@raccoon@writing.exchange
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raccoon

@raccoon@writing.exchange

I write punk lyrics, hard sci-fi, and dark fantasy. I used to work in politics, multiple angles, so I also write about that. This is my account for posting art/writing/politics stuff.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

raccoon, to random
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"Who am I to judge?"

  • Pope Francis
raccoon, to random
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"How can you have , , and , and depict them all as potentially good and heroic characters? Where is the mythological precedent for that?"

:

raccoon,
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...to be clear here, I think the idea is that they're like... Christian or something. Like, they're trying to live in line with what is good and natural, while the Lilith-inspired White Witch and her followers are trying to subvert the natural order for evil...

's nonfictional takes on and are fascinating reads, and I highly recommend people look into them to see where philosophy peaked before its final decline.

raccoon,
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(Also, Satyrs, Minotaurs, and Centaurs are ballin.)

raccoon, to news
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BREAKING : Unconfirmed reports that had a heart attack last night.

Entire world, and included crossing fingers, hoping he doesn't recover, and perhaps even dies. , PLEASE DIE.

https://www.skynews.com.au/world-news/global-affairs/reports-vladimir-putin-suffered-a-suspected-cardiac-arrest/video/4a44c6cf8038a45aa4aa29570b30e234

raccoon, to music
@raccoon@writing.exchange avatar

When critiquing older , we have to remember that novelty is relative to time. The post- era has seen rapid development of the medium, with new sounds being developed constantly. We may no longer appreciate the constant of the 80s or the of the 70s, but at the time, these were sounds that had never been heard before, and musicians were experimenting.

Yeah, 90% or what's on the radio has always been garbage, but it's new and interesting garbage.

evan, (edited ) to random
@evan@cosocial.ca avatar

Should I have a happy birthday?

raccoon,
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@evan
Only if you want to.

golgaloth, to worldbuilding
@golgaloth@writing.exchange avatar

Remember, your antagonists are probably trying to fix something that's broken. They're just making it worse. What is broken about your society? Why might your antagonists feel that something is broken when it isn't?

raccoon,
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@golgaloth
What if "what's wrong with the world" is "it exists"?

georgetakei, to random

Donald Trump is in court again today, facing a civil trial that could cost him his business empire. Trump, his sons, and his company stand accused of falsely inflating property value prices in order to obtain favorable loans.

raccoon,
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@freemo @cjd @georgetakei
> he raped a few people
As young as 12, allegedly, but you know, peer pressure can be tough, especially when you're trying to impress a cool guy like Jeffery Epstein.

But yeah, I would agree that the words have been devalued: when evil Nazis show up, everyone is afraid to refer to them as evil Nazis, we have to water down the language to things like "Alt Right" or "MAGA", despite the fact that they are clearly evil, and despite the fact that their "ideas" are Naziism.

evan, (edited ) to random
@evan@cosocial.ca avatar

On Election Day 2024, which of these people will be on the ballot in half the states or more?

raccoon,
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@fredbrooker @evan
This is why we need to keep supporting efforts to undermine the party system and First Past The Post.

(Though to be fair, Joe Biden is actually a good president, and the mainstream media is just not reporting on it, so we also need to undermine that, hence why Mastodon/Fedi is a good project)

raccoon,
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@fredbrooker @evan
I don't necessarily disagree that we need to see more politicians below retirement age, simply because there's a strong lack of representation for anyone who isn't going to die in the next couple decades, or even has to wait to collect social security instead of having to work, but that's a systemic problem, a demographic problem, not a problem of Joe Biden.

We're asking your issue with Joe Biden himself. Objectively speaking, he's getting the job done.

raccoon,
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@fredbrooker @freemo @evan
But Biden isn't senile. There's no evidence of serious mental decline. He's acting as he always has.

Remember, Trump was the source of the idea that Biden is suffering from age-related conditions, repeating a lie until it's forced into discussion is basically his primary tactic in undermining democracy and rule-of-law. The stability-hostile mainstream media repeats it because Biden has been effective and stable, the opposite of Trump.

raccoon, to random
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Well, looks like are gonna do another .

Reminder that this only ever happens when they control the house, and they even did it under Trump. It's a result of partisanship in an environment where a chunk of one party wants to overthrow democracy / rule of law: even as a small minority within the house, they have this amplified power because the party has to either surrender to them or give in and work across the aisle.

golgaloth, (edited ) to writing
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You can really step up the drama by having a weird relative come to visit.

raccoon,
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@golgaloth
That's just nanny goat, she's real cuddly once you get to know her.

evan, (edited ) to random
@evan@cosocial.ca avatar

One thing that I don't like about Mastodon is that I can't edit the replies to my post.

So, if someone replies to something I said with a non sequitur, the only way I can remove it is by blocking the replier.

It'd be nice to remove the reply without blocking the replier.

UPDATE: I'm aware that JWZ wrote a blog post about something similar; it is not helpful in this case; I don't need the link again, thanks.

raccoon,
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@freemo @evan
Not only that, but replies are posts, part of another person's timeline.

If someone is posting non-sequitors though, you should use the report button, see if server mods will do something about it. I know there have actually been server blocks for that, simply because it's a way for people from the Neo-Nazi servers to be disruptive.

raccoon,
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@freemo @evan
You misunderstand. Neo-Nazi servers were blocked because admins investigated them. Individual users got warnings and blocks for doing that from otherwise innocuous servers.

raccoon,
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@freemo @evan
Which is why I'm telling you to report it, if you think it's either spam or purposeful disruption. Give the mods of both servers an opportunity to look that over and decide if something should be done. For all you know, it's some sort of automated spam account that's slipped beneath the radar.

raccoon,
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@freemo @evan
I usually ask them about it to give them a chance to prove they're not just a spammer.

raccoon,
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@freemo @evan
I would.

By reporting it you are bringing it to the attention of the moderation team, that someone is making these non-sequitur comments, giving them a heads up that they should go look at this person's activity.

raccoon,
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@freemo @evan
I will consider what you have said, because I see your point.

All I am saying is, on Tech Hub, I would rather people click the report button, because I would rather look at reports that didn't need to be made than find weeks of mildly disruptive activity from a troll account I'd never seen, and I would rather have a chance to go send a PM to someone who isn't interacting well for whatever reason.

Different styles I guess.

raccoon,
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@freemo @evan
Oh, of course, I'm not even saying every weird thing should be reported, I'd just rather people err on the side of letting the mod-team know what's up.

georgetakei, to random

When a top ranking official has accepted money or gifts in exchange for influence, that official should resign or be removed. This would apply to Joe Biden, if there were evidence. This should apply to Sen. Menendez. And it should definitely apply to Justice Clarence Thomas.

raccoon,
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@georgetakei
It should apply to Ken Paxton.

aphyr, to random
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I generally try to stay out of Fediverse drama, but I think at this point it's necessary to speak up. Please be polite, careful, and kind in your replies.

Maintaining a large-scale public blocklist is a tough job. It's not just aggregation: you're engaged (implicitly or explicitly) in source selection and weighting, data cleaning, statistical modeling, evidence collation, developing a controlled vocabulary, tracing data provenance, appeals, and metamoderation.

raccoon,
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@aphyr
And remember, not everyone has to use the same block list. We've always had some instances that people felt blocked too many places and other instances that people felt blocked too easily. If a block list seems overzealous to you, just tell your admin you would rather they not use it, and if they do, move to a different instance.

Mastodon.Social is one of the most blocked instances, yet the content still circulates.

This is literally why I moved from .Art to WritingExchange.

brennansv, to random
@brennansv@sfba.social avatar

Will Drew Barrymore be banned for life from acting ever again after her actions this past week? So far I have not seen a definitive call from SAG organizers. Another consequence is no writers or actors would be guests on her show if it does come back. I am expecting the show is over now.

https://press.coop/@NPR/111082894742174333

raccoon,
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@brennansv @katrinakatrinka
She's already received a reprimand, but let's remember, she hasn't actually crossed the picket line at this point: she seemed to be about to, then backed out before actually doing it. That's the real thing they don't want anyone doing, as much as the waffling can be bad from morale.

It's Bill Maher who is probably going to be kicked out of the union and actively undermined from this point forward, though I'm not sure where his career was at this point.

Radical_EgoCom, to random

Ending Capitalism isn't enough

raccoon,
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@Radical_EgoCom
Partial disagreement: if democracy supplanted capitalism, we could rein in the short-term profit chasing that has led to environmental destruction and the capitalism power structures which have undermined efforts to curtail it.

Both Anarchism and Democracy offer solutions. Capitalism doesn't though.

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