#public sentiment

[taiwantalk]

This is a good interview.

I do, however, still feel that even telegram may not be good enough to be a metric of public sentiment-and still, I am not believing that russians are cohesively against the invasion.

I just know too much about authoritarian regime’s effect and capabilities on anything that they inherently can manipulate and those who are vocal are quite suspicious.

For example, during authoritarian period in Taiwan, vast majority of people were risk averse to leave any trace of their political views due to fear of not just direct danger from the authorities or secret police but also from invisible black listing or become victims of being outcasted by those who are overly fearful of being guilty by association.

What’s more trivial is that Russians must be at least quite apathetic because, well, once upon a time in the ‘90s, they liked putin & bought all of Putin’s bullshit and they are conflicted and in denial that they were entirely supportive of one day that Russia will rise and show the world that they’re no pushovers. They don’t want to be held accountable and admit that they had been yearning for what putin is doing now.

Taiwan right now have significant minority population who are authoritarian nostalgic-they still are hoping that KMT will become stronger to one day rule China over other political rivals and make China imperialistic to show the world that China is much stronger and powerful than the world thinks. They want the power of ccp for themselves and then carry on the very same things in South China Sea and antagonize America.

[trendynewsnow]

The Impact of Upcoming US Elections on Europe

The Importance of the Upcoming US Elections for Europe As the United States gears up for its upcoming elections, the implications for Europe are more significant than ever. Whether the Democrats will continue under Kamala Harris’s leadership or if Donald Trump makes a comeback with the Republicans, the shift in power will undoubtedly have lasting effects on EU-US relations. How well do you truly…

[airwavesdotblog]

Trump Verdict Announced

June 1, 2024 Summary: Former President Donald Trump and his allies were anticipating a guilty verdict in a high-profile case. When the verdict was announced, it was indeed guilty, which was described as a “bombshell” moment. The conviction is historic as it marks the first criminal conviction of a former U.S. president. The case has been a focal point of political discussions, with Trump’s…

[gitzette]

Caught in the act and sparking an ethical debate: Jenna Ortega braved COVID symptoms to film *Wednesday's* iconic scene, but at what cost? Dive into the Jenna Ortega COVID controversy and how it highlights the collision between personal responsibility and public health in Hollywood. Is the show really worth the risk?

[bonefall]

Anyway. Bi and Mspec Lesbians aren't a hotly "debated" topic or even new to queer culture, it's just the newest thing that bullies who REALLY want to be homophobic and even racist use to justify harassing gay people they don't like.

It's the thinnest possible veneer of progressive language wrapped around TERF and reactionary rhetoric so that they can feel righteous for forming an angry mob against vulnerable targets. If you're gullible enough to fall for the newest wave of bigotry within the queer community, and turn on your allies because they're "confusing" or "invading your spaces," the SAME way they turned on bi/pan labels, trans people, xenogenders, neopronouns, and aroace people before this, then get lost.

[plaguedoctormemes]

“But what if one of or both halves of the seemingly cishet couple at pride are passing or closeted bi or trans!” how about we shut the fuck up and stop headcannoning Jessica and Nathan’s theoretical orientations because cishets at pride that are attending in earnestness will not give a shit whether or not i decide to show up in fishnets and kiss and hug my friends and serve bisexual trans goth realness. Them being around does not hinder my endeavors whatsoever. If they had a problem they wouldnt show up or just leave. The only people that would be baffled at gay and trans people being at the gay and trans event are other gay and trans people that think there is a “right” way to be gay and trans

[disteal]

Talked abt this with a friend last night but there is something heartening abt just how few people are buying into the party line abt Palestine compared to say, 2020 and 2016. I’ve noticed a much more coherent distrust of government institutions and widespread ease of recognising propaganda, as well as a general willingness to quickly and effectively shut down people who try and find some vernacular foothold to gently recenter the conversation away from genocide.

It’s not a silver lining, and it comes on the heels of so many back-to-back failures of liberal institutions and colonial brutality that have ground faith in the government to dust, but it is a relief to not spend so much time arguing with comfortable morons, and to instead focus that energy towards uplifting Palestinian voices and listening to some of the most lonely, frightened people in the world rn.

[synchodai]

Idk where all these takes thinking that Helaena was indifferent to Jaehaerys's death come from. She literally said she was sad about it. Her rationalizing that she shouldn't be is very realistic grief processing for a neurodivergent person. I've worked with children on the spectrum who will tell me that they're angry or sad and are trying not to be because they know it'll make others even more upset or because a scraped knee heals eventually and all these other rationalizations.

But they are upset. And like what Alicent did with Helaena, you have to tell them having emotions by itself isn't a bad thing. Most of the time, it's simply something you can't control or reason away. Alicent was doing well to tell her daughter that she had a right to her grief — that she shouldn't use "other people have it worse" as a way to push it down.

Alicent has her own wonky processing by believing it was her fault that Jaehaerys died ('the gods are punishing me for my sins. an unrelated accident happened because i, personally, have done awful things' aka classic catholic guilt). So she was seeking absolution from her father who refused to give it to her.

But Helaena does. Helaena forgives her. In a way, I interpreted this scene as both of them comforting each other in the ways they needed. When Alicent shrugs off her own grief and begins talking about how she's more worried about Helaena, her daughter tells her what she wanted to hear by giving her that absolution.

Could the scene have made it clearer that this mother and daughter are helping each other with their radically different ways of processing grief? Could I have misinterpreted the scene? Of course. But as it was, it was pretty clear that Helaena was sad about Jaehaerys.

[siflshonen]

Asexual Aromantic Senku Ishigami and his gay, common law married best friend and roommate Gen Asagiri who travels for his job

[bisexualgorgeous]

It’s genuinely fascinating to me how Taylor’s aoty Grammys are almost always followed by a huge dip in public opinion about her like this is the fourth one it happens every single time and I think we all know why

[canisalbus]

I noticed you've been making more art of Machete and Vasco after they met again as adults - is this canon? Do they get to rekindle their friendship after all, or is it still brief and bittersweet? (I love your characters and art, btw!)

Thank you! I'm glad you like them!

It's canon, I believe. After their confusing and apprehensive friends-to-lovers involvement ended in their early 20's, their paths end up crossing again unexpectedly in their mid 30's and things gradually grow from there.

[trendynewsnow]

The Uncertain Future of Nuclear Power in Japan

A decade after one of the most catastrophic atomic-energy disasters in modern history, Japan appears to be inching closer to the revival of its nuclear power sector. By around 2022, a notable shift in public sentiment emerged, with a majority expressing support for the restart of the nation’s nuclear facilities. Most of these plants have remained offline since the devastating earthquake and…

[mayasaura]

I've finally finished the six games in the main Ace Attorney series! That's right!! It's time for my review!

I think it's fairly common knowledge that Ace Attorney is a political commentary on the Japanese legal system as it existed in 2001. I know I knew that going in.

What I didn't know was just how topical the games were. I didn't figure that out until I started looking into what the fuck was going on in Apollo Justice, and what I discovered makes Apollo Justice my favourite game in the series.

At the time the Phoenix Wright trilogy was first being released, Japan did not have any form of trial by jury, and boasted a conviction rate to make Edgeworth and Von Karma's records look almost credible. Four months after the release of the third game, the Japanese National Diet passed a piece of legislation implementing judicial reform with the explicit intention of “the promotion of the public’s understanding of the judicial system and … their confidence in it.”

The next installment of the series—Apollo Justice, released in April of 2007—builds the themes of legal corruption explored by the first trilogy into a passionate argument for reform by restoring judicial power to the citizens.

Phoenix Wright, seen through the eyes of the new protagonist, appears to be a jaded shell of his former self: retired from the legal profession, beaten down by trying to champion truth and justice from within a broken system. The circumstances leading to his forced retirement come to light in the game's climactic final case, hand in hand with the revelation that Phoenix never really gave up on his ideals. He just gave up on the system. Speaking directly to the player, he casts the player as one of a panel of six civilian judges in a new reformed system of trial he and Edgeworth developed together. At the end of the trial, the player directly casts the final vote to decide the verdict.

In May of 2009, two years after Phoenix Wright handed the player direct power over the outcome of a trial, the real Japanese legal system conducted its first trial utilising civilian lay judges under the newly reformed judicial system.

I don't know nearly enough about how the current Japanese system works to judge the accuracy of Apollo Justice's vision to the final real result of real Japanese lawyers and judges' efforts, but from my casual perspective, it's pretty close. Close enough for it to be clear the game developers were following the progress of the real reform. Perhaps the game was meant as a celebration, or maybe they hoped it could work as an educational tool to introduce the concept to the public. Either way, these games were made by someone or someones who cared deeply about criminal justice, and I love them for it.

I also love them for their fun and immersive mysteries, of course, and their ludicrously charming cast of characters. It's no wonder the series has withstood the test of time, thriving on their own solid merit as games even far removed by both time and distance from the context of their social commentary.

[9ofspades]

Opinion:  I'm an Anti-Specsser and Everyone Else Should Be Too

Why are you wearing glasses?  

No, seriously.   Why the fuck are you still wearing glasses?  

The epidemic is over.  I don't know anyone who worries about nearsightedness anymore.  Do you hear anyone talking about it?  Do you see nearsightedness germs flying around?  No, because it's OVER.  

Look, I don't know how to break it to you, but a thin piece of glass in front of your eyes isn't going to help protect you from macular degeneration.  It's a false sense of security, an illusion; like if you just keep looking through them you can pretend that the world has crisp sharp edges.  Well, guess what?  The world is blurry.  You don't know where empty space ends and your body begins.  In fact, it doesn't.  Your body is mostly empty space.  

Everything happens for a reason, anyway; so if you get into an accident because you can't drive without your glasses?  Tough cajones; take your punishment like God intended.  It's your fault for having bad genes, which you got because of... original sin, or something.  I don't know, I didn't actually read the Bible.  I just believe vehemently in every word of it, except the words you use to disagree with me.  Because that's wrong.  

I don't think I'm doing anything wrong by yelling at glasses-wearers on the street.  It just fills me with such visceral, incandescent rage when I see a pair of pince-nez balancing on someone's nose.  It's like they're sending a direct fuck-you to people like me, who choose not to wear glasses.  So of course I have to yell at them; it's just simple self-preservation - if I don't, pretty soon everyone will be wearing glasses, and ganging up on those of us that don't, because we're "jeopardizing public safety" or "a danger to the common good."  I don't need to listen to that.

When you declare you're on the opposite side from me with that flag you wear right on your face, you shouldn't be surprised when I treat you like an enemy.  "What sides?" you ask?  "There's no 'sides' here; everyone is just choosing-" oh, shut up.  You're so naive.  Of course there are sides.  There's sides to everything.  What about a circle? you say.  Inside and outside.  There.  Now don't you feel stupid.  

And those circles you wear on your face mark you as being on the inside.  I don't like that.  Nobody likes being left on the outside.  So stop wearing them.  That way I can find something else to be angry about, like freckles.  I think I'll take on freckles next.  If you have them, stop having them.  You're being too different from me and I don't like it.

[pseudophan]

gonna be so sad when tonight is the first preshow space with good audio and i'm asleep because i have a psych appointment tomorrow

[a-sunbell]

The reason that my small local library has all of assassination classroom is because of me. They had some of the first ones and that’s how I started reading them. At some point tho I had finished reading the books they had so I asked them to buy in the rest of the books.

And when I finished reading them I would ask them to buy in the new books as they were being published as this was the time that the manga was still coming out with new issues.

I’m pretty damn proud of it because those books are a physical trace of me in that library that I used to go to after school in my early teens to borrow mangas, comics and how to draw books. And those books will still be there even after I move out of this town and idk that’s kinda beautiful. Even if nobody else knows it, a part of me will exist in that library for how ever long those books live there 🌸

Man I love libraries ❤️