Leilani (she/her)

It's hilarious that "working class" now applies exclusively to the racist failsons of regional car dealership owners but every unemployed trans person is an "elite".

Currently at the Big Death at the end of KD book 2 (Magic Burns) and teary eyed, again, so yeah everything is going great overhere nothing to worry about

A good gauge of my current mental-emotional state is the fact I am doing a simultaneous reread of both the Murderbot and Kate Daniels series.

You also forgot we can't get the good sunscreen anymore

I am old enough to remember how under Bush, “elite” was “anyone who lived in a coastal state and had ever ordered anything at Starbucks” and “the working class” was hereditary landowners in Montana whose vote counts for 4x a California voter’s.

Okay. We put a small dent in the amount owed. I’m in for another $5. Anyone interested in matching or doubling?

Just incredible how, despite having every other party already, anti-trans obsessives are determined that even one clearly pro-trans party should not be allowed.

You can't bomb a country into an unconditional surrender, so this is essentially a commitment for boots on the ground.

did this happen after the primary on Tuesday??? lmao oh my god are other transphobe Dems just quitting because they got stomped so badly

It is 2026 and we are not fucking doing this anymore. EIGHT WOMEN came forward and told stories of Franken GROPING AND FORCIBLY KISSING THEM. The man was a sexual abuser. He did not and does not belong in congress. Fucking period. End of conversation.

Hey so, in general I’m a pretty hardened internet user but y’all have GOT to start content warning the Epstein shit. Yes, even “just” quotes. Survivors are on these apps, y’all. Moderation tools do not only exist for the potential reader, they’re there for posters too, and you should use them

in 2021 i asked the BPD lgbtq liason if the detail assigned to the event i help organize could be asked to wear masks to our mask-required event.

“i don’t even know how to ask that” was the response

they remain basically the only people we can’t get to wear a mask.

money in politics is a problem. with aipac the issue has been that they can spend a ton in small democratic primaries and get the people aligned with them elected (though I think that's going to be much harder now.)

the other reason to be clear about this is because the bribery charge hits antisemitic tropes in ways that people should be pretty careful about.

and if you don't understand what's happening, it can be hard to fight. the most powerful tool against aipac isn't outfundraising them; it's the massive shift away from support for israel, which means Ds are worried about losing elections if they're aligned with them.

The reason we have “stupid rules of engagement” is to make sure we don’t bomb elementary schools.

Really concerned with the frequency that republicans and news outlets are casually tossing around the word “homeland”.

In every Republican presidency of my lifetime there's been a recession and a new war in the Middle East.

I'm currently reading Breathe (about the work to sequence the COVID virus) and it calls on all the work which was done to contain smallpox and measles* and we're just...throwing it away

*In the global north at least

I'm not blaming you but it is exhausting and actually a form of American exceptionalism to think it's JUST us.

There's literally a wikipedia page on measles resurgence in Europe.

until 2020, the antivaxx movement was much *stronger* in Europe than it was in the US, especially in Italy and Spain

Wellness peptide craze: why people are injecting drugs 'not for human consumption' Growing numbers of people are injecting unregulated peptides for health reasons - but one expert says they are "lab rats".

It is in fact American exceptionalism to think this is a uniquely American problem.

As for the peptide thing, again this is not just a US phenomenon. Here's a BBC article about people in the UK doing the same (unsafe) thing

Spain, Austria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, the UK and Uzbekistan have all lost their measles-free status in January. Canada lost it last year. (I think in some countries it might be for reasons other than anti-vaxxers, i.e. vaccine access) but in a lot of the above it is.

Americans aren't alone in refusing vaccines. Many countries have had massive measles outbreaks in recent years. Go look at how many countries have fallen off the measle-free list this year alone. And there's a direct line from current US anti-vaxxers to Andrew Wakefield who was in the UK.

wow can't believe slurs would do that

It's 1992, there's a Republican president with a war in the middle east and a recession.

It's 2008, there's a Republican president with a war in the middle east and a recession.

It's 2026, there's a Republican president with a war in the middle east...

Other cultures and societies around the world have a long-term view. The U.S. does not.

Once again reminding everyone that the majority of people stranded in the UAE are not influencers or expats or tourists, but South Asian (and SE Asian and African) workers whose passports are often controlled by their employers and whose govts have made no attempts to repatriate.

I lean towards yes on some days and no on others. But the war of aggression on Iran proves there's a growing frustration with the even broader approach to MENA and it's our job to harness it, because it isn't just about relying upon the goodwill of a candidate but creating the political context.

This story contains scenes worthy of Kafka.