See, this disingenuous argument works better when you just generalize it, because when you get into specifics it looks very different. Example:

Step 1: label the people that hold the belief that ‘trans people are subhuman trash that need to be excised from society by violence if necessary’ as intolerant

Step 2: skip diplomacy because they refuse to engage in actual conversation

Step 3: use force on them because they are actually attacking trans people.

Although really even parts 2 & 3 are disingenuous, because there are plenty of examples of people trying to engage the intolerant in debate, far beyond what would really be reasonable even. And you’ll also notice that force is rarely, if ever, used against those intolerant folks either, even as they use force, even deadly force.

Hell, even the law won’t do more than slap their wrists in many cases. I use trans people as an example because until recently, ‘I went on a date with this lady and then found out she was trans, and I was so shocked I killed her’ was an actual legitimate legal defense and several people used it. If we’re being pedantic, that defense is still perfectly acceptable at the national level, as several bills banning it have been introduced, but none have been passed.

I’m sure people said that about passenger pigeons too at one point.

Huh, your slur got removed. Didn’t realize World did that, thought it was just ml or something.

I mean, you did kinda leave yourself open for that one.

See, Britain just needs Ugly Laws, like what America had up until 1974! Then they could just have the guy arrested!

In all seriousness what the fuck. What goes through a person’s head that they think treating someone that way is even remotely okay?

If you’re into cooking, history, or both, Tasting History with Max Miller is great. Lots of wonderful history, from the common to the obscure. He works hard to find primary sources for every story he shares, as well as calling out fake stories. He also corrects himself when he gets something wrong. And the recipes are fascinating!

Been getting into Bonsai Mirai lately. Very educational, in-depth videos about how to do Bonsai, with tips for everyone from a beginner to an expert. Also very relaxing to watch.

‘Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?’

I first saw it as ‘coop’ and immediately thought, ‘hell yes, I’d support a community-owned coop, but only if there were lots of fluffy chickens and a 24/7 camera on them’.

Then I realized what you really meant. Which I’m also not opposed to, if it was set up well.

People following the story of a former Olympic runner: First time?

They’re doing it too much though. Lots of onroads are being forced to work 10-14 hour days, multiple days in a row. They cut support staff so those few people have to do more.

And they’re not firing/retaining by who does a good job or who has more skills. They’re doing it randomly. One guy I know, one of the best dispatchers in his center, got kicked out because they drew lots on who to fire.

This person helpfully provided links.

Also, the ASPCA says it doesn’t work. You know, the guys who’s job it is to look after the health and safety of pets?

Give me actual long-term scientific studies that say cats can go vegan and we can talk. Otherwise, we’re done.

It doesn’t work. No study shows it does, save for a few poorly-done ones paid for by vegan think-tanks, and even those are ambiguous. Maybe one day we will manage it, but right now we can’t.

The problem here is they need specific molecules. A vegan diet does not give cats those correct necessary molecules.

Okay, so this is just factually wrong.

Putting oxygen in a tank is necessary for the health of the fish. Feeding a cat meat is necessary for the health of the cat.

It’s also a false equivalence.

There is no workaround for oxygenating fish tanks; we don’t find something that ‘might work as well as oxygen’ according to poorly done studies. We just give them oxygen, the thing they actually need to live.

Wow, downvoting a serious medical condition. Some people need to touch grass.

Holy catfish, though, to some of the other stuff in there.

The Jan. 3, 2020, prayer was led by televangelist and White House spiritual adviser Paula White. She later came under fire after remarks she made about “satanic pregnancies” and miscarriages. Her words were: “We command all satanic pregnancies to miscarry right now.”

Then later she complains she was ‘taken out of context’. Sweetheart, I’m not sure that would be a rational statement even in context.

Overly Sarcastic Productions did a great little piece on him and his work a while back.

On February 8, 1975, following the lineups, police arrested Simmons and Roberts, and they were charged with capital murder. However, Simmons testified that on December 30, 1974, he was in Harvey, Louisiana and spent the day playing pool with friends. His alibi was confirmed by four witnesses.

In January 2023, Simmons’s attorneys Joseph Norwood and John Coylefiled filed an amended application for post-conviction relief which cited the failure of the prosecution to disclose the police report which said that Brown had initially identified other two men and noted that in fact Brown had identified four other individuals during the eight lineup procedures. The motion also noted that in addition to the four witnesses who testified at the trial that Simmons was in Harvey, there were two other witnesses present who were to testify similarly but they did not after Simmons’s defense lawyer denied their testimony as cumulative. The petition included affidavits from five more people who said that they saw Simmons in Harvey at the time of the crime.

So convicted despite plenty of eyewitnesses saying he was somewhere else at the time. In addition, even the trial prosecutor thought he may have been wrongfully convicted:

In 1995, Robert Mildfelt, the trial prosecutor, wrote a letter to Simmons saying that the only witness [Brown] who identified him had wanted to think about the identification “overnight.” He wrote that Brown had described Simmons as more than six feet tall and over 200 pounds, “a physical description greatly different from Mr. Simmons [sic] stature at the time.

No word on why he put the man on trial with no evidence putting him at the scene and plenty of evidence putting him miles away. But really, we can all guess the reason.

Honestly? More education (and possibly more exposure) and less fetishization, although I’m not quite sure how to achieve the second one.

Back when my parents were in school, schools had shooting teams (my high school apparently had an award-winning women’s team), and my dad even brought a gun to school once to show to a teacher (it was an older gun and the teacher was a gun collector). They spent the whole of lunch period talking about how cool that old gun of grandpa’s was.

Because back then a gun was just a tool, and one more people had access to, since a lot of people were still out on the farm and such. My dad learned from a young age that guns were dangerous, and how to properly handle them, and pretty much all his classmates did too.

But then the Republicans started the, ‘we have to regulate!’ and the ‘but think of the children!’ nonsense because that was when the Black Panthers started going around armed, and a bunch of white people were suddenly uncomfortably aware that minorities could defend themselves from racial violence if they wanted to.

And then the Republican Party turned around and started making guns an ‘identity’ thing, so suddenly they became a symbol of Republican so-called ‘values’, and people began obsessing over them like they were rare jewels or some such nonsense. It didn’t help that the Democrats were happy to jump on the bandwagon as the ‘we’re totally against guns so you can tell we’re different from them!’ group to provide a pearl-clutching counterpoint.

And so now we’ve got, well, all the fetishized and forbidden-fruit bullshit. Guns are kind of seen almost like cigarettes on steroids: the cool and dangerous thing that all the rebels and ‘strong independent types’ have.

I’m a bit In despair as to how to get us to stop doing that. Certainly other nations, like Switzerland, have lots of guns and gun access and don’t have our problems. But they definitely don’t build identities around firearms either.

Edit to add: of course Switzerland has actual functional health care, including mental health care, so I imagine that helps.

They’ve done studies, and have found that guard rails actually make the problem worse. Gives people a sense of security and a false sense of bravado.