The word you are looking for is “selfish.” Not narcissist, not sociopath, selfish.

Year of the Snake 🐍🍊 Here's to health, wealth, and the downfall of our enemies. May you always prosper!

we live in a world where marriage as an institution exists and is unavoidably ingrained into almost every aspect of life politically, socially, and economically however when you talk about 'romanticizing problematic power dynamics in a way that harms people' the poster child for that is erotica that involves sensitive subject matters. it's crazy because over the past year and change i've been privy to the romantic expectations of hundreds if not thousands of people and let me tell you, middle to upper class men just still straight up think of women as either household servants, brood mares, or both. whatever sort of sexual degeneracy you think is being normalized in society because of triggering erotica is an absolute drop in the bucket compared to the fact that the current standards and norms of romance and sex are barely one degree of separation from what they were when women were explicitly considered property. sorry guys the bottom up approach of attacking horny fiction for being too morally degenerate never has and never will do anything to reduce sexual violence or spousal/partner abuse

Skip Google for Research

As Google has worked to overtake the internet, its search algorithm has not just gotten worse.  It has been designed to prioritize advertisers and popular pages often times excluding pages and content that better matches your search terms 

As a writer in need of information for my stories, I find this unacceptable.  As a proponent of availability of information so the populace can actually educate itself, it is unforgivable.

Below is a concise list of useful research sites compiled by Edward Clark over on Facebook. I was familiar with some, but not all of these.

⁂

Google is so powerful that it “hides” other search systems from us. We just don’t know the existence of most of them. Meanwhile, there are still a huge number of excellent searchers in the world who specialize in books, science, other smart information. Keep a list of sites you never heard of.

www.refseek.com - Academic Resource Search. More than a billion sources: encyclopedia, monographies, magazines.

www.worldcat.org - a search for the contents of 20 thousand worldwide libraries. Find out where lies the nearest rare book you need.

https://link.springer.com - access to more than 10 million scientific documents: books, articles, research protocols.

www.bioline.org.br is a library of scientific bioscience journals published in developing countries.

http://repec.org - volunteers from 102 countries have collected almost 4 million publications on economics and related science.

www.science.gov is an American state search engine on 2200+ scientific sites. More than 200 million articles are indexed.

www.pdfdrive.com is the largest website for free download of books in PDF format. Claiming over 225 million names.

www.base-search.net is one of the most powerful researches on academic studies texts. More than 100 million scientific documents, 70% of them are free

Freed secunits form a squad and each have a drawer

I rambled about this in tags on another post but I can’t emphasize enough how only focusing on large-scale issues WILL lead to hopelessness & burnout. Activism must include small-scale, achievable works. If you don’t have something you can get your hands around and look at directly, despair will eat you alive.

I want to elaborate here for people who don’t think they’re capable of practical activism due to disability: what a LOT of volunteer groups need most is clerical and logistical support. Maybe you can’t get down to the river to pick up trash, but how about working the sign-up table? Or sending out email reminders or creating promotional graphics? How about making calls to the city to get funds for supplies?

Many volunteer groups rely on retired people to run their day-to-day functions, so as the economy worsens and retirement ages go up, charities are feeling the squeeze as their aging participants aren’t replaced. If you’re unable to work full-time due to disability but have the means to attend a zoom meeting once a month and take minutes, there’s an activist group that needs you. If you don’t have the financial means to donate to charities you care about, there’s a local advocacy group that needs help deciding how to allocate donation funds.

If you’re not sure how you or your disability can fit into a group, call and ask. My prison book group works from a basement that isn’t wheelchair accessible, so when I was unable to do stairs last year, I built them a database.

You can help and you are needed.

As someone who’s living is primarily made working for non-profits and arts organizations… Fucking This. And -starting- to feel the squeeze? Oh no. The squeeze started YEARS ago and the pandemic only made it worse. The last dregs of retirees who got to have an actual retirement where they could work a part-time job for free are dying and there’s no one to replace them. Listen to me. No one wants to do the thankless clerical shit. Answering phones. Answering emails. Sending out newsletters. Minding the calendar. Connecting brand new volunteers with the organization. Managing Quickbooks. Dealing with the budget. Keeping records. Keeping the website updated. Running a blog. Wrangling social media. Writing grants. No one wants these jobs because they don’t feel good. They don’t feel like you’re doing anything. But they’re so crucial. If no one is turning in the 501c3 paperwork and making sure the donor emails go out on time, then there ain’t gonna be an organization for much longer. But YOU can do this. If you rock up to any nonprofit with an office and say, “I can help, but I am disabled and can’t do physical stuff. But I can sit in an office, or work from home. I’m free on Mondays and Wednesdays. How can I help?” they will find you shit to do. And be SO fucking grateful. (do note how I put the boundaries in there… make sure you know and articulate your limits.) It’s like that quote about “Everyone wants to save the world, but no one wants to do the dishes.” Everyone wants to do the flashy stuff. Pick up trash. Make the art. Do the protests. But no one wants to make and maintain a spreadsheet of volunteers.

Dresden, Germany.

With thanks to Emily Pearl:

Wise and important words from sociologist Jennifer Walter about what is happening in this country right now and what to do about it:

"As a sociologist, I need to tell you:

Your overwhelm is the goal.

1/ The flood of 200+ executive orders in Trump's first days exemplifies Naomi Klein's "shock doctrine" - using chaos and crisis to push through radical changes while people are too disoriented to effectively resist. This isn't just politics as usual - it's a strategic exploitation of cognitive limits.

2/ Media theorist McLuhan predicted this: When humans face information overload, they become passive and disengaged. The rapid-fire executive orders create a cognitive bottleneck, making it nearly impossible for citizens and media to thoroughly analyze any single policy.

3/ Agenda-setting theory explains the strategy: When multiple major policies compete for attention simultaneously, it fragments public discourse. Traditional media can't keep up with the pace, leading to superficial coverage.

The result? Weakened democratic oversight and reduced public engagement.

What now?

1/ Set boundaries: Pick 2-3 key issues you deeply care about and focus your attention there. You can't track everything - that's by design. Impact comes from sustained focus, not scattered awareness.

2/ Use aggregators & experts: Find trusted analysts who do the heavy lifting of synthesis. Look for those explaining patterns, not just events.

3/ Remember: Feeling overwhelmed is the point. When you recognize this, you regain some power. Take breaks. Process. This is a marathon.

4/ Practice going slow: Wait 48hrs before reacting to new policies. The urgent clouds the important. Initial reporting often misses context

5/ Build community: Share the cognitive load. Different people track different issues. Network intelligence beats individual overload.

Remember: They want you scattered. Your focus is resistance.

This diagram illustrates how marshes can adapt to rising sea levels and naturally "migrate" upland if given enough space. Credit: Julie Rossman/Audubon

Excerpt from this story from the Audubon Society:

For over 40 years, the Coastal Barrier Resources Act has been a little-known bipartisan environmental law—quietly protecting critical bird habitat, providing coastal communities with a natural buffer against storms and sea-level rise, and saving taxpayers billions of dollars, all while staying under the radar. Audubon has long been a champion of this law, and now we have reason to celebrate! Last week, President Biden signed the Bolstering Ecosystems Against Coastal Harm (BEACH) Act, updating the Coastal Barrier Resources Act and expanding its protected system of coastal areas that buffers people and birds from flooding on our coasts. 

Congress passed the BEACH Act with overwhelming bipartisan support just last month, adding nearly 300,000 acres of wetlands and beaches to the Coastal Barrier Resources Act (CBRA) system, codifying its largest expansion since 1990. For years, Audubon has worked with a diverse coalition of partner organizations, multiple presidential administrations, and legislators on both sides of the aisle to massively expand the CBRA system, and the sweeping success of this bill is one of our most exciting accomplishments for the coast. 

Created in 1982, the CBRA protects coastal habitat and property while saving lives and federal taxpayer dollars in a distinctive way. Undeveloped beaches and coastal wetlands around our country provide vital habitat for birds and wildlife, especially in the face of climate change impacts such as sea-level rise and increased storm frequency and intensity. These coastal areas are also particularly prone to those climate impacts, endangering lives, property, and vulnerable species. The CBRA discourages development in these hazard-prone areas by removing most federal spending, including flood insurance, disaster recovery grants, and other federal expenditures on the CBRA’s system of protected areas. This market-based approach is working. A recent study demonstrates this in its finding that CBRA is highly effective at achieving its intended goals—reducing development by 85 percent compared to nearby areas, reducing flood damage by 25 percent, and adding ecologically important layers of protection to coastal areas. 

Currently, CBRA protects 3.5 million acres on the coasts of the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, Great Lakes, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. These largely undeveloped areas are an ideal habitat for birds like American Oystercatchers and Piping Plovers to nest and rest well away from any human disturbance. Intact coastal beaches and wetlands like this also serve as a natural buffer for nearby communities from storms and sea-level rise. Beach dunes act as speed bumps to slow down wind and waves, and marshes act as sponges soaking up floodwaters. 

-via Audubon, December 05, 2024. Thanks for posting, OP!

I'm saying it again: do not let MAGA rewrite the narrative.

I see this has gained notes.

Remember: 75 million people voted for Kamala Harris. She got the 3rd most amount of votes in history, and more votes than anyone ever received prior to 2020. It was a 49-48 election, with the majority of voters either choosing Harris or a 3rd party candidate. MAGA does not have a majority. Trump lost the popular vote 2 out of 3 times, and he never won over 50% of votes.

watching children successfully and compassionately self-mediate conflict and wondering if it's possible to pinpoint where exactly it all goes wrong for us

group of kids aged ~4 to ~8. little boy starts crying. the group descends from all corners of the play room and start by asking him if he's okay, if he got hurt. they tell him it's okay to cry if he's feeling sad or mad, it's okay, it's all okay.

they ask him if he wants to talk about it because they can solve their problems together. they have perfected empathetic tone modulation and sympathy sharing. ("my sister takes toys when it's not her turn and it makes me mad and i cry too. it's okay to cry if you're mad.") their clumsy little hands are patting him on the back and hugging at his arms. we are a species of immaculate mimicry.

he says jessica was mean to him. 3 of them who know jessica agree that jessica is never ever mean, so they posit that perhaps there was maybe an accidentally communication error ("maybe you didn't mean to say something that hurt her feelings! it's okay! it was nobody's fault if you did!") or that maybe jessica is having a bad day. they are working together to completely remove blame from the situation, effectively cooperatively de-escalating. there's a little bit of talking over each other, but no one puts down anyone else's ideas. if they do disagree, they subtly "yeah that, but also maybe—" to it so no one feels like their idea was stupid or bad or wrong. i don't even think they know they're doing it. inclusivity requires absolutely no thought or effort.

they hunt down jessica and bring her to the tribunal. jessica is also treated to blame cancelling, comforting touches, lack of judgement, and sympathetic tones. they ask her if she's feeling okay. they tell her she made arjun cry "accidentally and not on purpose" and they want to fix what happened.

jessica and arjun stand opposite in a circle of very concerned little faces eager to problem solve. jessica (crying) says she didn't like the way arjun was playing. arjun (also crying) says he didn't know because she didn't tell him the rules. jessica says she's sorry. arjun says he's sorry. they hug it out. the group is very excited to have successfully solved conflict and immediately announce they'll be doing a new activity, all together.

i clean up the play area and wonder what they'll all be like in 20 years.

the law isnt that you cant record first responders within 25 feet, but that you cant be within 25 feet of them if they’ve *verbally* told you to step away or “perceive” you as a threat, its called the “halo law” or SB 184, and is currently only active in florida.

you absolutely can still record first responders. that is your constitutional right.

cops are 100000% going to abuse this law, know your rights and stay safe out there

I increasingly think publications like Cracked and Mad Magazine served a load bearing cultural purpose keeping young straight guys from developing extreme reactionary opinions.

@mastermatoyas Co-signing your tags, although I’ve never heard of Tim Minchin. I’ve been thinking a lot about similar things.

An aquarium in Japan was closed for renovations, and their resident sunfish got depressed not seeing visitors. So the staff put some uniforms with printed faces against the tank, and it immediately recovered.

me: uh oh! if i fail to block any more of these spells, the evil wizard will take over my mind and make me suck him off!!! i need to be careful, i can feel it working already...

the evil wizard trying to blow my head off with lightning bolts: that's not what I'm trying to do