Someone on the Internet is wrong
Aug. 13th, 2018 11:34 amAbleism, cissexism, biological essentialism, racism, etc, which I wish to vent about to a sympathetic audience.
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... okay I feel a bit better for having written that pile of nonsense down, good.
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... okay I feel a bit better for having written that pile of nonsense down, good.
It is an article entitled Rey is not a role model for little girls. By a man. (That turns out to contain oblivious cissexism too, hurrah.)
The first sentence is I hate to break it to you, but Rey is not a role model for little girls.
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The first sentence is I hate to break it to you, but Rey is not a role model for little girls.
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(no subject)
Sep. 26th, 2015 11:59 amthere are literal chemtrailers picketing the Royal Geographical Society
there's two of them and they don't understand how cloud formation works
they've got signs and everything
it's beautiful
there's two of them and they don't understand how cloud formation works
they've got signs and everything
it's beautiful
I have to be up at five thirty
Sep. 17th, 2015 11:04 pmWhy Do I Own This Many Pairs Of Black Corduroy Trousers, And Why Are None Of Them The One I Want: A Tragedy By Me
On the subject of Frank Turner
Aug. 28th, 2015 11:30 pmEr, kab, said ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sgsabbage after my last post on the topic, do you actually like Frank Turner? I can't tell.
Well, something to that effect.
AHAHAHAHAHA, I said.
swaldman noted he'd liked I Still Believe (iirc) when it was performed at the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony, or something (I was actually completely oblivious to the fact the guy was performing at that point, but then I was kind of screamingly crazy and also in Edinburgh at the time), but hadn't particularly cared for the others or found them memorable.
And that, you see, is the crux of the matter, and it is this: Frank Turner has written one good song and a lot of variations on it, and he's also written a lot of intensely misogynist bro-y crap. (For my go-to example of the latter, look up the lyrics to Worse Things Happen At Sea, which has content notes for threats of stalking and domestic violence.)
The good song, to be clear, is I Still Believe, and all the songs that sound like it: the rock-anthem paeans to holding fierce & tight & viciously exulting to life (let's grab life by the throat/and then live it to pieces), with an endearingly misguided veneer of assertions that any of this shit is meaningfully punk rock. It's misogynist around the edges, because fundamentally there is absolutely no fucking way I would last longer than five minutes in a pub with this guy before I was yelling at him that the fucking reason he's stuck on I have to say that, honestly,/I still haven't found/the person who can take the strain/.../so I'll do this on my own is that he's straight and he doesn't think of women as people, and he doesn't want a partner he wants a Manic Pixie fucking Dream Girl, and perhaps if he could think of higher praise than Tre's the safest girl I know and if he could conceive of women having complex interiorities with motivations beyond being the addressee of but darling, if you're there, gentle voice and soothing hands,/to quiet my despair, to shore up all my plans he'd have more satisfying relationships--
-- all that aside, right, I Still Believe, and here's a run-down of its variants.
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But seriously there are so many other people you could spend time and money on instead. The Indelicates, obviously, though they don't particularly do much of a line in grimly-clinging-on-to-positivity-rock-anthems (and the one they have written I can't share with you, sorry, but they're perfect anyway and you should listen to them); Freshlyground (start with Doo Be Doo and Air Hostess); Matt Fishel, particularly Testament (NSFW music video; it's ok to keep your head held high/and it's ok to doubt yourself sometimes/and it's ok to fall in love), and if you're into Orphan Black please watch this then tell me that Felix isn't into the guy; Muncie Girls (Feel It Soon); everything by ONSIND. Yeah.
sgsabbage after my last post on the topic, do you actually like Frank Turner? I can't tell.Well, something to that effect.
AHAHAHAHAHA, I said.
swaldman noted he'd liked I Still Believe (iirc) when it was performed at the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony, or something (I was actually completely oblivious to the fact the guy was performing at that point, but then I was kind of screamingly crazy and also in Edinburgh at the time), but hadn't particularly cared for the others or found them memorable.And that, you see, is the crux of the matter, and it is this: Frank Turner has written one good song and a lot of variations on it, and he's also written a lot of intensely misogynist bro-y crap. (For my go-to example of the latter, look up the lyrics to Worse Things Happen At Sea, which has content notes for threats of stalking and domestic violence.)
The good song, to be clear, is I Still Believe, and all the songs that sound like it: the rock-anthem paeans to holding fierce & tight & viciously exulting to life (let's grab life by the throat/and then live it to pieces), with an endearingly misguided veneer of assertions that any of this shit is meaningfully punk rock. It's misogynist around the edges, because fundamentally there is absolutely no fucking way I would last longer than five minutes in a pub with this guy before I was yelling at him that the fucking reason he's stuck on I have to say that, honestly,/I still haven't found/the person who can take the strain/.../so I'll do this on my own is that he's straight and he doesn't think of women as people, and he doesn't want a partner he wants a Manic Pixie fucking Dream Girl, and perhaps if he could think of higher praise than Tre's the safest girl I know and if he could conceive of women having complex interiorities with motivations beyond being the addressee of but darling, if you're there, gentle voice and soothing hands,/to quiet my despair, to shore up all my plans he'd have more satisfying relationships--
-- all that aside, right, I Still Believe, and here's a run-down of its variants.
( Read more... )
But seriously there are so many other people you could spend time and money on instead. The Indelicates, obviously, though they don't particularly do much of a line in grimly-clinging-on-to-positivity-rock-anthems (and the one they have written I can't share with you, sorry, but they're perfect anyway and you should listen to them); Freshlyground (start with Doo Be Doo and Air Hostess); Matt Fishel, particularly Testament (NSFW music video; it's ok to keep your head held high/and it's ok to doubt yourself sometimes/and it's ok to fall in love), and if you're into Orphan Black please watch this then tell me that Felix isn't into the guy; Muncie Girls (Feel It Soon); everything by ONSIND. Yeah.
Content notes for fucking eliminationism, ableism, classism, libertarian-fuck-all-y'all-ism. Also I kind of lost it and was actually rude to someone (see Ten Good Things yesterday...)
Because uh this just happened.
[TS] [me] and [someone else] have posted this already. I wonder if some people would only be happy if "benefits claimants" were just flogged regularly. Of course some of them might enjoy a good flogging, so even this policy would still result in a PERVERSE INCENTIVE. IDS outlines plans for pre-paid benefits cards
[TS] Please note I neither promote or condemn the policy in question. However opportunities to make BDSM / econ puns are too few to make up. Bonus points if you can think up others. If you don't get it please learn more about BDSM and/or economics.
[EH] Can't see any immediate objection to this policy. Money received as welfare isn't the recipient's money, it's money that's been forcibly taken from taxpayers. As such, it doesn't seem entirely unfair that the taxpayers should, if they endorse this policy, apply some constraints on how that money is ultimately spent.
[me] Hi, [E]. I'm in receipt of disability benefits and have, at various points, been in receipt of housing benefit inter alia. Without the NHS and benefits I would probably be dead. Without the ability to spend the benefits I receive in the ways that are appropriate to my situation, I would probably be dead. It is helpful to have examples of people like you to point at when others think I'm overreacting by saying that there are people in this country, including in government, who _literally want me dead_.
[me] tl;dr die in a fucking fire, you compasionless self-absorbed piece of shit, _wow_
Because uh this just happened.
[TS] [me] and [someone else] have posted this already. I wonder if some people would only be happy if "benefits claimants" were just flogged regularly. Of course some of them might enjoy a good flogging, so even this policy would still result in a PERVERSE INCENTIVE. IDS outlines plans for pre-paid benefits cards
[TS] Please note I neither promote or condemn the policy in question. However opportunities to make BDSM / econ puns are too few to make up. Bonus points if you can think up others. If you don't get it please learn more about BDSM and/or economics.
[EH] Can't see any immediate objection to this policy. Money received as welfare isn't the recipient's money, it's money that's been forcibly taken from taxpayers. As such, it doesn't seem entirely unfair that the taxpayers should, if they endorse this policy, apply some constraints on how that money is ultimately spent.
[me] Hi, [E]. I'm in receipt of disability benefits and have, at various points, been in receipt of housing benefit inter alia. Without the NHS and benefits I would probably be dead. Without the ability to spend the benefits I receive in the ways that are appropriate to my situation, I would probably be dead. It is helpful to have examples of people like you to point at when others think I'm overreacting by saying that there are people in this country, including in government, who _literally want me dead_.
[me] tl;dr die in a fucking fire, you compasionless self-absorbed piece of shit, _wow_
- which lubricants are least harmful to sperm
- that "aplomb", "plummet" and "plunge" all derive from the Latin word for lead, plumbum, which is why the chemical symbol for lead is Pb and also is why "plumbing"
- there is honest-to-gods a species of fish called the sarcastic fringehead (I'm so sorry, I've closed the tab, but I am absolutely certain I learned this from one of you, so please do take credit)
- ... it is possible to make the history of the user agent string funny
- how to install Linux on a dead badger
... on checking the work calendar to determine whether you can manage an overnight run on a Friday, you establish that in fact you can because nobody has the machine booked on the Saturday or Sunday and consequently you start seriously considering blowing off (1) a friend's housewarming and (2) your mum's birthday, because data.
(Relatedly: dear Wednesday!Alex, thank you heaps for making an enormous vat of leek-and-potato soup to be eaten straight from the fridge. Love, today!Alex, who has eaten about three portions of the stuff.)
(Relatedly: dear Wednesday!Alex, thank you heaps for making an enormous vat of leek-and-potato soup to be eaten straight from the fridge. Love, today!Alex, who has eaten about three portions of the stuff.)
Meanwhile, from the other job
Jun. 25th, 2014 12:37 amSubject: Re: [ISOGEOCHEM] Is CaF2 safe in an EA
Thanks you all for the responses. I vaguely remember an old micro-chemical technique for mineral identification that uses powdered fluorite to produce HF, through some means, and remove silica so that the specimen can be further tested. I don’t remember the details of that technique but the idea of running CaF2 in my EA in the presence of organics did have me concerned. I’m relieved to learn that it can be done safely.
Thanks again.
-- Steve
... followed shortly afterwards by...
We used to do something like this in the lab! And we are still alive. Vogel spot test, maybe.
Fluoride + H2SO4 -> HF + .... over a burner to heat.
You do it in a test tube. Then you dip a wet glass rod into the vapours, and if it etches it, then there is fluoride.
Very cool. And QUITE safe ...
Hil
A note on "intent isn't magic"
Apr. 20th, 2014 05:34 pmInterestingly, this is one of the relatively few things my father got right in bringing us up - for values of "right" that do not include "actually expressing it well or compassionately", in that he tended to phrase it not as "intent isn't magic" but "intent doesn't matter".
I think this plays into some of what I've been working through. To use the treading-on-toes example, how badly something affects me has two components: the direct physical effect ("someone trod on my toe") and my emotional response ("and I'd repeatedly told this specific person that it's currently broken, and trusted them to be careful of that" has very different impact to "and they're a stranger on the tube").
Intent can't fix the direct damage (it isn't magic), but can be taken into account in modulating the emotional response of the person suffering it (intent can matter). However, whether it matters and how much it matters is entirely up to the person damaged: it does not automatically absolve the person who caused the damage.
It's about agency and respect and all that good stuff.
I think this plays into some of what I've been working through. To use the treading-on-toes example, how badly something affects me has two components: the direct physical effect ("someone trod on my toe") and my emotional response ("and I'd repeatedly told this specific person that it's currently broken, and trusted them to be careful of that" has very different impact to "and they're a stranger on the tube").
Intent can't fix the direct damage (it isn't magic), but can be taken into account in modulating the emotional response of the person suffering it (intent can matter). However, whether it matters and how much it matters is entirely up to the person damaged: it does not automatically absolve the person who caused the damage.
It's about agency and respect and all that good stuff.
If you are reading this at the time I post it, hi, and I would apologise for putting together an edited highlights list and taking up space on your reading page, but actually I'm not terribly sorry.
If you are reading this FROM THE FUTURE, then it is because I like and respect you and I am sick beyond the telling of it of having my major, legitimate concerns about Amanda Palmer dismissed as sour grapes sparked by that thing she did where she got people to play in her band for free, because guess what, that is so not on the list of things I am angry with her for that it's not even on the same landmass as the aforementioned list.
I further want to clarify that I get liking problematic media. I am okay with liking problematic media (I do it!). What I absolutely cannot handle is being told that I only care about the issues below because she let people play on stage with her. (There are so many bands I would be delighted to play with, I cannot even tell you. That? Really, REALLY not the issue.) No - what I actually care about is the stuff below the cut.
Content notes: rape, racism, ableism, sizeism.
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ETA oh wow, there is more. I'd been blissfully oblivious to the biological essentialism and cissexism, and also to the bit where she appropriated a protest song about police brutality and racism to mark getting out of a record contract. Also, [content notes: addiction, suicide, abuse], ( Read more... )
If you are reading this FROM THE FUTURE, then it is because I like and respect you and I am sick beyond the telling of it of having my major, legitimate concerns about Amanda Palmer dismissed as sour grapes sparked by that thing she did where she got people to play in her band for free, because guess what, that is so not on the list of things I am angry with her for that it's not even on the same landmass as the aforementioned list.
I further want to clarify that I get liking problematic media. I am okay with liking problematic media (I do it!). What I absolutely cannot handle is being told that I only care about the issues below because she let people play on stage with her. (There are so many bands I would be delighted to play with, I cannot even tell you. That? Really, REALLY not the issue.) No - what I actually care about is the stuff below the cut.
Content notes: rape, racism, ableism, sizeism.
( Read more... )
ETA oh wow, there is more. I'd been blissfully oblivious to the biological essentialism and cissexism, and also to the bit where she appropriated a protest song about police brutality and racism to mark getting out of a record contract. Also, [content notes: addiction, suicide, abuse], ( Read more... )
ongoing adventures with my new institution
Sep. 2nd, 2013 01:26 pmI have registered! This means that, soon, hopefully, I will have journal access again. I believe it also means I am officially a member of aforementioned new institution. As such, I am trying to follow instructions to do... something... relating to an information systems account -- the instructions are really not terribly clear. SO FIRST: upon clicking the link to take you to the new place (which has to be a left click; no opening-in-new-tabs-via-any-other-mouse-buttons permitted around here) you get a pop-up prompt for your log-in details.
And then.
You get.
A second one.
And then the full horror is revealed unto you.
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IN SUM: dear Imperial, IE stopped having a controlling market share in browsers used on desktop machines in 2010 what are you even doing AND WILL YOU PAY ME CONSULTING RATES TO DO IT BETTER.
And then.
You get.
A second one.
And then the full horror is revealed unto you.
( Read more... )
IN SUM: dear Imperial, IE stopped having a controlling market share in browsers used on desktop machines in 2010 what are you even doing AND WILL YOU PAY ME CONSULTING RATES TO DO IT BETTER.
Adventures in estate agents, #1
Jul. 31st, 2013 12:21 am
This here is a screenshot of the Contact Us form of an estate agent I was contemplating arranging a viewing with.
Title (sorry, "Salutation") is not an obligatory field; however, there is no blank option. The choices are, in the order listed on the website:
Mr
Mrs
Miss
Mr & Mrs
Mr & Miss
Dr
Dr & Mrs
Messrs
I-- I don't even know where to start.
As it is I have improved it with Pimms, Lashings, and an imminent Lashings performance.
Most of the details are tedious and involve buses and racists and ableism. The following, however, is what actually spilled the day over into FLAMETHROWER.
Most of the details are tedious and involve buses and racists and ableism. The following, however, is what actually spilled the day over into FLAMETHROWER.
... as per all of my previous e-mails - see the reference number - I was unable to pay online because of the obligatory title field which *does not list my title* (which every other member of customer support has managed to use: "Mx" is NOT a typo).
When I phoned up I should NOT have been unable to pay for the item: it is a customs item NOT tracked, so should have been held for 21 days, not 18 days.
I am really, really unhappy with the service I have received from you collectively. I appreciate this is not your fault but I do think you should do something to make up for the fact that:
* the delivery card was originally misdelivered to X [Name] Mews rather than X [Name] Street
* the tracking number was illegible
* I was unable to pay online because of your appallingly bad (and transphobic!) form implementation required me to use a title but did not offer my preferred title
* I was unable to collect in person because I am disabled
* I was unable to phone immediately because my combined disabilities
make phonecalls incredibly stressful for me, even without all of the above
* when I DID phone, I was unable to pay *even though I was calling
within 21 days* because your phone structure doesn't take account of the fact that I was calling about a Customs item, with no option to talk to a human who might have been able to sort things out
* I immediately e-mailed you and have spent over a week waiting for
responses, during which time you have returned my item to sender.
I have given you ALL of this information SEVERAL times.
I am really, really unhappy.
-a.
THANK YOU ROYAL MAIL
May. 17th, 2013 06:49 pmThis is a screenshot of the "Fee to Pay" page on the Royal Mail website. Titles are obligatory. They offer six options, which are given (in order) as: Mr, Miss, Mrs, Ms, Dr, Sir.
This is a screenshot of the Contact Us form to which you are directed if you tell them that you have a problem with a Redelivery or paying a fee. Again, title is an obligatory field. It offers ten options, which are given (in order) as: Mr, Mrs, Ms, Miss, Mx, Dr, Lady, Rev, Lord, Sir.
I. CANNOT. EVEN.
This is a screenshot of the Contact Us form to which you are directed if you tell them that you have a problem with a Redelivery or paying a fee. Again, title is an obligatory field. It offers ten options, which are given (in order) as: Mr, Mrs, Ms, Miss, Mx, Dr, Lady, Rev, Lord, Sir.
I. CANNOT. EVEN.
It is hoped that with this new diagnosise of AS [they] will come to view [their] depression as secondary to a life-time of not fitting in and as [they adjust] to having AS [they] will be able to accept [they are] simply different neurologically, and that [they] can feel comfortable in the company of others with AS who [they] may meet in support groups or online. Equally, [they] may come to view [their] motility problems as in part linked to [their] sensory hyper-sensitivity and slowly recover [their] mobility, becoming less dependent or even completely free of [their] wheel-chair, and being able to enjoy walking in the countryside again. This could be explored with the support of a physiotherapist who has an understanding of AS.
Let's be clear: Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, a "leading researcher" (worldwide!) on the topic of autism, has decided that my use of a wheelchair is due not to endometriois-related lower-limb nerve damage, but due to sensory hypersensitivity.
Other hilarious assertions:
- my (empirically-determined, very obviously) hormone-mediated depression is a result not of my endocrine system and status as an abuse survivor, but of my autism spectrum condition
- being trans* has nothing to do with dysphoria related to my endocrine system and body, but is instead due to ~not fitting in~
- ... I was asked about friends. I specified three friends. Their names were rendered Jacosi, [gross misspelling with some phonetic resemblance to potentially identifiable name] and Kashi. These are... not their names. (I'm also gently amused that I was described as being "friendly with" these people: no, these are people I am in principle happy to share living space with, as opposed to "people I really like seeing regularly". So much for their attempts to imply I have no friends...)
- They refer to me as "she" throughout. They record my gender as "male" and refer to my "non-binary status" (with scare-quotes). Looooooool.
This, ladies gents & everybody else, is his professional opinion on my life.
Suddenly I am feeling less unbalanced about the fact that he was also ascribing my activism and interests to autism. ;)
