#the forward

[hellochildrenoftheatom]

Queer Jews Project Day 8 - Berel-Beyle

We only know about Berel-Beyle through Yeshaye Katovski’s letter to the Forward in 1936 about “the girl who became a man.” To summarize: Berel-Beyle was AFAB, grew up in Krivozer, Ukraine, left home for Odessa, transitioned to a man, went back to his hometown, was accepted by his community, and married an old girlfriend, Black Rachel.

To quote the letter, “In our shtetl, Berel-Beyle always had a good name as a fine, upstanding Jew.”

I wish we knew more about this trans ancestor, but I’m glad we know about him.

Learn more about Berel-Beyle here.

Queer Jews Project

[justinssportscorner]

Donald Padgett at The Advocate:

Disgraced competitive cyclist Lance Armstrong posted a teaser for an upcoming podcast where he speaks with fellow former Olympian Caitlyn Jenner about the issues of transgender athletes competing in the sport aligned with their gender. “All right, so here we are on the PCH headed out to Caitlyn Jenner’s house to have a conversation in and around trans in sport,” Armstrong teased in a short video posted to Twitter. Armstong was plugging the upcoming edition of his podcast, The Forward, which drops today. With “sensitive conversations and topics” like the issue of transgender athletes competing in the sport aligning with their true gender “it really comes down to people are afraid to be fired, shamed, or canceled” if they voice their true opinions on the topic, Armstrong said. “Turns out I’m not that afraid of that. I think it’s an important conversation and, you know, especially I think if it can be handled in this way,” Armstrong continued. “But, and I also think the best way to have these conversations and get to a more, to get to a smarter conclusion, or even have a smarter conversation is just to go in fearless. And I’m sort of fearless on this one.” [...] He went on to ask if “there is not a world in which one can be supportive of the transgender community and curious about the fairness of Trans athletes in sport yet not be labeled a transphobe or a bigot as we ask questions? Do we yet know the answers? And do we even want to know the answers?? Twitter readers added context, noting that Armstrong was not canceled but was instead stripped of his titles and awards for doping and cheating.

Earth to serial cheater Lance Armstrong: You are the last person on earth who should be mouthing off about "fairness in sports", and especially when it comes to trans people in sports.

Armstrong teamed up with Caitlyn Jenner, a trans conservative commentator who opposes trans rights on an upcoming podcast about trans people in sports.

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

On January 24, I attended in Manhattan a book launch and dinner for a former U.S. secretary of state. The organizers invited me because of my status as a "Jewish influencer." I wasn't scheduled as a speaker, nor was I prepared to say anything at all. So you can imagine my surprise when, with a mouthful of steak, I heard over the speakers, "And now remarks from Emily Austin."

"Ugh, this is the business I'm in," I thought. "I've winged it before. What could go wrong this time?"

Well, just about everything, I soon learned. The next day, while I was at work, everyone I know began calling and texting me at once. Jacob Kornbluh, a reporter at The Forward, they said, had pulled a 42-second excerpt of my remarks from the dinner and posted it on Twitter.

What he shared was purposely intended to make me look like a horrible person, and to take what I said completely out of context. I only found out later that Jacob has quite the reputation of throwing his own people under the bus. What a shame.

"Everyone says the Jews were sheeps to the slaughter" during the Holocaust, Kornbluh tweeted. "'And the reason being was everyone was afraid to be vocal and proud of their identity.' 👀," he wrote.

To clarify for all, what I said—or a part of it, at least—was not exactly what I had intended to say. The Holocaust obviously did not happen BECAUSE we Jews were afraid of our identity; that was a poor way of communicating my point. My point, rather, was to encourage the audience I was speaking to—an audience of influential people—to be VOCAL and PROUD of their Jewish identity so that we never again become overpowered by hate. I noticed that some people took particular offense to my phrasing of "sheeps to the slaughter." I went to Jewish private school for many years, and every year on Yom HaShoah, this is the terminology that I've been hearing since the 8th grade and on. I feel bad that the phrase hurt some people, but that is the tragic reality of what happened in Europe less than a century ago. We were herded like animals, and slaughtered in the camps.

[hezigler]

At the core of ‘Oppenheimer,’ a debate about how to be Jewish – The Forward

Contrary to popular myth, Jews are far from being a very unified group. There are antipodes in think among Jews, especially in religion and politics. (This is even true within some individual Jews, hence the old Jewish saying, "ten Jews, twelve opinions.")

[chaotic-neutral-knitter]

I think one of the kindest things you can do for people with various mental health struggles is just... let people back into your life after they've been absent for a while.

Making friends as an adult is so fucking hard already and isolating yourself from other people is a very common symptom of depression, anxiety, burnout, ocd, trauma, grief, etc. Which means that someone will do the hard work of recovery/healing and resurface back into a world where their previous friends have written them off because they stopped showing up.

So if you know someone where you're like "yeah we could have been better friends but they fell off the map a bit" and that person suddenly reaches out, or starts showing up to events even though you kind of forgot they were still in the group chat... well they may have been Going Through It and you don't actually have to punish them for their absence you can just be glad that they're back.

[saracastically]

now she’s all ready for spooky season—are you? 🌕🐺

[auckie]

https://x.com/MorePerfectUS/status/1765391777580912958?s=20

PLEASE GD IF YOU LOVE AND WANT TRAINS

[bluebeesknees]

𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰𝘰 ✨

[arcticdementor]

Soon after former President Donald Trump was shot at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa., on Saturday, the term ‘Reichstag fire’ began trending on social media. Here’s what the Nazi-era term means and why people are talking about it.

…

Bruce Bartlett, a former government official in the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations, issued a warning about Trump on X this past week, prior to the shooting, saying, “I bet he’s planning the American equivalent of the Reichstag fire to justify violence against the left.” After the shooting, Bartlett said, “Looks like we just had our Reichstag fire.”  Australian politician Rex Patrick tweeted just after the shooting, “We might have just witnessed America’s Reichstag Fire moment.” Journalist Joe Leyden shared, “Not sure whether I should be thinking about the #ReichstagFire right now. Not sure I shouldn’t.” Many others invoked the Nazi-era moment as well.

…

The FBI has identified the shooter, who was killed at the scene, as Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, about an hour away from where the rally took place in Butler, Pa. The FBI has not released a motive for the shooting. The Justice Department has said it will investigate. And Republican leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives plan to hold a hearing with the U.S. Secret Service about the assassination attempt, which killed one rallygoer — Corey Comperatore, a firefighter and the father of two daughters — and critically injured two others.

[vvenuspng]

💥📣 BLITZO SUX

[ansatsu-sha]

To be continued... / Dungeon Meshi S1E24

[cardentist]

hey, so people need to be aware that youtube is now (randomly) holding basic features for ransom (such as being able to pin comments under your own videos) in exchange for Your State ID/Drivers License, or a 30 Second Video Of Your Face.

not to pull a "think of the children," but No Actually. I've been making videos as a hobby since 2015 (and I've had my channel since middle school), I was a minor when I started and I'm not sure I would have understood the kind of damage something a seemingly simple as a video of your face can do.

this is a Massive breach of privacy and over-reach on google's part No Matter What, but if they're going to randomly demand a state ID or license then they absolutely should not allow minors to be creators.

google having a stockpile of identifying information on teenagers is bad enough, but the Alternative of recording your face and handing it over to be filed away is Alarming considering it opens the gates for minors who Aren't old enough to have a license.

and yes, there is a third option, but it's intentionally obtuse. a long wait period (2 months), with no guarantee of access (unlike, say, the convenience of using your phone's cameras for either of the other two), with absolutely No elaboration on what the criteria is or how it's being measured.

it's the same psychological effect that mobile games rely on. offer a slow, unreliable solution with no payment to make the Paid instant gratification look more appealing (the "payment" in this case being You. you are the product being offered).

and it's Particularly a system that (I think intentionally) disadvantages people who don't treat their channels like a job. hobbyists or niche creators who don't create regularly enough or aren't popular enough to meet whatever Vague criteria needs to be met to pass.

markiplier would have no problem passing, your little brother might not be able to. and while Mark's name is already out there there's no reason why your little brother's should be too.

something like pinned comments may seem simple, you don't technically Need it. but it's a feature that's been available for years. most people don't look at descriptions anymore. so when there's relevant information that needs to be delivered then the pinned comment is usually the go to.

for my little channel that information is about the niche series I create for. guides on how to get into the series, sources on where to find the content At All (and reliably so). for other creators it can be used for things Much More Important.

Moreover, if we let them get away with cutting away "small" features and selling it back to you for the price of your privacy, then they Will creep further. they Will take more.

Note: I have an update to this post here: [Link]