Pride Month: Rome Metro - there is no escape

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-06-21T15:36:33+00:00

Apparently that's the inter-sexed / hermaphrodite flag. Stupid thing to include on a flag about sexual orientation.

The brown and black stripes reference North America's racial minorities. It's a stupid flag. Too busy. The next iteration of the Pride flag needs to be a box of 120 count Crayola crayons on a white background.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-06-21T13:18:21+00:00

Yaaaaaay, Musky food posting! Fresh donuts rock. What flavor? Sprinkles?

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-06-21T02:11:41+00:00

Handmade personal websites, blogs, and email. That is where the future may lie. Social media and advertising have done a number. Blot looks interesting. May never have my own website, but I think some folks are fighting back.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-06-21T01:15:26+00:00

Creation is intelligent. Some evangelicals focus a lot on intelligent design; I wish more would focus on the intelligence of living things themselves, too. Plants are cool. I've watched grass learn to seed lower to avoid mower blades. :)

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-06-21T01:04:16+00:00

-_-

Oh, my gosh, why...?

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-06-21T00:21:37+00:00

People are afraid to notice anything anymore. Just look away. No eye contact. Better to ignore a situation than wind up getting attacked. That's the mindset these days. Everyone's nuts, best to just stare through people and move on. Sad, but that seems to be increasingly common these days.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-06-21T00:19:26+00:00

Are you going to eat it? Or did it try to bite you or something?

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-06-21T00:13:47+00:00

"Sirach" is flipping awesome, I recommend it! "Wisdom" is good, too!

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-06-21T00:03:04+00:00

I have often wondered how it is that extremely religious men, apparently genuinely devout men, wind up being some of the worst sex offenders, especially of kids. I used to think that these men entered religious life specifically to prey on kids, and perhaps for some that is true.

But it is also possible that in their minds, thanks to spiritual pride, they believe that they are so close to God / the Truth / the Dharma / whatever else that nothing they do can be innately sinful. Their place of importance within the community gives them a sense of entitlement, otherness, and the illusion that nothing they do or want to do could ever be wrong, because they are so pure, important, and holy.

Maybe that's it.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-06-16T14:28:35+00:00

It's making the site almost unusable. :( I guess, just keep "lightbulb voting" good topics and the garbage will sink to the bottom?

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-06-16T14:22:56+00:00

I dunno, how about a free, small house with a backyard. And a small car. Kind of like "40 acres and a mule", but modern. Everything else, you gotta do, but you get a home and a car to drive to work and stuff.

If you just hand people money, 90% of it'll be spent on TVs and rubbish in two weeks.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-06-16T14:17:43+00:00

I suppose one solution is to simply "friend" the couple dozen or so truly genuine, active users and just click "friends" up top instead of trying to browse like normal. :( The spam is indeed crazy.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-06-13T23:11:58+00:00

Hey, welcome! Welcome to one of the last truly free, old-time discussion sites on the internet. :) Lots of nice people on here. We fight sometimes, but folks are pretty good-natured. And as Musky and Black said, mind the spam. :/ Just "report and block" and wash, rinse, repeat.

Welcome, though!

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-06-13T20:37:26+00:00

Honestly, I haven't. I've known some folks who grow their own, quietly. I'm just thinking, it would be a way for folks to get it if they wanted it; de-criminalizing home use but keeping it illegal to sell or buy on the streets in finished form. Not saying it's a good idea or a workable idea, just an idea.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-06-13T18:32:50+00:00

If they wanted to or needed to grow their own weed to handle nausea during chemo, grow shrooms to micro-dose and help handle PTSD, or simply light up in the backyard, they could. It's theirs, though. They don't get to introduce anyone else to it, and they're responsible for themselves as opposed to anyone else who might use it and react poorly.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-06-12T21:24:32+00:00

I'm not so sure... I think folks should maybe be allowed to grow their own weed and shrooms for personal use, but that selling and buying the stuff should still be illegal. If you want it, grow it.

Something I'm noticing that's worrying... people using a sort of "reefer madness" excuse to get out of serious consequences for stuff. Like that young lady who stabbed her boyfriend over 100 times and got off with probation.

And the guy who killed about 18,000 salmon with bleach will likely use being high to argue temporary insanity or something.

So... is reefer madness a thing, or are these people just faking? Either way, looks like it'll be used as an excuse.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-06-12T19:55:09+00:00

You don't. You keep it professional, polite, use her new name, and just ignore the rest. Unless you earnestly, seriously want to get fired or possibly sued by her for emotional damages.

I can imagine it must be incredibly distressing to watch someone do something this foolish and stupid right in front of your eyes. But there's nothing you can do. And the more you try to talk people out of this, the more "persecuted" they'll likely feel, and the more they'll dig their heels in and commit.

You may wish to avoid this person as much as possible at work. Which kind of stinks, but the less contact, the less chance of you saying or doing something that's going to send her to HR to get you canned.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-06-12T19:43:37+00:00

I honestly had to read the comment section to have any idea of who I was looking at. Beard threw me off, too. So did the voice.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-06-11T20:45:37+00:00

"We gotta make our own pride gear, buy local and from small vendors this year.

And yknow what, I hope if that’s what happens then once corporate America stops being a load of *** and decides to exploit us again by trying to sell pride merch, we give them a big middle finger for abandoning us for profits and continue a tradition of making your own pride gear and buying from vendors who actually care."

~~~

I'm laughing at this comment because this is exactly what people used to do before lgbtq stuff was mass-marketed as cute and friendly. Which of course, everyone else got sick of, so now it's gone back underground.

Which is kind of where it belongs, because this is a subculture of maybe 3% (tops) of the population who shouldn't expect corporations (or anybody else) to pander to and celebrate them 24/7. Did none of these kids ever feel weird that their own subculture was just used as a marketing ploy for a few years?

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-06-11T20:39:29+00:00

Incredible... Heaven forbid people think for themselves or have meaningful conversations in all directions.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-06-11T20:27:23+00:00

I do wonder what T might do to these girls... Descriptions from women who've detransitioned describe being hyper-angry and hyper-frustrated on T.

I've also heard some stories of gay women who began to experience attraction to men once on T. So... you combine weird levels of aggression and hypersexuality with a sudden interest in males, loss of impulse control, and other mental health issues, and yeah... an unhealthy interest in little boys could potentially develop.

Just another excellent reason to not mess around with cross-sex hormones.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-06-11T16:54:28+00:00

Just wanted to say, I really like your personal website, Clouds. Pretty neat, simple. Good way to organize ideas and data.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-06-11T00:14:23+00:00

Ok, so... This is a young woman on T who was trying to film some kids and the kids had guts and followed her through the Target taunting her for filming them and possibly trying to lure one into a fitting room. Correct?

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-06-11T00:05:36+00:00

Yeah... I can see them passing a bill, though. In the interests of protecting natural security, children, or something. Really, just an excuse to formally bind up everybody's online musings with their real-life identity. Basically creating a fully-functional social credit system. Fun.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-06-10T21:54:46+00:00

I know, like... it's like decorating a urinal with pride colors and getting mad at someone for peeing in it. Well...

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-06-10T21:49:00+00:00

Ok, so... why would they put this as a crosswalk, anyway? They want it to seem like people are trampling on a flag or dismissively running it over? If you turn any symbol into a crosswalk (as opposed to a mural on a wall or something), you risk people dragging dog poop through it or making tire marks on it. Cause... it's the road.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-06-10T01:23:48+00:00

I do sometimes wonder how much of its answers are based on simply hunting through and selecting data / ideas / theories it's been fed. This tech isn't an oracle or a prophet, it's drawing on data that it's been handed to mull over and repeat. I've also noticed that tech like this doesn't often dialogue or ask questions on its own, though I've been told that some software can have hours and hours of back and forth.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-06-09T20:34:34+00:00

That's actually pretty frightening. Lines up with my theory that posting anonymously online will soon become impossible or illegal. Thank you.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-06-09T20:05:56+00:00

Congratulations, man! Awesome chance to pass on your taste in music and schedule more fishing trips! That goes for daughters, too.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-06-09T18:22:15+00:00

Thank you, Panzer!

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-06-09T03:55:59+00:00

I do! Remember it from the original Independence Day movie. :)

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-06-09T03:22:26+00:00

Yeppers. It's gonna be awful. Increasingly transmissible, apparently way more lethal than Covid. Woot. Hunker down, pray, get ready for the flipping end. Or what may feel like it. Seriously... Steel yourself.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-06-09T03:13:04+00:00

I've never liked Star Wars... The only Star Wars I got into was the one everyone hated (Last Jedi), so I guess I'm an anti-fan. I like Star Trek, though.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-06-09T03:10:40+00:00

That's adorable. Took some time, too.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-06-09T03:00:46+00:00

And yes, screw AI. I'm not sure it's the Beast, but that seems weirdly possible. We'll see. In the meantime man, go into quasi-hermit mode. I feel like you've been doing that for a while and getting ready, so you're probably fine.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-06-09T02:58:25+00:00

I'm just weaning myself off the internet 80%. I still use it for work stuff and downloading music, but that's kind of it. Not gonna lie, my nervous system is working better, I'm less anxious, and time seems to be moving slower (in a good way).

I really, really think it's healthier to get partially offline at this stage of deception, propaganda, surveillance, and madness. Seriously.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-06-09T02:54:02+00:00

Free (or almost free), very basic housing and drug rehab resources would be the solution.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-06-09T02:31:14+00:00

Prayer. Seriously, I think that's the best way to fight it. Private prayer and fasting.

And I agree with Mcheetah, ignore them. Treat them like everyone else. Don't stare, don't get mad, don't gawk. Just ignore.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-05-22T12:57:01+00:00

There was a pretty awful incident a while back where a peaceful, 60-something year old guy was just chilling by his campsite and a Black Bear mauled him to death. Which was quite unusual, as Black Bears are rather small and don't usually attack humans. Happened in Arizona.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-05-20T16:22:38+00:00

I mean, that's a lot for two (scoops?) of ice cream.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-05-20T16:20:31+00:00

If I were a family member of one of the kidnapped Oct 7th victims, I'd be absolutely livid my family member wasn't out yet.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-05-20T16:19:09+00:00

Neat, thank you! Never been, but I keep hearing it's a beautiful city. I've heard the same about St. Petersburg, too. Looks like a calm scene in Moscow. Is the city a pretty even mix of old architecture and new? What are the main night life / Saturday nigh evening out activities?

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-05-19T16:09:34+00:00

Wow, interesting. So even Israeli military higher ups are getting sick of the waiting. They don't even have all the hostages out yet... and they keep inadvertently bombing hostages. What, exactly, was the game plan here?

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-05-19T16:00:45+00:00

This reminds me of Jim Gaffgin's bear story. Glad you and the dog are safe!

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-05-17T16:06:47+00:00

Yep. Long live meeting people in real life, email discussion groups, and music festivals.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-05-17T16:05:13+00:00

Trans activists have pretty much taken over all women's and lgb subreddits. They're all over; especially in positions of power. Reddit is effectively dead.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-05-15T23:30:11+00:00

A couple of the comments that stood out for me :

"if you don't respect people's bodies and you don't care about creating permanent trauma upon them you don't deserve to have your pronouns respected"

and

"But since there's absolutely no criteria anymore to define a trans person other than "I said it", if you criticise then YOU ends up as the wrong one for "gatekeeping"."

~~~

I do think some of these people are waking up. Slowly, but I'm seeing more nuanced, thoughtful comments like this, and it's encouraging. The wave of detransitioners will continue to be huge. Mostly silent, but huge.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-05-15T16:26:58+00:00

Yeah, most people probably wouldn't but I just really love folk music.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-05-15T15:37:16+00:00

I would watch an alternative show with literally just European folk music.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-05-15T13:15:30+00:00

Oh, my gosh... Come on... This is disgusting, embarrassing for men, and dangerous for women. This is madness...

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-05-15T13:12:08+00:00

That's actually a really good point. The men seem to turn into overly-emotional, blubbering crybabies on E and the women seem to turn into cold, angry, even homicidal nut jobs on T.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-05-15T12:40:57+00:00

Yeah... This is why I got back to mp3s and storing media on an mp3 player / dap. I never got used to the idea of renting music.

I'm also contemplating having a CD player installed in my new "infotainment screen yay" car. Love the car. Good little car. Hate the lack of a CD player.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-05-15T12:34:58+00:00

Nice! The green-and-gold beer can is a nice aesthetic touch, too. :) Good photo.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-05-12T00:13:03+00:00

"Parliament needs to understand how social media companies dial up and down the content that supports healthy democracies, as well as the anti-social content that undermines public safety."

Healthy democracies allow people to post jokes about political parties, complain about violent demographics, and notice social trends that affect average citizens.

I'm not surprised. At all. Coming to an America near you.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-05-11T21:20:53+00:00

I kind of got that impression, too.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-05-11T13:43:04+00:00

I remember hearing an interview with a lesbian artist, in which she basically lamented that lgb stuff going mainstream was kind of a let down. The community used to have their own weird little thing going. It was queer, unpopular, and different. Now it's just a commercialized commodity that get shoved down everyone's throats.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-05-10T00:36:57+00:00

Hey! It works pretty good. :) Nice to meet you!

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-05-10T00:03:17+00:00

A cover of the Bob Dylan song, which was itself heavily influenced by the hymn "Palms of Victory".

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-05-09T21:09:16+00:00

Typewriters, cassette tapes, CDs, and mp3 players are making a comeback. So forget you, fancy iPad.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-05-09T21:07:12+00:00

Something will take big sites' place. Maybe smaller discussion forums, email discussion lists, or something like usenet.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-05-09T14:12:42+00:00

I hear you. But a huge quantity of detransitioners express a strong wish that someone had stopped them from doing this to themselves. Or that it had been tougher to get surgery. Or that someone had warned them adequately what things would be like...

I'm on the fence, like I said. I would just encourage folks to read the testimonies of people who had this surgery, being told it would cure something or heal them, and who now deeply regret it. The medical complications are astounding.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-05-09T11:38:12+00:00

I don't know, man... We wouldn't legally allow someone to strip off their skin from their left arm, amputate their hand, and graft on taste buds, claiming that the person now has a new "tongue". That would be sick and messed up. This reminds me of that. These poor people don't actually get a new penis or vaginal canal, they just get sliced up. Recovery is often painfully slow (if it happens at all) and complications can be grotesque and life-changing.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-05-09T11:33:45+00:00

Thanks, Clouds! There's a handful of songs I kind of consider "covert hymns" and this one and "Ripple" are two of my favorites. :)

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-05-09T01:55:25+00:00

Dang, I hope not... Medical transition should likely be illegal. I've been on the fence for a couple of years as to whether or not adults should be legally allowed to do this to themselves... I am not so sure.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-05-09T01:40:51+00:00

Welcome, man. It's pretty laid-back here.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-05-04T19:06:17+00:00

Beautiful!

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-05-04T15:33:22+00:00

elementary???????

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-05-04T01:45:52+00:00

Neat. This one's kind of cool, too, if you like hues and shades and stuff.

https://colorkit.io/

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-05-03T21:53:48+00:00

Pretty concerning. This is why I keep urging people to get off of social media. With the rise of AI, surveillance tech, and "hate crime" laws expanding in broadness, there's no point. Just log off. The less we share, the less they know.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-05-03T21:15:18+00:00

2nd and 3rd are especially cute. I like the arrows and the kind of 1940s children's book illustration aesthetic. :)

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-05-03T18:00:06+00:00

Well, the ancients used to believe that tornadoes were caused by evil spirits, and I don't blame them for thinking that. They do seem to weirdly aim right for cities and towns, and I've heard theories that they may be (somehow) drawn in by the electrical systems of developed settlements.

That's quite a video! Thank you for posting it. Truly weird to see it basically settle over the train.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-05-03T01:44:25+00:00

Hey, welcome! Namaste, man.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-05-03T01:39:13+00:00

Tornadoes are crazy... I heard one once. It sounded like absolutely nothing natural. Didn't sound like wind; sounded like a giant, metal machine devouring everything around it. Crazy. Others have compared it to the sound of jet engines, and I think that would be accurate, too.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-05-02T22:58:32+00:00

Stick around, Musk. Your pictures / photos are cool, and leaving a whole site over one person seems kind of sad.

Post your photos. Start conversations about things. Show us what the cats are doing.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-05-02T22:55:39+00:00

Those are beautiful, man! Loved the blue skies and the fuzzy caterpillar!

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-04-26T20:54:41+00:00

One of the really interesting things I discovered, is that a week off of social media, I noticed that time seemed to be "slowing down". Like... the afternoon would just drag on. But in a good way.

I finally figured out that rapid-fire internet media (especially Twitter and YouTube binging) had kind of screwed up my nervous system and that time seemed to be racing. Off of that kind of content, my mind could slow down and process things at a normal rate. It was really weird, yet cool.

Oh, and nature was more enjoyable.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-04-26T16:18:35+00:00

The Autistic Reporter Michael Falk was awesome, though :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5ROoNT7-ZI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tInDH2FeXaM

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-04-26T16:13:14+00:00

Real life. Go to places that you enjoy. Live music shows are good.

As others have said, it seems dating sites have been taken over by transgender folks and single mothers, and if you're not into that, real life is better.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-04-26T16:08:38+00:00

I kind of tried something like this for a year. I just limited myself to work stuff, e-mail, and downloading mp3s. It worked out really well!

No news, few distractions, less anxiety. I came back here, but seriously limited the subs I follow, and try to just check in daily. It's going well.

I recommending having some resources in place to keep you entertained and happy off-line. Like a music player (instead of a smart phone) for music, books, and time out weekly for walks and stuff.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-04-25T14:48:10+00:00

I don't know, man... Free or almost-free housing (like, rent that's 10% of income) might actually solve a lot of problems. People still have to pay for utilities and food and clothes and stuff, but extremely affordable housing is one of those leftist ideas I'm kind of on board with.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-04-25T14:30:12+00:00

Thanks, man! I missed your rap tunes. :) Good to see you, too.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-04-25T13:38:18+00:00

We need to go back to trading CDs and cassette tapes.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-04-24T20:15:48+00:00

One of the weirdest things about Reddit, is that it allows subs up that basically encourage minors to trip on benadryl and do serious damage to their brains, yet won't allow a gender critical sub...

But according to Reddit this is totally cool! Should stay up! No harm here!

What?

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-04-24T18:50:03+00:00

Pretty awesome lists in there, thank you!

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-04-24T01:41:51+00:00

Been ok. Rewritten to be more coherent and less jittery-sounding. Missed ya.

Went through some anxiety, depression, and paranoia, had to get off of the site for a while. Hope you've been doing ok, and that the cats are behaving. :)

Edit : How have you been? What's new by you?

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-04-24T00:12:24+00:00

Marginalia rocks. I've found the weirdest, neatest things on there. It's a lot like mid-90s through early-2000s internet. Really good stuff. Homey.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-04-23T21:12:40+00:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZ5fGQMDLvc

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-04-23T20:51:31+00:00

Hey, Musky. Long time, no see. Hope you're doing ok, man.

I like coffee. I know that sounds dumb, but it seriously helps with inflammation, headaches, and depression.

Neem powder is good, too, for cardiovascular stuff and inflammation.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-04-23T19:08:17+00:00

Assyrian Christian bishop gets stabbed by Muslim in Australia. Australia wants this downplayed. Not today, Australia.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-04-23T19:01:56+00:00

I don't know, I kind of see it as further evidence that much of the internet might need to be shut down... The sheer quantity of horrible ideas and nonsense that have hit like a title wave thanks to the net are just... man.

The whole transgender phenomenon took off like a rocket alongside social media. Same with this incel stuff. And it's not just linked to quiet depression, these people wind up hurting / killing strangers...

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-04-23T18:32:08+00:00

Dylan Mulvaney. Part of me feels bad for the guy. I feel like he's basically a feminine, self-hating gay guy who got sucked into this trans nonsense, and got piled on simply for saying "yes" to an offer to promote some beer. Not his fault. The fault of the silly woman who approached him to promote a blue-collar, Hank Hill kind of product.

tiny-brown-mug · 2024-04-23T18:28:04+00:00

I've been off of this site for over a year, and only just logged back on. Hey, everyone.

I had to take a break because the political bad news was making me a bit paranoid and depressed. I get it. As an alternative, I just kind of limited myself to to e-mail for a year. E-mail and, like, academic journals and Grateful Dead mp3s. It was weirdly relaxing.

It's also ok to come back after a break, too.

tiny-brown-mug