Notices by Jürgen Hubert (juergen_hubert@thefolklore.cafe), page 4

@mekkaokereke @molly0xfff

As far as I can tell, there is only one legitimate use case for crypto currencies: Payment for sex workers - because "conventional" online payment systems all seem to screw them over, a trend that is likely to continue in the next few years.

The _illegitimate_ use case is, of course, money laundering for organized crime. It's no accident that all those organized crime rings holding websites and IT infrastructure hostage demand payment in crypto currencies...

1/ My dear American readers, I feel it is time to acquaint you with a phrase that was very popular during the Third Reich:

"Wenn das der Führer wüsste!"

You see, whenever Nazis at any level of the German government did something shitty, a lot of Germans who followed them refused to believe that high Nazi leadership was in any way responsible, and insisted that if Adolf Hitler himself knew of this, he would immediately put a stop to it - up to and including the deportation of the Jews. Hence their exclamation:

"If only the Führer knew about this!"

And in the years to come, I believe you will hear a similar phrase from many of those who voted for Trump whenever the Trump government does something shitty:

"If only Trump knew about this!"

#USPolitics #Trump #Hitler #Nazis

Once, an evil spirit played a rather cruel game with a flock of geese.

#MythologyMonday #Poland #folktale #folklore #ghost #ghoststory
https://www.patreon.com/posts/headless-50176377

@mekkaokereke When I was still on Twitter, I used some mass-blocking tools to block anyone who liked certain particularly horrible opinions of particularly loathsome people. I must have blocked tens of thousands of accounts, and this was the only thing made Twitter in its late stages remotely bearable. Of course, when they changed the API and disabled those tools, that was my final cue to get out of there.

Everyone is entitled to say their piece of mind, but no one is entitled to a captive audience. And any social media which violates _this_ part of the social contract won't get any of my time.

As a reminder, disasters - whether personal, at work, or political - almost never have a single cause. Usually, a whole bunch of things have to go wrong before a disaster strikes.

So by all means do a failure analysis, but do not get fixated on one single issue which you think is to blame.

So, how are your #sleep cycles doing these days? 😩

If I understand correctly, then #Peertube doesn't allow live streaming with live chat yet, right?

Or are there options for this? #FediHelp

@Blort @vencabot@tube.vencabot.com @vencabot@mastodon.online Thanks!

Since I am leery of hosting my own instance, are there any existing instances which would be suitable?

Asking the Wild Hunt for advice on matters of the heart might not be the wisest idea.

Then again, it all worked out in the end.

#Germany #folktale #folklore #WildHunt @germany @folklore
https://www.patreon.com/posts/wild-hunt-part-2-27425823

@mekkaokereke Isn't "civility" in American politics a dog whistle for "minorities should shut up about discrimination"?

This is the true promise of the #Fediverse : Everyone has the right to freedom of speech, but no one has the right to a captive audience.

Which is as it should be. Yet what other social media system can say the same?

While I am not excited by #ttrpg rules as such, I do love #worldbuiling , including detailing the region any campaign takes place in.

My current project is "rebooting" a setting I first started working on more than 20 years ago. I've started with a new, procedurally generated geography, and I am now placing the many locations I came up with back then into this new context - changing or removing those who seem too cringe-worthy to my now more experienced eye.

Once that is done, I can develop and place new locations.

You've read the tales, now get the books!

#Germany #folktale #folklore #book
https://sunkencastles.com/the-books/

1/ There is a lot of disdain here on #Mastodon and the #Fediverse for those who have chosen to stay on #X / #Twitter and other social media platforms. And I think that this is not helpful.

I mean, sure, in the case of governments, political leaders, and major news organizations, disdain away. But many activists and small-time business owners _depend_ on having a large reach and good networking for their activities, and this reach might simply not be feasible on the Fediverse - especially if their primary focus is on a demographic underrepresented around here (as the Fediverse skews heavily towards white Europeans and North Americans).

Hating on these people accomplishes nothing useful - and worse, it contributes to the Fediverse's well-deserved reputation for snobbery, which has driven a lot of people away.

So instead try empathy. Understand why such people make the choice to stay on other social media platforms, despite their problems. And instead of berating them for it, emphasize that these platforms will almost certainly get worse over time, due to the Enshittification cycle that all tech businesses touched by Silicon Valley venture capitalists must inevitably go through.

Suggest that developing a Fediverse presence is a useful "Plan B" for their social media efforts - and that among social media platforms, the Fediverse alone has the potential to develop into something better over time.

And offer your help for figuring this "Fediverse" thing out.

As a reminder, modern standards of "cleanliness" for households were developed during a period when the wife in a family was expected to stay home and take care of the household full-time.

So if you are a single, or if you are part of a family where _both_ spouses work full time, and you just seem to catch up with the household chores: Don't blame yourself! This is perfectly normal, and people and media telling you otherwise are putting pressure on you which is wholly unjustified.

Sure, households _should_ be cleaned now and then, but having them remain clean _all_ the time is an impossible standard in today's world for anyone who cannot afford outside domestic aid.

Don't mock your local priest unless you are willing to face the consequences.

#Germany #folktale #folklore #Devil @germany @folklore
https://www.patreon.com/posts/snatch-and-grab-69256348

A question for #fantasy enthusiasts:

Occasionally I have come across descriptions otherworldly places - the gateway to the Afterlife, alien vistas, and so forth - as being covered with "black sand".

Does anyone know where this trope originated?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_sand

There's the "Creepy Amusement Park" vibe so beloved by horror movies, and then there's the "Creepy Amusement Park set in a Never-finished Nuclear Power Plant" vibe where I have ended up today.

#photography #NuclearPower

For those who don't follow news from #Germany , yesterday there were state elections in #Thuringia and #Saxony - and in Thuringia the fascist #AfD won a plurality of the votes, while in Saxony they are only slightly behind the Christian Conservatives.

Due to the German election system, this doesn't mean they will automatically form the government - but it will be very difficult to form a government without them in Thuringia.

These results are devastating for all patriotic Germans, but it is not clear what we are supposed to do now to fight the fascists. I will continue to speak out against them - but it is clear that a significant portion of the German population _want_ fascists to return to power.

#fascism #Nazis
https://www.dw.com/en/germany-thuringia-and-saxony-elections-propel-far-right-afd/a-70106147

Regarding #Brazil banning #X :

After the disaster of the Weimar Republic, the Federal Republic of #Germany came up with the concept of the "Wehrhafte Demokratie" - a "democracy that can defend itself". Fundamental to this concept is that people, groups, and organizations who want to overthrow the basic democratic order should _not_ get a "level playing field".

So while I can understand people worried about any kind of #censorship , I think by this standard this action is justifiable. Brazil went through an attempted coup, and X - and Elon #Musk - were instrumental in aiding the coupists.

And by now Elon Musk has established a clear pattern of "wanting to overthrow the democratic order" - _any_ democratic order. Thus, it is valid if Brazil wants to restrict his speech.

I see this as part of the "Paradox of Tolerance" - tolerating the intolerant will result in less tolerance. And tolerance, like freedom of speech, are social contracts. If you break the social contract - as Elon Musk has - then there should be consequences.