#you deserved more than 20% of the vote

[writing-for-life]

Death—John Watkiss

[welcometoqueer]

I haven’t really seen any of the more recent U.S. election news hitting tumblr yet so here’s some updates (now edited with sources added):

There’s evidence of Trump cheating and interfering with the election.

Possible Russian interference.

Mail-in ballots are not being counted or “recognized” in multiple (notably swing) states.

30+ bomb threats were called in and shut down polling stations on Election Day.

20+ million votes are still unaccounted for, and that’s just to have the same voter turnout as 2020.

There was record voter turnout and new/first-time voter registration this year. We definitely should be well over the turnout in 2020.

U.S. citizens are using this site to demand, not only a recount, but a complete investigation into election fraud and interference for the reasons stated above:

Here is what I submitted as an example:

An investigation for election interference and fraud is required. We desperately need a recount or even a revote. The American people deserve the right to a free and fair election. There has been evidence unveiled of Trump cheating and committing election fraud which is illegal. There is some evidence of possible Russian interference. At least 30+ bomb threats were called in to polling places. Multiple, notably swing states, have ballots unaccounted for and voting machines not registering votes. Ballots and ballot boxes were tampered with and burned. Over 20 million votes that we know of are unaccounted for. With record turnout and new voter registration this year, there should be no possibility that there are less votes than even in the 2020 election.

Sources (working on finding more links but if anyone wants to add info, it’s appreciated):

FBI addressing Russian interference and bomb threats:

Emails released by Rachael Bellis (private account, can’t share original tweet) confirming Trump committing election fraud:

Pennsylvania's Centre County officials say they are working with their ballot scanner vendor to figure out why the county's mail-in ballot data is "not being recognized when uploaded to the elections software:”

Wisconsin recount:

[ID:

Multiple screenshots and images.

The first is a screenshot with a link and information for contacting the White House directly regarding election fraud. The instructions include choosing to leave a comment to President Joe Biden directly and to select election security as the reason.

The screenshot then instructs people to include any or all of the following information in a paragraph as a comment to the president:

32 fake bomb threats were called into Democratic leaning poll places, rendering polling places closed for at least an hour.

A lot of people reporting their ballots were not counted for various reasons.

This all occurred in swing states.

This is too coincidental that these things happen and swing in his favor after months of hinting at foul play.

Directly state that an investigation for tampering, interference, fraud is required, not just a recount.

The second image is from the FBI Twitter account that reads:

The FBI is aware of bomb threats to polling locations in several states, many of which appear to originate from Russian email domains. None of the threats have been determined to be credible thus far. https://t.co/j3YfajVK1m — FBI (@FBI) November 5, 2024

The next four Gmail screenshots of an email sent to Rachael Bellis from Chris T. Spackman that read together as follows:

Dear BELLIS, RACHAEL E., The Dauphin County Board of Elections received a challenge to your absentee ballot you applied for in the November 5, 2024 General Election. The challenge argues that a provision of the Pennsylvania Election Code takes precedence over the federal Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA), which requires states and counties to permit U.S. citizens who move overseas to vote by absentee ballot for federal offices based on their last U.S. residential address.

The full text of the challenge that was filed appears below this email.

You may respond to the challenge in any of the following ways:

1. Call the Bureau of Registration and Election at (717) 780-6360;

2. Email a statement to the Bureau at Election election@dauphincounty.gov. Any statement you submit regarding the period during which you lived in Dauphin County, any family or connections that you still have here, and why you are now residing abroad would be read into the record.

3. Appear in person at a Board of Elections hearing scheduled for Friday, November 8 at a time to be determined in the Commissioners Public Hearing Room, 4th floor of Dauphin County Administration Building, 2 S 20d St, Harrisburg, PA 17111. The meeting is also likely to be livestreamed on Facebook on the Dauphin County channel.

Sincerely,

Christopher T Spackman

TEXT OF CHALLENGE BEGINS

Dear Dauphin County Board of Elections,

I am submitting this challenge to an absentee ballot application pursuant to 25 Pa. Stat.

3146.8(f).

25 Pa. Stat. 3146.8(f) Any person challenging an application for an absentee ballot, an absentee ballot, an application for a mail-in ballot or a mail-in ballot for any of the reasons provided in this act shall deposit the sum of ten dollars ($10.00) in cash with the county board, which sum shall only be refunded if the challenge is sustained or if the challenge is withdrawn within five (5) days after the primary or election. If the challenge is dismissed by any lawful order then the deposit shall be forfeited. The county board shall deposit all deposit money in the general fund of the…

The rest of the forwarded email is cut off.

The last image is a screenshot of the official statement from the Centre County, Pennsylvania Board of Commissioners released on November 6, 2024 that states:

Centre County Working with Ballot Scanner Vendor to Export Election Results.

(Bellefonte, PA) -Centre County Elections Office is working continuously to provide mail-in ballot data in order to post unofficial results.

To this point, all ballots have been scanned, including all mail-in ballots.

Centre County's Election team and IT team have identified that the data are successfully being exported from the mail-in ballot scanners, but that the data is not being recognized when uploaded to the elections software.

Centre County's Administrator, John Franek, Jr. stated, "We have not stopped working, and we will continue to work until unofficial results are posted and reported to the Pennsylvania Department of State."

As a next step, Centre County has begun working with the equipment vendor to adjust configurations to make the two systems-the mail-in ballot scanner and the elections software where data are uploaded -compatible with one another.

We will provide updates as we make progress.

/end ID]

[shadowsviper]

Hello! Here to say hi! Your post appeared on my scroll and I noticed you have just one, so I figured you might be new around here! Welcome to Tumblr! I hope you find your crowd soon enough! 💖

In the meantime, do you mind telling me something about Jason Todd? I've never been too deep into DC, but I recognize his name. I'd love to hear your headcannons/thoughts about him! 💖

Hi! Thanks for welcoming me :) I've actually been lurking on tumblr for a while before I finally got the confidence to start writing.

Here's a short basic rundown of Jason: Jason Todd is the second person to take the mantle of Robin after Dick Grayson. Batman caught him stealing the wheels off the Batmobile in a dark alleyway one night and took him in. He was more rebellious and he didn't like Batman's moral code. Fans actually voted to kill him off in the series. Jason would be beaten by the Joker with a crowbar and left to die with his mother inside a warehouse with a time bomb. He would later be resurrected by Talia Al Ghul in the Lazarus Pit and took the mantle of Red Hood. He would use guns and violence when it came to crime fighting. When he found out that Batman didn't avenge him in any way, he felt betrayed and let his anger out on Gotham's criminals. He believed that they deserved a worse punishment.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Jason Todd Headcannons

He loves to bake, especially cookies. He'll bake other pastries every now and then, but his go to is cookies. It's something he'll never admit to his family, other than Alfred. He'll drop off some to his brothers sometimes with an insulting note; he would say they're poisoned just to mess with Tim

Whenever he has free time, he's in the library. Sometimes he'll be at the public library if he doesn't want to see his family. Other times he'll be in the Manor looking at whatever new books Alfred and Damian bought

It's actually canon that Jason likes to read books like Pride and Prejudice, and The Art of War, among many others

He loves to bother his brothers whenever he can

He loves to swing by GCPD when Dick is working just to mess with him. He might even go as far as faking an emergency just for the emergency to be him wanting to say a quick fuck you

Dick has banned him from coming within a 20-foot radius of GCPD. He also threatened to arrest him if he got close

It doesn't stop Jason. He has yet to be arrested because they technically can't arrest a dead man

He'll mess with Tim at any time. His things will slowly go missing; his mugs, coffee, important papers, you name it.

One time when Tim left his place unattended, Jason moved everything an inch to the left. It drove Tim crazy. More crazy than he already was considering he hadn't slept for the past two days. He'll get Jason back one day

What he does with Damian is a 50/50. Sometimes he'll spar with him for fun. Just a quick training exercise or he's actually trying to kill the demon spawn, who knows. Other times they're both reading silently in the corner of the library.

They won't talk about it after

Definitely broke into Wayne Enterprises way too many times

He had no reason to go in. He just wanted to bother Bruce or Tim. Or both

Definitely both

Has been escorted out multiple times with Bruce watching with his head in his hands

That man is stressed lmao

Definitely picks up Damian from school with white girl music blasting at full volume. The bass is cranked up to the point where you can feel it inside the school

Damian hates it so much because his classmates find Jason pretty cool and they keep trying to talk to him about Jason

Later banned from picking Damian up from school

[sepdet]

THIS WAS LAST MONTH (April 2024):

In front of more than 20 executives, including from Chevron, Exxon, and Occidental Petroleum, he promised to increase oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, remove hurdles to drilling in the Alaskan Arctic, and reverse new rules designed to cut car pollution. He would also overturn the Biden administration’s decision in January to pause new natural gas export permits which have been denounced as “climate bombs.”

“You’ll get it on the first day,” Trump said, according to the Post, citing an unnamed dinner attendee.

Trump’s exhortation to the oil executives that they were wealthy enough to pour $1 billion into his campaign war-chest, at the same time pledging a U-turn on Biden’s efforts to combat the climate crisis, was immediately denounced on Wednesday by environmental groups. “One billion dollars for Trump, a devastating climate future for the rest of us,” said Pete Maysmith of the League of Conservation Voters (LCV).

i'm GenX. I don't have children. But I care about millennials and everyone younger than me and the life forms who are trapped with us on this lovely little planet.

You deserve better. People in other countries who will be harmed by these rich monsters deserve better.

please vote for the future—  especially yours.

 (Remember, Trump is even more likely to support genocide. Some of his first executive orders as president were anti-Muslim.)

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Clark Gable (Gone With the Wind, It Happened One Night)—There's no proof that Clark Gable stripping in It Happened One Night caused the sale of undershirts to take a nosedive, but there's also no proof that it didn't do that. And either way, him saucily undressing for bed in front of a woman who was married—not to him—is too deliciously scandalous to ignore. He deserves votes for this scene if nothing else. He got an Academy Award for this movie! He could play comedy just as well as drama, he earned medals for his bravery as a bomber gunner in WW2, he competed in car races, he has a great mustache and perfect eyebrows for sexy smirking, he's just HOT.

Sidney Poitier (Lilies of the Field, To Sir With Love)—an unbelievably beautiful man, a complete class act. Something about his eyes breaks my heart every time.

This is round 3 of the bracket. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage man.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut]

Clark Gable propaganda:

"Listen, he was "the King of Hollywood" for a reason and a suave motherfucker. Also a Major in the air force during WWII!"

"So Clark Gable was the king of Hollywood for a reason but honestly what makes him hot to me is his relationship with his wife Carole Lombard like if she loved him so she can't be wrong. Their relationship is so tragic like they met first when they filmed No Man of Her Own in 1932 and like there was nothing between them then but in 1936 they met again at a Hollywood party and this time things were different. Basically from that moment on they were inseparable and had to carry out their romance in secret until his divorce was finalized (he was separated when they met again at the party) and then they eloped in 1939 when he had a break during filming Gone With The Wind. They had a 20 acre farm together with horses, cows and chickens and they loved to do all those outdoorsy activities together. When they were apart for various work obligations they would send each other goofy gag gifts. In 1942 Carole was on a trip to sell war defense bonds when on the flight back home her plane crashed in the mountains of Nevada. Her death devastated Gable he flew to Nevada and demanded he be taken to the spot where the plane crashed despite the dangers posed by its location. Amongst the wreckage they found a hair clip he had given her for Christmas. Her death forever changed him he became more reckless and signed up for the US Army Air Corps in 1942 and he kept her bedroom unchanged in their home. He never stopped loving her when he died in 1960 he was buried next to her. I know Clark wasn't a perfect person and their is some speculation that she was racing home on that plane to him because she was worried that he was having an affair or something but relationships are complicated especially ones occurring in 1930s and 1940e Hollywood amongst two of the biggest starts at the time. (I just wanted to include this so ya know I'm not just looking at their relationship as all sunshine but like you can't deny the love they shared)

"They had an ineffable quality in romance, the ability to have fun together... they were soulmates who thought life was delicious, and they made everyone's life delicious around them" -Esther Williams

"GWtW is an epic stretching across years so Clark has a chance to show off a whole bunch of different sides, from Hot Outsider to Husband to Father and so on. But his most attractive is his final line of the movie, made only better by the story that he lobbied the Film Industry to ‘Let Rhett Curse!’ And who is more classic 30s Hollywood than this man?"

"Also apparently his name was Billy Gable then Glark Gable before finally landing on Clark Gable. A fact that I cant forget now glark gable lives in my mind now"

Sidney Poitier propaganda:

[khalixvitae]

I never post here anymore due to personal stuff, but I want to reach out on all my socials about this because people need to see it. Can I just say that I am so incredibly disheartened by some people’s responses to what is happening in the South Eastern US/Appalachia? I really can’t explain the level of devastation that is unfolding here under Hurricane Helene. There are people trapped in my childhood neighborhood without power or water because of downed trees and power lines and flooding. I couldn’t get ahold of my family for more than a day because there was a massive cell service outage in my state. Parts of where I grew up will not have electricity for three weeks. My family could be without electricity for three weeks. I didn’t know if my best friend was okay for 12 hours because there was no way to communicate and we live two hours away from one another. I’m entering day 3 of not having electricity.

And frankly, we’re on the luckier side. A town my family has visited every year for the last 20 years is fucking gone- leveled by flooding from a failed dam. Everything including the road is completely washed out, and this is in the fucking mountains. And that’s just what we know about so far during what is still widespread cell service failure. There are entire interstates that have washed out or fallen apart during mudslides- whole towns are gone, and people cannot call for help.

And the number of people I’ve seen, people who say they’re advocating for MY rights as a trans/queer person, who have fully dismissed this in favor of taking to twitter to make comments about how it’s “Trump Country anyway” and how we “deserve it” and “should’ve voted blue to keep this from happening” is brutal. Every time something happens to us down here, out of touch middle class liberals are so quick to blame our collective region of the country for struggles we do not have the time, energy, money, or legislation to prevent. As if we’re fucking stupid and should be purged, like we somehow matter less because our politicians are a breed of fucked up that a whole lot of us disagree with. We aren’t a monolith and we are right fucking here, and mocking us on twitter in the middle of a humanitarian crisis is not going to help your case, I promise.

I cannot explain to you what it’s like to hear somebody with your mother’s accent describe that they can’t pull people out of cars quick enough because the flood water is moving too fast. Everything I’ve ever known is either blipped off the power grid or under water. I’m begging you, please see us as people who are suffering and not as a monolithic entity.

There are trans and queer people here, just like everywhere else. We are suffering at the hands of legislation we don’t believe in, legislation that thinks we should die, and now a mounting natural disaster that we still don’t know the full extent of. There are poor communities, communities that are predominantly BIPOC, disabled people, it goes on. There are a whole lot of us who don’t fit the criteria of the pro trump agenda, who don’t match the bill of what an American southerner looks like in the minds of those who have never been here, who are actively suffering. We ARE voting blue both locally and on the federal level.

But here’s the kicker: it doesn’t fucking matter that we’re here. My life doesn’t mean anything more than my neighbor who might hate who I am to their very bones. Nor am I more deserving of aid than them, even if I hate them right back. The concept of withholding aid or hesitating to help particular regions because of what their government officials believe is heinous. Hell, even if regular civilians believe it too, it’s still wrong and morally reprehensible. Similarly, providing aid with the caveat of “converting those stubborn hicks” to the cause is downright evangelical and fucking evil. This is a humanitarian crisis, and people need help. And truly if you think it would be better if the south couldn’t vote, or that we collectively deserve this on some moral or karmic basis, I really need you to think critically about those exact talking points because they should sound shockingly familiar. Governments should help their people, and that should be a bipartisan priority. I don’t give a fuck what anyone says- people who are ignoring this because of where it’s happening are vile and need to get themselves sorted out. And the people who do think this is some sort of universal comeuppance for this part of the country can- and I mean this truly deeply, from my heart of hearts- go straight to hell.

I’m going to be posting resources to help those in need in the Appalachia region, as well as Florida. I’ll include shelters, food banks, etc. I’ll have them out soon. I don’t use this blog really anymore but this is the least I can do.

[matan4il]

Hey!! Idk if you are watching Eurovision or if you are but still are a bit behind but when you end/see the final results, were you expecting Israel to end up where it ended up or?

Hi Nonnie!

I absolutely watched, gotta cheer for Eden, after all she had been through! It wasn't easy, we had a rocket attack by Hamas at Israel during the show, while people who have never had to run into a bomb shelter for their lives booed in the venue at Israel getting as little as 3 points here or there, from a random jury.

I think Croatia deserved to win, I didn't expect us to, and TBH, with the financial crisis Israel is currently going through due to the war, I might not want us to, because it costs a lot to host.

But Israel making it to second place in the public's vote? Wow. WOW. What a statement. The judges in the juries have to put their names to their vote, and with the hatred that some protesters have spilled at anything Israel related, to the point of people personally threatened, I'm not that surprised that we didn't get more during that part of the show. But where people aren't being personally threatened? All these countries showed that Israel isn't as much of a pariah as some violent protesters would like you to believe, and that sane people understand what Israel is going through.

Israel also beat in the public vote every one of the awful "artists" that had no qualms about being disgusting to a 20 years old girl, who is representing her people, as if she's guilty of what they think about her government. Considering that it could have easily been them, targeted because of something their government was doing, the complete lack of empathy and basic human decency, or even just understanding for a fellow performer was beyond vile. So yeah, I'm glad Eden got more points than Switzerland, Ireland, Portugal, Greece and the UK. These, together with the Dutch singer (who got himself disqualified) were the worst offenders, constantly harassing and humiliating Eden and others in the Israeli delegation. MUCH LOVE to the people in those countries that were better than their representatives, and to those in every country that voted for Eden, showing compassion and an actual endorsement of humaneness.

Did I expect it? I had hopes the public would be kinder than expected, but yeah, I didn't think we'd get a second place among viewers. And enough points from juries to get to 5th place overall, too? It was incredible, and it felt like a win. I'm very proud of all those voters, of the jury judges who dared to put "Israel" next to their names, and of the Israeli team (they said that all that hate just made them want to be even more professional about the whole thing).

Am Yisrael chai! We're alive, kicking, and in our way, even winning!

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

[dropouttvpollbrackets]

Most Unhinged Dropout Cast Member Poll Bracket - FINAL RESULTS!

Alright, folks, that does it for this unhinged poll bracket! Our winner is (to, I'm sure, very few people's surprise) Ally Beardsley!!! There could not possibly be a more deserving person for such a title. Whether you know them best from their hilarious sketch performances from back in the days of CollegeHumor, their mind-boggling character choices on Dimension 20, their unwavering commitment to the bit in every Game Changer appearance, their stoner shenanigans on Paranoia, the bonkers stories from their actual real life shared on Dirty Laundry, or the very real psychological torment they inflict on both Grant O'Brien and us, the audience, in Total Forgiveness, I'm sure we can all agree that Ally Beardsley has never encountered a hinge in their whole damn life.

Also deserving of a big shout out right now are the winners of our two mini-brackets - Oscar Montoya, the most hinged cast member, and Jacob Wysocki, winner of our honorable mention mini-bracket - as well as, of course, our runner up, and therefore the winner of this bracket's Brennan Lee Mulligan Award, Vic Michaelis!

Now for some final poll stats for the whole bracket:

The poll with by far the most votes was our final poll between Vic and Ally, with 2,221 votes

The person who received the most votes in a single poll was, perhaps unsurprisingly, Ally in the final poll, with approximately 1,495 votes, which is more votes than any of the other polls received in total

Our most unanimous wins of the bracket were Lou and Erika who beat Murph and Raph respectively with about 93% of the votes in each of their polls

The closest poll was Emily against Brennan, in which Emily won with a mere 52% of the votes

Though it wasn't ultimately the closest poll, the semi-final between Emily and Vic was also very close, and was the only poll in the bracket that a) was tied for a while and b) switched who was in the lead after the first day of voting

Anyway, thank you all for voting in this bracket! I'd still be interested in doing a mini-bracket between cast members who weren't in these polls, but I need some submissions to do so, so please drop me an ask! Also, sorry for taking a while to get this post up, I've had a busy couple days, and I foolishly hadn't prepared victory images for Ally and Vic beforehand. Anyway, keep an eye out for another bracket (or possibly some polls to help me decide on a next bracket, or some interim mini-brackets) coming your way sometime very soon! Thanks again for participating in this beautiful democratic process with me!

[fairytale-poll]

WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT POST!!!!!!!

The finals are over, so it's time to announce the winners for the Little Merpoll!

As always, thank you to everyone who participated! If you submitted characters and/or propaganda, if you reblogged the polls, even if you just voted, it was a pleasure having you! I've done fairytales poll before this & hope to continue for a while after this, and it's been a pleasure having you guys along for the ride!

Now, for our 5 winners.

The first winner to announce is the winner of the Mod's Choice poll! The Mod's choice poll is the "least important" of all the polls, as it has the least amount of contestants (this one had the last of any of the previous Mod's Choice polls) and are nominated simply based on which ones I like, but it holds a special place in my heart regardless.

This time, the winner was Sayaka Miki from Puella Magi Madoka Magica, who was also notable for being the runner-up for the Loser's Bracket. While I'm not as big of a fan of Madoka Magica as I used to be, I still love Sayaka, so it was delightful for her to do so well in the Mod's Choice poll & almost win the Loser's Bracket. Congratulations Sayaka and Sayaka fans!

But while Sayaka was the runner-up for the Loser's Bracket, she was not the actual Loser's Bracket winner. That honor goes to Mira from Dimension 20: Neverafter. While I haven't ever listened to Dimension 20, I was pretty about to see her take the win. After one Dimension 20 character won Red Riding Poll, no character from it ranked at all in Cinderpoll or in the main tournament for Little Merpoll, which is why I was glad to see Dimension 20 make a comeback for this Loser's Bracket. Mira's design is pretty cool, too, I love the pirate look. Congratulations for the win!

NOW, onto the MAIN TOURNAMENT WINNERS...

For our two bronze-place winners it's The Little Mermaid from the original Hans Christian Andersen fairytale & Ariel from Disney's The Little Mermaid 1989! To my surprise, it was actually the first time both the original fairytale and the Disney adaptation ranked! Honestly, these are some pretty good ones to rank, too. The original fairytale is a great read (and super short, so if anyone hasn't read it already, you should go do so) being both beautiful and poignantly tragic. Whereas the Disney adaptation holds up surprisingly well and is a beautiful piece of animation. Congratulations to these two bronze-place winners!

For the runner-up of the tournament is Bug from Starship by Team Starkid! I know that Team Starkid is very popular in certain parts of the Internet & the Starship itself did very well, but even then it felt like Bug was an underdog going up against giants like Disney, Studio Ghibli, and the original fairytale the tournament is based on, so I have to congratulate this guy for getting so far regardless! Good job, and I hope your fans are happy for you getting the silver!

Now, finally, the moment of truth-- the winner of the Little Merpoll, the certified best Little Mermaid as voted by Tumblr--

CONGRATULATIONS TO PONYO FROM STUDIO GHIBLI'S PONYO!

I watched this movie for the first time during the course of the tournament and it is truly a breathtaking marvel of animation, one of the best visuals I've ever seen for a movie ever. I will quote the propaganda submitted for Ponyo and say this little ham-loving girl deserved the win simply for the fact that there is no force more powerful than 5-year-old girls!!!

Our next tournament will be Best/Worst Modern Fairytale Adaptations. I'll open submissions up after a short hiatus, as I am in midst finals & will be graduating soon, which will take up most of my time in the next 2 weeks. See you for the next tournament at the end of May!

[comeonamericawakeup]

"Just how much empathy am I still supposed to summon for Trump voters?" asked Matt Bai. Prominent Democrats, including former President Barack Obama, have called on progressives to "rein in their contempt" for Trump supporters to avoid further alienating them.

Certainly, everyone deserves to be treated with "basic respect." But it's no longer 2016, and the moment for "empathy" has passed. After four years of lies and chaos, Trump denied losing the 2020 election and incited "the violent sacking of the Capitol," and is now promising to deport more than 10 million people, imprison his opponents, and govern as an autocrat. To say that Trump voters aren't aware of his bigotry, misogyny, and dictatorial aspirations "is to say that they're simply fools." At this point, "they know." Rural and small-town Trump voters love him because "they feel powerless" and are delighted by how he infuriates "the governing elites, the media, the academic left." They'd be happy to see Trump "blow up the country" to punish people they resent. Sorry, but supporting Trump is "at its core, unpatriotic"-no matter "how many ways you try to rationalize it.

THE WEEK September 20, 2024

I cannot summon any empathy for the MAGA because they have proven themselves to be domestic terrorists, full of hate, extremely stupid, conspiracy-driven, righteous in their ignorance, brainwashed, unpatriotic, completely untethered from reality or facts,  and not engageable in any conversation, whose foundation is truth or science. I do not see any path forward to fold these people back into society.  They must be marginalized at the polls by voting Democratic for at least a decade, and by sending their cult leader to prison.  

[the-90s-music-colosseum]

Round 5, Match 8

propaganda below the cut! (wall of text warning)

Tracy Chapman:

"I can’t think of anything clever to say because I’m too busy sighing dreamily"

"GUYS ITS FUCKING TRACY CHAPMAN VOTE FOR HER OR ELSE ILL EAT PLAYDOUGH"

"Tracy Chapman made the best song of all time (fast car)"

"ik im the hope sandoval guy but if hope doesn't make it tracy has to she made me realize i was a lesbian i just thought i was bi then i listened to her and now im a lesbian she is powerful she is strength if you looked at her and looked at my art you would see 20 years of inspiration from one single woman"

"she's too good to commit atrocities to me but im the gore guy and you aren't for that. i would let her take out my vocal chords and use them as floss. i would have her saw down my bones to make a vinyl of her music. i would go on all fours and let her slaughter me like a pig. i want to be her cat"

"The most powerful written and performed voice of the 90s. Everyone, of any nationality or belief system, could feel the words Tracy Chapman sang. She gets her dues but deserves even more."

Kathleen Hanna:

"if you don't think kathleen hanna is the coolest person ever you're WRONG she's better than everyone and more gorgeous than everyone"

"i think if she was my age and we went to middle school together she would've been my queer awakening. she would've been who i considered my "first girl crush" and ii'm so in love with her she's kathleen fucking hanna <3"

"IS PROPAGANDA EVEN NEEDED!!!! She fronted a whole genre, bagged arguerably the best beastie boy, got into a fight with courtney love, invented the phrase girl power, helped nirvana to its success, and looked like a god while doing all this."

"Kurt Cobain this, Nirvana that. IF KATHLEEN HANNA WASNT ALIVE THERE WOULD BE NO SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT. I mean- who else could be able to say that they had a whole ass movie made about them that's literally titled THE punk singer??? She's THE moment. THE icon."

"vote kathleen or you hate FEMINISM!!!!"

"A vote for Kathleen is a vote for riot girls everywhere"

[cattimeswithjellie]

Stream Recap, Skizzleman, 7/03/24

((Got my internet back this morning, phew! I did post a poll last night for anyone who has input on which Hermits I ought to be concentrating on recapping. Go and vote in it if you have Thoughts, or send me an ask if your thoughts are more lengthy. In the meantime, enjoy Skizzleman starting up his Attorney's Office build, hanging out with Tango, being a guinea pig for Pearl, and discussing with Chat why the fans keep making him an angel.))

4:45 Skizz opens the stream with a black screen. He greets the Chat and gives everyone an unnerving stare for several seconds. One day, he promises, he will really commit to the bit and see how long he can hold that stare just to bother chat. He thanks subs and donos and opens the game. He is standing on the highest current level of his pyramid. Skizz has taken it very easy the past two days and is feeling lazy about it. There is lots to talk about today!

9:30 Skizz flies to his base while talking about dog problems. Kevin Bubbles has been very naughty lately. Skizz is not concerned about the possibility of Doc taking revenge against him for the court case. Skizz feels lazy because all his current projects are actually doing okay right now and the holiday long weekend is coming up, so he could’ve been on the server but wasn’t. He is not going to let himself feel guilty about that, though. Instead, there is a build plan for today! Skizz flies to the shopping district and lands on Poe Poe HQ, facing the empty corner between it and the Courthouse. He is going to build an attorney’s office! He put a lot of time and effort into building the “Skizz Attorney” character he made for the Cleo v. Doc court case, put a lot of TLC into the video, got a lot of good feedback, and now he does not want it to be a one-and-done anymore. (Highlights include Skizz telling his wife that he had to spend an evening prepping his case because he was going to court the next day.)

13:00 Skizz has talked to Bdubs and Scar about adding an attorney’s office to the area where they have been building and they were enthusiastic about the idea. Skizz is nervous because he’ll be building right next to large builds by two exceptional builders. He’s going to give it a try anyway, knowing all along that there is the possibility that at some point he will tear the whole thing down, put the grass back, and just give up. It’s a possibility, but it’s better to try than not to try!

15:40 A chatter asks Skizz what his feelings are on the “Angel” portrayal of Skizz in fanart. Skizz wants to make it clear that he is very honored by all fanart, but he’s not sure where the angel thing came from. He is super-distracted by a 100-sub bomb. Chat is very excited too. He thanks subs and donos. A chatter asks about how to get their stream restarted. He tells them to ask themselves why they want to stream, and if any part of that is “I love it,” then that’s enough. Ignore everything else and do it because you love it. He especially thanks the chatter who gave many subs.

20:00 Chat reminds Skizz that he was talking about fanart. He reiterates that he loves fanart, and the angel thing is sweet, but he does not deserve to be portrayed as an angel. They don’t upset him but he likes the art better without them. He thanks more subs and donos. A chatter asks why Impulse “cheated” with Jimmy to play Among Us. Skizz pretends to be upset but he is not, he and Impulse will play Among Us again. Skizz needs shulker boxes. He goes to his portal tunnel to empty a shulker of cobblestone, but it turns out that “throwing item” is enough to trigger the skulk sensor that activates the “Sup, buddeh,” noise, which plays about 15 times. Skizz is confused at first, then starts doing it for fun. The same chatter from before gifts another 100 subs.

26:00 A chatter tells Skizz that fanartists draw Impulse as a demon as a reference to how he first joined Hermitcraft. ((In Impulse’s first episode of Season 3, he is “summoned” onto Hermitcraft by Tango, Mumbo and Xisuma for redstone shenanigans, summoning circle, chanting and all.)) Because Impulse and Skizz have a very “yin-yang” dynamic, fanartists draw Skizz as the angel of the pair. Skizz remembers seeing that somewhere before, and admits that he feels a lot better about that explanation than thinking that the fandom has ascribed something particularly angelic or ultra-good to him. He continues assembling tools and materials and is about to tell Chat his plan when he gets distracted by Chat again. A chatter called “Evilbutnice” gets assigned the nickname “EvilButt” because Skizz likes to say that. He may start using that as a nickname for his wife. Chat thinks Skizz just likes to say “butt.” He agrees and tells the story of the time his band teacher said “butt” and it was really funny.

28:00 Skizz visits the Bop & Go to repair his elytra. He needs to go dig a whole bunch of sand so he can buy acacia wood from Doc. Chat and Impulse (who is lurking in the stream) notice that Skizz did not touch the noteblock to reset Bop & Go. Impulse notes that this is obviously why the machine has not been getting reset lately. Skizz fixes that mistake. He notices a comment from one of his mods saying that Skizz never remembers and rarely reads and insists that he _just did_ remember (with some help.) Every other time he has remembered and Impulse just didn’t happen to be watching. He asks if Chat wants him to pull back the curtain on something, then decides he won’t after all.

30:20 Skizz takes off for the sand-gathering desert, thanking subs and donos on the way. A chatter tells him that the fanartists also like the creative irony of making the guy who toes the line of PG more than anybody else into the angel. Skizz likes that a lot. He arrives at the desert and finds it empty of sand, but does find some coal. He finds a little bit of sand and begins the laborious process of digging it out with an unenchanted iron shovel. He thinks he should probably just sue Doc instead. He decides to get out the diamond shovel even though it doesn’t have mending, just to spare himself and everyone else the agony. Chat informs him that Tango is looking for him.

33:00 Skizz quibbles with Chat over who is the assistant sleepmaster and who is assistant TO THE sleepmaster. He sends Tango his coords and makes plans to play Wordle later now that Pearl has made the redstone even better ((Dyeduction can now handle double-letter words!)) He will not play on stream again, cause that was BRUTAL last time. He digs some more sand and gets distracted by the existence of terracotta. Chat reminds him that Scar sells sand, and that Tango is on his way. Skizz tells the music to be cooler. A chatter suggests that Skizz set his spawn, just in case. He does so.

37:40 A wild Tango appears on the horizon! Skizz shoots at him, of course. Tango dodges and weaves, eventually coming into mic range and making it clear that he has not yet seen Skizz and is trying to get directions from his chat. Skizz pings him with the bow. Tango flies up to meet Skizz and asks what Skizz needs and if he just called Tango out here to grab a shovel and get to work. Skizz protests that his chat told him that Tango was looking for him! Tango admits that he needed to kill some time after doing lots of boring redstone on stream that day. Skizz sighs and makes his own greatest technical achievement: a skompass. Tango is happy that he finished his project, and when he goes back to his factory he will be able to see if the new chunkloaders actually work or if the whole thing has pooped itself again.

40:30 Tango asks Skizz what he’s up to out here. Skizz reveals his extremely self-destructive idea to freehand a new building live on stream between a building built by Bdubs and a building built by Scar. “Yeah, sure, what could go wrong?” Tango jokes. He points out that there’s no way Skizz is going to be happy with it. Skizz tells him he’s the worst cheerleader ever. Tango says he’d rather do redstone on stream than build on stream because with redstone it’s either right or it’s wrong, but with building it’s easy to spiral into doubt. Skizz describes himself ask the kid who throws himself into the deep end to see if he can swim. He’d rather know on the other side that he made a bad choice than not trying to make a choice at all. Tango asks if it’s time to go get beer and burgers yet. Skizz tells him not yet, he’s going to pick up Impulse later and they will meet up with Tango. They are both excited (and hungry!)

42:30 Skizz double-checks with Tango about Scar selling both sand and gravel. Tango agrees, but says he doesn’t know if Scar has any stock. Skizz takes off unceremoniously and only belatedly groups up with Tango to talk. Skizz tries to shoot Tango a few more times as they fly back to the factory. He hits once but doesn’t kill him. Tango calls him Failguy and tells him his Velocitay needs work. It’s probably just as well though, since Tango is already bummed about his new redstone not working. Tango explains the trouble he’s been having trying to turn off the factory when he leaves the chunk, and how his chunk loaders are not turning things off like they should. Skizz asks how the system can possibly know when Tango leaves. Tango takes Skizz into the basement and introduces him to Unpaid Intern, an endermite on a floor made of observers whose movement serves as a player detector. When the intern stops moving (because there is no player nearby) the system reacts. Skizz compares it to an accelerometer sensor, Tango agrees except it’s not working. Tango’s chat has ideas for him. Skizz follows Tango down into his truly inexplicable redstone workings and takes care of some coal ore he finds there while Tango is troubleshooting.

47:50 There is actually quite a bit of coal ore around, but Skizz is just the guy for the job! As he mines, he asks Tango if he wants to play Wordle live on stream. “No!” Tango says immediately. Skizz assures him that it is the worst. Skizz has to go because he’s busy and Tango needs to debug anyway. He sneaaaaaks around the corner with his bow, but Tango flies away before he can shoot and mocks him over the groupchat. Skizz insists he wasn’t actually going to do it, but that does not stop the mocking. Chat is ready to hunt Tango for sport, but in a nice and friendly way. Skizz gets slightly lost before finding his way out of Tango’s basement and heading for the sand shop. He thanks subs and donos as he goes. He admires Scar’s build, but there are no more shulkers of sand and only a few stacks of sand. Skizz attempts to turn diamonds into acacia with math, but it is too difficult and he won’t read chat. He’s just going to dig sand… except he’s running out of rockets. He’s going to coast home, then he’s going to go dig sand.

52:30 Skizz fetches his rockets and organizes his inventory, putting things away like a grownup and fetching his better shovel. He goes to put away the sand he has already collected and realizes he already has a shulker box with nineteen stacks of sand. He sighs and calls himself a brilliant, brilliant man. Chat is amused. Skizz is just going to pretend he didn’t even see anything and leave. He’s going to buy some acacia and get working. He’s played around just a little bit in Creative with some ideas and he also collects up some blackstone before heading back to the SD. As he flies, he plays the Bop Song for Chat. He flies to the wood shop and realize that Doc has raised prices on wood and it is now four stacks per stack. He also can’t figure out where to pay, a consistent problem this season for Doc. Chat helps him out. He buys four stacks of acacia wood.

58:30 The Bop Song ends and Skizz tells Chat that Iskall told him the other day that he’d listened to the Skizzlefarts song. He’d initially given up five seconds in, then went back later and realized it was a bop. Skizz will play the song for Chat later. He checks profits in his own shop, some sales, and goes to buy some mud. Stress’s shop is still a pop-up and living on borrowed time, but it does have mud in it. He buys three stacks, then realizes he has to run home for grass before he can build. Chat thinks they understand why Skizz runs out of rockets so often. He gets the grass and plays the Skizzlefarts song as he flies back.

1:02:00 While the song is playing, Skizz sets up a home base outside the courthouse and begins filling in grass to create an even build surface. Chat likes this song a lot. Mr Joker comes into Chat but Skizz is in the zone and doesn’t see. Chat is sympathetic and tells him that the best way to keep a secret from Skizz is to put it in his chat. Skizz does eventually notice him and says hello. In game chat, Pearl asks Skizz if he would like to be her guinea pig. Skizz doesn’t see the message. Chat starts yelling at him about it. Impulse is also in chat and helps. Skizz is busy singing the Skizzlefarts song acapella.

1:07:00 Impulse, being the good friend and hero to Chats everywhere that he is, logs into the game and accepts Pearl’s invitation graciously on Skizz’s behalf. Pearl is happy. Impulse logs out. Skizz is still not paying attention. Pearl thanks Impulse for trying, at least. Chat is howling with laughter and rage. Gem says that Skizz can’t read, he’s a hermit. It’s part of the invite process. Skizz finally notices something and opens game chat, asking how much he is supposed to be expected to read! Chat thinks Gem is very funny. Skizz figures out what is happening, agrees on his own behalf this time, and pauses the recording, telling Chat that this is why he can’t get anything done. Chat doesn’t care, they are happy to go see Pearl. Knowing what guinea pig duty usually entails on Hermitcraft, Skizz empties his inventory except for rockets and food and goes to find Pearl at the flower shop.

1:09:20 Skizz arrives at the flower shop and is greeted by Pearl. She thanks him for being a guinea pig today. Pearl proudly explains that she has improved the Wordle redstone to do double letters successfully. Skizz wails, both because that was his favorite part of Dyeduction and because he’s realizing that he’s about to play Wordle on stream again. She explains the new intricacies of the system (a correct guess in the right place will not lock the letter anymore, just light up the lamp so full words can still be played.) Pearl promises him that it’s an easy word today and asks if he wants to try Hard Mode (which is timed). Skizz agrees reluctantly. Chat has been wondering if Pearl just woke up or simply has not slept yet; she has changed things down here since the end of her stream so the consensus is “has not slept.” Skizz empties his inventory and collects all his letters, impressed by the colorful new textures for the letter tiles. Pearl gives him the clue that it’s a double letter word.

1:12:50 Skizz starts the game and plays “HORSE.” Pearl sings the Bop song with him as he puts the word into place. He gets no letters in the correct spot, but R and O are in the word. He decides to get really bold and play “TROTT,” disregarding the trouble sign that Pearl doesn’t know if that’s how you spell Trot. Chat has qualms about this choice. He plays it anyway and gets the R and O in the correct spot, but there are no Ts. He thinks about Crown, but there are no Ws. He thinks about Brown, but there are still no Ws. He decides to play CROAK just to get clues. He gets no letters in position, but there is an A in the word. He is now past half-time on the clock.

1:20:00 Hard Mode Dyeduction currently has no sound, so Pearl provides some happily trollsome noises as Skizz tries very hard to think of what double-letter word fits his current clues. He makes a lot of noises of his own, then guesses AROMA and slams the letters into place as fast as possible. He is correct! Everyone cheers! Pearl thinks that was a great word for a flower shop. Skizz gets his reward bundle and because he did hard mode, he gets the flower crown reward! Pearl has to show him how to use the bundle because he was not around for TCG last season. He puts on the crown and stands next to Pearl, looking very hippyish. He loves Pearl’s redstone. Pearl offers to show it to him, but first the game must be reset. He puts the letters away and resets, but has forgotten the castoff barrel letters. He suggests to Pearl that she should put up a sign to remind people, she reminds him that Hermits don’t read things. He has to agree.

1:24:00 Pearl gives Skizz the grand tour of her “noodles,” the intricate and Pearl-optimized system of redstone that powers the game. It is much bigger than last time Skizz visited the game. He has no idea what is happening or how. She shows him a test system that she built with Xisuma while working on the double letter system. Skizz may or may not understand the redstone system, but he can definitely take care of the coal lurking in Pearl’s walls. She tells him to be careful of the water behind the walls and he yelps and jumps back, but she’s not too worried since this was only a test system. Skizz still does not want to take chance. If he broke this redstone, he would probably disconnect and not come back for a month.

1:28:00 Skizz compliments Pearl again on her awesome redstone. Pearl is justifiably proud of herself, saying she didn’t really think this would be her redstone season, but it turns out it really is. Skizz decides he’s going to do something for Pearl. Pearl hopes he is going to give her some redstone. Nope, he is going to hit her up (off-stream, of course) for a new project. She asks if it’s a redstone project and he tells her of course it is. “Oh no!” Pearl replies, but she is interested. Skizz tells her it has to be perfect but then gets distracted because he has somehow gotten himself incredibly stuck inside a composter. There is a block over his head and he cannot get out, and he can’t break the block because there is redstone on it. Chat pauses in their laughing just long enough to suggest an ender pearl might be the only way out of this one. Pearl finds an “Ender-me” and gives it to him, letting him escape his ridiculous predicament. Pearl reminisces about back in the day when the first version of Wordle was basically impossible to break. This version is very breakable, in a number of ways. Tango raids into the stream, though he doesn’t appear to realize he’s done so successfully based on his chat messages.

1:31:00 Pearl thanks Skizz for his guinea pig services as Skizz recovers his inventory and eats. He assures her that he is always ready to be a guinea pig for her redstone improvements and heads out. He flies back to the law office and welcomes the raiders, then thanks subs and donos. Tango’s chat says Tango needs to do his hair to get ready for the man-date.

1:34:30 Skizz restarts recording and gets back to work! He is using path blocks to sketch out the design of the building. He starts putting down acacia blocks, then yells “Assistant Sleepmaster!” and dives into bed even as Chat responds with a score of “TO THE.” With the sun back up, he takes the acacia back down and changes the shape slightly. Chat is concerned about blocking the bridge, but Skizz wants to leave enough room for Joe to have an office too, if he wants one. He moves his design over slightly. In stream chat, Gem confirms that the bridge has plenty of room.

1:43:00 Skizz does a little terraforming to get his design the way he wants it. Chat reminds him to eat. Tango announces in game chat that he fixed his iron issue, Gem and Skizz are proud of him. Skizz starts placing acacia again. He explains his patterning idea to Chat, a checkerboard of acacia logs that will get largely moved or covered as the build progresses. He is going to need more acacia. Skizz is a scaffolding guy, so he sets some of that up as well as he works. Chat says that Joe may not need half the space since he talked on stream about possibly building a law office into his Tuff shop. Skizz acknowledges that is a possibility, but told Joe he would leave the space open until he decided where he wanted his office. Skizz does not need such a large space to build on anyway. Law offices should not be the size of courthouses!

1:53:00 Skizz shows off the first wall, which seems promising. He reminds Chat that this could all wind up being torn down, but he still is happy that he’s trying. Chat gives him suggestions on how to optimize acacia use, since he is using lots and lots of expensive logs with this design. He sings a borderline inappropriate song but stops before the bad parts, then goes and sleeps again. Chat helps him correct an alignment in one of the pillars, and wall-building continues. Chat is restive about a design defect in the second wall, Skizz eventually notices that as well, but he doesn’t have the right acacia wood to correct it.

2:03:00 Doc loves to make Skizz miserable, so it’s back to Big Wood to trade more sand for acacia. He spends the rest of his shulker of sand for three more stacks of acacia, but he’s not going to be gracious about it! Chat shakes their head over out-of-control inflation. Skizz returns, realizes that he can’t actually correct the pattern in such a way that both walls are correct. He makes the front wall correct at the expense of the tiny side wall in the hope that nobody but Chat will notice. Chat reminds him to start recording. He builds some more, sleeps again, and admits he does the assistant sleepmaster bit because he hates the darkness in Minecraft. He puts more top pillars on and wishes he had Swift Sneak, but he does not because he was MURDERED. He puts some mud brick on the ground around the building to show Chat his idea for how the ground will look. Chat likes it, and also likes the noise mud bricks makes.

2:13:00 Skizz runs into one more pattern issue on the back wall but takes Chat’s suggestion on how to get around it sneakily with a pillar. He tells a cute story about the time his daughter met her great-grandmother for the first time and immediately said “I like your face!” Chat suggests the possibility that just going and chopping acacia wood might be easier than digging dozens of stacks of sand. He misplaces a log and yells about it, then cheerfully informs new chatters that he is Skizz and he likes to freak out about NOTHING. He looks at the building and realizes that the office is too small inside. He has to knock out the back wall and build it out bigger. He sleeps again, then takes the opportunity to rip out the side as well to correct some subtle pattern troubles.

2:21:00 A chatter asks who built Skizz’s (as yet unboxed) new PC. Skizz admits it was awhile ago now and he doesn’t remember for sure, but he thinks the company was called Apex. He has more pattern trouble and blames Chat for letting him do that. It turns out that ripping out the wall did not solve the pattern problem but it also does not make it any worse. Skizz needs more wood. He heads for the desert.

2:27:00 Skizz arrives back at the desert and realizes he forgot his bed. He gets digging. It is much faster with his better shovel this time. He insists that Chat had better remind him to start recording when he gets back. He talks with Chat about the movie The Fifth Element. He finds a pillager raid and spends some sand to bury them. He forgot to bring his bow, but the sand works well enough. He talks with Chat about filming the 100th episode of the podcast. It’s going to be all about reflecting on what they’ve learned so far, and Skizz may or may not have indulged in some adult beverage during the filming. There will also be official Imp and Skizz merch coming out! Chat is excited.

2:36:00 Skizz admits that it might be faster to just chop wood at this point, but he’s already dug up all this sand! He and Impulse are both very proud of putting out 100 podcast episodes without ever missing a week. He muses that Doc is winning by making Skizz dig all this sand, and it is a situation that may require Poe Poe intervention. He finds a ruined portal and is pleased to learn that they come with a gold block, though this one’s chest has been looted. He digs quite a bit, just to make sure the chest is not hiding in secret. Chatters send him some nice messages. He talks about the nature of friendship, and how knowing that even the best friendships are subject to disagreements and distance can help you not to take people for granted. He is willing to consider the possibility that, after being friends over these 100 episodes, he and Impulse may end up being friends forever. Also, if someone wants to sue Doc again, Skizz is totally ready for it. He is also willing to be Doc’s lawyer!

2:44:00 Skizz talks about Mumbo’s pinky-training short and how funny it is. He is nearly done with his sand-digging now, but his shovel is also getting quite low. He talks with Chat about My Cousin Vinny and how great it is, and also that he has seen Rusty_Courage’s latest animatic and it is great. He packs up his shulkers and heads back for the shopping district. A chatter asks what his favorite Mel Brooks film is, it is Spaceballs.

2:48:30 Skizz repairs his shovel at the Bop N Go, but does not stay for the song. He forgets to hit the noteblock. Chat reminds him and he tells them that was a test for Chat. He gets more rockets (it has been a very rocket-heavy day) and heads back to Big Wood. A chatter asks if it’s really 111 degrees in Arizona, Skizz does not know because he hasn’t been outside in hours. A chatter’s young child asks if there will be more animated shorts, Skizz has none in the works but he wants to do more. He does Sand Math and buys twelve stacks of acacia, then heads back to the office.

2:54:10 Skizz turns the recording back on and keeps building his walls. Chat reminds him not to be late for his man-date with Tango and Impulse. While he works, he practices his elytra-bouncing technique and plays with the voice-changer. He particularly hates a song on the background track and frantically removes it. Chat declares Skizz is in a mood, he proudly declars himself “a mood.” He talks about the movie Speed and how it briefly made Young Skizz want to be a cop so he could do things like jump into buses from moving cars.

3:01:00 Skizz works on the top pattern row and goes to make his pillars. Chatters are commenting, rightly or wrongly, about pattern problems, but Skizz is in a hurry and has given up on caring about the pattern so much. He likes the sound of stripping acacia. He finishes and gets a long look with freecam, declaring that he actually does not hate it! He adds some more mud bricks to the floor for a better look at that and tells Chat he will terradorm later. Chat approves the building and says the hermits will make a builder of him yet.

3:07:50 Skizz finishes and stops recording, then corrects a few more stripping issues. He likes the whole thing in general and will be interested to see how the roof looks when it goes on. There’s a lot more to do, but he’s got to go out with some guys Chat may know, Eyem-puls-ave and Tingoo. He says he may stream tomorrow, then raids into Jojosolos and ends his stream.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Roevember : billboard project

* * * *

Kamala Harris shines in Oprah interview . . . while Trump preemptively blames Jewish voters if he loses

September 20, 2024

Robert B. Hubbell

Kamala Harris appeared on a live event on Thursday hosted by Oprah Winfrey. The interview took place in a friendly setting but was remarkable, nonetheless. Harris is an empathetic, emotionally intelligent, skilled communicator who excels in one-on-one conversations that provide room for her humanity to shine through. As I write, the event is ongoing, but it has already addressed difficult and important issues. But no issue (so far) has been more powerful than the discussion of Trump's abortion bans.

The entire event is here, and I urge you watch it: Harris speaks at campaign event with Oprah in Michigan.

Oprah Winfrey’s producers included a short video on the life and preventable death of Amber Thurman, whose tragic story was revealed by Pro Publica on Wednesday. Amber experienced complications from mifepristone, sought medical care, and was turned away by physicians because she “wasn’t near enough to death” to qualify for a “life of the mother” exception under North Carolina’s abortion ban. By the time doctors were ready to treat Amber, it was too late. She died from complications that could have easily been prevented by earlier intervention. See NBC, How Georgia's LIFE Act killed Amber Thurman.

After the video played, Oprah turned to Amber’s mother and sisters, who spoke eloquently about Amber’s death. Many in the audience were moved to tears. Kamala Harris was visibly anguished by the testimonial of grief by Amber’s mother and sisters.

Oprah then turned to Kamala Harris and said, “What do you want to say, Madame Vice President?” Harris turned to Amber’s mother and sisters and said,

I am just so sorry.

Kamala let her statement hang in the air for a moment of stillness and silence—so that its impact could be absorbed by Amber’s mother and sisters and the audience. The seven-minute video clip of the segment is here: "I am just so sorry." | Kamala Harris on Amber Thurman.

Kamala Harris’s statement was remarkable because it was entirely selfless and completely focused on comforting Amber’s mother and sisters. Few politicians can summon the ability to be genuine and empathetic especially while at a campaign event. Donald Trump has never uttered similar words to anyone in any context.

If Americans are waiting to “get to know” Kamala Harris, the Oprah interview is essential viewing. Share the links included in this newsletter with someone who would benefit from seeing Kamala Harris in an informal setting talking about important issues.

There were many powerful and important moment in the interview. If you can, watch it all. But if you can’t, here are two segments that you should consider sharing.

Oprah asked Harris, “What is in your heart to say to the American people as we head into November 5, especially people who are undecided?” Harris gave a positive, affirming view of America’s future, framing her answer in terms of what we are fighting for, not what we are fighting against. If you only watch one clip, this should be the one: "Freedom worth fighting for." | Kamala Harris.

At the end of the interview, Oprah made a strong pitch for viewers to vote for Kamala Harris. The clip is here: "This is the moment." | Oprah Winfrey. Share it widely!

Oprah said,

For all of you watching who are still on the fence, in the middle, independent as I am, or whether you just still don't know what you're gonna do. This is the moment for all decent and caring people who want the best for yourself and other people. This is the moment for people who are tired of all of the bickering and all of the name-calling, people who are exhausted by the craziness and the made up stories and the conspiracies. This is the moment you wanna get on with your life because you know that we can do better and that we deserve better. You know this, I know you know this, I know you feel this. I know this is what you're saying amongst yourselves. We're better than this. And as my friend and mentor Maya Angelou always said, ‘When you know better, you got to do better.’ So, let's do better and vote for Kamala Harris

It is worth the effort to amplify Oprah’s endorsement. She is one of the most influential Americans of our generation. Let me share with you how I came to realize that fact.

I was preparing for a high-stakes trial about fifteen years ago. As usual, my client wanted to run a mock jury simulation with test jurors selected from the same zip code as the real jurors.

Each mock juror filled out a 200-item questionnaire. The first question was, “Who is your hero?” I thought that was an interesting question, so I said to the jury consultant, “That’s interesting. What types of answers do you get to that question?”

The jury consultant replied, “Oh, we disregard that question.” I asked, “Why?” He replied, “Because the answer is overwhelmingly the same person across all jury pools, so it doesn’t really tell us anything.”

So, I had to ask, “Who is it?” The jury consultant replied, “Oprah Winfrey.”

I then went home and started telling my wife the story. As soon as I described the first item on the jury questionnaire (“Who is your hero?”), my wife said, “Oprah Winfrey.” It was at that moment that I became a believer in Oprah Winfrey's power and influence.

So, share Oprah’s endorsement far and wide! She is held in high esteem by most Americans! And share the clips of Kamala Harris’s shining performance! (To do so, right-click on the blue hyperlink, select “Hyperlink,” then select “Copy Hyperlink.” Go to a new document or social media post, right click where you want to insert the clip, and select “Paste.”)

Meanwhile, Trump preemptively blames Jewish voters if he loses the election

Speaking at an event billed as a summit on antisemitism in America, Trump seemed to preemptively blame Jewish voters if he loses. He said,

The Jewish people would have a lot to do with a loss. It’s only because of the Democrat hold, or curse, on you.

See WaPo, Trump says if he loses election, Jewish voters would have ‘a lot’ to do with it. (This article is accessible to all.)

Blaming Jewish people for political setbacks has a long and ugly history. It is time for the media to condemn Trump's antisemitism, not merely report on it.

[Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter]

[southconfessionpark]

Many in the fandom like to disregard Butters’ involvement in the Weiner’s Out movement, but I’d like to argue that this movement was absolutely nothing surprising for Butters’ character. It’s only a continuation to add depth to his character, and it does no one in the fandom good to ignore it. It makes the most sense FOR his character to be the one to lead that movement. Yes, Butters is naive and innocent and should be protected at all costs. He is usually the one being bullied, and that should not be ignored. I fucking love Butters and hope this nuanced analysis doesn’t make it seem otherwise. I could write a whole ass essay on Butters being bullied and how that impacts his motivations and behavior, but that’s another topic for another day. Does Butter’s goodness and nativity mean that he’s always innocent and doesn’t bully others? ABSOLUTELY not. And that’s not just going based on season 20 at ALL. He has a history of being a dick even in prior seasons, especially to girls and to further his business goals. Hell, he even has a clear tendency towards being extremely rude to Kyle and Stan in particular, even with S&K trying to be very kind and protective of him in the later seasons (*yes, I promise I know S&K are dicks and bullies to him in earlier seasons which is kinda the whole POINT for his transitioning into a dick himself lmao).

He rips on Kyle for being voted ugliest in the class with lots of unbridled joy, being an absolute straight-up bully more than Kyle ever was to him. He rips on Stan for questioning the whole Cis issue when Stan is incredibly confused about girl vs boy stereotypes, yelling at him in front of everyone to use a different bathroom. He yells at Kyle when he genuinely expresses concern for why Cartman wants to spend so much time with him in the ‘cartman sucks’ episode, telling him to ‘grow up.’. He gets upset when Stan tries to intervene when yelling at the kids for tying Butters up (Kenny was included in torturing him, don’t forget this. It was Kyle and esp Stan who ultimately stuck up for him here. Idk WHY the fandom seems to think kenny is the nicest to Kenny when he’s absolutely canonically on the same level as S&K when it comes to dealing w Butters. Maybe the Hawaii episode? But even then it’s more kenny being roped into things w Butters bullying everyone but him and trying to be kind than anything. Not saying I don’t love the Bunny ship because I do, but it’s the goddamn honest truth) on the tetherball pole for never kissing a girl. He’s extremely and loudly mean to Stan despite knowing that Stan is being ostracized in the recent season’s toilet paper episode despite everything being on Randy and not Stan, tricking Stan into listening to him after being bombarded all day with classmate’s taunts by luring him into a conversation calling him a ‘really good friend’ only to completely rip on him for no good reason.  He yells at Stan for being an asshole for trying to genuinely help him during the pandemic despite Stan so clearly going through mental shit himself and trying to pour his blood sweat and tears to help Butters out in the process. There’s so many other instances of him ripping on S&K when they try to help.

He is consistently rude to Wendy and Bebe. In the Smurf’s episode, he leads an entire movement to discredit Wendy, even when not being asked to by Cartman. There’s a fucking reason that the fourth-grade girls (who I can assure you are not seeing Butters in a nuanced way as us adults do) tend to rip on Butters, and he honestly usually deserves it when they do. He calls Bebe a slut and bitch for no reason, getting himself beat up. He taunts Wendy the entire breast cancer episode, being an absolute dick until he realizes Wendy has the upper-hand. He often goes along with Cartman’s views on girls due to his naivety and easily being manipulated, or just not knowing better due to typical girl vs. boy arguments in elementary school. Does a lot of this have to do with him just being a 10-year-old kid who clearly has a history of being bullied himself as well as just being so incredibly naive that he doesn’t understand a lot of the social complexities of things? Absolutely! Does it make it less worse for those he bullies, like Bebe, Stan, Kyle, or Wendy? No, especially considering they are kids themselves who don’t understand the nuances of these things and social dynamics! Does this mean that all those aforementioned people he bullies hasn’t bullied him in the past? No! That’s one of the whole fucking points of it all; that little kids bully each other! Does this mean he grows up to be a dick? Absolutely not! I still think that despite this, he still is the most wholesome person on the goddamn show!

But does all this mean that the Weiner’s Out movement is not in character for him like too many in the fandom tend to pretend otherwise?

ABSOLUTELY not. The Weiner’s Out movement was SO in character for Butters, and those who disagree do not look at Butters as an entirely nuanced, flawed, HUMAN yet still wholesome character. You can’t just make him completely wholesome. He’s NOT. And those who disagree just don’t have the capacity to view things from a non-black-and-white angle.

(Sorry, I know this is a whole ass essay/ted talk. Feel free to cut it down :))

[borisbubbles]

Eurovision 2024: Last Place

37. ISRAEL Eden Golan - "Hurricane" 5th place

Decade Ranking: 150/153 [Above Noa Kirel, below Roxen]

Where do we start?

Let's begin, perhaps by stating the obvious. Israel's participation in this year ruined the contest. You encounter an entrant or two that completely warp the meta around them at every contest, but never to an extent this cataclysmic. Every sour note of this contest, and there were plenty, sprouted from the decision to allow Israel into the year. That was the tipping point. I believe that makes "Hurricane" the worst entry of all times in terms of the sheer negative impact its presence had on the edition it parttook in.

The ESC discourse -on asocial media- completely revolved around the conflict in Palestine either to denounce the war crimes perpetrated by the Israeli goverment and the subsequent silencing of critical voices calling it out, or to make a stand against the Poor Young Girl who was unfairly maligned by radicalized leftists for a conflict she had no hand in.

So was it any surprise that Israel won every Western televote? Be honest. I know that the Twitter manchildren claim Israel cheated, but they are in denial. The televote was genuine. The scalpel slices both ways, sadly. For every heckler booing Eden or protesting for Palestine or announcing a Eurovision boycot or lecturing the general public to not vote for Israel, a sympathy vote for her arises because "Aw She Doesn't Deserve So Much Negativity, Poor Thing". That she willingly chose to rep israel at THIS time with THAT song is blissfully ignored. Eden Golan is not a child. She's fully accountable for the effects that her participation caused, and is perfectly a-OK with it.

So, wake the fuck up. The sympathizing nutcases were OPENLY mobilizing to vote for Israel without even watching a second of the contest, to prove a point against you know, "insane leftist wokery" or whatever they call it. "You can't make me think what you want or do what you want, TAKE THAT". It's the same principle that led to Brexit and Trump beating Clinton. Similarly, they attempted to hijack the results like a particularly nasty species of asian hornet because their 'Freedom of Speech' is more important to them than fair results in an entertainment show, or a potential genocide. Or maybe they were just indoctrinated. A smaller sample size due to boycots + 20 votes per crazed zionist, it's honestly a miracle Croatia STILL beat them in the TV overall.

In other words, pretty much every opinion about Eden revolved around the politics that accompanied the flag she flew under.

And I'm sorry, but Eurovision is not supposed to be about Israel. Why should THAT country get more attention, or even preferential treatment in this otherwise excellent line-up? That's not what it should be about.

It is THEM who it should be about:

None of these artists asked to be a part of this shambolic display. So in that sense, let's do something many have FAILED. Let's do what we're supposed to dp: Discuss the SONG, outside of context.

Frankly, there's remarkably little to say. Even without the context, "Hurricane" would have been bottom of the barrel for me regardless? It's a mediocre sappy ballad aimed to Make People Cry. We see such ballads pop up all the time in NFs (most recently Krick in Luxembourg and Noble in Portugal), where -more often than not- their sucktitude catches up with them and manifests a loss.

I've seen people be outraged that Norway's jury gave it points but I mean, look at any recent scandi NF and tell me a Hurricane wouldn't fit within its ranks. It's Undo, What if, A Monster Like Me, all the tacky soulless ballads with poor narratives preying on the soft-hearted and the guillible with cheap emotional manip. "Hurricane"was cut from the same dementor-esque, sympathy-craving cloth. Call me old fashioned, but I was taught that sympathy requires a modicum of respect, which needs to be earned, not begged for like a dog's dinner. (I hope the Europapa fans are reading this because this also applies to him, and that ghastly outro). If your song was written with the idea in mind of pinkwashing the deaths of a few thousand children, then perhaps you may have not fully earned the benefit of the doubt, jussaying.~

In terms of performance, Eden was vocally good, at least. It's her voice that carries it although i don't find her particularly likeable as a lead. Then again, she is a Russian nepo brat whose family emigrated to Israel after the Ukrainian war so that her daddy to secure his financial assets and the Golans could continue their lavish, privileged lifestyle in a safer country. It was always a challenge, so to say, to consider Eden Golan a likeable individual.

Also what is UP with the choreography? Why do the dancers look like they are loading air rifles? A Choice, to say the least.

So all in all, a pretty weak entry that always would have been in my bottom 3 for any country, but that probably had a ceiling of lower top 10 in a normal, generic year of ESC.

However, this was NOT a generic ESC. There's NO imagining "Hurricane" without its context which makes it so, SO much worse. It was specifically written in support of the Israeli victims in the war (why go through that trouble and not simply withdraw and spend the participation fee on providing for the families of the hostages? Isn't that more effective charity? But hey, what do I know.) There is no "depoliticizing", no matter how often you retcon the lyrics into gibberish. Hurricane's intentions are present in its rhythm, its instrumentation, the keys in which it is sung. The notion that you can separate it from its context is absurd.

And yet, that is precisely what the EBU were hoping for when they allowed it in, and it exploded into their face like a firework. I can't say they didn't deserve it. Ultimately, the full blame for all of this rests with them. If a certain entity threatens the integrity of your being, you get rid of the threat. You don't passively sit back crossing your fingers they leave at their own volition. The Israeli's would understand the reasons for exclusion, surely, as they've been applying the exact same principles to the Gaza Strip since mid October.

The EBU allowed them in, officially to prove Eurovision wasn't political and United By Music (in reality because they're cowards and didn't want to be the first organization to ban Israel from an international event, and be branded antisemites as a result). The result was the most politically charged and divisive contest of all time, rife with incidents that were as avoidable as they were outrageous. It couldn't have been further away from "apolitical unity" if it tried.

Hurricane was NEVER worth the price of admission. All the controversy, the security risks, the boycots, the antisemitism and xenophobia, the censorship, the harrassment of other delegations (which the Israeli delegation EAGERLY participated in) and of course the Israeli embassies in participating countries OPENLY advocating to vote for Israel as "a signal". Even the tensions that led to Joost's dubious DQ which I doubt would have happened at any other contest. This could all have been foreseen and avoided by excluding the country that clearly would have brought the contest into disrepute. Eurovision is now on life support. Congratulations EBU. You KILLED your own contest.

It briefly looked like Israel could win (leave to RAI to be woefully incompetent and blasé), which would have been the final nail in Eurovision's coffin but then they magically lost the televote (thank you SO much Eastern Europe, you are SO real for this) and stranded themselves in 5th place. Instead of being the Worst Winner of All Time, Israel are merely a mediocre also-ran, which I can live with. It makes "Hurricane"' marginally less appalling than "Unicorn" and "I.M" for me. Let their fifth place serve as a grim reminder for future editions that Hatred Breeds Hatred, and also, thankfully, that Love Can indeed Prevail.

THE RANKING

[phireco]

Why I think that voting is pointless. Vote with your dollar. Stop buying from Amazon and Walmart. And take the time that you spend trolling the internet to put out intellectual writing for others to absorb, instead of memes, that provide a unique point of view. We can't all possibly think either point A or point B is right. That motion is completely ridiculous if you have any respect for probability and math. The people that are running do not represent us and we have been stupid enough as a citizenry to put them back in office again and again.

I've been to over 20 countries and traveled all over this world and seeing all different ways of living it I'll tell you what, we are looking less and less like one of the Premier places to live. I give it 20 years before I would like the places I've been in Southeast Asia where you look to your left and right on the bus, and you see a goat in a chicken. There's already more tents in the major American cities than there are good jobs. God forbid the Democrats or the Republicans have a solution. The Republicans have the same man running in his third consecutive presidential election representing half of the country. The Democrats have a ANOTHER First time nominee that no one thinks is the best their party has to offer.

So I'm not even going to blame the awful selection of people that represent us. I'm going to blame the idiots that register Democrat and Republican which make up the vast majority of this country. All of you are willing to make up your mind on an issue before you even hear it based on which party is arguing in the issue's favor. Anyone who makes up their mind before they hear an issue is a moron. And our country, in both parties, is chock full of moron!

It’s not the politicians we should criticize anymore. Consider how they pander to people whose interests they consistently neglect. They represent none of their true needs, yet still, half of the population admires them while the other half despises them. The opposing figures experience the same divided loyalty—this cycle is fundamentally flawed.

The blame doesn’t lie solely with the politicians; it rests on us. We should have demanded better a long time ago, even rising up for change. It’s not the politicians who are at fault; it’s the public that deserves scrutiny. Let go of hope for a moment.

If the politicians were truly the sole problem, where are the bright and principled individuals who should be stepping up to lead this nation with integrity? In truth, we seem to lack such visionary leaders in our society. Most people appear consumed by trivialities, distracted in shopping malls rather than engaging with the critical issues we face. For my part, I’ve accepted a personal resolution: on election day, I stay home. I do not vote. My reasons are twofold.

First, voting feels meaningless. This country was bought and sold long ago. What transpires every four years is simply a reshuffling of the same rhetoric.

Secondly, I’ve come to believe that those who vote relinquish their right to complain. Others often suggest that abstaining from voting strips one of that very right—a notion I reject. Where's the logic in that? If you cast your ballot and elect dishonest and incompetent leaders who mismanage the country, then you shoulder the responsibility for their actions. You bear the weight of our current state, the dismal future we hand our children, and the decline in intellectual capability that increasingly permeates society.

I, having not participated in the electoral game—staying home on election day—hold no responsibility for the choices made by those in power. I know that shortly, there will be an exciting election that many seem to relish. I’ll be at home that day, doing very little, but I know one thing: the only difference between me and the people that vote is that I'll actually produce something that represents my interests, even if in a small way.

I don’t vote. I see through the charade. It's a diversions that distract us from the journey of intellectual growth. When confronted with the issues of low intelligence and poor decision-making, people often leap to the conclusion that education is the remedy. They call for more funding—more books, teachers, classrooms—believing more resources will solve everything. Yet when we point out that despite these efforts, children continue to struggle academically, the response is often to lower standards instead. This results in a temporary boost in passing rates, making the school look good while the national IQ quietly declines. Before long, gaining access to college might just require possessing a pencil, and understanding the complexities of the end that writes versus the end that erases.

And then we scratch our heads, wondering why 24 countries produce more scientists than we do. We wonder why we are no longer in the top 25 and overall quality of education. Barely the best in this continent. We're just one slot above Mexico.

Politicians know how to wield the word “education,” and they often shield themselves behind three pillars: the flag, the Bible, and children. They tout programs like “No Child Left Behind,” yet it wasn’t long ago they were advocating for a “head start.” Are children gaining ground or losing it?

There is a fundamental reason why education falters, and it's not going to improve. Don’t expect a miracle; accept the reality as it is. The true owners of this country—wealthy business interests that orchestrate decisions and maintain control—are not interested in an educated populace capable of critical thinking. They benefit from a workforce obedient enough to follow orders, yet just intelligent enough to operate machinery and handle paperwork but not to challenge the deteriorating quality of their jobs, benefits, hours, or retirement security.

They have their sights set on your social security funds, too, seeking to reclaim that money to line the pockets of their Wall Street allies. They will achieve this eventually because they own everything—your future, your choices.

This is a vast, intertwined club, and neither you nor I are included. It’s a club that beats its members over the head with messages on what to believe and consume. The playing field is uneven; the game is rigged, and it appears that few notice or care.

Good, honest people from every walk of life—whether blue-collar or white-collar—continue to elect wealthy figures indifferent to their plight. The owners count on this ignorance, banking on the fact that Americans remain blissfully unaware of the injustices they tolerate.

The truth is simple: the American Dream exists because you must be asleep to believe in it.

When the terrorists attacked our country on September 11th 2001, we United as one and vowrd to never forget. Never in a million years did I think that's what we actually met was that, we're going to commemorate the anniversary of the year but they will accomplish their goal and destroy America and everything it stands for by knocking down a few buildings and killing a couple thousand people. Are teenagers have killed more since with guns. And don't mistake me. I'm not downplaying that tragedy. I'm saying that the terrorists knew what they are doing and we are playing right into their hands by standing here divided. Check out my video if you want to flash back to hell it felt To be an American in the weeks following that awful day.