Sly Says: Don't Give Attention-Seeking Gremlins Martyr Status

Having a drink thrown in her face: like it was Christmas and her birthday all rolled up into one, 'cause now she gets to be a martyr

For the hothead who threw a drink at Ann Coulter Jr. (Tomi Lahren):
Nice work, Smartass. You went and made her into a martyr.
I'd like to dump a truck of manure on that malevolent Barbie doll. But you know why I don't, other than the fact that I don't have access to a truck of manure?
I don't want to give her the attention.
Creatures like Tomi Lahren aren't honorable like Andre Linoge, who was a homicidal supernatural entity and child stealer. With Andre Linoge, if you gave him what he wanted, he went away.
Malevolent entities like Tomi Lahren don't go away when you give them what they want. They become more powerful and demand even more attention.
Perhaps the person who threw a drink thought that Ann Coulter Junior would melt like the witch in the Wizard of Oz.
Sadly, no.
If she had, I might have thought about praising the drink thrower rather than rolling my eyes and saying "great, now Miss Big-Mouth Blonde Plastic Face Faux News Pundit has people feeling sorry for her. Thanks a lot, Genius."

~Sly Has Spoken~

Copyright juliahenze @123rf

A diabolical Stephen King villain who kidnaps children and murders old ladies:

Still a more pleasant party guest than Tomi Lahren

In real life, actor Colm Feore is a nice guy

New Blow For Reproductive Rights

"Trump to deny funds for clinics that refer for abortion."
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-to-deny-funds-to-clinics-that-refer-for-abortion/ar-AAxrYOo?OCID=ansmsnnews11&ffid=gz
Because we all know what President Pussy Grabber thinks women's lives are worth.
There are more reasons for abortion than unwanted pregnancy.
There are more types of unwanted pregnancy than "promiscuous hussy getting busy with every dude in town," which is what the anti-choice lot tries to convince everyone that abortion is all about across the board.
The anti-choice lot always depicts abortion as being the straight-up murder of a fully formed, adorable, healthy white baby.
Let's just say for a minute that the anti-choicers are right. There are no other reasons for abortion than Promiscuous Hussies wanting to get down but not wanting to pay the piper for their Promiscuous Hussying.
The simple answer would seem to be providing birth control to reduce the number of abortions.
Nope! Providing birth control is giving a de facto thumbs up to Promiscuous Hussying.
So, let's take away all reproductive rights, like the GOP wants to do.
Are the anti-choicers going to adopt all the unwanted babies?
Yeah--we saw how that worked out in Romania under the rule of Nicolae Ceaușescu.
Speaking of Nicolae Ceaușescu, here is a passage from Wikipedia to ruminate on.
"His secret police, the Securitate, was responsible for mass surveillance as well as severe repression and human rights abuses within the country, and he suppressed and controlled the media and press, implementing methods that were among the harshest, most restrictive and brutal in the world. Economic mismanagement due to failed oil ventures during the 1970s led to skyrocketing foreign debts for Romania; in 1982, he exported much of the country's agricultural and industrial production in an effort to repay them. The shortages that followed drastically lowered living standards, leading to heavy rationing of food, water, oil, heat, electricity, medicine, and other necessities. His cult of personality experienced unprecedented elevation, followed by extensive nepotism and the intense deterioration of foreign relations, even with the Soviet Union."
A despot is a despot is a despot.
The truth is, I honestly don't think that Lord Dampnut gives a rip about abortion one way or another. I think he is kissing the asses of those who elected him and is doing what his puppet masters command. He hasn't got two working brain cells to rub together. His masters let him have his Twitter. He makes an ass of himself, which distracts people from what the evil slimeballs behind the scenes are actually up to.
Now this:
Kristan Hawkins of Students for Life of America said, "Abortion is not health care or birth control and many women want natural health care choices, rather than hormone-induced changes."
I've read over this several times. I'm not sure what the hell it even means.
That abortion should not be used as a primary form of birth control is accurate. Whether done as a surgical procedure or via a medication which promotes miscarriage, it is hard on the body. Saying that it is not a form of health care is, however, inaccurate. Once again, the anti-choice lot depicts all abortions as being the same kind and for the same reason. Abortions performed after the first trimester tend to be done because of severe defects in the fetus. According to these people, removal of an ectopic pregnancy would be an abortion. To allow an ectopic pregnancy to continue would kill the mother. So, tell me how removing an ectopic pregnancy or ending an unviable pregnancy isn't health care.
"Many women want natural health care choices rather than hormone-induced changes."
WHAT THE FUCK DOES THIS EVEN MEAN????
I was never able to take birth control pills because the "hormone-induced changes" put me right out of my head. Is she speaking against birth control pills or abortion here? Yes, there is an abortion method which involves taking a pill that temporarily alters the body's hormonal balance, but there are other methods of abortion as well. A D&C does not involve "hormone-induced changes." Does this mean it is a natural health care choice? I'm really not sure what the hell this woman is talking about.
I am a post-menopausal woman who is making the choice to have my reproductive organs removed because of endometrial hyperplasia. I don't want to take hormones because of the risks inherent in doing so. However, I honestly don't think that having my reproductive organs removed is a "natural health care choice." It is simply the form of treatment that makes the most sense to me because I don't want to take hormones for the rest of my life, I don't want to have to have a D&C every year, and I don't think it's wise to keep an organ which is in a pre-cancerous state. So, I'm opting to have the organ removed, but I don't think that's a particularly natural choice.
I could scratch a hole in my head trying to figure this woman's inane statement out.
In any case, one does not need to be "pro-abortion" to realize that the stripping away of reproductive rights leads to disaster. I have always been opposed to abortion on a personal level, but on a political level I realize that unhindered reproductive rights are a necessity.
I also realize that abortion is a complicated issue and it is not for me to decide what is right for another person.
Even in my own case, what was right for me in the past wouldn't be right now.
If, by some heinous twist of fate I were to be sexually assaulted and somehow conceive a child, at this point in my life it would be disastrous for me to carry that pregnancy to term. I am over 50 and have multiple health problems. I do not have the financial means to care for a child at this point. I do not even have the financial means to care for the cats that I took in years ago when I did have the means to care for them. 

There are so many things wrong with curtailing reproductive rights to this degree.
This isn't about the well-being of the adorable, healthy, full-term, white babies that the anti-choice faction think are being murdered by abortion-having hussies.
It is about controlling women.
It is odious.
I would expect nothing less from the party that would just as soon take away a woman's right to work and would like to see the world return to a time when a woman was either her father's or her husband's property.

~Sly Has Spoken~

Image copyright juliahenze @123rf

Why the Punch a Nazi Mentality is Erroneous

Image copyright Weatbix on Deviantart

Sly Says:

I have no love for Nazis, Neo-Nazis, the “alt right”, or racists of any sort.

However, in a civilized setting as opposed to a war zone, the “punch a Nazi” mentality only leads to those assholes becoming martyrs when they are physically attacked.

Nobody would know who the hell Richard Spencer was if he hadn’t been “the Nazi who got punched.” Now he’s the alt-right’s little rock star.

That is why I’m against the “punch a Nazi” mentality.

Fight their ignorant rhetoric by educating, not by stooping to their level.

Pointing out the fallacies in their inane arguments can be incredibly satisfying, not to mention a lot of fun.

This is not to say that a person should not defend themselves if attacked. If you or someone you care about is being attacked, by all means, defend yourself.

The "punch a Nazi" mentality, however, does not show strength. It shows a loss of control. 

Be better than they are.

~Sly Has Spoken~

 Image copyright juliahenze

Purchased from 123rf.com

Note:

I read the following book, "Hate or Be Hated," by J.G. Daniel. 

It is a well-written biography detailing the author's upbringing by a racist father who was a member of the John Birch society. I personally recommend it.

When Setbacks Sideline Your Ambitions

Copyright Ayelet Keshet

This is a blog that I generally endeavor to keep my personal problems away from. I have a blog which addresses my ongoing struggle with mental illness, and, for the most part, I do not see the need to discuss my personal problems here. However, on occasion, I feel that disclosure of my own issues may be helpful to someone else who feels that there is no way a person with certain handicaps can achieve success.

There is an unfortunate tendency in modern society to postulate that only those who are hale and hardy and possessed of a certain type of beauty can excel in the world. While I am not yet the picture of success, I would like to work to disprove this, if I may be so bold as to say, ugly and bigoted assertion.

Those of us who are born with physical and/or psychological challenges tend to experience setbacks that people without these challenges find difficult to imagine. These setbacks go beyond the condition itself.

The vast majority of people who are homeless or living in poverty are not "lazy". 

They are people with (often invisible) conditions which render them unable to conform to society's rigid and Draconian standards.

It can be difficult if not impossible to maintain a positive approach to life when one feels as if one is being attacked at every turn, including when seeking help.

Those who are unable to pay for the help they need are decried as shiftless.

Those who fear seeking help because of previous bad experiences are decried as unmotivated to change.

Those who do not wish to take dangerous medications for their conditions are admonished as being uncooperative and deserving of whatever misfortune befalls them.

Those who feel hopeless are admonished to "think positive" and "try harder."

Let us focus for the moment on mental illness.

I am not the sort of person who believes that mental illness can be "cured." In fact, I cringe when people make such assertions.

As someone who has lived with mental illness my entire life, I believe that, while there is no "cure" for conditions such as mine, that useful coping skills can be taught to those living with psychiatric illness, and, such coping skills are more effective when learned at a young age.

Mental illness is not "one size fits all." Most people who have never dealt with mental illness, either in themselves or a person close to them, believe that there are pat answers, mostly involving medications. Some people do not respond well to medications. Such people tend to be admonished as "uncooperative."

Physical illnesses do not always respond well to medications either.

With both mental and physical conditions, the sufferer tends to be seen as broken, damaged, and having failed. People see them as deserving of their misery.

I will turn the focus to my own physical conditions, mostly endocrine issues.

I have always been admonished as being "lazy" and not "trying harder." My diabetes and thyroid issues are severe enough that I struggle with activity intolerance. I have to take frequent breaks or I start to become dizzy and confused. This is not conducive to the type of work I did for many years, caring for elderly and infirm patients. 

Rather than seeing that I had a problem of my own, I was admonished as being lazy, uncooperative, and stupid. I was fired rather than laid off, which would have allowed me to maintain a modicum of dignity.

I can no longer work "normal" jobs. I went from making $40,000 a year to making $12,000 a year. What little savings I had was quickly decimated.

I have two cats, both of whom need veterinary care that I can't afford. I live in a place which, evidently, contains toxins. Most of my cats have died prematurely, either due to cancers or organ failure. I realized this pattern only this year. I myself currently am awaiting screening for suspected endometrial cancer. Whatever is in this place may have contributed to the worsening of my own endocrine problems. I don't know, and I may never know.

"Just move" is not an option.

I'm not going to blow sunshine up anyone's ass. I'm not going to tell you that by having a "positive attitude" or by praying to (fill in the name of chosen deity) you will succeed and find happiness. I don't know if you will or not. I hope you do.

I'd like to tell you that it gets better, but in all honesty, I don't know if that's true.

I can only wish you luck, and I hope that something I share may help you along the way.

Peace,

Sly

Blog Revival and A Few Ground Rules for Commenting: No Name-Calling

I'm going to attempt to breathe some life back into this blog.

Should comments appear, there need to be a few rules.

The first is basic courtesy.

No name-calling. Focus on the behavior, not the person.

I've been guilty of this infraction. Recently, in fact.

Not on this blog, which has lain dormant for a while.

Not even on a political blog.

It was a fandom blog. Trust me, Tumblr fandoms are rife with inane accusations.

If you don't ship what certain fans ship, or if you ship something they don't like, they will call you a pedophile.

This person had been on for a while about a certain ship that she didn't like. She went on to try and prove her point by comparing this ship, which involved adult biologically related characters, to a hypothetical "what if someone was shipping a forty-year-old character with a nine-year-old character?"

By that point I'd had enough of her sea-lioning and general bullshit and responded with a terse "It's apples and oranges, you twat."

My comment would not be acceptable here.

What would be acceptable?

I could have said: "your given scenarios are not comparable. They are apples and oranges."

I could even have further said: "I feel that you are being deliberately obtuse, as your comments pushing people to agree that Ship X is a bad ship are becoming more and more unreasonable. Since it is clear that no-one here is going to agree with you, it would probably be more productive for you to write on your own blog about why you feel that Ship X is such a bad ship, and, this time, tag your post properly so as not to start another flame war."

Note: tagging isn't as much of an issue on platforms like Blogger as it is on Tumblr. Tags tend to be a bit more internal for the blog itself, and it's accepted by most people that a post tagged "Donald Trump" could either be positive or negative. I still try at this point to prefix tags for derogatory posts with "anti" on Blogger as well.

It should go without saying, but along with no name-calling, hate speech is unacceptable. This includes terms like "TERF."

The reason why TERF is a problem is because it targets women whom the person using the slur believe to be transphobic. There is no comparable term for men whom people deem transphobic. TERF is a term which incites violence against women, i.e. "punch a TERF." It is a problematic term at best, and is not acceptable here. If you feel someone is being transphobic, say that. Don't gender your derision.

There will be no inciting of violence against any group, including those most of us identifying as progressive deem odious. In other words, no "punch a Nazi" rhetoric will be allowed in the comments. This is not because I like Nazis. I find them disgusting, and, if every last one of them were fired off in a rocket bound for the center of the sun, I would not shed even a single tear. Yes, they are bad people who would like to see awful things done to those they deem inferior. We need to not stoop to their level. Violence should always be the last resort, never the go-to.

Further, Richard Spencer would still be a nobody if he hadn't been made a martyr when he was punched. Now he's the poster boy for the "Alt Right." I would rather he were still a nobody.

The policy on commenting is, generally, a "three strikes" policy. If a comment is bad enough from the start, it will never be published in the first place. (This applies to Blogger. On Tumblr, the commenter will be blocked.) If the comment breaks a cardinal rule but has redeeming value otherwise, the commenter will be advised of the infraction and asked to be more careful in the future. If the commenter continues to break the rules, their comments will cease to be published.

I do not wish to prevent debate in good faith, nor to demand that all comments be passionless and completely politically correct, i.e. quibbling over whether "disabled" or "handicapped" is the more correct term. Such micromanagement shuts down conversation. I do wish to prevent the poisonous atmosphere that pervades so many spaces currently.

To simplify, let basic common courtesy be your guide. Debate the idea. Don't make personal attacks.

~Sly Has Spoken~

 Purchased image created by juliahenze on 123rf.com

Shadorma: Get Sick and Die

Hookworm

Despite the

 Worst efforts of the

 New order

 To insure

 My early death, I live on

 And I will fight them

~The Real Cie~ 

Notes:

This piece was inspired by this post about the treatment of sick and poor people in Lord Dampnut's Amerikkka. As part of the working poor class, and as a disabled person, living in Lord Dampnut's Amerikkka is terrifying.

Pink Floyd - Waiting for the Worms