"The electorate doesn't want the truth, it wants answers in line with their thinking."

--CJ Cherryh,
THE VINDICATION (Cyteen, 3),
1988

Well, *that* certainly hasn't changed in 36 years. 😑

...If something happens that I can actually do something about, I'll hear about it through the people closest to me. But for my own mental and emotional health, I have to stop doomscrolling.

But Courtney, you ask, can't you avoid doomscrolling but still keep aware of daily headlines?

No, not really. I've tried that, and it doesn't work. Blame addictive tendencies, blame a sick form of escapism, blame whatever. It results in an all-or-nothing I can't seem to break out of.

2/3

Well, I've been mostly not paying attention to "news" for the past two weeks -- one because I was busy with book-publishing, two because I felt so much better emotionally as a result of not doomscrolling.

Over the past 2 days, I've checked back in with the collapse of civilization and see that it is continuing at a breakneck pace, just as expected.

I think I'm done for the foreseeable future. I'm done reading about it all, I'm done doomscrolling about it.

...
1/3

I'm taking care of *my* yard. My gate is closed to the autocrats, oligarchs, fascists, and supporters thereof. My gate is open to anyone who needs refuge from any of those.

In the meantime, I'm tending my yard and adhering to the Spider Robinson Principle:

"Shared pain is lessened; shared joy, increased--thus do we refute entropy."

I'll still be here. But expect a lot more book stuff, writing stuff, reading stuff, and cats.

Love you, fedizens. 🫶🖖

3/3

I wonder if doomscrolling is the opiate of the people

I know that I'm speaking from a position of privileged self-employment, but

if you're in a job where your resistance causes problems for the fascists

BE LIKE LUCY, Y'ALL.

"I can only assume that I will be fired, but at least this will do even just a smidge more than just shutting up and being a sheep."

--Lucy Welch

https://kottke.org/25/03/jd-vance-chastised-by-vermont-snow-reporter

#LucyWelch

Reminder: Donald Trump didn't reveal himself as a thug just this past Friday.

At the very *latest* he revealed himself as a thug on the day he was convicted on 34 felony counts.

He first exposed himself as a thug in 1973.

I held desperate hopes that Zelenskyy would refuse to give Putin what he wanted.

I couldn't imagine that he would, but I also knew the pressures he was going to face today.

And he stood up to them. He gave them nothing. In the face of their puerile, incandescent, narcissistic rage, he gave them nothing.

My respect for that man grew to extravagant proportions today.

#SlavaUkraini, President #Zelenskyy.

@GreenSkyOverMe Thank you for doing that! I was scrolling through comments, hoping someone had gotten to it before I could.

@GossiTheDog

@aral It's just another example of how Trump's every accusation is a confession.

@Gustodon @thomholwerda A lot of Americans know. But I'd say that shit has yet to hit the fans of the majority of us. There are still too many systems in place allowing most of the population to believe there's a glass panel between their fans and the monkeys throwing the shit.

But when those systems fail.... 🫤

Conversation about impending rise of #chocolate & #coffee prices led to convo with 12yo about #ClimateChange #ClimateDisaster #ClimateBurning.

her *incensed*: and nobody's doing anything about it!

me: well, they are. but the people doing something about it aren't as powerful as the people causing it

her: but don't they get that if the Earth goes to shit, then their businesses go to shit because there's nobody left to buy their shit?!

Out of the mouths of babes, y'all.

#6thGraderLife

@hannu_ikonen It's not just the fault of those in the medical field, though. It's also all politicians and voters who have not supported (or even filed) laws strictly prohibiting these conversion/"reeducation" camps.

We have *got* to mature as a species and deeply commit to no longer destroying each other.

@deliberately_me @tillshadeisgone I WANT WAFFLE FRIES

@inthehands

*watching the Enterprise go down in flames after Kirk destroys her to prevent the Klingons from taking the ship*

Kirk: My God, Bones. What have I done?

McCoy: What you had to do. What you always do. Turn death into a fighting chance to live.

#EverythingIveEverNeededToKnowILearnedFromStarTrek
#StarTrek
#StarTrekIII

'Morning, monsters.

Sally forth (or stay in) and do something kind today for someone who can't return the favor. Kindness is anti-capitalist, anti-fascist, and punk.

Be ungovernable.

🤘🖖🖤♥️🖤♥️🖤

But.

Polls close in 15 min.

As of 20 min ago, fewer than 160 people in our precinct had voted.

Dear Oklahoma-Cityans:

I don't wanna hear ANY complaining from non-voters about how things are run in this city. If you're eligible but didn't show up for an election *not* fucked over by an electoral college, you don't get to have an opinion about what the elected officials choose to do when in office.

Jiminy Christmas, people.

AREN'T YOU WATCHING THE NEWS SEEING WHAT NOT VOTING DOES?!?

2/2

Even when we feel crappy because of a post-flu secondary sinus infection, we still get out and #vote in local and special elections because they change our community.

One of our ballots was for the primary election of county commissioner. The final election will be in April. We need this to lead to major changes concerning the #OklahomaCountyJail, which one of the candidates called "the deadliest jail in the nation."

1/2

@futurebird This is the only thing that has truly surprised me over the past few weeks: the huge nr. of people in authority (employers, military commanders, etc.) who've turned out to be asshole bigots who were only implementing DEIA bc [the law] policy forced them to. The instant the [law] policy vanished, so did their willingness to include disabled/non-white/non-male people.

It shouldn't surprise me. But it does. I thought DEIA was welcome bc it *is* better for everyone. Even the assholes.

I don't like it that people refer to Elon Musk as "muskrat." It's an insulting defamation of innocent little muskrats.

I mean, they're so cute?!??? Look at her little gloves and tiny perfect nose?!????! 🥹🥰