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.

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raccoon, to psychology

#Psychology #HotTake:
They should make a #horror movie based on the infamous "#SexRaft" #experiment. Don't change anything, just focus in real hard on the scientist running it as he goes further and further off the deep end when his test subjects keep having fun on the raft instead of trying to murder each other.

#Science #History #Humor

flexghost, to random
@flexghost@mastodon.social avatar

Kyle Rittenhouse is being sued by the estate of the mentally disturbed man Rittenhouse shot four times and killed.

Rittenhouse’s response:

“These lawsuits are making it harder and harder for me to move on with my life”

The amount of cope white men feel after doing something horrible could power a city

Do you know what else makes it hard to move on with your life?

Being murdered

raccoon,

@flexghost
So, let me get this straight, he becomes a millionaire in right wing donations for going to another state to run around a protest with a gun, shooting someone, then shooting two other people who were trying to stop him from shooting people, and he feels like his life is the one being ruined?

kathhayhoe, to random

45 climate scientists were asked what we thought of this years' climate disasters. Here are the highlights.

We all pretty much agree that "despite it certainly feeling as if events had taken a frightening turn, global heating to date is entirely in line with 3 decades of scientific predictions. But being proved right is cold comfort, as our warnings had so far been largely in vain."

"Climate science’s projections are pretty robust over the last decades. Unfortunately, humanity’s stubbornness to spew out ever higher amounts of greenhouse gases has also been pretty robust." @meinshausen

"What we are seeing this year is just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak, of what we expect to happen,” says Natalie Mahowald, and "this will become the average summer in 10 years’ time unless the world cooperates and puts climate action top of the agenda" adds Piers Forster.

As Gavin Schmidt said previously, we are not surprised, but we are shocked. Krishna AchutaRao agrees, adding that "the impacts are frighteningly more impactful than I – and many climate scientists I know – expected.”

As a result, psychological distance is decreasing. “I do think we are hitting a tipping point in global consciousness,” I said. “Nearly everyone can now point to someone or somewhere they love that is being affected by wildfire smoke, heat extremes, flooding, and more.”

And we all agree about what needs to be done. “We need to stop burning fossil fuels,” says Fredi Otto. “Now."

  • By "we," we mean starting with the biggest emitters. As Paola Arias says, "We need a just + equitable transition. A very small % of the population is responsible for most greenhouse gas emissions.” [specifically, Oxfam finds that the richest 1% produce 2x the carbon of the poorest 50%]

Read:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/aug/28/crazy-off-the-charts-records-has-humanity-finally-broken-the-climate?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

raccoon,

@kathhayhoe @meinshausen
> "humanity’s stubbornness to spew out ever higher amounts of greenhouse gases has also been pretty robust."

I hate when they say this, because it's a mischaracterization of the central issue. "Humanity", as a whole, has not been stubborn at all about it: we've been fighting it my entire life. A small group of people with too much money have been pouring billions of dollars every year into an entirely synthesized effort to stop us.

The rich did this, not humanity.

jsrailton, to random
@jsrailton@mastodon.social avatar

deleted_by_author

    •
    raccoon,

    @jsrailton
    Picture of a hero in the middle of a heroic action.

    timbray, to random
    @timbray@cosocial.ca avatar

    Seen that fucking picture enough times already. I think it deserves a CW, it is a carefully constructed expression of hate.

    raccoon,

    @timbray
    Agreed. It's important news, but at the end of the day, if people want to see it they've already seen it.

    raccoon, to politics

    IDK why it's so on my mind this morning, but I'm thinking about the people who claim to believe (without evidence) that Donald somehow won the 2020 despite being wildly unpopular and clearly not winning. It's bothered me for years that it seems like these people really cannot be negotiated or reasoned with, on the sheer basis that they are making the claim that they believe something that they can't believe in good faith...

    thread...

    raccoon,

    I'm thinking about how, when we look at groups making claims, we see them scrambling to put forward evidence, to find new ways to explain that evidence, to talk about why they believe the thing rather than just saying they believe it. If we look at , for example, they are constantly putting out diagrams and websites and explanations, trying to convince us with facts and reason that the earth is flat.

    That's a good faith belief.

    (cntd)

    raccoon,

    I don't see that happening with Trump supporters claiming that the Democrats somehow magically changed literally every indicator that was taken in 2020 that Biden won the election. I just see them repeating the central claim, that the election was rigged, like some sort of , but never talking about the evidence.

    And this is where I feel like negotiation isn't possible, as much as and the insist there are "two sides"...

    (cntd)

    raccoon,

    How do you negotiate with someone, in a democracy, who's only argument is that your votes shouldn't count? Who refuses to even speak on a level of trying to convince you that they even believe the thing they are saying? Who threatens violence before even entertaining the notion that perhaps the obvious happened rather than the thing that has no evidence?

    I just don't see a path forward with these people, as much as I desperately want there to be one.

    Change my mind

    georgetakei, to random

    Are we just going to ignore the fact that Biden let Hurricane Hillary hit California when he could have used a Sharpie to move it out to sea safely?

    raccoon,

    @georgetakei
    George "Hard-Hitter" Takei here asking the REAL questions!

    Teri_Kanefield, to random

    deleted_by_author

    •
    raccoon,

    @Teri_Kanefield
    My guess is this is both stalling and propaganda. He's tying up the judge's time by forcing them to restate a fact of the matter, but in the meantime, he and his cronies have this legal document they can wave around claiming it's not legitimate because Georgia is trying to prosecute them for doing their jobs or whatever.

    It reminds me of the tactic when police officers commit crimes, then try to hide behind qualified immunity, but fail because their job isn't to commit crimes.

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

    How often do you make your thoughts known to your elected representatives?

    raccoon,

    @evan
    I mean, this is what I tell people. Not only are they not receiving a huge amount of mail, but they know who's sending them a ton of mail, and they know which ones of those people voted and who didn't. That's why I register as whatever party regularly wins local elections, and make sure to turn in a ballot, even if it's blank, for every election.

    Sending a message or letter on an issue, even if it's one of many, is going to stand out, because someone is paid to read them.

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

    "Public officials should not prosecute their political rivals."

    raccoon,

    @evan
    This is highly dependent on what we mean.

    Do we mean the government, when semi-controlled by one party, should not prosecute a member of the minority party, ever? (As in, the DOJ under Biden prosecuting Trump)

    Or, what we already have in the US, the president can't be involved in the prosecution of his own political rival? (As in, how Biden is completely refused from the Trump prosecution)

    I see people trying to use this both ways and getting very confused, but I'm going to say no.

    raccoon,

    @evan
    And to clarify...

    President Biden is not prosecuting former President Trump. Anyone who thinks Biden is involved in that prosecution is simply misinformed.

    The DOJ, which Biden technically oversees, has independently decided to prosecute Trump, and recruited members of The Republican party to handle the investigation and prosecution. Biden isn't allowed to be part of that.

    So no, Biden is NOT "prosecuting his political rival".

    raccoon,

    @evan
    Yes. I actually posted about them.

    is clearly being persecuted for his opposition to Putin overthrowing the democracy and becoming a dictator.
    His prosecution has no place in a democracy.

    basically did what Trump did: lost the election on fair terms, then attempted to overthrow the democracy and install himself as a dictator. For a democracy to exist, it must prosecute this kind of behavior.

    raccoon,

    @evan
    There's also , The former president of Ukraine, and known Putin conspirator, voted out after attempting to join the Russian Union against the will of the people, who has spent the last 10 years attempting to collapse the democracy of Ukraine and working for Putin's interests. His recent sentence, in absentia, for high treason, isn't just necessary for democracy to continue in Ukraine, but for rule of law itself.

    raccoon,

    @evan
    Once again though, these are not prosecutions of political rivals. , , and are not being prosecuted under the authority of a political rival, nor are they being prosecuted for being a political rival.

    They are being prosecuted by independent government officials for undermining rule of law and attempting to overthrow the democracy itself.

    raccoon,

    @evan
    I think we should be following each other.

    maxim, (edited ) to mastodon
    @maxim@mastodon.gamedev.place avatar

    Hello game developers 🧐

    If you are planning or thinking about your next project, how much time do you plan to spend on it?

    ⭐ Please write in the comments more details

    raccoon,

    @maxim
    Hoping to have this point and click out by the end of the year...

    GatekeepKen, to random
    @GatekeepKen@mastodon.social avatar
    raccoon,

    @GatekeepKen

    1. This should really have a caption if you're going to show news like this as an image.
    2. Can we get more context on this? What groups? When was this?
    raccoon, to queer

    Random ...

    was in a 40 year lesbian relationship with a journalist, , who was apparently her exclusive partner after president died. Before was president, this was considered exotic, but not important enough to report. After FDR died, it was considered too scandalous to report, as cold-war era anti-LGBTQ sentiment had begun. It was revealed in letters long after they'd all died.

    Just some for y'all.

    raccoon, to random

    How did I make the mistake of unfollowing @dgar??

    raccoon,

    @jaykass @dgar
    Suddenly want to add a cult of dgar to my fantasy setting...

    slcw, to random
    @slcw@newsie.social avatar

    Identifying as a and purchasing real estate on the presidential ballot gives insight into the campaign strategy: run as a Democrat while serving as the Trojan Horse.

    In true MAGA style, when questioned by Elizabeth Vargas at a event whether he’d pledge to support whoever wins the , said, "of course I’m not gonna do that.”

    Is writing his script?

    https://www.rawstory.com/trump-rfk-jr-new-hampshire-2663080959

    raccoon,

    @slcw
    Honestly, I'd like to see RFK present a serious primary challenge to Biden, not just because Biden would annihilate him handily, but because in doing so he would show a contrast that would remind people why he's currently the president before he even goes up against Trump again. (Assuming Trump is running this time next year)

    Radical_EgoCom, to random

    SAG/ WGA Strike Solidarity poster

    raccoon,

    @Radical_EgoCom
    Reminder that you should put captions on images like this, especially to describe the text, because some people are on text only interfaces, like screen readers or translators, and can't otherwise see or interpret this.

    MLPMemeArchive, to mylittlepony

    when did this happen

    raccoon,

    @MLPMemeArchive
    By the way, I know this is real old, but you should add captions to these memes when you post them, especially text heavy ones like this.

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