Nostr notes by Mx. Luna Corbden 🪿🐸

Literally the first definition he presented is that it's ...

2026-07-11T22:58:57Z

In reply to nevent1q…rml3
_________________________

Literally the first definition he presented is that it's search for meaning.

Serious question: Do you take that list of three definitions as an OR operator, or an AND?

But here's the real crux. If I may indulge in a little ...

2026-07-11T16:19:35Z

In reply to nevent1q…l8da
_________________________

But here's the real crux. If I may indulge in a little armchair psychological analysis...

Matt clearly has baggage about the term "spirituality." It's not the *term's* baggage as he repeatedly states. It's HIS baggage. Some of us have dropped that baggage but you want us to pick it back up. NO.

Because as Britt says repeatedly: no one is asking him to use the term, only to lay off other people who find the word useful. ("Too bad!")

His baggage is made plain by how he argues this. Religion still has its hold on him. He has not let go of the religion's rules, its control over this venue. Spirituality is theirs and he refuses to grab it back or even let anyone else grab it back.

He hasn't unpacked this enough to realize HE HAS POWER TO MAKE THE WORD MEAN ANYTHING HE WANTS. And with his amount of influence, he could tip the balance and the word would be ours to all but fully define.

Some of us have freed ourselves, along with this concept, from Christianity's controlling grasp over our natural human requirements for symbolism, narrative, purpose-seeking, ritual, community, awe, transcendence, fulfillment, moral framework, interpretation, etc. We have come to realize these concepts are more flexible than our religious abusers presented them. That we can create for ourselves our own meaning, even while not taking it too seriously and not buying the whole kool-aid factory. [fixed perfect typo: "kook-aid"! 😂]

He thinks that if you claim any stake in this territory, you have to make objective, supernatural, authoritarian claims about subjective experiences, and that SIMPLY ISN'T TRUE.

He projects these claims onto Britt repeatedly even though she gone out of her way to say that's not how she uses this term.

It's one single hangup. One single point of false assumptions he keeps making as he refutes her points. (tbf to Britt, he also continually assumes she doesn't know what she's talking about in a gross, condescending way.)

Like, that's your shit, man, on both counts. That doesn't have to be the community's shit. Unless, of course, you're taking on outsized authority for a job that needs doing that you're not actually super experienced in... placing your authority above an experienced and educated woman...

...for some reason. 🤔

🧵

#exmo #exmormon #ReligiousTrauma #atheism #philosophy #deconstruction #spirituality

There are also many points where he names some logical fallacy on ...

2026-07-11T16:00:23Z

In reply to nevent1q…8nt2
_________________________

There are also many points where he names some logical fallacy on some minor non-load-bearing side point, just while she's describing something, and it's like he thinks this is just a game and ding-ding! you won some skeptic points in a game Britt is not playing! Good for you! There's some fellow nerdy white guys who saw you do that with great aplomb and completely failed to see your own similarly placed logical fallacies (I saw that argument from analogy my man)!!! You get a star! 🏆

Meanwhile folks like Britt are putting in the work to give post-religionists new tools to fill a gap that no one is filling using words they can relate to and taking back concepts that were colonized away from us so that unsatisfied religious folk have a serious alternative to the woo you so hate.

Work which, two hours into a one hour video, you still continue to make ignorant, invalid, and embarrassingly obtuse assumptions about.

🧵

#exmo #exmormon #ReligiousTrauma #atheism #philosophy #deconstruction #spirituality

There was a moment when I literally gasped and then started ...

2026-07-11T15:53:07Z

In reply to nevent1q…37we
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There was a moment when I literally gasped and then started yelling. She is talking about how there aren't any better words than "spirituality" to cover the range of topics it covers, and he pauses and literally says:

"Too bad."

Uhm, like dude who made you the father of atheist spaces and are allowed to forbid her?? There's a word for men who act like patronizing fathers of adult women they don't know..... 🤔

He also repeatedly says, "Then come up with a better word." No, sir. SHE doesn't have a problem with this word. Nor do many other atheists, including prominent atheists which she cites. YOU have a problem with the word, so the burden of coming up with a better word is on YOU.

He actually starts to suggest one a couple of times and fails. "Psychology! Ok... I guess psychology and sociology." My man, that is two words and now you're bumping up against the problem that Britt and many others like myself have independently solved to help people proactively recover from religious trauma while you were off uselessly debating creationists.

🧵

#exmo #exmormon #ReligiousTrauma #atheism #philosophy #deconstruction #spirituality

I am now halfway through Matt's 4-hour live reaction/rebuttal ...

2026-07-11T15:46:00Z

In reply to nevent1q…4yeg
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I am now halfway through Matt's 4-hour live reaction/rebuttal video, in which he at times pauses so many times (without rewinding) that he's entirely missed the context of some of her points and continues to hold her to things she didn't actually say that he would know that if he hadn't paused 3-4 times per sentence.

He pauses to rebut at least a dozen times in the first 3 minutes of the intro! Before she's completed a single point!

His major hang up seems to be one of semantics, and he's treating her like an average caller to The Line and not a professional woman with years of education and experience in this space. As if she hasn't thought it through herself.

AND as if he's in charge of how words are used in this space.

🧵

#exmo #exmormon #ReligiousTrauma #atheism #philosophy #deconstruction #spirituality

"I'm not trying to make atheism less rational. I'm ...

2026-07-10T23:38:19Z

"I'm not trying to make atheism less rational. I'm not trying to smuggle in the woo. I'm trying to make atheism less emotionally illiterate."

Everything Britt says here are things I've been saying for nearly twenty years, only she says it better and brings receipts.

This is what I mean when I say I'm a spiritual atheist.

https://youtu.be/LHBmH38ZGZ4

#exmo #exmormon #ReligiousTrauma #atheism #philosophy #deconstruction #spirituality

I actually have some direct experience in this. When I look back ...

2026-07-02T19:58:24Z

In reply to nevent1q…6wcm
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I actually have some direct experience in this. When I look back at my life, I wonder at the unique experiences I've been exposed to.

One is that in 1988, when I was 13, my parents started a retail craft supply shop in a tiny town of 2500 people, using a loan from a bank, renting a crappy little space no one else wanted.

Since I was homeschooled, I worked at this shop 40+ hours a week and worked the entire process.

Additionally, before starting the store, my dad had invented a brush cleaner which we made by hand, bottled, and sold to wholesalers nationwide. I got to see two sides of the three-side process of getting craft supplies market.

We also would buy small items in bulk, like 5,000 beads in a bag, and I would repackage them by hand into packs of 200 branded with a stamp for our own shelves.

We went to trade shows and on-site warehouses to buy direct, and gathered catalogs from multiple wholesalers. We could special order anything. Learning which paints and yarns were highest quality for the price, that was part of what we did for our small town for three years.

This experience is nearly impossible for anyone to have today.

🧵

One aspect of retail we've forgotten after generations of ...

2026-07-02T19:51:50Z

One aspect of retail we've forgotten after generations of conglomerated big box stores and subsequent online conglomeration is that of curation of products.

When you went into a family-owned hardware store in 1985, you got experts who chose products based on a balance of price and quality. Maybe they only had two kinds of hammers or one brand of bolts, but somebody selected those. There was some level of trust in what you were getting.

Now that labor is on us to filter from dozens of types and brands, based on reviews that are gamed by botnets, against manufacturers who change up the models yearly to dodge bad reviews. It's a race to the bottom because we don't have local curators who are personally invested in your returning to their store.

🧵

I started obsessively playing Librarian: Tidying Up the Arcane ...

2026-06-28T16:39:21Z

I started obsessively playing Librarian: Tidying Up the Arcane Library yesterday after [@ireneista](https://adhd.irenes.space/@ireneista )'s recommendation. And that's what I'll be doing all day.

After a trickster fairy tosses thousands of books all over the place, you've got to put them all back where they belong! It's like powerwash simulator for nerds.

I need to finish up the holy magic, healing, necromancy, philosophy, and monsters section. My strategy is to focus by book color and on the sections I've memorized.

The game is notably missing a cat, which I hope is something I can unlock... maybe in one of those chests? I'm coming for you kitty!

I also get the sense that the story I've been told is not entirely true. Management seems duplicitous and hedgy. I expect the fairy to return the moment I'm finished.

It's on Steam sale for $5 rn.

Nostr event nevent1qqstaj83cnlk9jtgsc33f0hh4rw3geph698mqxdntx92t6sj4mazwkqzyqn8a3xgk9qkutt85yrrs0dykw7xpvx8c5x0quq4ktn2neuzvtwpjzs75ph

2026-06-28T02:36:50Z

Untitled Goose Game is on sale on Steam rn $8 just sayin.

I feel like the way some folks are expressing annoyance with the ...

2026-06-27T07:46:36Z

I feel like the way some folks are expressing annoyance with the goose discourse, that they're not viscerally connecting with the symbolism the way most of us are.

🤔

Like, I *feel* this meme. It's representative of my whole life, of having my lifeforce sucked out of me by parasites until I'm ill at age 50 and have nothing to show for it. It's a rare but accidental honesty from the clueless fucks who rule this world. It's the entire story of each of us and the whole world told in a handful of phrases and images.

"Goose is not valued" feels like a rallying cry for valuable people who are only just now starting to realize...

...that we do have value.

And that the only way they're going to understand our value is if we make them.

#goose #goosetodon #gooseWasNotValued

Another thing that bugs me about the social distortion of time is ...

2026-06-26T17:58:40Z

In reply to nevent1q…2znw
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Another thing that bugs me about the social distortion of time is that it seems like everyone's grandma was born in 1890?

Like, we've got grandmas born in the 1980s now. Most grandmas still living weren't born before 1940.

If you look like you're no older than 30 and you're on a video telling me your grandma (and all of grandmas) back in old-timey days baked bread every day not for mental health but because she had to, well, uhm....

...was she Amish?

Because my mother born way back in the 1940s never baked bread because she had to. The store sold bread as a staple since she was a child.

These are our great-great grandmothers you're referencing.

But hey if you want to watch the actual show, here's the ...

2026-06-25T21:49:15Z

In reply to nevent1q…fskq
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But hey if you want to watch the actual show, here's the first two seasons!

(Internet Archive also has it.)

(The canceled unaired 3rd season is apparently available on DVD.)

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLm_2bCOAKGApoXQRAdzh3mWh4YEdBz4vU

#GenX

You know what....? Whatever. #GenX

2026-06-25T21:40:08Z

In reply to nevent1q…h9zg
_________________________

You know what....?

Whatever.

#GenX

I'm watching one on Sifl & Olly, which, I'm glad it ...

2026-06-25T21:39:46Z

In reply to nevent1q…kxle
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I'm watching one on Sifl & Olly, which, I'm glad it exists because it's nice memories and has info about its production I didn't know.

But like.

First off, it acts like this show happened in a vacuum. Ooooh it was so ahead of its time, before YouTube made this style normal!

No, child. There was literally everything Cartoon Network was doing, much of its "for kids" stuff actually appealing to the college crowd, not to mention Adult Swim (Space Ghost anyone??). Nickelodeon had a bunch of shows in this category, too. And have you ever heard of South Park? Comedy Central was going off with this type of thing.

Indie. Weird. Low budget. Experimental. Off the wall. Authentic-feeling. All of it firmly off the 90s zeitgeist and laying the groundwork for 2010s YouTube comedy styles, which didn't just spring out of nowhere.

Quote:

"But if you found it at the right age, at the right hour (probably too late at night for a school night) then it stuck with you..."

Arrrgghhlll!! Not everybody in 1998 was twelve! 😭

#GenX

According to most YouTube media analysis, in the 90s there were ...

2026-06-25T21:30:26Z

According to most YouTube media analysis, in the 90s there were only children and boomers. No 20-somethings, no not at all. We just mysteriously skipped a generation.

We don't get it! Who could this show have been for? What an anomaly! What did it mean?? No one knows! If only there were someone to ask!

#GenX

Watch your value go hjönk and to the right! ...

2026-06-25T16:06:27Z

In reply to nevent1q…e2vm
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Watch your value go hjönk and to the right!

I extracted some goose from slide so you don't have to. ...

2026-06-25T16:03:59Z

In reply to nevent1q…45wv
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I extracted some goose from slide so you don't have to. Screengrab As A Service.

It was goose that created value.

Value is goose!

You are goose! Not factory!!!

Factory is where you work not who you are!

No it is egg. ...

2026-06-25T15:47:53Z

No it is egg.

To say a compassionate pigeon will soft pedal whatever they have ...

2026-06-23T23:13:53Z

To say a compassionate pigeon will soft pedal whatever they have to say is kind dove an understatement.

This is exactly what I was looking for. That seems manageable. ...

2026-06-19T21:32:50Z

In reply to nevent1q…nl2m
_________________________

This is exactly what I was looking for. That seems manageable. Thank you!

I've seen folks here talk about how they ferment their ...

2026-06-19T20:54:01Z

I've seen folks here talk about how they ferment their produce that is just about to go bad. I think I'm ready to learn how to do that.

I got the impression it's a "throw it into a jar with the other stuff" kind of process, rather than a huge bottling project. (I am not up for any elaborate processes.)

Can someone tell me how it's done?

Nostr event nevent1qqsw6uaqpy03g9crvqgdzhyce88tdds506u5lyne8mry4y69cu4qf8czyqn8a3xgk9qkutt85yrrs0dykw7xpvx8c5x0quq4ktn2neuzvtwpjvxwf6s

2026-06-15T21:13:45Z

Doctor Manhattan was the founding member of Blue Man Group.

If you ever have a romantic partner who pressures you into deeper ...

2026-06-15T18:13:21Z

If you ever have a romantic partner who pressures you into deeper levels of commitment, and acts hurt if you don't want to move so quickly or don't want to commit at all... just like, that's his problem. He can go to a therapist or whatever. If he needs commitment because he's looking for security or a certain family structure or whatever, then he can break up with you and find someone more into that.

Me taking the last name "Lindsey" for him as my pen name, and then plastering it all over my professional brand, that's a specter that has damaged my career and followed me a decade after leaving him.

I did that because he pressured me into agreeing to an engagement, when I had repeatedly said I hated weddings, and I never, ever wanted to be married again.

And while we never did get married after a couple of years of engagement, he reminded me frequently how hurt he was that I continually postponed wedding plans. Yet would not engage with me about my doubts over relationship issues.

His name is on my work. Many of the publishing platforms will not let me change my name in the listing. Reader are confused at my multiple bylines. I've had to mess with domain redirects that don't work anymore.

Just, if someone wants you to commit and gets hurt by your hesitation, that's a them problem. They need to work on it, not you. You're just fine.

#UnsolicitedAdvice #Recovery2026 #DarkSojourn

If you get in too much trouble at witches school they take away ...

2026-06-14T01:47:40Z

If you get in too much trouble at witches school they take away your magic and you get exspelled.

https://youtu.be/F4SmgrAmdUQ

2026-06-02T01:55:32Z

https://youtu.be/F4SmgrAmdUQ

This is one of many aspects of what I see as a huge blindspot in ...

2026-05-26T02:55:40Z

In reply to nevent1q…3fhp
_________________________

This is one of many aspects of what I see as a huge blindspot in therapy culture. Times when traumas are in progress, but we're conditioned to minimize them within the mental health framework. In therapy, traumas are often approached as things that "happened in the past." Things are presumably fine now and we're just overreacting to the present.

When in fact we're still under unhealthy levels of chronic stress or putting up with a toxic person because this shit is normalized and most of the time we can't escape it anyway.

I love therapy. I think therapy culture has changed the world in positive and deeply irreversible ways. But this is a major flaw. It clings to the vestiges of abuse culture built into society that it can't solve. So it doesn't solve it, but offers up maladaptive coping mechanisms that just punt the root problems into the future.

Sometimes therapy has very fancy, seemingly kind ways of saying, "It's all in your head."

#AbuseCulture

How many times are you saying you've been ...

2026-05-26T02:46:55Z

How many times are you saying you've been "triggered," when instead you're actively experiencing a trauma?

I'll quit complaining when they pry my problems from my cold, ...

2026-04-22T23:32:48Z

I'll quit complaining when they pry my problems from my cold, dead hands.

If you're scheduled to be the concert pianist, but when you ...

2026-04-19T00:31:11Z

If you're scheduled to be the concert pianist, but when you arrive the Yamaha grand has broken down, just use a handheld keyboard that needs to be squeezed, and everything will go accordion to plan.

I love this quote, but it's really hard for me to forget the ...

2026-04-14T00:19:53Z

In reply to nevent1q…y494
_________________________

I love this quote, but it's really hard for me to forget the absolutely mean-spirited, outrageous racist lines he agreed to say out loud in Masque of the Mandragora. 😬 (Yes, I'm being that person.)

Nostr event nevent1qqspckftwfj69exz7spy96xwtnytpf9zkwdphp0khm7qdw55mkcd08szyqn8a3xgk9qkutt85yrrs0dykw7xpvx8c5x0quq4ktn2neuzvtwpjca5tjw

2026-04-04T05:46:58Z

My, this clavier IS well-tempered!

I love this theme!

2026-03-25T20:24:22Z

In reply to nevent1q…r8uk
_________________________

I love this theme!

There was a Hollywood agent who specialized in hand actors. They ...

2026-03-25T08:29:47Z

There was a Hollywood agent who specialized in hand actors. They had actors skilled at clapping, or "clappers" as they were known. They had artistically trained bird-flippers. They had ASL specialists. They even had a modest list of talented shadow puppeteers.

One day, Kubrick's casting team called the agent with an urgent need for a role in his upcoming movie about a pageant queen parade that ends in tragedy. She would ride on a float at the front of the parade, and he needed her to be particularly good at making beautifully stiff hand motions, since, in this film, that's the precipitating cause of the accident.

There would be close-ups. This opportunity could make a lucky hand-actor's career.

But the agent declined. You see, they didn't already have an actor who fit the bill, so they'd have to sign a waver.

Credit where credit is due, Java was practicing #enshittification ...

2026-03-24T20:34:48Z

In reply to nevent1q…a02e
_________________________

Credit where credit is due, Java was practicing #enshittification decades before it was cool.

Me: typity type type Out of nowhere, computer freezes and a new ...

2026-03-24T20:34:15Z

Me: *typity type type*

Out of nowhere, computer freezes and a new icon opens in the dock.

Me: JAVA!!! NOBODY ASKED YOU!

I've been poking around in Letterboxd to see if I can tell it ...

2026-03-22T00:52:15Z

I've been poking around in Letterboxd to see if I can tell it what streaming services I'm currently subscribed to.

It would be of value to me if I could tell it my subscriptions, and then filter movies by which I'm subscribed to. Can it do that?

No point in me using it otherwise, since I have my to-watch list elsewhere.

The hassle of picking a movie when I don't know if I have access to it is the biggest barrier for me getting back into a regular movie routine again. For awhile I got around this simply by renting after choosing from my list. But I'm short on extra cash at the moment, and that's not sustainable if I do it frequently.

(My local library doesn't have Kanopy/Hoopla.)

#AskFedi #letterboxd

RE: https://shitpost.trade/@ezri/116199400002957085 Finally! ...

2026-03-09T18:08:13Z

RE: https://shitpost.trade/@ezri/116199400002957085

Finally!

quoting
note1k8u…k5mn

bronouns: pronouns for MEN

IF Simon THEN Garfunkel

2026-03-06T22:41:39Z

In reply to nevent1q…ywzt
_________________________

IF Simon THEN Garfunkel

Well, I built a new toilet today. It didn't fix the problem, ...

2026-03-06T20:57:42Z

Well, I built a new toilet today.

It didn't fix the problem, but it's better.

What I really need to do is build a real toilet.

But that's going to take some doing.

#OffGrid #RVLife

I've recently commented on Epstein probably not being the ...

2026-03-04T20:20:51Z

In reply to nevent1q…xpag
_________________________

I've recently commented on Epstein probably not being the first of his kind, that his market for sex victims already existed, and that the sexual abuse of minors and the marginalized as a recreational activity for the rich and powerful likely goes way, way back. And I got a little bit of pushback.

But this is my world, this cult stuff. And if this has been going on in new sex cults like NXIVM, and secretly in old established religions like Catholicism, in Mormonism, in evangelicalism (it is), the why the hell wouldn't the richest, most powerful people in the world have done this going back across time?

Why are we holding dead billionaires to an idealized image? Why are we defending them? Why are we *still* bending over backwards to suspend disbelief that the worst people in the world in every other regard are somehow pure when it comes to sexual abuse?

🧵

#ReligiousTrauma
#exmo
#exmormon
#PTSD
#cults
#exvie
#exvangelical #AbuseCulture #SexualAssault

New paper on sexual conditioning within cults just dropped. This ...

2026-03-04T19:59:29Z

New paper on sexual conditioning within cults just dropped. This article sums up the paper for a lay audience.

https://icsatoday.substack.com/p/dominance-and-submission-the-psychosexual

I am so relieved that highly respected cult researchers are finally backing up conclusions I suspected early in my own research:

- C-PTSD isn't just about trauma, it's about conditioned reactions and beliefs.

- Oppressive high-demand religious institutions condition followers to accept sexual abuse, or be the one to dish it out.

- Religious control of sexual bodies doesn't just prime one for abuse. It is itself a form of sexual abuse. It is at least as bad to manipulate a person into having children she doesn't want as it is to traditionally abuse her.

- What I say next may be controversial, but this research implies it, and I've suspected this since I joined the kink scene of my own free will first thing after leaving Mormonism: Sexual submissiveness can be a result of being reared in a high-demand religious environment, even if as adults we joyously consent as bottoms outside of the original religious framework. (I also think Dom/sub alignment is partly biological.)

Excerpts:

"This article is foundational because it frames sexual exploitation as structurally embedded in coercive systems, not merely the misconduct of individual leaders."

...

"Cult leaders quickly recognize that controlling the sexual and intimate lives of their followers provides a massive source of power. In Lalich’s analysis, sexual domination is not merely one abuse among many — it is the final stage of objectification within an authoritarian system.

"This exploitation ranges from strict rules regarding marriage and procreation to more overt abuses like arranged marriages and forced sexual activity. By controlling the most intimate aspects of life, the leader ensures there is no private sphere beyond his reach."

...

"One of Lalich’s most important contributions is her direct challenge to the notion of consent within cult environments. Because cults are structured around extreme power imbalances, genuine consent cannot exist. Members are conditioned through fear of expulsion, spiritual threats, peer pressure, and dependency on the leader for identity and belonging."

...“Because of the power imbalance between leader and followers, sexual contact is never truly consensual and is likely to have damaging consequences for the follower.”

...

"Shame, guilt, and self-blame persist long after exit. The leader’s ideology continues to shape the survivor’s internal narrative. Recovery therefore requires dismantling both the sexual trauma and the ideological manipulation that sustained it."

...

"At one post-cult recovery workshop, 40% of women present reported having been sexually abused in their cult (p. 7). Lalich suggests this number likely underestimates the true prevalence based on her own clinical observations. The silence surrounding sexual exploitation, she argues, is itself part of the problem."

–
I believe this is true even in (especially in) sex-negative environments. We pointed this out in the book I just wrote. If sex is shrouded in secrecy and shame, victims are unable to understand what they are going through, and unable to report it.

🧵 ?

#ReligiousTrauma #exmo #exmormon #PTSD #cults #exvie #exvangelical #abuseCulture #SexualAssault

I'm just wondering if @npub1fdr…lvhs has seen this yet... ...

2026-03-02T04:32:43Z

I'm just wondering if Cory Doctorow (npub1fdr…lvhs) has seen this yet...

Not only is it a funny sketch about enshittification, but it's made by the Norwegian Consumer Council, and there's a call to action at the end.

https://youtu.be/T4Upf_B9RLQ

#enshittification

There was a competition at the local sex club. Tops lined up at ...

2026-02-27T22:31:41Z

There was a competition at the local sex club. Tops lined up at the starting line, and at the sound of the whip, they had to run all the way to the end of the venue where a sub awaited a good flogging. The prize went to the fastest.

But they had to stop when someone pointed out it was just another race to the bottom.

I just heard of BetterBird as an alternative to the shoddy ...

2026-02-27T20:17:14Z

I just heard of BetterBird as an alternative to the shoddy Thunderbird. Has anyone had any experience with it? Will I regret moving to it?

ut oh somebody messed with Texas.

2026-02-27T18:25:45Z

In reply to nevent1q…gxx8
_________________________

ut oh somebody messed with Texas.

They were homeschooled (one thing I related to them on back ...

2026-02-26T03:48:17Z

In reply to nevent1q…78me
_________________________

They were homeschooled (one thing I related to them on back then), so it really shouldn't be surprising. That's where you could find the OG antivaxxers in the 80s and I knew several such families. I broke my sheltered bubble. Not everyone does.

Oh I did not know that. That really sucks. 😒

2026-02-26T03:25:32Z

In reply to nevent1q…alxp
_________________________

Oh I did not know that. That really sucks. 😒

Hanson's Weird juxtaposed against Strange by Built to Spill. ...

2026-02-26T03:10:29Z

In reply to nevent1q…hden
_________________________

Hanson's Weird juxtaposed against Strange by Built to Spill.

#GenX

Now that you're middle aged, I dare you to listen to MmmBop ...

2026-02-26T03:07:03Z

Now that you're middle aged, I dare you to listen to MmmBop — paying attention to the lyrics this time! — and try to dismiss Hanson as just a cheap mindless boy band with nothing to say.

(Then check out their track "Weird," which I wish more of my fellow weirdos had heard back then.)

#GenX

Nostr event nevent1qqs8s0t3p5afqpg25ktxld0y2uc3h0ncg8vvjrazw9z4dt45pdfxf4czyqn8a3xgk9qkutt85yrrs0dykw7xpvx8c5x0quq4ktn2neuzvtwpjdz3lf3

2026-02-19T03:05:25Z

touch ass

Two. One to hold the lightbulb and the other to spin the ladder .

2026-02-08T11:09:52Z

In reply to nevent1q…ytrx
_________________________

Two. One to hold the lightbulb and the other to spin the ladder .

A Modest Proposal: Repurpose all the old tasteless ...

2026-02-08T11:03:12Z

A Modest Proposal:

Repurpose all the old tasteless "Pollock" and "Blonde" jokes, where the punchline is always about how clueless the demographic is, but make them about billionaires.

eg:

What do you call a billionaire skeleton in the closet?

Last year's hide and seek champion.

~

A Elon Musk is helping build a smart house for Bill Gates. Gates tells him to nail up the drywall on the south wall of the living room.

When Gates comes back to check on him, he finds Musk pulling each nail out of the bucket, inspecting it, then some he would pound into the wall, while others he'd curse and throw behind him, where a pile of nails was growing.

"What's going on??" Gates shouts.

"Well, some nincompoop put the heads of those nails on backwards!"

"You fool!" screams Gates. "Those nails are for the other wall!!"

~

And so on. There are hundreds of these. With this reframing, the targets come off as being incompetent ego-inflated posers rather than "stupid." I might be able to rewrite a dozen just from memory.

Someone made a Katamari mod for Dead Red Redemption and it's ...

2026-02-07T05:38:00Z

Someone made a Katamari mod for Dead Red Redemption and it's the most eldritch thing ever done in a video game.

https://youtu.be/GcS8FugqafM

A few days before the moot news dropped with the Epstein files ...

2026-02-02T19:06:36Z

A few days before the moot news dropped with the Epstein files the other day, I had just happened to watch this video on internet history. Specifically how Something Awful's moderation led to the formation of 4chan, and the chain of events that set off.

I already knew some of it. I lived through it, and knew the kinds of guys who made the switch at the time. (I myself didn't frequent either board, but explored now and then, and read the links that made the rounds, before 4chan got its far more extreme reputation.)

But this really helped fill in the gaps. A lot of ah-HA! moments, and quite a lot of revisiting and recategorizing my memories of nerd culture at the time. It's perfect background history for understanding recent news, who moot is, and just how impactful 4chan has been on world history.

For a bunch of ultra-fringe nerds back in the day, it's incredible how much impact, and how, simply by being extremely online before Web 2.0, how very adjacent I was to the cultural forces that led to, well, everything.

(Also I have the original gamer gate IRC logs if anyone wants a copy.)

(And this channel is a great source for really entertaining Something Awful stories.)

https://youtu.be/Jw7SpzaYSnY

#USPol #EpsteinFiles

The camel goes through the eye of a needle. The needle is lost in ...

2026-01-28T21:44:25Z

The camel goes through the eye of a needle.

The needle is lost in the straw.

The straw breaks the camels back.

COINCIDENCE?!

I think not.

If you were at home, you already had one uncoiled. If you were ...

2026-01-22T18:58:58Z

In reply to nevent1q…29fd
_________________________

If you were at home, you already had one uncoiled. If you were out, it was a hunt to find one.

Here's a GenX thing I forgot all about... Who has ever opened ...

2026-01-22T18:51:19Z

Here's a GenX thing I forgot all about...

Who has ever opened their car using a coat hanger?

#GenX

You gotta know when to cope, and know when to nope.

2026-01-14T03:09:25Z

In reply to nevent1q…p49p
_________________________

You gotta know when to cope, and know when to nope.

Nostr event nevent1qqs8efy30723qz90f6f6xpvm0wutgpgsu9sswkvkj2hptamqp9g5ecszyqn8a3xgk9qkutt85yrrs0dykw7xpvx8c5x0quq4ktn2neuzvtwpjjl2g6l

2026-01-14T03:08:54Z

The Serenity Prayer can be summed up as Cope vs. Nope.

Reciprocity is a powerful psychological lever that marketers and ...

2026-01-13T18:18:52Z

In reply to nevent1q…0pvf
_________________________

Reciprocity is a powerful psychological lever that marketers and cult leaders have been using for centuries.

Amazing lost media news! 52-year-old 9-track tape found with Unix ...

2026-01-07T21:07:39Z

Amazing lost media news!

52-year-old 9-track tape found with Unix V4, the operating system that everything else came from. Only 20 copies ever existed. University of Utah found theirs in a storage closet, knew what they'd found, and got the help of the California Computer Museum to reconstruct the delicate data.

I really enjoyed reading this article, which treats its readers as capable of understanding, and explains some of the technical background and challenges. Kudos to the author Courtney Tanner for conveying the excitement of this find to the audience.

Original:

https://www.sltrib.com/news/education/2026/01/07/university-utah-finds-tape-with/

Archive:

https://web.archive.org/web/20260107201815/https://www.sltrib.com/news/education/2026/01/07/university-utah-finds-tape-with/

(I realize the irony of having to link the archive article. SL Trib promises they'll remove their paywalls soon!)

#RetroComputing #LostMedia #ComputerHistory #technology #unix

Knit? like, a sweater?

2026-01-04T21:49:20Z

In reply to nevent1q…tyj6
_________________________

Knit? like, a sweater?

Time to buy underwear! When it comes to men's boxer briefs, ...

2026-01-04T20:52:03Z

Time to buy underwear! When it comes to men's boxer briefs, is Jockey a quality brand?

Background: I have tried several brands of men's underwear over the years, and have come to find that I am quite picky. Hanes, Fruit of the Loom, and Joe Boxer are CRAP!! They do not fit comfortably and wear out quickly.

Because I am good at finding discounts, I have tried Papi and Tommy Hilfiger, and loourve them. They are still like new after years of wear, and are super comfy.

I found some Jockeys on sale at Kohl's. Will they be in the good or bad category?

Thank you!

#transmasc #AskFedi

Machiavelli also had some things to say about what people believe ...

2025-12-25T23:29:06Z

In reply to nevent1q…qkuz
_________________________

Machiavelli also had some things to say about what people believe vs what leaders actually do. The first is the ideology you feed the people, which is very not the same as whatever drives a despot. Conflating the two carries water for the despot by legitimizing their misdirection.

That's the effect of the right's leadership. That is ...

2025-12-24T22:11:04Z

In reply to nevent1q…xhw9
_________________________

That's the *effect* of the right's leadership. That is where the leaders take them *in effect*.

BUT that is not what most rank and file conservatives actually *believe or value*. You've basically strawmanned the ideology that many voting conservatives *actually believe.* I grew up religiously conservative, and I was taught to value things like liberty and equality, and then those concepts were twisted to favor their opposite. It was only after many years of unpacking that I was able to see this clearly and switch sides.

Don't think that you and I can't be similarly fooled. The #1 tool of con artists is to make people think they're above being fooled.

Additionally, this false belief about their beliefs puts us on the back foot when it comes to countering their tactics or persuading sincere people to our cause.

The danger of putting everything into strict boxes is that it prioritizes confirmation bias and masks the truth, and this is always to the advantage of authoritarians, which is why it's one of the first cult criteria every identified by researcher Robert J. Lifton ("Sacred Science") when he deconstructed Maoist re-education tactics in the 1950s and 60s:

"The totalist milieu maintains an aura of sacredness around its basic doctrine or ideology, holding it as an ultimate moral vision for the ordering of human existence."

Don't do that.

Yes, some ideologies have authoritarian ideas baked in, which makes for an interesting academic conversation. I've spent plenty of words on the topic of Christianity's built-in authoritarian symbols that go back to 3rd/4th century CE. (That said, ask an average Christian if they are authoritarian, and they will most likely deny it. Only lately have some sects begun to be more publicly, outwardly authoritarian. It's mostly *covert* authoritarianism with a lot of loaded language and double-think.)

But in the real world, literally any ideology has historically veered in favor of authoritarians when they are given enough leeway. That's the nature of the game, and their eternal advantage: Powertrippers are always doing everything they can to hoard power to themselves, while the rest of us would prefer, on the best day, to be left alone to do our own thing. They hold no principles other than the goal to amass power, and will wave whatever flag they need to.

Ideology does almost nothing to prevent this dynamic. All we can do is make it more difficult for them; but they will always push.

Typically, we are acting only on defense, and I'd really like us to wake up to how *power* (not ideology) really works, or we'll be on the losing end of the same cycle for another 1,000 years.

#AbuseCulture

StillIRise1963 (npub1qud…q43s) Sashin (npub1hge…us7k)

Completely not my point. When leftists get into power after ...

2025-12-24T19:02:58Z

In reply to nevent1q…62rh
_________________________

Completely not my point.

When leftists get into power after large-scale revolutions, they are historically weak to power opportunists within their ranks that wrest total (centralized) control. Even at small scale (organizations, even just groups of people), this happens unless it is actively prevented from happening.

This ideological insistence that "my side is incorruptible because we hold the one true ideology" is how it happens on *either* side, regardless of how well-meaning the movement is. People get lax and overly trusting, powertrippers take advantage, and you end up with the USSR or North Korea. Or Jim Jones. Or a smaller group with constant drama that alienates marginalized members.

I'm fully on team leftist, but as I study cults and the personality types that create them, completely aware that isn't enough to protect against these dynamics. When we get our utopia, I'd like to keep it that way.

#AbuseCulture

Always. Whatever utopia we try to create, those who crave power ...

2025-12-24T18:29:57Z

In reply to nevent1q…26eu
_________________________

Always. Whatever utopia we try to create, those who crave power will have the rules turned toward their benefit within a generation. Left, right, it hardly matters at that scale.

Powertrippers are opportunistic. They only stop when being actually STOPPED.

But he acts like a Klingon as best he can, and is fluent in the ...

2025-12-24T18:07:29Z

In reply to nevent1q…w6el
_________________________

But he acts like a Klingon as best he can, and is fluent in the language.

Sometimes words come to mean different things due to ...

2025-12-19T23:01:40Z

Sometimes words come to mean different things due to exaggeration. A generation uses it exaggeratively until the next generation thinks that's always been the meaning of the word.

Similarly, words often come round to meaning the opposite of their original meaning. They're used sarcastically or in wry humor, until they flip all the way around, until everyone who used it the old way is dead.

I first noticed this with a word that happened in my lifetime. I originally thought "decadent" meant luxurious, because by the time I noticed it in use, it was in advertisements to sell ridiculously nice things.

But in the dictionary, the only meaning I could find had already deprecated by my early adulthood — I rarely see it used this way — it means "in a state of decay."

It came this be way because a rich person living a ridiculously luxurious lifestyle was said to be "decadent" in that they were wasting their wealth. So a red velvet cake, being worthy of such wealth-wasting, presented to the middle class, is "decadent." And that's mostly the only way I ever see it used.

"Nice" is one that changed long before I was born. Centuries ago, it meant "silly," or "stupid."

And in Miss Marple's England, apparently "dazzled" meant "I couldn't see because of a bright light." It still means this in the dictionary, but I've only seen it to mean something is sparkly. A kind of exaggeration in describing jewelry that has stuck. (Anyone remember the Bedazzler™?)

Etymology fascinates me because it carries the history of generational culture. It hurts me that meaning is lost once its context passes out of time.

As a GenXer I'm of an age to know this painfully well. 1990s culture is difficult for young people to understand, it seems. There was a lot going on in that zeitgeist that doesn't come through.

Yet for those willing to look at the history of a word, there's a story playing out, as the baton of existence is repeatedly passed to new minds. If it weren't for recordings and the printed word, it would be lost forever.

#etymology

I'm almost done with Newhart. (Nearly to what is widely ...

2025-12-18T16:33:25Z

I'm almost done with Newhart. (Nearly to what is widely considered the greatest ending to a TV show of all time.)

Which of these should I start next?

(Also, you really have a way with words, and capturing so many of ...

2025-12-16T19:28:15Z

In reply to nevent1q…hsam
_________________________

(Also, you really have a way with words, and capturing so many of the thoughts I have been having.)

One big difference is that the contract has been broken. The ...

2025-12-16T19:26:43Z

In reply to nevent1q…szm4
_________________________

One big difference is that the contract has been broken. The corporate contract with middle class Americans was that companies would try to please us, compete for our dollars, and we would get a choice in a myriad ways of improving our lives.

We're going on 10 or maybe 20 years now of products that make our lives increasingly worse, while our jobs and incomes get worse, too, and while infrastructure gets worse.

It kinda sucks I guess, that this is what it took. That the upside of that contract was enough to get us to throw everyone else under the bus. And that it's only when we're not getting what's owed that we can finally care about people worse off.

I do like to think that I was in the leading edge of that trend. But only by the luck of the social circles I ended up in.

I'm doing a lot of unpacking this culture of dependency under #WhitenessIsACult. Your insight about buying junk to support our identities is spot on, and cults must control identities. I think the fact that it makes me feel uncomfortable and I don't want to boost those points tells me they got me there, too.

This was an interesting read. I'm confused that they said to ...

2025-12-14T18:15:38Z

In reply to nevent1q…52ym
_________________________

This was an interesting read.

I'm confused that they said to pack the wool in densely. As I understand the general principles of insulation, it's the air trapped between whatever material that is doing the work of insulating, and the best materials just do good air-trapping. Am I wrong that it's not a good idea to pack densely? That would be like squishing foam insulation flat or just using concrete.

Anyway, good article. I've been wondering if we should consider having some kind of animals. Seems like sheep might be interesting.

Nostr event nevent1qqsrlt4mxgl8qlm0flhqwmxxksue88v9d2rn200qp3seapmrmyljw5gzyqn8a3xgk9qkutt85yrrs0dykw7xpvx8c5x0quq4ktn2neuzvtwpjamyhj2

2025-12-12T07:04:49Z

Every cornflake is unique too.

cat, cat, cat, my hand is your hat I'm petting you pat pat ...

2025-12-10T22:50:04Z

cat, cat, cat,
my hand is your hat
I'm petting you
pat pat pat

#poem

If you're on Earth, and you travel into space, and you go to ...

2025-12-05T09:13:56Z

If you're on Earth, and you travel into space, and you go to another planet and land there, are you still in space?

#poll #polls

If cats had spikes instead of fur like a cactus (the kind of ...

2025-12-01T21:52:34Z

If cats had spikes instead of fur like a cactus (the kind of cactus that has spikes not fur), would you still pet them?

#poll #polls

Toasters be all like, "Surprise! It's toast!" Every ...

2025-11-30T03:37:13Z

Toasters be all like, "Surprise! It's toast!"

Every goddamn time.

you may have noticed i harh given all my fucks away fly, thou ...

2025-11-27T20:19:33Z

you may have noticed

i harh given all my fucks

away

fly, thou fuck

and be free

🙏🏻

Well, there's a reason why craft stores like my parents' ...

2025-11-25T21:06:47Z

In reply to nevent1q…xjxm
_________________________

Well, there's a reason why craft stores like my parents' don't exist anymore. (They went out of business before Michael's and Hobby Lobby moved into town, but that's why no one else can start their own.) And I wouldn't have a chance opening an indie bookstore anywhere.

You can't outbuy a retail company that is its own wholesaler.

Yep. Pop is the profit center of many an industry. It's why I ...

2025-11-25T19:50:42Z

In reply to nevent1q…zhhq
_________________________

Yep. Pop is the profit center of many an industry. It's why I stopped drinking it 30 years ago. I guess I've always been sticking it to the man. 😂

(Corn subsidies are at the root of all American capitalist evils.)

I started life with entrepreneur parents appears starting ...

2025-11-25T19:41:46Z

In reply to nevent1q…ue5x
_________________________

I started life with entrepreneur parents appears starting (pre-internet) businesses of all kinds, so I know a lot of dorky retail things. This one is called a "lost leader." You price something below its cost to draw in customers who will buy other things that are priced normally, or maybe even at a much higher than normal profit.

The traditional brick and mortar markup model for retail is 30-60%, but this changes per industry. Electronics is as low as 10%. So the store buys it from a distributor for $1 and sells it at $2. The extra dollar goes to rent, wages, shipping, discounts, and other overhead, with whatever is left being actual profit. Distributors do the same. They're selling it for $1, but they bought it from the manufacturer for 50¢. The manufacturer has a similar markup, so the goods to make the thing cost 25¢ for an item that retail for $2. (My parents manufactured and ran retail.)

Of course with the late-capitalism shell games, like McD's effectively owning everything from beginning to end, who knows. But I've found this to be a good gauge to figure out whatever is going on in certain situations. It's how I saw through the conservative economic lies in the Obama era, like certain claims about lower taxes increasing wages (wages come out pre-profit, pre-tax!!) This can also be useful for playing their game back at them, which I do.

It's true the prices are entirely made up, but there are underlying costs being played with, and it has to be made up someplace else. If the single weren't $1.49, then the double would be $1.90.

Via Reddit: The LDS Church is going after the Mormon trademark ...

2025-11-24T23:00:28Z

Via Reddit: The LDS Church is going after the Mormon trademark again. After the EFF told them to back off someone else a few years back, the LDS Church is trying again, this time with Mormon Stories.

I'm writing a memoir for Natasha Helfer who was excommunicated in 2021. Prior to that, they phoned her (NOT via a cease and desist letter, but just intimidation tactics) telling her to rebrand the organization she headed, The Mormon Mental Health Association. The EFF got involved, but wouldn't help her unless she committed. You see, previous clients over this issue had been intimidated into backing off.

She held strong, the EFF sent a well-crafted letter stating their legal position that the "Mormon" trademark cannot be enforced, for a wide number of reasons including the fact that LDS is not the only organization or group of people descended from Joseph Smith's original religion, and they backed off. I tell this story in her book.

Now they're trying again, against Mormon Stories.

Well guess what? Natasha and John are good friends. And they excommunicated him a long time ago. He is certainly not going to back down, and I hope they take this up and follow it through.

Hard to believe they sent something in writing this time. I hope the EFF steps back up to bat. They have absolutely zero exclusive right to this use term.

https://www.reddit.com/r/exmormon/comments/1p4wpra/lds_church_asks_mormon_stories_to_rebrand/

#exmo #exmormon #ReligiousTrauma

Let me compare this with Mormon ideology. Its Us vs Them lie is ...

2025-11-23T04:40:44Z

In reply to nevent1q…4pyp
_________________________

Let me compare this with Mormon ideology. Its Us vs Them lie is built around concepts of "righteousness", good vs evil centered faith in the right religious leadership and the right god, ultimately on God's true followers vs Satan's (secret) true followers.

Imagine the headline in a Mormon context: "Does the Pope Secretly Worship the Real Jesus After All?"

Or from the other direction, in an atheist newspaper: "Mormon Prophet May Have Secret Ties To Satan."

Do you see how ridiculous it is and how the premise accepts the basis of the lie, and thus spreads the lie?

Jews are real, and their ethnicity exists and is important. But any discussion within fascism's frame of what that means is a bonkers batshit lie, and establishes credibility for it. It literally doesn't matter what Hitler claimed about his race ideology compared to his own ancestry. Because it's all made up magical thinking in the first place.

It reminds me of other rumors and things people said about Hitler before this era of time, even before the internet, and it was all there to distract us white people into fundamentally misunderstanding fascism and white supremacy.

Liberals and well-meaning conservatives who haven't unpacked this are operating under the same misunderstandings, and tactic acceptance of certain fascist principles (like that Hitler's own race EVER mattered).

#AbuseCulture #WhitenessIsACult

Headline: "Did Hitler Have Secret Jewish Grandfather?" ...

2025-11-23T04:27:52Z

Headline: "Did Hitler Have Secret Jewish Grandfather?"

Captains of missing the point of what fascism is.

This is how whiteness distracts white people by loading the language to keep us all ignorant.

The "principles" of fascism (like, say, being a pure race) are distractions. The details don't matter. Only the accumulation of power by THE LIE of creating categories of people for this purpose.

If it's a lie to begin with, maybe try to stop playing by the rules of the lie?

#AbuseCulture #WhitenessIsACult

Nostr event nevent1qqsvgzvdg8ctrtxl09lqn93erla2c6y3zcaj09q5548cd5ajs94xx3czyqn8a3xgk9qkutt85yrrs0dykw7xpvx8c5x0quq4ktn2neuzvtwpjxqnkwg

2025-11-21T08:22:30Z

BONK!

It feels like a side-plot in Snowcrash.

2025-11-20T19:05:05Z

In reply to nevent1q…qzn8
_________________________

It feels like a side-plot in Snowcrash.

Monopoly as in, owns every outlet for a single product, or ...

2025-11-18T19:22:44Z

Monopoly as in, owns every outlet for a single product, or monopoly as in, owns a large piece of many or most related and unrelated products across the field.

I feel like the feeble attempts to check monopolies in the US in the last 50 years have failed because they ignore how the second category is just as problematic, or how the two categories interact.

I'm thinking about the original Microsoft antitrust suit WRT Internet Explorer back in the day, and how that spectacular failure of enforcement haunts us to this day.

Get yourself a trickster spirit who is trying to make you laugh, ...

2025-11-18T02:52:39Z

Get yourself a trickster spirit who is trying to make you laugh, not make you angry.

For an omniscient, omnipotent being, there is no difference ...

2025-11-17T01:53:20Z

For an omniscient, omnipotent being, there is no difference between knowing everything that will happen and making everything happen.

I'm "authoritarian" when it makes sense, when the ...

2025-11-13T21:36:21Z

I'm "authoritarian" when it makes sense, when the authority is continually earned and there are good reasons to have a single point for decision-making.

Equalize as much as possible, but sometimes you need a leader. They must bear more accountability than they do power.

I think ultimately, if we accept nonsensical standards of ...

2025-11-12T21:25:21Z

In reply to nevent1q…aurx
_________________________

I think ultimately, if we accept nonsensical standards of offense, we've given up our authority (as individuals and as society) to decide our own standards of offense. We've ceded our ability to critically think and morally reason. We've decided that authority gets to arbitrarily decide and impose what is offensive without then having to convince anyone or obtain assent or consent.

Arbitrary standards of profanity are the canary in the coal mine of an authoritarian society.

🧵

#SwearLikeYouMeanIt #WhitenessIsACult #AbuseCulture #decolonize

One time in my early 20s, I was traveling with my mom to Seaside, ...

2025-11-12T21:19:07Z

In reply to nevent1q…74vw
_________________________

One time in my early 20s, I was traveling with my mom to Seaside, Oregon. I forget why. I think she was going to a craft show and I tagged along for the beach. I had a baby by then, a single parent. I was in no need of sheltering.

The hotel was a small independent B&B type place. When we got to the room, there was a painting on the wall of a nude woman. Classic classy nude. My mom paled and immediately had me throw my coat over it. She almost asked for another room. She filed a complaint and vowed to never stay there again. (The term "Karen" was decades from being coined.)

My mom has the whitest aspirations of anyone I personally know. The same "sweet" mother who became quite toxic for me to continue caretaking, who severely worsened my health, and who coincidentally dead-named me as frequently as she could — at first on "accident" and later quite insistently — EVEN THOUGH I've used Luna for 20 years, it aligns with the gender I was assigned at birth, and literally no one else used my deadname.

When I started swearing around her each time she used my deadname, she lost her absolute shit, like I'd punched her or was sent from the devil himself to personally plague her.

That anti-profanity shit is just like the sickly sweet texts she sends me trying to reconnect that hide a river of her toxic ooze. It's a smoke screen for real awfulness.

🧵

#SwearLikeYouMeanIt #WhitenessIsACult #AbuseCulture #decolonize

So now when I see a YouTuber euphemize or unironically bleep a ...

2025-11-12T20:59:10Z

In reply to nevent1q…68fl
_________________________

So now when I see a YouTuber euphemize or unironically bleep a term to avoid being demonetized, I break a little inside.

We've come so far, and now we're going to let them take us back to when everything was rated PG??

If we let that happen, we'll lose all the rest of the progress we've made.

If you're a pearl-clutcher about this stuff, I beg you, in all sincerity: Get over yourself.

I get that some words can be triggering for some people. But unless it's a slur or terminology that directly hurts a class of people, profanity can only serve the purpose of sensitizing everyone to serious topics that NEED discussing. It will cut off many people outside of white culture from being able to communicate within it. It will cut us off from OURSELVES and our own thoughts. It's the whitest bullshit imaginable, in the worst way.

This is coming from a former Mormon who wasn't allowed to say "fart" or listen to pop music because it was too sexual. That shit will put an iron jail around your ability to think freely and interact with others authentically.

I'm probably done. But I could write one or two chapters more about this topic alone.

Barring topics around bodily functions, sex, and violence is the whitest shit ever conceived, it is the beginning of mind control, and the root of western oppression. Decolonization for many of us starts here.

And this is a hard line we should draw.

🧵

#SwearLikeYouMeanIt

#WhitenessIsACult #AbuseCulture #decolonize

When the Beastie Boys sang about fighting for the right to party, ...

2025-11-12T20:46:51Z

In reply to nevent1q…n7y9
_________________________

When the Beastie Boys sang about fighting for the right to party, they were right about that NEED, and we did win that right, and it is NOT a trivial thing.

After the ending of the Hayes Code, these touchy sensibilities persisted, but my generation was not having it. We fought for the right to express ourselves in new ways that I think many born after that don't realize. Not just the right to party (we're talking drug war, draconian laws against raves and music, breaking down barriers about the stories that could be told in media, AND the right to swear), but the right to color our hair purple, get tattoos, and BE TRANS. These all came as a whole thing.

And all were incredibly, deeply destructive to the illusion of whiteness.

Along with that broke down the walls of profanity, and with that, the ability to discuss topics that were previously barred from "polite society." ("Polite society" is code for WHITE and UPPER CLASS.)

By the time Twitter and Insta came along, there was no possible dream of censoring based on most language and most topics. We'd won that. We didn't have to strike because they knew we wouldn't adopt the platform if that crap came with it. Even the execs at those companies wouldn't dream of taking that away.

It's no mistake that's when we saw an era of social justice movements like none we've ever seen.

It wasn't just the tech giving us platforms. It was also because we didn't have that buffer of sensibilities and tender feelings between us and the important conversations. Or ... to put it another way...

We changed who it was we were trying NOT TO OFFEND.

We (society trends) stopped caring what old religious white ladies and TV executives thought about our speech, and started caring more about not hurting the marginalized-classes.

🧵

#WhitenessIsACult #AbuseCulture #decolonize

A few more thoughts on this so I don't lose them. I could ...

2025-11-12T20:34:38Z

A few more thoughts on this so I don't lose them. I could write this better if I took the time, but I just want it out there. In terms of decolonizating and unpacking the racism embedded in Mormonism...

Growing up Mormon gave me a deep perspective of whiteness as a cult taken to an extreme. Some of Mormonism's weirdest features shine a light on how certain mechanisms function in larger society for upholding oppression via whiteness.

Profanity isn't fixed. What's considered obscene changes over the centuries and cultures. In Shakespeare's time, the most profane things were Christian blasphemes. "Zounds," a fakeswear today, back then was the worst. (It means "God's wounds.") "Shit, fuck" type words were not actually very shocking, though they were considered low class.

So we can learn about what a society values by looking at what terms they consider off limits.

When I grew up, it was the seven deadly words (like shit, ass, fuck — see George Carlin) in mainstream American society, and in Mormonism, anything that hinted at them (like sex, fart, and poopy).

That's changed, and now in most of America, slurs are the worst (words that hurt a class of people). Even young Mormons now will often say fuck and shit.

That list of words served a purpose. It created class and racial divisions. It sensitized people to reality. So if someone wanted to communicate something truly shocking (like abuse, violence, oppression), they'd have to first overcome that very sensitive line, regardless of what words they used.

It's like watching a cheap 50s horror movie when you've never ever seen horror, it will scare the shit out of you. But to anyone who has seen a lot of horror movies, it's cheesy and maybe even funny.

But offending a class of people that the dominant class had agreed was beneath respect? Was totally ok, with some exceptions (the n-word was still bad back then too).

[Minor edits, typos/clarity.]

🧵

#WhitenessIsACult #AbuseCulture #decolonize https://defcon.social/@corbden/115538553054639327

As a GenX exmormon, this new anti-profanity trend is wild to me. ...

2025-11-12T20:13:29Z

In reply to nevent1q…85t3
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As a GenX exmormon, this new anti-profanity trend is wild to me. And the censorship clamp-downs on YouTube and elsewhere.

Like, kids don't you know what we fought for and why? You don't want to go back to that world where everyone pretended to be civil. It's not better. Fight to keep it. The people who want us watching our words in that particular way want to hide the harms they're enabling or causing. I've never known anyone who clung at those pearls who actually meant well. They only want to hide from reality. We didn't get to the social justice woke phase of society until *after* we broke down those norms.

Piss people off with that shit, and proudly.

Homeschool alum here, too, also ND from a time before they knew ...

2025-11-10T17:58:19Z

In reply to nevent1q…49am
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Homeschool alum here, too, also ND from a time before they knew what to call it. (ADHD was called "hyperactive" and autism was called gifted/delinquent.) I've been in some fierce arguments with anti-homeschool people who were unable to both-and that it is a net good for some kids, even when it was used to somewhat religiously shelter me. I don't think it's an accident that we three found each other online, as at least for me, it changed how I think and learn.

I don't know the answers either. I'd like to see a revamp of the whole school system, designed to produce creative critical thinkers. I believe it is possible. I believe kids want to learn, naturally, if the curriculum style meets them where they are. It needs to be less rote and more curiosity-driven.

Plot of the Book of Mormon: The land in North America was empty ...

2025-11-07T20:42:37Z

In reply to nevent1q…edfx
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Plot of the Book of Mormon:

The land in North America was empty so God gave it to the Nephites because they were so righteous, but the wicked members of their family were cursed with dark skin for not listening to their father, so they split into two groups, with the dark skinned guys usually being the villains, but sometimes the white guys got *even more wicked than them*, and for that sin, they were genocided, and only the wicked dark-skinned ones were left and they became the wicked Native Americans which we must convert to the Truth so their skin can become white again, oh and it's good that we steal their land now because we're righteous like the Nephites and God promised it to us.

(The LDS Church now denies some of the harsher of these interpretations, but that's how I was raised and the content is *still in the book*.)

Manifest Destiny (from Wickedpedia):

'Manifest destiny was the imperialist belief in the 19th-century United States that American settlers were destined to expand westward across North America, and that this belief was both obvious ("manifest") and certain ("destiny"). The belief is rooted in American exceptionalism, romantic nationalism, and white nationalism, implying the inevitable spread of republicanism and the American way. It is one of the earliest expressions of American imperialism.

'According to historian William Earl Weeks, there were three basic tenets behind the concept:

'The assumption of the unique moral virtue of the United States.

'The assertion of its mission to redeem the world by the spread of republican government and more generally the "American way of life".

'The faith in the nation's divinely ordained destiny to succeed in this mission.'

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manifest_destiny

(Anyway, the manifest imperial overlords say I need to work to survive, so I need to stop thinking about this now and go make money.)

#WhitenessIsACult #exmo #exmormon #ReligiousTrauma

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