't like people who interfere so much on me,even on youtube who are controlling me on my "freedom of expression"... I wonder who are they behind that youtube bathroom people...

I still wanna leave Cavite.. Hoping to get a bf and I miss having a bf but I want someone like Pilot Garret or some other men that I like... I feel frustrated...

If Mark is just there, I really wanna leave Cavite.. I love to travel and to meet new friends who can truly pull me up... Not this way... Burying me alive... I FEEL BAD FOR 17 YEARS!

5:35 pm

I still have windblow... Not happy being flatten this way... I feel out of place here in Cavite...

I wanna leave Cavite and I need a bf that I want mutually on me, someone who can pull me up...

Again, I'm a college graduate but someone plan to smash me since 2007... Probably that one is undergraduate...

By looking at the face in a way I can tell the heart...

If I can't see Pilot Garret...

I wanna be in Pampangga if Mark is somewhere nearby.... hello!!! I wanna leave Cavite... I feel small... I wanna tell Mark, I wanna be in Los Angeles...He knows he can...

9:28 pm

Still,have windblow... Fucking tired!!!

I wanna leave Cavite....I feel frustrated.... I have super crush this Pilot Garret...

Hating this windblow sometimes they are so mean to me like a wicked step mom or mean girls...

I feel so frustrated... Thinking of money and job though not my ideal thing to be simply a call center agent but I need money....

I really like Pilot Garret but I can't go up to shine. I really like his nose,eyes and eyebrows.

I'm really douting on Superman Chef Cedrick...It feels like I've met him somewhere or it was just a dream..

I feel fat,old and wrinkled just for here... I feel self-pity...

The 2 fake Uncle's here ( Uncle DD and Uncle Jun ) can't assist me correctly... 1 pack of Anchor Protein Milk here, I need to buy again but I will be out of fundings soon.

The progress of Uncle DD is mainly for their own personal agenda... Our wifi is cut again and again... We can't buy a new TV... The TV here is damaged already... I wanna leave Cavite...

If I can't get Pilot Garret or anyone in youtube... Mark please appear and let's go... I can't stay here for nothing....A lot of Filipino are smashing me unfairly...

I feel bad, I'm not a child, my fear that people will tell on Pilot Garret that I'm a child. I'm not! I just don't have a carrer coz some fucking Filipino's are damaging me or removing me to be liked by the kind of Pilot Garret...

9:55 pm

John humped on my feet, I'm resting on the sofa... He is done,his sperm was on my blanket cloth...

John first experience was on my lower leg, angels...He released himself on me.

John never bite me hard... Sometimes he is playfully biting me but with his bite inhibition awareness... He is biting me but not the real bite.

[finishinglinepress]

FLP CHAPBOOK OF THE DAY: Mutual Life by Scott Lowery

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What are the #familiar, vital connections that maintain community? What’s at stake when those ties are strained to the breaking point by pandemic anxiety, climate disasters, and the politics of resentment? This collection offers a free-ranging chronicle of everyday life during the upheavals of the past few years. Shifting from rural to urban, angry to quizzical, lyrical to conversational, Lowery’s poems look for answers in close observation of nearby nature (the honey bee and sandhill crane, “the oak leaf that still holds on”), or the shared rituals of #family and personal sustenance. Against odds, these nuanced poems voice hope for the common good—for Mutual Life.

Scott Lowery is a poet, musician, and teaching artist from the Upper Midwest. His work can be found in a wide variety of literary journals and several anthologies, with two poems nominated for Pushcart and Best of Net awards. A long-time public school teacher, Scott loves guiding poetry workshops for young writers, inside and outside of classrooms. He and his wife recently moved from rural Rollingstone, Minnesota, magnetically pulled toward their grandchildren in Milwaukee.

PRAISE FOR Mutual Life by Scott Lowery

These poems are full of music and witness—keenly felt and keenly observed. Each delivered with a quiet playful mastery that’s dazzling in the best possible way. Each one brings you into a moment lived and felt, whether it’s a moment of horror, rage or wonder. Fierce, funny, tender and ultimately hopeful, Lowery has transformed the dumpster fire of our recent past into poems you want to visit again and again.

–Naomi Cohn, founder of Known By Heart Poetry, author of The Braille Encyclopedia

Mutual Life, Scott Lowery’s stunning new collection of poems, strips away the thin veneer of contemporary American life to reveal the many fissures between hope and despair, dream and reality. The result is a remarkable book that speaks to the immediacy of our own moment, and reminds us again that we are all bound, in our mutual lives, by love and compassion.

–Robert Hedin, author of At the Great Door of Morning: Selected Poems and Translations

Scott Lowery’s poems practice “vigilant listening,” as he puts it. Lowery applies his deeply moral imagination to the daily press of events. But whether addressing the shock of climate change, the difficulties of campaign door-knocking in a conservative neighborhood, or the joys of a newborn granddaughter, his poems also show an allegiance to verbal elegance and careful construction. This book faces the world’s difficulty and offers it something beautiful in return.

–James Armstrong, author of Empire and Blue Lash

Scott Lowery explores the political and personal urgencies of the last few years, using an astonishing variety of forms and ingenious rhymes and rhythms that remind readers that he is, after all, a musician as well as a verbal magician. Lowery’s poems ask us, finally, to stand ‘shoulder to shoulder among our fellow mortals.’ Readers, step forward.

–Connie Wanek, author of Rival Gardens

In an America and world dizzy with change, the poems in Mutual Life find both solace and luscious liberation in the depths of interconnection. It is a celebratory, generously communal vision both fortified by and dissatisfied with the yesteryear landscapes of William Stafford and William Carlos Williams. How to celebrate the golden sunlight and also be a good person, family member, and citizen?

–Ed Bok Lee, author of Mitochondrial Night and Whorled

Pogo said “We have seen the enemy and he is us.” Scott Lowery is telling us the same thing in his chapbook Mutual Life. No, it’s not a book about life insurance, or is it? Lowery expresses anger and frustration at what we have created for ourselves. The poems are razor-sharp and they take no prisoners, but without the overblown rhetoric one often encounters in poems about “issues”.

–Ken McCullough, author of Broken Gates and Dark Stars

In Mutual Life, Scott Lowery brings a fine attention to detail and tender wisdom as he shows us our shared communal lives with nature, parses the challenges of politics, and sings the rescue and bright shine of family in these times. A book of vigilance, hope and humor, these poems are both luminous and unsentimental, and filled with grace that lifts you up into a wild spiral of wings.

–Diane Jarvenpa, author of The Way She Told Her Story

Please share/please repost #flpauthor #preorder #AwesomeCoverArt #poetry #chapbook #read #poems #family

[steveskafte]

HOLDING MY TONGUE I am the middle ground, talking between the tide and mainland, evenly tied to both. I didn't get into art to have an opinion – I don't think that most folks do. I'd been looking for a way to medicate myself, scratch that hard-to-reach itch I'd only had hints of reaching from what I saw other artists doing. I was consumed with feeling, absolute emotion, the only truly primal reason to create (in my mind). It seems like a very different world from when I started my daily journal in 2007. The internet was a younger and more innocent place, fewer folks consumed with having a say on every current issue. I was so disconnected from the news in those days, that when Obama was elected – it was the first time I even heard his name. I'm not making an argument for ignorance. I'm all for knowing what's happening, how things are faring in your country or the next. But not everything is fodder for content, especially if your audience is after an escape. There are songwriters I love who deeply inspired me in the early days, but as age slowed their output and dampened their drive – it hasn't stolen their desire to speak. Some pour their frustrations into ongoing events, rather than working it out in lyrics. They haven't recorded new work in years, but the internet knows exactly what angers them regularly. They've forgotten the truth that great art is eternal, but most opinions turn abstract in a decade. Most time capsule denouncements from your favourite childhood artists have aged awkwardly. The alienation is very real, drawing lines of Conservative art for Conservatives, or Liberal art for Liberals. As someone who grew up immersed in the reclusive world of Christian art for Christians, I feel disquieted by this practice. All art in this form becomes oriented for a cause, all your fans with differing views get driven away, and the echo chamber left seems almost like amplification – at first. The walls close in almost imperceptibly, as your listeners get sick of listening to you whine. Even the ones technically on your side. I've seen struggling artists martyr themselves this way, trade universality for pats on the back, then slowly grow bitter over failed careers. They say the system is to blame – as it always is in part, of course – but no personal blame is accepted by the artist themselves. I know that my audience is split between the major political parties, evenly bent toward religious belief or unbelief. There are a wealth of incompatible philosophies among them. But if we agree, they don't need me in the club. If we disagree, they don't need me to save them. My followers run the full gamut of age groups and personality types. I've got fans who die of old age regularly, and others still in high school. Most are wonderful folks; a few are real jerks – but the latter have no idea that's true. I could be real-life friends with some, and am. Others couldn't justify a conversation between us. So what holds us all together? Holding my tongue. Finding the exact amount of (hopeful) truth to tell without getting in a fight. It's a hard lesson to get when you've got ears hanging on your words. No one wants to get shut up, but I've learned to speak a little less by choice. December 14, 2022 Hillsburn, Nova Scotia Year 16, Day 5512 of my daily journal.

[platonic-activity]

This is why we have watched the “middle” or “moderates” slide farther and farther right year after year resetting the benchmark of what is considered liberal to the point that our Democratic Party, which is our only realistic option for progressive change, is firmly conservative compared to liberal parties of almost all other democratic countries. It’s frustrating to be my age and see us continue to make the same mistakes over and over and over. I suppose a younger voting demographic means more idealism and in some ways this is wonderful but I’m from an era where GW Bush was scary and now I am watching the world gamble on the possibility of Trump again. Let me just say, when you think it couldn’t possibly get worse it always does. We need to CLAW our way back to left of the middle and it’s going to take some huge compromise. Biden is far from perfect but we need to not let perfect be the enemy of decent.

The thing that gets me about people complaining about "vote-shaming" and about needing to be convinced to vote, both in general and specifically for Biden, is that so many of those people are committed to not accepting arguments in favor. You can point out Biden and his administration passing more LGBTQ protections, or the Inflation Reduction Act, or numerous other actions, and it's never enough - nothing outweighs the negatives, in their minds.

And then when you point out the consequences and results of *not* voting for Democrats and Biden, it's also not enough and you're now shaming or pressuring people and not presenting a positive argument. It's so convenient.