It saddens me to live in a world where someone can name their company after the device used by one of the most famous villains in all of fiction to spy on & corrupt the leaders of Middle Earth. Everyone things the name is clever, rather than the rattle on a snake telling us "this thing's dangerous."
escaped committing horrid acts. War is a terrible costly thing, every single time. /6
Also, if we're being honest, those waging war have always been inconsistent in determining who or what is so "evil" as to make war necessary. Even though I believe that stopping Hitler may have fit the textbook definition of a Just War, it was still an awful thing and no belligerent in that war 5/
one ever truly wins a war. Sure, we can gain land, resources, prestige, maybe, if we're lucky stop atrocities, but it always costs us some of our humanity. Though given how tribal and bellicose our species can be, calling things like compassion and empathy "humanity" are partial truths at best. 4/
from an era when a great many things we would no longer find acceptable were societal norms. Like so many things in the past it should be a lesson to make us consider how we treat others, not a North Star to guide us. I can't stress enough, sometimes war is necessary to stop great evil, but no 3/
stopping the Nazis innocents were harmed. War never leaves the uninvolved, such as children too young have a say, untouched. Also, "just" is interpreted by people and in case anyone hasn't noticed people, as a whole, tend to be biased, self-serving asshats. The Just War doctrine comes 2/
Hot take: I'm not a Christian, but I am a historian who has done a tiny bit of study in the period where Just War doctrine came about. Wars are sometimes necessary (Hitler was not going to be stopped short of conflict), but they are never just. Wars are inherently unjust because even in 1/
awful things humans do to one another. So long a proper trigger warnings are in place (and it appears they are) people should be allowed to tell their stories in any way they can get them out. /2
This is so reminiscent of those who want to erase Black history because "it might make someone feel bad." We're supposed to feel bad when awful things are done to other humans, it's called empathy. Much as MAGAs hate that word empathy is an anthropological response to hopefully reduce the 1/
BAFTA pulling a trailer for an autobiographical game about surviving sexual assault only hours before it was said to be a part of a showcase is an exceptionally bad look.
day. The thing is most clocks today are digital, meaning broken ones are more likely blank screens, making broken clocks correct less often than in my youth. A handful of "correct" diagnoses pales next to the many things I've read about AI offering poor or potentially deadly health "advice." /2
Let's be honest, women and people of color have to fight to be heard by medical professionals on a regular basis. I'm glad she got a diagnosis, but ChatGPT as a medical aid is concerning at best. When I was a lad we used to say a broken clock is right twice a 1/
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Yeah, mostly some are just rejecting the suggestion that these stars *might* have some link to communism because they don't in the real world, which is flawed thinking because of the many points (like those you mention, and many others) that demonstrate it's not our world, despite any parallels.
Images of Trump in a robe with light coming from his hands, as one hand rests onnthe forehead of a bed ridden man. He is surrounded by people looking up to him.
"The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command."
-Orwell, 1984
This image of Dr. Trump applying the new "light hands" medical technique, posted for no particular reason. 😉 🤔🙄
in Fallout inherently have a connection to communism, the exercise is about examining arguments and claims with a critical mind to test their validity. Whether such questions lead to our agreement or disagreement with a claim, the value rests in critically examining and testing assumptions./4
a link to communism are inherently wrong. But is it possible they are? In Fallout lore communist infiltration is a known factor and the setting is an alternate reality decades removed from our own. Also, the meaning of symbols can change over time. I'm also not saying Barn Stars 3/
where people note they are not a symbol of communism, as that ideology plays a huge role in Fallout lore. In the real world these symbols have no associations with communism, but those thinking critically already see the flaws. The world of Fallout is not our own. Now I'm not saying those denying 2/
So here a fun little critical thinking exercise I use in class. For those who dont know what Barn Stars are look them up. These symbols appear commonly across the mid and eastern US. They also appear in the video game Fallout 76. You can find mutiple discussions on Reddit and other fourms 1/
Air D&D!
My co workers and I are renting cabin in the mountains for our first TTRPG retreat weekend this summer.
Despite the label neither the USSR nor China were/are communist, both function(ed) as single party totalitarian governments. But for people who misunderstand what diversity actually is (not what MAGA claims it is) I'm not shocked at this shirt at all. /2
T shirt with the words Demsoc War is peace Freedom is slavery Diversity is strength
It fascinates me when something fundamentally misunderstands basic things. Take this shirt, which is sad, misguided, and ignorant. Orwell leaned democratic socialist. 1984 and Animal Farm were against the type of totalitarian government found in the USSR of his life time. 1/
New York Times Headline "Members of Congress Are Divided on U.S. Strikes on Iran."
News would be something Congress was not divided on.
Going live with this thing!
3 Black Halflings and Candace the Magnificent Present A charity one-shot to benefit Sad Girls Club Using the Daggerheart system Journey to Obsidian Isle Starring Jeremy Cobb as Your Very GM B. Dave Walters (bdavewalters) Bee Zelda (beezelda) Madam Ava (madamavacouture) Stefan (umbralknightx) Saturday February 28th at 1pm EST Twitch.tv/tbhalflings
Our final incredible #BHM table, Journey to Obsidian Isle, is a one-shot of @darringtonpress.bsky.social's #daggerheart set in the afrofantasy world of The Wagadu Chronicles! Catch us live this Saturday the 28 at 1pm EST. All proceeds support #SadGirlsClub.
twitch.tv/tbhalflings
had £50 in property (equivalent today to about $12,000 in 1776 or $6000 in 1807). In 1807, new legislation stripped women and non-white men of the right to vote in NJ. Anyway, another example of how things being "new" or claims that things " were always this way" are often BS /2
Speaking of "tradition" and the use of they as a singular gender neutral pronoun. New Jersey's constitution used they as a gender neutral pronoun between 1776 and 1807, thus allowing anyone, regardless of ethnicity or gender, to vote so long as they 1/
www.amrevmuseum.org/virtualexhib...
Our so-called leaders speak
With words they try to jail you
They subjugate the meek
But it's the rhetoric of failure
-The Police
"Spirits in the Material World."
At the root here is that like so many things with humanity some people, not all, are looking for a one size fits all, slam dunk answer, so they can crow that they "won" the debate. When it comes to humans "one size fits all" rarely exists.
Explicit instructions. When I leave small technical issues open, well, I've yet to get Wingdings, but what I have gotten 🙄. All of which is to say I think I agree with your overall points. /2
We live in an world where intersubjective "truths" are taking hold. A world where people should see and understand nuance but also a world where belief in verifiably false ideas is on the rise. As a professor I have to grapple with those "smartass" students every semester and save my sanity with 1/