#quelle surprise!

[probablyasocialecologist]

A recent study claiming to describe more than 1,600 possible cases of a “socially contagious syndrome” was retracted in June for failing to obtain ethics approval from an institutional review board. The survey examined “rapid-onset gender dysphoria,” a proposed condition that attributes adolescent gender distress to exposure to transgender people through friends or social media. The existence of such a syndrome has been the subject of intense debate for the past several years and has fueled arguments against transgender rights reforms, despite being widely criticized by medical experts. The American Psychological Association and 61 other health care providers’ organizations signed a letter in 2021 denouncing the validity of rapid-onset gender dysphoria (ROGD) as a clinical diagnosis. And a steadily growing body of scientific evidence demonstrates that it does not reflect transgender adolescents’ experiences and that “social contagion” is not causing more young people to seek gender-affirming care. Still, the concept continues to be used to justify anti-trans legislation across the U.S. “To even say it’s a hypothesis at this point, based on the paucity of research on this, I think is a real stretch,” says Eli Coleman, former president of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health. Coleman helped create the organization’s most recent standards of care for trans people, which endorse and explain the evidence for forms of gender-affirming care.

[mieczyhale]

they're right and i'm glad somebody fucking said it

if you preach your beliefs (or lack thereof) trying to convert people to your side, if you're the worlds biggest bag of dicks to people who don't believe the same as you, if you've made hate a core part of your personality, you aren't any better than the obnoxious catholics and christians you bitch about

same hat, different style

[mariacallous]

[edorazzi]

Page 2 of my Miraculous Mentor AU comic A Matter of Trust! In which Felix's family situation changes dramatically with little time to process. And just who is Richard Sphinx anyway? 🤔

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[s735]

2/29/24

[mllekurtz]

(A fic about my Rook, her girlfriend, and her girlfriend’s boyfriend.)

Maybe she should have cornered Neve before asking Lucanis to come. Told her in no uncertain terms that, as far as Aglais was concerned, Neve didn’t have to choose. Ever since she learned about such arrangements, which were not unheard of in Nevarra and Orlais, she wondered why they weren’t more common. Then again, she’s never understood jealousy: her heart is big enough to hold all the people she loves.

After moving to Dock Town, Aglais and Neve try to settle into their new life, but something is missing.

[chiropteracupola]

biggles & co sillies feat. von stalhein's gay evil little sit

[chicago-geniza]

Was reading that interview with Eric Bogosian and thought "spiritually he is a Bennington scholarship kid which means in practice he probably went to UChicago when they were still a school for weirdos with low GPAs who recreationally read philosophy"

Anyway checked his Wikipedia page and my vibes-based intuition about American colleges before I was born remains unmatched

[opalsiren]

folks with fibromyalgia/suspected fibro: do you have widespread pain all over your body, or do you only have pain in a few places? for context i am as of yet undiagnosed but querying a fibro diagnosis since many of my symptoms match. my pain is mainly in my back and pelvis, though sometimes in my legs, shoulders, and neck too. do i need to have widespread body pain in order to qualify for a diagnosis? sound off in the notes ✌

[probablyasocialecologist]

Adopting rightwing policies on issues such as immigration and the economy does not help centre-left parties win votes, according to new analysis of European electoral and polling data. Faced with a 20-year decline in their vote share, accompanied by rising support for the right, far right and sometimes the far left, social democratic parties across Europe have increasingly sought salvation by moving towards the political centre. However the analysis, published on Wednesday, shows that centre-left parties promising, for example, to be tough on immigration or unrelenting on public spending are both unlikely to attract potential voters on the right, and risk alienating existing progressive supporters.

[...]

One of the key lessons was that “trying to imitate rightwing positions is just not a successful strategy for the left”, he said. Two studies in particular, looking at so-called welfare chauvinism and fiscal policy, illustrated the point, the researchers said. Björn Bremer of the Central European University in Vienna said a survey in Spain, Italy, the UK and Germany and larger datasets from 12 EU countries showed that since the financial crisis of 2008, “fiscal orthodoxy” had been a vote loser for the centre left. “Social democratic parties that have backed austerity fail to win the support of voters worried about public debt, and lose the backing of those who oppose austerity,” Bremer said. “Centre-left parties that actually impose austerity lose votes.”

[...]

The data strongly suggests centre-left parties can build a coalition of voters who believe a strong welfare state, effective public services and real investment, for example in the green transition, are essential,” Bremer said. “But doing the opposite – offering a contradictory programme that promotes austerity but promises to protect public services and the welfare state, and hoping voters will swallow such fairytales – failed in the 2010s, and is likely to fail again.” Similarly, said Matthias Enggist of the University of Lausanne, analysis of data from eight European countries showed no evidence that welfare chauvinism – broadly, restricting immigrants’ access to welfare – was a successful strategy for the left.

10 January 2024

[yumesei]

Yo, if you come in my ask box to whine about how Soap would hate me and kill me because i'm a "pedo" and a "rapist" I hope you know that :

1) the soldier in anti-terrorism has probably better things to do than to care about fictional shit

2) idk where you took the whole pedo and rapist shit from, because my ship is literally super vanilla and between two adults

3) don't hide in anon like a pussy

4) your f/o would probably hate you for being such a bully on the internet where you think you're anonymous

Aussi tu penses pas que c'est un peu bizarre, contradictoire, de m'insulter parce que d'après toi ce que je fais (dans ta tête btw, puisque je le fais même pas MDR) c'est mal. Et après fondamentalement me dire de mourir ahah ? C'est bien ça peut-être ? Moralement correct ? Assez pur pour toi ?

Anyway, Soap n me are making out rn. Stay mad 🩷

[ilions-end]

i'd heard about the variation where odysseus is the son of sisyphus, but i was so surprised that in sophocles' ajax, you've got certain characters saying odyssseus is "from the worthless line of sisyphus", while others call him "child of venerable laertes" (including athena, which should confirm it)

i never realized they're not just elements from separate stories! it's a malicious rumour that odysseus presumably has to contend with on a fairly regular basis!

[doccywhomst]

About your last post.

I understand because I too used to throw every bit of 13 criticism into the right wing bin. It is only recently that I started to accept that some criticism of that era were reasonable. It was this video by verilybitchie about the women in Doctor Who that made me do a 180.

I think the insular nature of fandoms and the way the DW fandom is scattered around and formed by VERY different kind of fans only worsen the situation. It’s hard to know how good intentioned someone is when there’s a part of the fandom actively sabotaging the show since 2004.

(referencing this post) it was a video essay that changed my mind as well - i was super resistant going into it, but as i watched, i realized that i didn’t actually object to anything being said, only the idea of something i love being criticized. i felt sick to my stomach because the longer i watched, the more i realized they were right, i couldn’t defend my viewpoint, and i knew i wouldn’t be able to unsee the flaws in thirteen’s writing.

since then, i’ve also pulled my own 180° - i went from not tolerating criticism (because i thought it was all in bad faith) to openly and thoroughly criticizing doctor who, explicitly because i love it. it’s my favorite thing in the world and i shouldn’t have to lower my standards to enjoy it. the flux was what nailed the coffin shut for me, i couldn’t believe how sloppy the plot felt…. it went nowhere and many of its consequences went unresolved.

all of this is to say, i’ll always love thirteen and there’s a home in my heart for her, but honestly, the criticism is valid. she deserved better. i hope jodie works with big finish to make audios worthy of her effort and skill, because i know we all want the best for her! and i would LOVE for thirteen to have many years of terrific audio series :)))

[aspiringhorrorauthor]

I was thinking, “Why choose Finnick to be the guy protecting Katniss and Peeta in the quarter quell?” I mean, someone had to, right? Make sure they both got out alive and could keep them in place for the rescue. But why Finnick? Katniss doesn’t like him before they enter the arena.

The obvious solution is that, of all the tributes in on the plan, Finnick is the strongest. He scores high in the assessment, he’s still young, he’s fit enough to carry an old lady around the arena all day. But then, so is Johanna (strong young and fit, not sure about carrying Mags all day though). Another option is that, since Katniss likes Mags, he’s got an easy-in to trying to befriend Katniss. But so did Johanna, in bringing Beetee and Wiress. There’s other tributes in the arena who Katniss likes and is less likely to try and kill than Finnick who might have been a better option to bodyguard Katniss and Peeta.

But I thought of another reason too. Finnick has sponsors. Finnick, who’s original game saw other tributes barely getting any gifts since he had so many sponsors, who had hundreds of people faint during his interview thinking they were his one true love, who’s adored by the Capitol populace, would always, always have sponsors lined up to send him gifts.

Gifts like the bread that signals when they’re escaping the arena, a gift that is vital to the plan. Maybe that’s why Finnick was chosen to make the alliance at the start. Because he’d be guaranteed to be able to get the message of the bread

[cobragardens]

More than 350% rise in people hospitalised with flu - as NHS faces 'quad-demic' | UK News | Sky News

Gee, it's almost as though if you let an virus that destroys the human immune system circulate unchecked through an entire country, no one's immune systems will function properly after a year or 2 and people will get sick more often and sicker when they do...

[levaagrace]

i think my favorite part of the 'jon gets a cat in a post series good end' trope is how there's a not insignificant amount of people who make that cat a scarred and disabled stray as a reflection of jon finally wanting to and being able to take care of himself and my heart guys my fucking heart