discrimination against trans people is increasing in most of the world.

intersex people often look trans, and often are trans.

if I were magically made dictator somehow, no I don’t think so. but I’m not cutthroat enough to become a dictator in the first place.

Certainly!

Peking (KNT) -Chinese at one time experimented with fertilizing a chimpanzee with human sperm in an attempt to create a “near -human ape,” and they may try it again. The chimp was three months pregnant before the first experiment was halted, one of the original researchers claims. Western science long has scoffed at such an experiment as medically impossible, but Dr. Ji Yongxiang says the research, if it ever resumes, has the potential to develop creatures with higher animal intelligence who could speak and perform simple tasks. A second researcher at the Chinese Academy of Science said there were plans to resume testing.

the Soviet Union had a similar organization, with the same name (in English, anyway - it was Komsomol.) Its motto was “Be Prepared!”

I’m honestly not sure how different it is than the Boy/Girl Scouts, except maybe with more political indoctrination.

whoa, I just realized this is basically the left-lib equivalent of the NAP.

they meant well! honestly Esperanto has a really positive community, even still. but I can see how it’d get on someone’s nerves.

Newspeak was inspired by Esperanto, because George Orwell had an annoying Esperantist roommate. “bad” in Esperanto is “malbone,” literally “un-good.” “terrible” in Esperanto is “malbonege,” literally “very ungood.”

Chinese scientists worked to create the “humanzee,” a human-chimpanzee hybrid in the '60s. Female chimpanzees were impregnated with human sperm. The experiment was cut short by the Cultural Revolution - the scientists were sent to labor camps and a three-months pregnant chimpanzee died of neglect. The Soviets attempted a similar program in the '20s.

I don’t think breaking the neck is necessarily instant death, though. the breathing muscles are paralyzed but the heart should continue to beat independently. the hypothalamus (iirc) senses CO2 buildup so you could feel choking. in contrast, decapitation exsanguinates the brain pretty rapidly. a bit more gruesome, admittedly.

Russia… Russia never changes.

the most secure possible? you’ll need to learn a ton. you’ll get there, but it’ll take a while.

decently secure? install Linux Mint, install your updates, don’t run sketchy commands with URLs in them unless you know what you’re doing, maybe follow a hardening guide. you’ll be okay.

if you need to be extremely secure and private, install Tails on a USB stick. it will be slow and frustrating, and you’ll need to save files to a second USB drive, but it will probably keep you pretty safe, and it’s decently user-friendly. just make sure you keep Tails updated! you’ll have to do that by flashing the new Tails onto a new USB drive, there’s no easy way around that.

those are your two most user-friendly, safe approaches.

my dad’s tongue turned black and he developed jaundice when he was living in Germany. they sent him to a tropical disease institute. never figured out what it was; it eventually went away. I’m guessing he happened to cross paths with someone who traveled from an exotic location.

there’s a lot of viruses: rhinovirus, other coronaviruses, RSV, etc. and other kinds of bacterial infections too. checking ProMED Mail I don’t see anything too out of the ordinary. there’s usually a flurry of emails there before an epidemic emerges.

if both parents are very sick it’s extremely unlikely to be ME/CFS. ME is a rare consequence of viral illness.

I headcanon that Han can’t understand a word Chewwy says and just goes on vibes.

are they called dongles because they dangle?

I hope they get what they voted for. specifically, I hope that they’re on the receiving end of what they voted for. the Hitler Youth turned out for the Nazis, and paid for it in the trenches. same right now with a lot of the young Russian soldiers who supported Putin.

…you’re literally on the fediverse right now?

at a museum in the US, a security guard yelled at me for taking a photo of a Miró painting. he pointed to a sign saying that to respect the owner’s copyright, photography was strictly forbidden.

pretty sure I had the legal right to take the photo, but that they had the legal right to trespass me if I kept doing it. :/

fun fact, Mr. Rogers testified at the Supreme Court to save format shifting, in a landmark copyright case:

“I have always felt that with the advent of all of this new technology that allows people to tape the ‘Neighborhood’ off-the-air … they then become much more active in the programming of their family’s television life. Very frankly, I am opposed to people being programmed by others. My whole approach in broadcasting has always been ‘You are an important person just the way you are. You can make healthy decisions’ … I just feel that anything that allows a person to be more active in the control of his or her life, in a healthy way, is important.”

the Court agreed with Mr. Rogers and cited him in the majority Opinion.