NaraVara's recent activity
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Comment on Tips for becoming a tea person in ~food
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Comment on Tips for becoming a tea person in ~food
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Comment on Looking for movies that combine religion mythology and supernatural elements in ~movies
NaraVara LinkA lot of Indian movies do this. The Baahubali films have a bit of it and are consciously referencing Hindu mythological heroes. One of the director’s older movies, Magadheera is more explicit...A lot of Indian movies do this. The Baahubali films have a bit of it and are consciously referencing Hindu mythological heroes. One of the director’s older movies, Magadheera is more explicit about the fantasy/mythological elements.
The Sandman series on Netflix (and the graphic novels it’s based on) are very good at this, as is American Gods. In fact, that’s kind of Neil Gaiman’s whole thing (when he’s not being a sexual predator).
The Gargoyles series skews younger, but as it goes on it starts to blend a lot of mythologies and legends into the story.
There is an anime called Mushi Shi about a guy who wanders the countryside communing with spirits. It’s sort of set up like a detective/monster of the week story but all about his ability to diagnose problems stemming from these varieties of spiritual entities being out of balance. It’s not really based on any real mythology aside from vague gesturing in the direction of Japanese animist lore, but it’s a really lovely show, often times very touching.
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Comment on A Nazi tattoo exposes US Democrats’ greatest weakness in ~society
NaraVara Link ParentI’ve heard the argument that it’s sort of a “we take our enemies symbols and make them our own thing.” So they adopt those because they’re scary in the same way one might stuff a lion that they’ve...I’ve heard the argument that it’s sort of a “we take our enemies symbols and make them our own thing.” So they adopt those because they’re scary in the same way one might stuff a lion that they’ve hunted.
Also I’d say before like the 2010s the vibe really was that Nazism was a historic thing and genuine Nazi revivalism hadn’t really hit the public consciousness. So I can understand it starting to feel a bit like a historical curiosity and not having the same sort of visceral impact we have seeing it today. The swastika was always a red flag, but pre-2015 if I saw any of the more esoteric symbols I’d have assumed edgy line-stepper rather than skinhead if I recognized them at all. Post-2015 they’ve suddenly become much more in vogue.
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Comment on A Nazi tattoo exposes US Democrats’ greatest weakness in ~society
NaraVara Link ParentThe specific kind of Leftist I expect Platner is, and the people caping for him, are not the ones who would have been up in arms about using “retard.” You will find there were plenty of “dirtbag...My entire point is that most leftists never bother to go to the INSANE levels of detail that have been done for Plattner, and are still ignoring things that they would outright call disqualifying in any other situation (his casual use of the word retard being one of many that I think normally qualifies).
The specific kind of Leftist I expect Platner is, and the people caping for him, are not the ones who would have been up in arms about using “retard.” You will find there were plenty of “dirtbag left” types who have been at loggerheads with identity-politics radical liberals all throughout the past 10 years.
Some people see a red wine and conclude it’s red. Others see a red wine and identify it as a Pinot noir, Chianti, Merlot, etc. I think what you’re seeing is factional infighting within the Left rather than hypocrisy. It’s just often obscured by the fact that these differences are rarely salient from the outside because, to most of us, these people are just annoying.
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Comment on A Nazi tattoo exposes US Democrats’ greatest weakness in ~society
NaraVara (edited )Link ParentEhhh. He has definitely not been honest or forthright about it. He’s been very dodgy about whether he ever knew, when he knew, and why he kept it after finding out. He’s actually been caught in...Ehhh. He has definitely not been honest or forthright about it. He’s been very dodgy about whether he ever knew, when he knew, and why he kept it after finding out. He’s actually been caught in lies about that based on various testimonies, and he didn’t even get it covered up until AFTER it became a political liability at which point you can’t plausibly argue there was any sincere motivation driving it besides wanting to win.
And there is no “almost certainly hand the election to Collins” if Mills is the nominee. Mills is a very successful multi-term governor in a fairly socially conservative, rural state who was one of the early examples of an Dem pol actually talking back to Trump.
I would ideally like a political candidate whose ideological positions and stances are pretty well formed before they end up in the Senate because, if they’re mushy, then the lobbyists are just going to play them like a fiddle. I don’t think he’s a Nazi, I think he’s a line stepper and an edgelord who likes getting a rise out of people. Lots of people actually find a character flaw like that disqualifying in itself because they prefer their statesmen to be more dignified. I don’t know where I stand. I’d like to live in a world where being this sort of dipshit was inherently disqualifying but it’s hard to say so when you look at the Senate and observe dumbfucks like John Thune being majority leader, grandstanding trolls like Ted Cruz running around, and having the president of the chamber being a psychopathic bigot like J.D. Vance. I’d trust Platner more if he demonstrated in any way that he’s actually done the work, but he’s going straight from “small business owner who posts on Reddit a lot” to US Senate as far as I know. Has he run so much as a school PTO? I have no idea. There’s no data to base any conclusions as to what kind of guy he actually is.
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Comment on A Nazi tattoo exposes US Democrats’ greatest weakness in ~society
NaraVara Link ParentThe problem is she only ever went halfway there. They’d ask something like “will you support gender transition being covered under Medicaid” and she’d say “I would follow the law.” That’s a dodge....As I see it, the problem is that this is exactly what they've been trying without success. Kamala Harris never opened her mouth in support of nonbinary people that I ever heard of, but I saw "Kamala is for they/them. Trump is for you" ads every single day.
The problem is she only ever went halfway there. They’d ask something like “will you support gender transition being covered under Medicaid” and she’d say “I would follow the law.” That’s a dodge. It should have been more like “Everyone is entitled to medical care, you don’t want me deciding who deserves to have their needs met or not. It’s not the government’s business to be getting between trans people and their doctors, you’re weird for caring about this why are you so obsessed?”
The general argument is the same. They have healthcare coverage, it’s a medical procedure they’ve determined they need, it should be covered as all such cases should. But it creates the moral contrast. You’re either with us or you’re with these weird losers who want to snoop around in your medical records. If you don’t draw the contrast people can’t tell what you’re stand. They’re not going to parse your statement to decipher it.
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Comment on A Nazi tattoo exposes US Democrats’ greatest weakness in ~society
NaraVara (edited )Link ParentIt’s not an organically contentious issue. The contentions are drummed up by agitprop for the specific reasons you cite. Trans people are rare, most people will not (knowingly) interact with one...It’s not an organically contentious issue. The contentions are drummed up by agitprop for the specific reasons you cite. Trans people are rare, most people will not (knowingly) interact with one in person with any regularity, but their issues are lurid and they challenge conventional understandings of how things work. There is no actual reason people NEED to have opinions on it, but if the media is constantly pushing them to have opinions on it (almost definitionally opinions that will be formed in ignorance) they’re going to end up having perspectives that approach it as a theoretical thing without any real input.
It’s important to recognize that they’re not after trans people for any reason other than them being easy targets. If the trans people were no longer the easiest targets they’d just find the next easiest targets on the list. You can’t just let them salami-slice your coalition, you need to speak out against singling people out on account of their identity period. You can’t try to run from it by pivoting the discussion to something else. You have to call out that the other guy is being a dick. You need to tell him to mind his own business, that being a bully is pathetic behavior, that leering under people’s skirts is disgusting. You have to take the offensive.
One of the reasons the Gay Marriage folks won the argument was because they successfully created a simple contrast. You’re either with us, or you’re with the Westboro Baptist Church people. You have to make the bigots more repulsive than their victims. It’s not as if the Klan stopped being popular because they were hateful bigots, there remained plenty of hateful bigots throughout the country. They stopped being popular because the popular consensus was that they were ignorant, gap-toothed, hillbilly, cousin-fucking, alcoholic, terrorists. Being the bad guy needs to prompt more of a visceral “disgust” response than being one of the good guys.
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Comment on Half of US states sue Donald Trump administration over halting food stamps in ~society
NaraVara Link ParentAlso Parent-Teacher organizations at schools are some of the front liners distributing food and identifying who needs it. They are good places to go if you need direction in something to do. And...Also Parent-Teacher organizations at schools are some of the front liners distributing food and identifying who needs it. They are good places to go if you need direction in something to do. And it’s not just low income schools either. This shutdown affects a lot of people who would otherwise be pretty financially comfortable, and even in good times a food insecure family doesn’t always look like you’d expect.
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Comment on Half of US states sue Donald Trump administration over halting food stamps in ~society
NaraVara Link ParentFood distribution is logistically immensely complicated and local food banks are better equipped to leverage economies of scale to get more bang for the buck through wholesale agreements. The best...Food distribution is logistically immensely complicated and local food banks are better equipped to leverage economies of scale to get more bang for the buck through wholesale agreements.
The best bet for helping online is to connect people with local resources and donate to those organizations that work locally. This is one of those things where physical proximity to the point of distribution matters a lot.
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Comment on Looking for movies that combine religion mythology and supernatural elements in ~movies
NaraVara Link ParentThis show dares to ask the question: Was Jesus actually a vampire?This show dares to ask the question:
Was Jesus actually a vampire?
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Comment on Violent texts from Democratic nominee for Virginia attorney general leaked in ~society
NaraVara Link ParentYeah this is important to note. A private message to a colleague is not stochastic terrorism. But going up on TV and beaming dehumanizing and violent rhetoric at impressionable nutcases is. Jay...Yeah this is important to note. A private message to a colleague is not stochastic terrorism. But going up on TV and beaming dehumanizing and violent rhetoric at impressionable nutcases is. Jay Jones’ texts make him a moron, primarily because he sent them to a Republican who he should have known would pocket it for later. But he was very obviously not trying to wind up random people to do violence against his enemies.
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Comment on What is your 'Subway Take'? in ~talk
NaraVara Link ParentPeople would actually just consume a lot less across the board so I’m not so sure the established brands would.People would actually just consume a lot less across the board so I’m not so sure the established brands would.
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Comment on Violent texts from Democratic nominee for Virginia attorney general leaked in ~society
NaraVara Link ParentIt’s neither an “inability” nor an “unwillingness.” It’s an intentional effort to conflate obviously objectionable behavior with tactless behavior to minimize the negative impact of the former and...It’s neither an “inability” nor an “unwillingness.” It’s an intentional effort to conflate obviously objectionable behavior with tactless behavior to minimize the negative impact of the former and exaggerate the nature of the latter.
This dynamic only ever goes one way. When Democrats do the latter there will be no grace. When Republicans do the former there will be infinite wells of contextualization.
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Comment on Violent texts from Democratic nominee for Virginia attorney general leaked in ~society
NaraVara Link ParentI don’t really see the equivalence between Jones making an Office reference and dehumanizing threats of open violence coming from the right. On a very broad “violence bad” line they’re in the same...I don’t really see the equivalence between Jones making an Office reference and dehumanizing threats of open violence coming from the right. On a very broad “violence bad” line they’re in the same family of things but it’s like trying to draw a connection between training on a punching bag and knifing someone in the street.
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Comment on Can we bury enough wood to slow climate change? in ~enviro
NaraVara Link ParentI don’t think it’ll take the collapse of humanity. It just seems like committing any level of resources to take action on climate at all has been a Herculean task and it seems to yo-yo back and...I don’t think it’ll take the collapse of humanity. It just seems like committing any level of resources to take action on climate at all has been a Herculean task and it seems to yo-yo back and forth in support so we get 2 steps forward and 1 step back. Knowing that, it’s sensible to think people will just take their eyes off the ball before the job is done. Once our sense of “normal” is a generation in the rear view mirror I worry people will just forget, in the same way the passing of the WWII generation speedily saw the renewal of fascist and neofascist politics.
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Comment on What is your 'Subway Take'? in ~talk
NaraVara Link ParentPeople in TJ’s own time were commenting on the hypocrisy of those words being written by a slaveowner. But to read it as being hypocritical you kind of need to have interpreted it as it sounds,...- Exemplary
People in TJ’s own time were commenting on the hypocrisy of those words being written by a slaveowner. But to read it as being hypocritical you kind of need to have interpreted it as it sounds, with “all men” meaning “everybody.” If it didn’t mean everybody there wouldn’t be any hypocrisy.
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Comment on Can we bury enough wood to slow climate change? in ~enviro
NaraVara Link ParentSequestration needs to happen regardless of how effective emission reduction efforts are just to reverse the damage. We can wait on geology to do it naturally but that’s basically accepting a much...Sequestration needs to happen regardless of how effective emission reduction efforts are just to reverse the damage. We can wait on geology to do it naturally but that’s basically accepting a much less liveable climate for basically the rest of human history.
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Comment on What is your 'Subway Take'? in ~talk
NaraVara Link ParentYeah I was actually thinking about how gay dudes call me “gurl” or “bitch” all the time and I don’t really think anything of it. I don’t even think it’s a familiarity thing I think it’s a similar...Yeah I was actually thinking about how gay dudes call me “gurl” or “bitch” all the time and I don’t really think anything of it. I don’t even think it’s a familiarity thing I think it’s a similar dynamic to reclaiming a slur where gay men were denigrated as being effeminate and ended up adopting it on their own terms.
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Comment on What is your 'Subway Take'? in ~talk
NaraVara Link ParentSure there’s technically “room for discussion.” But strictly speaking it’s not accurate to say “men” can’t include “women.” People can choose to interpret themselves inside or outside of a term if...Sure there’s technically “room for discussion.” But strictly speaking it’s not accurate to say “men” can’t include “women.” People can choose to interpret themselves inside or outside of a term if they want but that says more about the listener than the speaker most of the time.
It’s not so different from a mirror image of “not all men” sorts of responses. It’s obvious that someone venting about experiences with men doing X doesn’t literally mean ALL men do X all the time. A person can decide for themselves if they want to read such a comment as if they’re the general case or an exception case. I just think life tends to be happier if you elect to interpret things in the nicest possible way instead of the most adversarial possible way.
Just practice practice practice with a gaiwan until you can brew like this. :-p
For experiencing full leaf teas though, I’d recommend learning brewing methods with the gaiwan since it’s the easiest to do and to clean. You can also decide to make as much or as little as you like and it’s easy to resteep. I tend to just have a thermos full of hot water at my desk (a zojirushi vacuum sealed one) and a small gaiwan and will sip tea while I work for hours. You can generally get a whole lot of steeps from one fistful of leaves, and if it starts to get insipid you just toss in some more. At the lower water temperatures you don’t have to worry as much about overextracting like you do with coffee.