donuts @ donuts @kbin.social

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2 yr. ago

There are plenty of things that people do every day that contribute to the potential spreading of diseases, from every kind of sex to not wearing a mask when you're sick.

To single out anal sex as a sign that homosexuality is immoral (despite the fact that vaginal sex can also spread diseases, and despite the fact that anal sex is not exclusive to gay people) is a sign that the person you're talking to is biased and arguing in bad faith.

Ethically speaking, if someone wants to live by a moral system that differentiates between right and wrong based on the potential to spread disease, then that's fine, but that logic still needs to be coherent and apply to all things, not just selectively to things that they dislike.

But anyway, if they're sophists, you probably aren't going to convince them. If you have to engage with that shit, then your best bet is probably the socratic method: ask them targeted questions to poke holes in their flawed logic until they back themselves into a corner. You know what they're saying doesn't make any sense, so simply asking them questions which reveal more contradictions will force them to adjust or abandon their position.

I'm not sure that getting your "news" from random TikToks is any better...

Here's an excerpt from the very beginning of Biden's speech two weeks ago:

In the winter of 1777, it was harsh and cold as the Continental Army marched to Valley Forge. General George Washington knew he faced the most daunting of tasks: to fight and win a war against the most powerful empire that existed in the world at the time.

His mission was clear. Liberty, not conquest. Freedom, not domination. National independence, not individual glory.

America made a vow. Never again would we bow down to a king.

And here's an except from Trump's speech from his most recent rally just a few days ago:

By the way, they never report the crowd on January 6. You know, Nikki Haley, Nikki Haley, Nikki Haley … did you know they destroyed all of the information, all of the evidence, everything, deleted and destroyed all of it? All of it, because of lots of things, like Nikki Haley is in charge of security, we offered her 10,000 people, soldiers, national guards, whatever they want. They turned it down.

Biden is old, just like Trump. Nobody denies that. But surely you aren't trying to "both sides" this one by equating the two mentally or physically, right?

I wasn't trying to imply that. I've edited my post to reflect that I'm speaking generally. Sorry.

Personally I think that asexual people also benefit from sex-positivity and an honest discussion about the wide variety of forms of sexual expression. When we stop treating sex as some dirty taboo thing, and when we start accepting that everybody wants something different out of it (or maybe doesn't want it at all), I think it becomes easier to understand that all different kinds of people exist with different relationships to sex. That's not only OK, but a good thing.

A lot of social ills have come from the idea that people who express different forms of sexuality are wrong, gross, bad, sinful, mentally ill, etc. The sooner we move past that flawed and harmful concept, the better, in my opinion.

Make no mistake, even if he loses the popular vote, Trump is going to take getting reelected as some kind of mandate to act as a dictator and do whatever he wants with the full power of the US government and military behind him.

Democracy will not survive another 4 years of this increasingly unhinged husk of a moron.

We were doing so well in realising that all human beings are worthy individuals with emotional and intellectual depth, yet now so many of us don’t seem to see any problem with society encouraging many to reduce themselves to sexual objects.

Human beings, like most other animals and plants, are fundamentally sexual beings.

It's good to value emotions and intellect, of course, but even before all of that comes the primitive basis of sexuality, sensual and sensory pleasure, and the propagation of species. Sex (with others or by yourself) is just as much a natural and core part of the human experience as eating, drinking, sleeping, and so on, and embracing sexual freedom and sex-positivity is in no way incompatible with emotional balance, intellectualism, or any other meaningful pursuit.

As such, masturbation or pornography aren't inherently bad or problematic in any way.

There are absolutely potential problems surrounding pornography, like human trafficking, but those issues are separate things that can and should be treated and handled as distinct. We have the tools as a society to deal with human trafficking and sexual violence, and we can do it without throwing sexual freedom and bodily autonomy under the bus.

In my view the last thing we should do as a society is to continue to engage in mindless sex-negativity, which has a long documented history of direct ties to the persecution of women and LGBTQ+ sexual minorities, as well as needlessly shaming people (sometimes to the point of inflicting real psychological damage) for exploring the full space of sexual possibilities by themselves or with consenting partners. Like everything else, ethics, responsibility, moderation and legality are things to consider, but you can do all of that while still being sex-positive and open minded about personal sexual liberty.

Changing the way you think about and practice sexuality (your own, others, and in general) allows you to know yourself and others in a more intimate, authentic and human way.

Well if you really want me to buy even more shit online (let's be real, from Amazon) this is a good way to do it.

At best I don't like small talk or dealing with other people through meaningless interactions. At worst I might have minor social anxiety. I hugely prefer to just walk into a shop, grab what I need, check myself out, and leave.

At this point I'm also just as fast (if not faster) than the paid cashiers and baggers (who need and deserve chairs or stools by the way).

So yeah, if self checkout goes away, I'm buying as much stuff online as possible and generally making fewer trips to the store.

I can only imagine being so brainwashed to believe that the Houthis harassing, threatening and attacking one of the biggest international trade routes on Earth, while indiscriminately targeting ships from various countries and ignoring multiple warnings from the UN, Britain and the US, is in any way legitimate.

They attacked civilian ships, they were warned not to, they didn't stop attacking civilian ships, and now they've been retaliated against as promised. Let's see if they're smart enough to finally stop fucking with international civilian trade ships.

Do you think America enforces sanctions against Russia by attacking their civilians?

Follow up, do you have a clue how anything in the world actually works?

The terrorist Houthis in Yemen, like Hamas, are backed by Iran--all three of which have individually called for the genocide and annihilation of Israel.

Last week America gave the Houthis one final warning (after multiple others) to knock off their piracy and hijacking of international trade routes.

Instead of widely heeding that warning, they made the very stupid decision to call America's bluff. As the saying goes "fuck around, find out."

By the way, Iran is also an authoritarian Islamic theocracy in which women are subjugated, homosexuality is subject to persecution, and freedom of expression is nonexistent. They represent the model of a Muslim State under Sharia religious law, back Islamic terrorist groups in various parts of the world, are creating instability in the region (like the Oct 7 attacks and these trade route hijackings), and are generally not your friend no matter how much koolaid you drink or what medal you pick up in the mental gymnastics Olympics.

So the Houthis get carte blanche to attack international trade routes because something someone Israel?

Hard to believe we're still making people this dumb. Darwin must have gotten something wrong.

You should be mad that Israel is getting weapons when Ukraine isn't.

But not at Biden.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-senate-sets-test-vote-ukraine-aid-despite-republican-opposition-2023-12-06/

When it comes to Gaza...

There is no US President, real or hypothetical, who would stop military support of Israel in the wake of the October 7th attacks. And there is no US President, real or hypothetical, who is going to call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza before every last Israeli hostage is accounted for.

Biden's policies on Israel so far are not far even from someone as left as Bernie Sanders, because rational minds understand that there is no simple solution to middle east peace, nor has there ever been.

We'd all like to see Hamas release their hostages, and Israel to release those who have been held without due process. We'd all like to see an end to the violence and hostility, and an end to the era where both Israel and Palestine are under the control of fascist authoritarian regimes. Sadly it's not as simple as sending Jared Kushner over or whatever delusional shit Americans want to come up with next.

I'd love to see every last dollar of the US defense budget go to whooping Putin's ass in Ukraine, but that's also not very realistic.

Oh I can fault him for things today as well

Go on.

It's kind of crazy that you had to go back to 1994 to find something concrete to criticize Biden for.

I guess we've arrived at the part where a bunch of low-information lemmings come to say that Biden is bad for striking Houti terrorists who have been attacking and hijacking international shipping lanes, after being warned multiple times over the last weeks to stop. Boo fucking hoo.

Pro tip: when the US military gives you a "final warning" to knock off your shit, maybe listen.

I don't really get it, what's even to "hate" about Biden in the first place?

People trash on him for ending the war in Afghanistan, because I guess we're all supposed to act surprised that the Taliban just walked right back in and took power even though that's what every expert was saying was going to happen even before the war started. Last time I checked, we all wanted the forever wars in Iraq and Afganistan to end.

Republicans trash him for giving arms and spending money on Ukraine, even though they're the victim of Russian imperialist aggression.

People trashed on him for not calling for a ceasefire on Hamas, until he did call for it and it happened, after which people trashed on him because the war just started back up because neither Hamas nor Netenyahu were willing or able to back off. Biden didn't start the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, nor was he the first or only US President to arm Israel (who are one of our only allies in the area), nor did he move the pieces that initiated this round of post-Oct 7th fighting, so it's frankly the world's biggest stretch to blame him for it.

And so now people want to trash on him for bombing the Houtis, who are terrorists who have been openly pirating ships on key global trade routes, and who have been warned multiple times that they would face retaliation if there were to continue doing it. We basically told these Houti morons "fuck around and find out" and now they're finding out so we all have to pretend to have bleeding hearts for him.

"Hating" Biden while the very real specter of Trump looms over the 2024 election is just nonsense to me.

I think it's really easy to overlook Ping Ping.

I didn't know or care about the sport at all going in, but the show presented it in such a way that you can't help get invested in the characters. On top of that it's just a excellently told story with a lot of good drama, and I think it says a lot about people and their relationship to sports/hobbies/art/etc. I hope other people will give it a try. :)

Cowboy Bebop - Tank
Trigun - HT
Neon Genesis Evangelion - Cruel Angel's Thesis
Lupin III Part 2 - Opening 1 bad video but best i could find sadly...
City Hunter - Love, Don't Leave Me
Ping Pong the Animation - Tada Hitori
The Tatami Galaxy - Maigoinu to Ame no Beat
Gunbuster - OP
Samurai Champloo - Battlecry
Re: Cutie Honey - Cutie Honey Theme
Paranoia Agent - OP
Macross - OP
Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann - Sorairo Days
Detective Conan - OP1 or OP3
Nadia the Secret of Blue Water - Blue Water
Dragon Ball Z - Cha La Head Cha La
Death Note - OP1
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure Part 2 - OP

I could probably do more...

Now, endings are another story...

I thought GWB was so fucking stupid and bad (and he really was both stupid and bad) that the Republicans would never win again without completely moderating and modernizing their party. Boy was I wrong... Trump took it in an even stupider and worse direction, to the point where the GOP can barely maintain even the thinnest veneer of fake enthusiasm for democracy and "American values" anymore. This dude's lawyer is in court this week arguing that the president has total authority to have political rivals assassinated...

The lesson I've learned is that the Republicans can always get worse. There's no rock bottom and I genuinely worry about what new lower breed of shithead scumbag they'll come up with next.