musk is going to die in a Tesla explosion in 6 months after sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong and we will never get a conclusive answer on whether it was a CIA car bomb or just a normal Tesla malfunction
First, the pervasiveness of this litter box thing is ridiculous. I think it has been debunked like a thousand times.
And the *actual* reason schools have cat litter has nothing to do with students identifying as cats.
“Columbine High School has been stocking classrooms with small amounts of cat litter since 2017, but as part of ‘go buckets’ that contain emergency supplies in case students are locked in a classroom during a shooting.”
But I actually want to talk about the Tootsie Roll Pop gender thing.
They are trying to criticize a child psychologist, Dr. Diane Ehrensaft, who works at a gender clinic.
I’m sure a lot of their audience who see “gender minotaur” or “gender Tootsie Roll Pops” will completely write off this woman and claim she is a nutcase.
But conservatives and Fox News love to omit context and nuance.
Here is the document all of this stemmed from…
The implied Fox narrative is that Dr. Ehrensaft is creating silly genders and then labeling kids as minotaurs or smoothies.
In reality, she is describing all of the creative ways young kids and teens use to explain how they feel about their gender.
These kids probably don’t have a lot of information or the vocabulary to express themselves in more traditional terms, so they’ve come up with analogies to help adults understand what they are feeling.
That doesn’t seem ridiculous at all.
And I actually think these kids are quite clever.
So these conservatives are basically making fun of kids who are confused and seeking help to understand themselves.
Real classy.
And if these kids learn adults are making fun of them, they may feel embarrassed to use these communicative tools—making it that much harder for their therapists and doctors to help them.
[Image description
1. A tweet by Lis Power @LisPower1 on 24 August 2023 containing text and an image.
Text: Fox “straight news” anchor Shannon Bream spreads litter boxes in school hoax
Bream: “I have a lot of Northern Virginia moms who have kids in school who have told me that there are schools who are now having to put litter boxes in for kids who identify as cats”
Image: a Fox News screenshot with a picture of a Tootsie Roll Pop and a woman. Fox News. Professor: Kids can identify as Tootsie Roll Pops.
Image 2: a Health headline. Medical Group Publishes Guidance For Kids Who Are ‘Gender Tootsie Roll Pops’ with what might be a photo from a Pride march.
Image 3: another Health headline. Psychologist At Children’s Hospital Gender Center Claims Kids Can Identify As Mythological 'Minotaurs’
Image 4: a tweet by Christopher F. Rufo X✰ @realchrisrufo
The American Psychological Association published this guidebook for diagnosing children as “gender smoothies,” “gender hybrids,” “gender prius[es],” and “gender minotaur[s].” These psychologists are psychopaths.
apa.org/pubs/books/The…
Image 5:
■ Gender fluid children. Children who defy the norms of binary gender and either slide along a gender spectrum or weave their own intricate individual patterns along the gender web. The word fluid here refers to the potential for movement through further development of one’s understanding of their gender.
■ Gender smoothies. Gender smoothies are a variation on the theme of gender fluid. As one teenager vividly described it, “You see, you take everything about gender, throw it in the blender, press the button, and you’ve got me—a gender smoothie.”
■ Gender hybrids. Children who combine or alternate between genders, often in a binary way. Among gender hybrids are the following:
■ Gender Prius. Half girl/half boy: This gender label was invented by a school-age child who, from the front, looked like any boy in basketball shorts, tank top, and basketball sneakers, and, from the back, had a long blond braid tied at the end with a bright pink bow: “You see-I’m a Prius, a boy in the front, a girl in the back. A hybrid.”
■ Gender minotaur. A descriptor for the children who explain that they are one gender on the top and another on the bottom, this usually to account for genitals at odds with the gender they know themselves to be.
■ Gender-by-season children. Children who freely express their authentic gender (identity, expressions, or both) during summer and school vacations but never at school, or alternatively use school as the safe place to be their true gender self but keep it under wraps during home-based summers or vacations.
■ Gender-by-location children. A close cousin to gender-by-season, a child who knows the locations or is told the locations where free gender expression will be accepted and other locations where it is not, and chooses or is told to keep
End description]
I just wanted to say I really appreciate all of the folks who do image transcriptions. Sometimes I barely have the energy to assemble these posts and add my commentary.
Actually, I don’t always have the energy. I have about 800 things in my drafts folder because I was unable to finish them.
To those who put forth this effort, I just wanted to thank you. I know it really improves accessibility.
if you don’t know the difference between a hare and a rabbit you’ve never gazed into the cold wild eyes of a hare and known that if it could speak it would speak backwards
Jack Rabbits are North American Hares and they’re the WORST to encounter at night becuase:
You all know how big a rabbit is. Jack Rabbits and hares are much bigger. they’re the size of large cats or small dogs or just-walking-age children.
They also like to hang out in gangs of a hlf dozen to over 30.
and in the middle of backcountry dirt roads.
perhaps they’re dustbathing
or blood sacrifce
I don’t know because when you come up the road at night because your dog has a tiny bladder and needs to go out at midnight and you have no yard so you’re walking him on the dirt road around your neighborhod because you might aw well get some stargazing in, and you come just over the ridge to see a coven of twenty jackrabbits in the middle of the road
and
they
all
stand
up
not just onto all fours like a proper prey animal
No they get up on thier hind legs and don’t just sit but STAND like tiny rabbit-skinned toddlers, wobbing slightly as they stare directly at you eyes shining in your flashlight’s glow
…Blood Red.
And a chill goes through you on that warm july night because while they’re a puntable size and allegedly herbivores they’re standing and watching you just like people and you are vastly outnumbered.
everyone freezes
you’re considering your odds aganst roughly 200lbs of Suspiciously Humanoid Hare
and they’re considering their odds against you
the only sound in the never-ending high desert wind
somewhere in your peripheral vision you can see the streetlights but they seem awfully far away
The nearest Jack Rabbit
Blinks
and takes a single shuffling step
forward
You area an overdevloped monkey and your prefrontal cortex is capable of some amazing feats but it runs very slowly compared to the reflexes of a rabbit and you’re frozen as you desperately scramble for the appropriate course of action, hands feeling thick and useless, mouth dry and feet imeasurably heavy there’s no way you’d outrun THESE, god there’s a rabies outbreak going around that shit’s not curable-
The Dog
L U N G E S
It’s only the briefest of movements but the animal you’d picked out for his gangly legs and floppy ears and goofy smile is suddenly a dark shape of muscle and teeth and had flung himself at the horrible goblin rabbits faster than mere physics should dictate, appearing in the circle of the flashlight for only the briefest of moments before the jolt from the leash makes you stumble and the light falters
The Jack Rabbits
Scatter
Vanishing into the faintly starlit sagebrush in as so many faint gray shapes that might be mistaken for the dustclouds they kick up
Later, you sit on the couch disquieted
and you wonder
If the sight of the Jack Rabbits standing and studying you was frightening enough to make you yearn for the safety of the yellowed streetlights
what must it be like from thier end?
what terrifying creature
deliberately ties itself
to something so horrible
As a Dog?
@gallusrostromegalus that last bit gave me such a strong mental image I absolutely had to draw it
WELL HOLY SHIT.
CONGRATULATE, THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT I WAS GOING FOR.
is it ok if I print it out and stick it on the fridge?
Well this zoomed past 100K while I wasn’t looking but here’s a Picture of Charleston Chew, Terror of Wild Hares and Sometimes Bears:
Found this post again and thought you all might like the update that Mr. Charleston Chew is doing well and has added raccoons, bobcats, deer, elk, cattle, snakes, another bear, a whole pack of coyotes and a pronghorn antelope at roughly mach fuck to his list of animals he will chase down without fear of God nor consequences.
Here he is in his favorite bed, the one we got for the cat
my experience is with wellsfargo but i imagine that most major banks may operate similarly:
if you have an overdraft fee, call the bank, you will get a machine. go through the autentification process with it but do not mention your issue when it asks you to (specially not the word overdraft – this is a conspiracy theory i cannot prove but i swear to god they rewire you to more aggressive phone people if you tipoff the machine) instead say “i’d like to speak to a representative” the machine will be like “lol didn’t get that” so you may need to repeat it a couple more times before it wires you to a real person
wait! i’d recomend calling as early in the morning as possible to avoid elevator music.
be nice to the customer service person who picks up (i make a point of thanking them for their help and calling them by their name, if i don’t catch it the first time i ask them again for it)
my script is something along the lines of: “hi, i noticed there’s an overdraft fee in my account that posted on [date]. i am calling to see if we (WE – you and the representative are a team against the problem) could do something about it” (<- you may decide to be more direct, i just put my innocent hat on)
most if not all of what they say to you is a script. they will be like “i will check that for you with the automated process that takes into account you previous refund activity” BLAH BLAH BLAH. more waiting. if you have had any refunds in the past 12 months, they will be like “sorry the system says no (:” THOUGH, VERY RECENTLY, they have tacked on this question: do you have any thoughts on that / how do you feel about that / etc. though even if they do not prompt you, here’s the next step:
say: thank you! i appreciate the automated review, however i do not agree/approve/consent to being charged a fee. is there any way you could check again / anyone else i could talk to / would it be possible to refund it regardless? etc.
they will check again, possibly more waiting, and then you will get an immediate refund! in the rare case they refuse to, here is the link to the FDIC website that you can refer to (note, this is for overdraft fees only):
8. i cannot emphasize this enough – be nice !!!!!!!!!!! BE NICE! be cheerful, say “thank you” and “no worries” and “take your time!”. it is NOT a confrontation, it is NOT their fault, and most of the time the customer service representative wants this to be as frictionless as possible. they are helping you, use the opportunity to make a moment of their day a lot less stressful than they expect it to be.
that is ALL – i have been using wellsfargo for over eight years, and have lost hundreds of dollars to predatory overdraft fees charged as a punishment for having no money.
during the beginning covid, when they were momentarily suspended (you had to mention covid on the phone to get them back lol), i came to the realization that all of this time they could have been giving me my money back. there was no reason not to, except corporate greed.
do not let phone social anxiety let them take your money from you, now that it is easier than EVER to get it back. and if you need motivation to pick up the phone, remember this headline from a couple of years back lol:
DEATH TO CAPITALISM !!!!!!
BLESS YOU OP
I had no idea if this had gone through or not and it fell off my radar with everything else going on in my life. BLESS YOU.
A lot of financial institutions have already had fee-bearing overdraft programs be opt-in for years now. I strongly recommend everyone reach out to any and all banks and credit unions where you have accounts and ask if they have an opt-in overdraft program, and if you have documentation showing which you chose when you set up your account(s).
Do this asap, before you get to the point where you might overdraft your account and have to deal with phone calls to have your fees refunded. Ask for the specifics of the overdraft program, and decide fresh if you want the ability to overdraft or not.
Things People Don’t Mention About Top Surgery or Mastectomies
There is reluctance to do the surgery if you live alone, even if you have a good support system. One of the most stressful things was the hospital constantly asking about who would be looking after me, picking me up, etc. I really felt the bias towards people who are married and against people who are single. I don’t think it was intentional but it was definitely there. That being said you will definitely need a robust support system of some kind to get through everything in the first 4 -8 weeks or more after surgery.
All your pill bottles will have safety caps and you won’t have the strength to open them on your own without a lot of struggling.
There are soooo many medications. Take them as prescribed and when they say take the level of pain meds you need to manage your pain, do it. I got opiods and ibuprofen. If the pain is bad 5-7+ on the 1-10 scale take the stronger meds. Pain can slow healing by causing stress on the body.
Drains are a pain in the ass. Every hour pushing the hoses so they don’t clog. Major drag but they are very important and if they get clogged it can cause issues
Sleeping sitting up, prepare for this. Lots of pillows or recliner or something. Practice for a week or more before surgery to get used to it.
Sleep as much as you need. Don’t feel like you should stay awake or whatever because you are supposed to or it is day time or whatever. Listen to your body.
Drink lots and lots of fluids. You may think you are drinking enough but you probably aren’t. The fluid in the drains and the medicines and peeing all the time and sweating from the tight wrap. You need to replace all of this fluid. I think I have been up around 80+ oz the past few days.
The month before and a month after surgery eat a high protein and higher calorie diet. It will help with surgery and recovery. You need the energy and the protein to recover.
Cut out added salt, caffiene, alcohol, and nicotine before surgery and during recovery. All of these can increase fluid retention, slow healing, or be dangerous with the meds.
Your chest will feel very strange. At first you can’t feel anything and then the skin feels tight everywhere and still strange. The recovery process feels real weird. Your whole torso feels kind of bizarre and new.
Ask all the questions. No question is stupid. It’s trauma to your body ask all the questions. YES all of them.
The tube (intubation) from surgery irritates the throat. Coughing from this sucks so damned much because of the binder and the chest tightness and what not. Find lozenges (Both cough drops and just candy) that you like. I say candy because too many cough drops can upset the stomach and you don’t need that after anesthesia and with all the meds. Also get popsicles.
Take everything out of packages you can before surgery. They are damned hard to open. Those paper cartons holding the apple sauce and snapping apart pudding cups and pulling apart pill blister packs.. ugh I should have taken them apart before the surgery.
Scissors are your friend and every package is an enemy. Seriously, get a good pair of scissors for packaging.
Also, skip 2 liters of pop, gallon of milk, etc. They will be too heavy to pick up after surgery. You can be more independent if you get smaller size things.
Timers are your friend. All the phone timers forever. Also, handwritten or some other chart type to keep track of drain cleaning and taking meds. You will be sleepy and forgetful the first few days. Use other things to help you keep track.
Take stock of how your lights go on and off. Can you reach them while pretending you are a T-Rex. If not, especially ceiling fans and that, put long strings on the pulls so that you can operate them while you can’t raise your arms.
Also check your doors to make sure they don’t stick. You won’t be able to tug hard on doors or drawers or whatever.
Get yourself some treats. Food related or clothing or whatever. Treats will help.
Before surgery plan out and prepare at least a week of meals. Be sure to include some that are easy on the stomach like crackers, rice and chicken, etc. Just in case you have stomach upset from the anesthesia or meds. Gentle foods include starches and chicken/tofu that is low fat and low spice so that it is gentle.
Soft fuzz free and easy to get on clothing is essential. I went out and got a couple of those shorts and button down shirt pajama sets. Life savers. Also, get a size or two bigger than usual to accommodate drains and padded bandages and things.
Strange pains, you will probably have them.
Be sure to do the arm exercises as directed by your surgeon and watch your shoulders hunching. The shoulder hunching is from the chest tightness but you don’t want your back to start hurting. Try to sit up as straight as you can.
Pump action soap dispensers will be too hard to use the first few days.
Weeks before surgery, start teaching yourself how to do things without your arms; like standing up, getting into and out of bed, squatting, getting up from chairs, etc. Practice doing things with your elbows next to your chest like a t-rex; getting food and drinking, brushing teeth, taking meds, etc This will be very important
I am sure there are more but I thought some of you might benefit from the things I have learned so far from going through surgery.
I can speak about at least three of those problems:
1: The pharmacy can put twist-open caps on. If you ask for them, we can do it. I would never mind cracking the bag open and fixing them myself.
2: For cough drops: If you are, like me, someone who hates minty-ass cough drops: There’s 2 more kinds besides mentholated. One type uses pectin to lube up your throat. The other kind uses benzocaine and it fucking rules. That- and throat sprays- will numb your throat. obviously do not use if you have a -caine sensitivity lmao.
3: The pain meds. Take them on the schedule. I’ve found that pain meds work better when you pre-game that shit. Slam those things like you’re in the back of your dragula.
4: personally? For a couple days after getting all my wisdom teeth out (highly suggest i am not doing that shit more than once at a time) I ended up drinking meal-replacement shakes. It’s not optimal, but being able to just chug and be done was nice. Obviously top surgery is more…intense… but the same thing holds true: Keep a few bottles around because you can and will be too tired to actually acquire meal-shaped things.
TAKE LAXATIVES WITH YOUR OPIATES
I know no one wants to talk about poop but it took me like a week to shit after mine because I forgot to take laxatives and it was brutal
Fun fact. Most orange pill bottles, if you turn the cap upside it screws on normal. It’s not child free anymore. I’ve never found one that didn’t do this.
“Tumblr doesn’t have an algorithm” actually it does. It just gives us the ability to use the website without it, and we’ve all decided to use it that way and only that way because engagement algorithms suck.
Every single time I hear someone reference Madonna as still being alive (like when they mention her Tumblr or Instagram), my brain immediately goes, “wait, no. Madonna is very definitely dead.” Like, I am CERTAIN that Madonna is dead. It’s a rock solid fact of my existence, there’s simply no way she’s alive, that’s “proof you’ve woken up in a parallel universe” kind of shit.
Madonna is not dead. But I keep forgetting that, and being dead certain that she is. I remember watching documentaries about her, about her history of being abused at home and in the industry, about her courage and skill and how she was taken advantage of, about what an iconic actress she was. I remember the outrage when that Playboy jerk got buried next to her as “the ultimate blonde”.
Now, people more astute than me might have noticed that I have confused Madonna with Marilyn Monroe. I usually don’t get this far in the proceedings. I usually go, “oh, I must be confusing her with someone else. Who is it… oh, Marilyn! It’s the M’s that must be tripping me up!
“I’ve confused Madonna with Marilyn Manson!”
Who is also still alive, though I genuinely wish he wasn’t.
I was confused by this reaction so I googled Marilyn Manson and it turns out I have also confused Marilyn Manson with Eddie Izzard.
How many celebrity victims with this identity trolly claim before you find someone actually dead?
WHEN I REALISED MY MARILYN MONROE MISTAKE I ALSO THOUGHT THIS but no apparently he is a singer and I don’t know what the serial killer’s name is
Charles Manson. Who is in fact dead.
To be fair, Marilyn Manson deliberately chose his stage name to reference Marilyn Munroe and Charles Manson, so he wants you to think of them when you say it. It’s kind of the point!
okay but Eddie Izzard?
I just hear the name Marilyn Manson and I think “oh yeah that’s a genderpunk rockstar name”
And yes I did think that Eddie Izzard was a rockstar. I… may have gotten her a little bit confused with Ozzie Osborne.
Ok. Well Eddie Izzard is alive.
But you did finally stumble upon someone who is dead. Apparently Ozzie Osborne died literally 2 days ago.
hey not sure if i have any Jewish followers from NJ but FYI. this is really concerning
it’s really funny that i got accused of being an agent of western imperialism for criticizing the Chinese government while I’m currently going viral for a tweet dissing British politics. maybe some of us just aren’t bootlickers for ANY government lol
