Gerard

@nlmtys @gailfinke @JoshPhillipsPhD Calling this a ban is histrionics.

@gailfinke @JoshPhillipsPhD But “they just aren’t available at the library anymore” is a ban, just not full governmental censorship. It removes a book from circulation in a community not because the book was degraded or the community didn’t need it but because someone deemed the ideas dangerous.

Short rant on the “banned book” debate: First, no books in the USA are banned. Books are sometimes challenged. Which ought to be expected in a country of 350 million people. The vast majority of these challenges are just parents who want “age restricted” access on certain books due to mature content. Adults can still access these books. Minors can ALSO still access these books, but it might require a parent’s permission. Note: this already happens with movies at libraries. Minors can’t check out R-rated movies. Some people think some books should have similar guidelines. You can disagree. But that’s hardly a ban. And you can still allow your child to read whatever. Some parents don’t want their kids to read certain things. Thats up to the parents. I’m not getting involved with how a parent raises their kids. When books are challenged, they might be removed from circulation while a review takes place. This is normal administrative procedure for libraries. Once a decision is made, they put the book back into circulation with or without age restrictions. I’ve only ever come across TWO actual bans (book being removed from a COLLECTION). And both were quickly reversed because of backlash and legal threats. 1. In 2019, Plano TX library removed “Holy Terror” (graphic novel; think super hero content) from its collection (!) A true ban. Muslim groups in the community didn’t like that it depicted Islamic terrorists. They claimed it created anti-Muslim views. The library removed it from the collection (an actual ban). Later reversed the decision. 2. In 2021, Chicago public libraries removed several Dr. Seuss books because of racist imagery and negative stereotypes (height of BLM protests). There was backlash and they reversed the decision. Now the library (and other libraries across the country) hold some of these books in Special Collections where patrons are given warnings about the offensive imagery and historical context. In all, there are no banned books in the USA. Sometime some books are age restricted or come with historical context warnings. But they are accessible to read. 📚 End.

@BMWx6Ber @ogc2025 @EOpsych Your failure to interpret a single two-letter word would be deeply embarrassing if you were not ESL.

@diverging_paths @ogc2025 @EOpsych

How? How on earth is eating meat cheaper than not eating meat? How?? No one will explain this! People keep saying it, but no one will explain 😭

hilarious chuddy-ass king overrides all of his underlings so that his message that billions must die may be properly heard

@vers_laLune The dubai chocolate food exists as keyword poisoning for the euphemism.

wait wait wait. dubai chocolate is a real thing? I thought that was a euphemism for what girls were doing to get first class flights

Thinking about learning Cantonese. Just seems a lot more interesting than Mandarin even if it has 1/10 the speakers.

@dannycantalk They should probably be taxed at a higher rate to properly price in their negative externalities.

Non-profit organizations are currently tax-exempt. This seems be based on the assumption that non-profits are an unalloyed good, unlike businesses. But many non-profits are harmful. And businesses provide essential goods and services. So why tax businesses but not non-profits?

@uncle_deluge I had this thought recently as well. I saw some people accuse Indian/African women of ragebaiting for elonbux by posting this stuff, but I would probably hate all men too if I was a woman who lived those places.

If you've been exposed to an inflammatory gender comment, before replying I implore you to stop and check the location. This woman is from South Asia. Very often it can be Africa. It is probably not unreasonable to hate "all men" if you live in India or Pakistan or Africa

@Empty_America This is also why it's not racist at large to have an effective crackdown on criminality.

There are a VERY small number of guys in the USA who will kill you for disrespecting them. Of this tiny group, quite a few are Black. But your average Black guy is actually very normal, has a job, is not especially hard or violent, etc. Ironically, Chud is demonstrating this.

@smallandwisea @EOpsych You've made no effort to address that cattle take advantage of marginal land which wouldn't be used otherwise. It also doesn't matter how few people can digest lactase since we process a lot of it to remove the lactase. Other animals would also drink milk if they could get it.

@diverging_paths @EOpsych 1/3 of the human population carry the enzyme capable of digesting lactose. at this scale, it doesn’t make sense. If we went back to a human population of 10 mil, sure. We can’t. So ur selfish. we are the only animal that consumes the milk of another mammal. it’s vile

@_Wilsonpilled_ Isn't this literally what happened with Napoleon III?

The peasants would vote for a trillion years of Bonapartism

"You're from Central Yharnam?" "BORN HERE" "What's life like in Yharnam?" "SHITHOLE" "Why do you say that?" "BEASTS ALL OVER THE SHOP... THEY'RE ALL ON BLOOD MINISTRATION" "has it gotten worse as the hunt's gone on?" "I PAY MY BLOOD ECHOES... BOLLOCKS TO THAT HEALING CHURCH"

@BMWx6Ber @ogc2025 @EOpsych Starting to believe you do genuinely struggle with reading comprehension since I never said anything like this nor is it even a reasonable conclusion from anything I've said.

@diverging_paths @ogc2025 @EOpsych if you think rice and beans aren’t nutrient dense because of an eu based food score you’re an idiot

@3xcalibaneur Something funny about the revolution is that it wasn't particularly popular. It was never able to attain even 50% support amongst colonists.

Yes, it was a revolution. No, it was not about the taxes themselves. No, the American Patriots were not all landowners, nor were they a particularly small group. It wasn’t a “stage managed war” and no, the British were certainly not asleep at the wheel.

Genuinely impressive to craft a post where not even a single part of it is even directionally correct.

@KenanPerry @EOpsych We weren't talking about selfish or immoral things though. A

@diverging_paths @EOpsych Most people would do more selfish and immoral things if they could, what's your point

@Phildeez7 I think most arguments for veganism actually make a better case for vegetarianism. I liked @anabology's writeup on why grass-fed milk is actually the most moral food to eat from a loss-of-life perspective, along with being far more nutritious. anabology.notion.site/Milk-Manifesto…

@diverging_paths I have not heard a sound argument for veganism, from a moral nor health perspective

I think one values gap between myself and the vegans I've been arguing with for the past 24 hours is that none of them value muscularity or athleticism as a part of health, so they can't really comprehend that rice and beans is an unacceptable way to get 100g+ of quality protein.

@smallandwisea @EOpsych You seem to have a general opposition to humans keeping any animals for breeding, since the "rape" part is true for basically any animal we selectively breed. Your latter claim is exaggerated. I have consumed an avg ~1.5L of milk per day for nearly a decade with no ill effects.

@diverging_paths @EOpsych Did you know we forcibly impregnate cows for milk, take their babies away, they cry for days, and then get raped again? Do you really think that’s worth a glass of milk? Milk so filled with hormones for cows that it makes us fat, gives women lumps, gives men man-boobs?

@Phildeez7 I mean, humans are basically just giant rats or pigs so we can survive on basically anything. However, animal products tend to have far more accessible nutrients for us. Why wouldn't we consume them if we could?

@diverging_paths we don't grow these canine teeth to eat beans and rice, they exist in a false reality

@smallandwisea @EOpsych It doesn't really matter if it can be extrapolated to every single person on earth since not every single person on earth will consume it, plus there's marginal land where livestock are the best use. Also, it's still extremely nutrient-dense even if it's not obligatory for us.

@diverging_paths @EOpsych Not possible for the amount of ppl on the planet. I’m getting really tired of saying this over and over to dense people who have never done a days research in their life. And no, it’s not nutrient dense, it is not for us, it is for baby cows. There is nothing in it we need

I think coffee is a lot tastier than tea but I will not lie: the l-theanine + caffeine effect is a lot nicer than coffee's smack in the face.