The “Battle of Ideas” is part of the “Institute of Ideas” platform set up by Baroness Claire Fox (that explains why it’s attracted all the worst people )

It's interesting just how dogmatic centrism is, which is why anytime centrists go on about "purity tests" from the left, they're the ones that refuse to budge and compromise, demanding the totality of their own beliefs be implemented & catered to, even in the face of evidence on numerous occasions.

#OtD 5 Oct 1789 thousands of women in Paris, angry over the high price and scarcity of bread, ransacked the city armoury for weapons and besieged the Palace of Versailles in one of the opening salvos of the French revolution shop.workingclasshistory.com/collections/...

The instinct of this government is ever further restrictions on civil liberties. It is authoritarian at its core, and at this stage needs to be opposed by anyone who at all considers themselves a progressive.

It should anger all of us when someone implies that you can be eugenicist towards LLMs. In an age where a eugenicist agenda is being openly implemented by the US president, with the aid/direction of SV technofascists, targeting the most vulnerable among us around the world.

In all seriousness, the "LLMs are people and you're racist if you don't like them" shit is the natural endpoint of a consumerist society in which consuming and fandom are the only modes of identity-building many people understand. Finally, a product no one can tell you not to love.

Free Greta Thunberg

The transphobes turning up dressed as they are is no different from KKK turning up in white hoods, or hanging graphic signs outside an abortion clinic. They're overgrown school bullies. What they're doing isn't just harassment and annoying it's traumatising and a lie and calculated shock tactics.

If encouraging the elimination of AI is genocide—as some are wildly claiming— call me Benjamin Netan-fucking-yahu.

Misogynistic Patriarchy is when douche bag tech bro men defend and value the personhood of an algorithm over that of women.

White people will deny that other groups of people are marginalized but make up and defend to the death that non-human things are

I relied on the benefit as a 17yo - mum had moved back home to Ōtautahi and wasn’t financially able to support me. Accessing winz support was unbelievably challenging, but it was absolutely essential. This is yet another cruel decision from a cruel government.

Ah yes the "radical left" is why the private equity firm decided to close a bunch of stores to garner higher profit margins, okay Claire's that MUST be it.

The men kneeling on this peaceful protester are not ICE. The reality is that the sheer number of people in a city like Chicago means that without the state assisting in its own occupation, these “operations” could not succeed. Which certainly begs the question of who serves whom.

15,000 people flooded the streets of Barcelona today, demanding freedom for Gaza and the release of the Global Sumud Flotilla. The world is watching — and rising

One of the things that sucks about this era is having to think about the racists all the time, because they’re so boring. They have like, three tools in their toolkit, so we get to say things like “oh look, they’re using the hammer again”

Before Bluesky mistakes this for progress She is against gender equality laws, thinks women who marry should lose their maiden name by law, promoted Hitler and thinks those who are not Japanese are inferior and should not be able to get citizenship asia.nikkei.com/politics/jap...

there’s this weird idea that everyone wants to be in engaged in constant ‘debate™️’ it’s not true what these ppl actually mean is that they think they should be free to hound, harass, and abuse minorities 24/7 they’re cowards who wouldn’t say boo to a ghost offline

I can’t breathe

watching waffles turn from a light-hearted joke about social media dynamics into a right-wing dog whistle in a few days on here has been wild.

When we say "billionaires shouldn't exist", it's because no private individual should be able to bully a government into enacting their own personal whims.

being trans, being fat, being disabled -- these things will teach you who people are in their heart of hearts, often within seconds of meeting them.

a cool thing about trans people is that just existing in normal every day life on social media we will cause people who would otherwise pass as just a normal liberal reveal that they were actually just insane reactionary conservatives the entire time and also total fucking cowards about it

This is again all a game for the anti-trans movement. As far as I can tell there were 2 other groups that were still allowed to spread their hate inside the venue. “Gender critical” bigots really do just want to ruin everything & force their vile opinions on people every chance they get

Dokumentation von 1993 mit und über queere Menschen, die das 3. Reich überlebt haben: archive.org/details/verz...

This is pretty much precisely what my answers to the survey said when I was asked for my reasoning for things.

What I hear from multiple sources in the Scottish Government is that it feels defeated by the limitless spending power of the transphobes who, of course, are explicitly or implicitly underwritten by JK Rowling's vast fortune.

Me in october:

Well, you see, the human brain hasn't really finished developing until you're 225 years old.

I'd close by saying it's weird, to see this kinda childish, contemptuous behavior from orgs like Bluesky or Tangled who you'd think want to attract users to their sites. But Jay doesn't really…seem to want you on this site. She seems to want the queers to go away without her having to make us leave.

The function of the waffles joke is an in-group signifier. Singal, Graber, and Oppiliappan are showing in-group solidarity; they're all in on a joke. The joke is they have institutional power, and you don't, and they feel contempt for you, that you still want to have opinions about how power's used.

So then we come to step three, Jesse Singal stepping in and making decontextualized "Waffles" references. There's no apparent reason to this except Singal understands site staff are using "waffles" as a meme to dismiss trans people, a thing Singal wants to do. "Waffles" are now a floating signifier.

Sometimes when Jay Graber or other Bluesky staff post on this site, they get offtopic replies from users who want to talk about the site's moderation decisions. Jay has been using references to "waffles", quoting this old Twitter post, as a way of complaining her posts got offtopic, hostile replies.

But it's not…really the same thing, is it? Offtopic replies to Jay Graber about her site's moderation aren't *misunderstanding* her posts; the users are just trying to reach site administration through the one channel that seems to be available to them. Possibly noxious? But not *really* "offtopic"…

In a few years Scotland has gone from one of the most progressive places for trans people, to now being one of the worst. A 224 year wait isn't healthcare. 224 days would be bad, 224 weeks would be disgusting, but 224 YEARS is criminal.

The gender clinic files is out now! www.wearequeeraf.com/gender-clini... Check out our podcast on Monday for our coverage on this.

ope stage 5

Professional transphobes when they get any criticism from trans people:

What a very good point for the CEO of Bluesky to consider. How much respect must this nonsense be losing her from her employees?

he mined a hate forum for the subjects of this piece which has become the bible of well meaning anti-trans people. every parent of a trans kid i know has been sent this article multiple times by friends and family encouraging the parent to crackdown on their child.

Trans woman needs bail money $3k after she was slammed to the ground by police busting her face by the brutal force. ⤵️ PayPal.me/blacktranstexas 💲bttconnection #transgender #aclu #transrights #mutualaid #donate

UPDATE BAIL INFO Thank you to those of you who have donated. We have raised 1550/3000 we still need to raise the remaining amount $1450 Keep sharing we appreciate all of you 🩷🩷🩷🩷 #trans #transallies

"This is why I plead with you to put a name, a face and a story with your decision." https://baptistnews.com/article/on-banning-conversion-therapy-listen-with-your-heart/

In memoriam...

Ptero

#PécsPride has been banned under Hungary’s Assembly Act. Organisers plan to march tomorrow, 4 Oct despite real legal risks. Freedom of assembly is an EU right and cannot be denied. We stand in solidarity and are monitoring developments closely.

Chris Rufo's disastrous takeover of New College in Florida shows what universities would become if they sign the Trump regime's extortionary "compact." New College was supposed to model the anti-woke conservative higher-ed Americans crave. Instead, it showed the opposite, and serves as a warning.

I think this just exists with all marginalization because denying oppression is part of oppression