Real name: Steven Lange. US expat in Germany since 1972. Married since 1976, we have a fantastic daughter. Retired teacher (bilingual Quentin Blake Europe School in Berlin). Interests: songwriting, guitar and ukulele, poems and stories, illustration, music videos, democracy and social justice, tolerant faith.
When a “conservative”’tells you they want to protect the America I grew-up in, i remember that America:
Black men were lynched.
Wives were raped by their husbands and it was legal.
Women couldn’t have credit cards.
Gay men were sent to prison.
Marijuana possession was punishable by life in prison.
Teenagers were drafted and sent to die in far-away lands.
Birth control was illegal.
Clergy raped children with impunity.
I am only 65-years-old. I don’t want to go back to the good old days.
In response to the far-right riots in Dublin last night, The Irish Council of Trade Unions calls for workers in Dublin City Centre to assemble at the GPO on Monday.
"We are calling on workers working in the city centre on Monday 27th November at 1 pm to assemble at the GPO to show their solidarity with all the people of the capital and to clearly denounce this violence and riotous behaviour in a solemn and respectful way."
https://www.ictu.ie/news/ictu-statement-violent-events-dublin
Animation friends will laugh at this. I signed up for one of the "animation for non-animators" websites (animaker) allegedly free. My idea was to use it as a playground to test ideas. When I realized it wasn't really free after the first 5 exports, I looked for an alternative and tried Wrapper Offline, the open source continuation of the legacy GoAnimate site. Ha ha. Incredibly sluggish, no video export, hours wasted. So much for an easy-to-use learning tool.
She performed an abortion on a 10-year-old rape victim. The right vilified her - https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jul/10/indiana-abortion-doctor-10-year-old-child-rape
@glynmoody
I knew about this case, but didn't realize the extremes to which Republican officials went to harass this doctor and shut her up. An excellent article.
@cpluspatch
I wish they were, almost. But wouldn't a bot at least spell correctly and know some English grammar? There are some Magats who can actually argue, although mostly at a low level and with alternative facts. Their rubbish tirades are interspersed with intelligent comments opposing DeScantwits and Tronald Dump. Strange place, the internet.
@cpluspatch
I hope so. Maybe I've been on YouTube too much lately. The comments are not exactly at Ph.D. level.
@cpluspatch
I don't know about Mastodon, but there are people on social media who wouldn't understand that this is a satire.
Whether it's Mastodon, Threads, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, podcast plays, my website visitor stats, or money itself - I am just so exhausted of my work, my success or lack thereof, and my life being defined by numbers and metrics
@davidrevoy
Nice satire. But I hope this helps sink Elon. May the lesser evil prevail.
Got asked by a journalist if the anti-LGBTQ+ protest trend we saw in 2022 had continued into 2023. Wrote this blog post in response.
tl;dr: yes, but crowd sizes are down, and counter-protests are common
@jayulfelder
The right's success in mainstreaming homophobia is depressing, but your statistics on sinking numbers at their protests and the rising tide of opposition to this bigotry is hopeful. On YouTube, I notice right-wing trolls accuse anyone who defends LGBTQ rights of "grooming" children. That seems to be the line that Florida's governor is trying to push. I hope he keeps belly-flopping.
"Leave my family alone and just let us be in peace. It doesn't matter what we're like. Just let us be us."
The downside of recovering from an illness: The day when you no longer have an excuse to skip morning gymnastics.
I’m starting a side project to keep older laptops & phones out of landfill by using Linux and de-Googled Android.
This old Lenovo was barely able to run the pre-installed Windows 10s but Fedora works great
More info at https://econotts.org/laptop-phone-recycling-nottingham/
BIG NEWS: #TyreNichols’ murder reminds us that #police traffic stops can turn deadly. 400 unarmed drivers killed in 5 years.
I'm introducing the "Safer Traffic Stops Act". It would pay local governments to transfer traffic enforcement from armed police officers to cameras or civilians.
