Notices by Flick ?? (flick@spinster.xyz), page 3

@beliy_linolleum Did anyone say that they couldn’t? (Other than Putin / the church.)

They try to play down the significance of the populist revolt, claiming for example that the protesting farmers are peasant dupes who are being exploited by the ‘far right’. One alleged expert has even suggested that farmers should fly LGBT rainbow flags from their tractors, presumably to ward off far-right bloodsuckers, just as garlic was supposed to keep vampires at bay.

https://www.spiked-online.com/2024/06/04/europes-new-spring-of-nations/

Whenever they treat populism as a dirty word, I recall the definition of the p-word I found a few years ago in the Cambridge Dictionary: ‘Populism – political ideas and activities that are intended to get the support of ordinary people by giving them what they want.’ Giving the people what they want! That idea may fill the EU elites with horror. But we should surely embrace populism as another word for democracy.

And when they try to dismiss populist protests as ‘far right’, we should go on the offensive and turn the arguments around by identifying with the causes they have sought to smear. So, is it now ‘far right’ to hate the genocidal Islamists of Hamas and protest against anti-Semitism in Europe? Is it now ‘far right’ to support Europe’s farmers fighting to defend their livelihoods and feed the continent? Is it now ‘far right’ to insist on the biological fact that there are only two sexes and that men cannot demand to be treated as women? Or is it now ‘far right’ for parents and others to protest about children being exposed to pornographic drag shows?

@FeartnTired I was about to say “Ooh, @sim just posted something!” but then I realised it was in this thread.

I like pizza […] but it bothers me to see these in non-US places.

Ummm… I hate to break this to you…

Shingles cases are almost 1-to-1 kids who were vaccinated for chickenpox.

Chickenpox vaccination is rare in the UK, and shingles still exists here.

@djsumdog @whiteman_ If it was just getting two images in a WhatsApp group then I see your point, but:

And in this case, the accused was constantly watching the video. He watched it for two years, according to the report.

while his wife was pregnant with their second child

This is incredibly common.

Poor wife and kids. I’m glad she got out of there rather than trying to play along.

@Sherri_Ingrey @djsumdog @DocScranton There you go, DJ, and aren’t you glad you asked?

@djsumdog @DocScranton There’s a… thing of hideous TIMs in “sexy” outfits, posing in their utterly disgusting, rubbish-strewn homes, without apparent access to a chair. I’m happy to say that I have no examples to show you, but I dare say a fellow Spinster will oblige me by commenting with one or two.

Dane K is the former head of Stonewall, the formerly LGB and now profoundly homophobic T charity here, who is attempting a post-Cass reverse ferret.

@GelatinousRube @Cosmic Don’t forget Mx Physics.

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/britain-is-being-too-slow-to-ban-smartphones/

The tide is also turning globally. Florida’s governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill this week to ban under-14s in the state from having social media accounts and make platforms erase any already created. In Utah, under-18s already cannot use social media between 10.30pm and 6.30am. France recently introduced a new law requiring social media platforms to verify users’ ages and obtain parental consent for those under 15, while the EU Digital Services Act has banned targeted advertising at children. In China, TikTok users under 14 can only use the app for 40 minutes a day.

As usual, the UK lags behind, weighed down by the bloated, bureaucratic mess that was the Online Safety Bill. Michelle Donelan, the technology secretary, has said that the government is looking at banning children under 16 from buying mobile phones as part of a new consultation. However, given that any law would only ban the sales of mobile phones directly to children, and not stop parents from buying phones for their children, this seems as useful as a glass hammer.

https://archive.ph/ANZrW

I do think kids should be off smart phones, but I don’t see how it can realistically be enforced. I assume the French ban uses the same tech they brought in to verify age on porn and gambling sites. Does anyone know how the Florida and Utah legislation works?

One of those where I struggle to choose the best of many good bits to quote:

https://unherd.com/2024/04/how-to-spot-the-next-mania/

Within the astonishingly short time frame of 10 years, I count four real-life collective crazes: transgenderism, #MeToo, Covid lockdowns (which spawned sub-crazes over masks and vaccines), and Black Lives Matter. I also worry we’re already in the grip of social mania number five.

Take trans. Gender-identity disorder was not that long ago an extraordinarily rare psychiatric diagnosis largely constrained to men. Abruptly circa 2012 — on the heels of such a successful crusade for gay rights and even gay marriage that homosexuality became passé — a profusion of television documentaries hit our screens about little boys who wore dresses and played with dolls. Fast-forward to the present, and the renamed diagnosis has exploded by thousands of percent across the West and now pertains abundantly to girls.

@sj_zero You know, I think I did too.

There was something in my RSS feeds this morning that made me go “huh?”, but then I realised it was a US source. And it wasn’t terribly amusing or clever.

Is SPC shutting down? Why’m I getting account migration notifications?

@thedonnerd Ah, ok. I wonder why the change of domain?

@jeffcliff @Moon @istvan I don’t think we have any limits like that.

@djsumdog Can’t decide if that’s a deliberate typo or not….

@sj_zero @kaia Apparently not. We probably need a small child to explain in detail, but:

pterosaurs and dinosaurs can be distinguished by way of their bones. Skeletally, the two groups diverged about 250 million years ago, leading to a number of physical differences, most notably in their appendages: while dinosaurs had an empty hole in their hip socket and a long crest in their upper arm bone, pterosaurs had neither.

https://www.britannica.com/story/why-are-pterodactyls-not-dinosaurs

@alex I see the distinction, but (from my POV) it was pretty seamless if the users used the migrate function: I didn’t even have to re-follow their new accounts. (Granted there are a couple of accounts I know are stuck in limbo.)

This possibly says more about the relative tech abilities / level of commitment of the admins / users of the two servers?