supergauntlet's recent activity
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Comment on The resistance is not coming to save you. It’s tuning out. in ~society
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Comment on The resistance is not coming to save you. It’s tuning out. in ~society
supergauntlet Link Parentyou're not alone, a lot of people don't know this but even Medicaid covers a lot of stuff. Some people I know have gotten laser hair removal covered, many have gotten other surgeries covered. The...I didn't know that gender affirming care was covered by health insurance in the US.
you're not alone, a lot of people don't know this but even Medicaid covers a lot of stuff. Some people I know have gotten laser hair removal covered, many have gotten other surgeries covered. The reason the Republican party wants to make trans people miserable is to eradicate them from public life and ideally get them to kill themselves. this solves both the problem of there being trans people in public AND decreases costs. this is why they are such assholes - they want to make it miserable to be trans. they want people to die. I expect the same kind of soft eugenics to be applied to other groups as soon as it becomes expedient
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Comment on The resistance is not coming to save you. It’s tuning out. in ~society
supergauntlet Link ParentBribes are legal now. Why would these corporations not pay the judiciary for whatever they want? I don't see how this is unrealistic. It's not a new thing, it's just a further eroding of the...Bribes are legal now. Why would these corporations not pay the judiciary for whatever they want? I don't see how this is unrealistic. It's not a new thing, it's just a further eroding of the delineation between state and capital
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Comment on If our worst fears about Donald Trump play out, how will we know when it's time to leave? in ~society
supergauntlet LinkI'm a bit late to this topic but I've been away from tildes trying to mostly network on bluesky with trans people for... obvious reasons I hope. But this site has always been a refreshing change...I'm a bit late to this topic but I've been away from tildes trying to mostly network on bluesky with trans people for... obvious reasons I hope.
But this site has always been a refreshing change of pace from most social media, so here I am again and I think the answer is I would rather stay and fight. I'm at the point where if the far right wants to try and erase transness from public life, my answer is for them to bring it. We fought a civil war over slavery, if we must fight a second one over the right to medical self determination so be it. I have lost all patience with the American far right and with the liberals that allowed it to get to this point through their inaction. Like, in a functioning republic Trump and coconspirators would have been executed after 1/6. At the very least jailed. So I have given up on the federal governments ability to do.. well. anything.
And if the federal rule of law has fallen that means that it will come down to states. States rights to kill trans kids, and force women to give birth. And I think that I would rather fight for the future of trans children, whatever that means. And I don't think I'm alone, if it were to come to it.
There really isn't anywhere to run, anyway.
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Comment on Follow up on the username thread: What Tildes users do you recognize when browsing and, without being rude or inflammatory, what is your impression of them? in ~tildes
supergauntlet LinkI see @DefinitelyNotAFae a lot. I like and appreciate her posts, they're very kind and thoughtful and positive. She's one of the people keeping me from writing off this website entirely....I see @DefinitelyNotAFae a lot. I like and appreciate her posts, they're very kind and thoughtful and positive. She's one of the people keeping me from writing off this website entirely. @sparksbet and @Gaywallet also fall under this umbrella. The gays we have here are very nice and I'm not trying to exclude anyone here, the lgbt section as a whole is definitely what keeps me coming back.
I see a bunch of old people from reddit and that makes me nostalgic. Dunno how active they are, but I'm thinking users like @DFGdanger @Flashynuff @hexagonsun among others that I recognize from nearly a decade ago.
Honorable mentions for @gowestyoungman, a guy I don't always agree with, but always making posts worth reading, and @scroll_lock, a username I only recognize because of the comment box they're always prefixing their posts with.
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Comment on The resistance is not coming to save you. It’s tuning out. in ~society
supergauntlet Link Parentno offense, but how educated on this are you? trans healthcare is not free or even very cheap. Hormones are relatively affordable but most other gender affirming care is not. Surgeries cost...no offense, but how educated on this are you? trans healthcare is not free or even very cheap. Hormones are relatively affordable but most other gender affirming care is not. Surgeries cost thousands to tens of thousands of dollars.
My opinion on the entire situation is that the empire is running out of money and the insurance companies are looking at which groups are using the most money per person for healthcare, and then manufacturing consent to dump them. I bet semaglutide drugs are soon, and likely disabled people more broadly as they are also, bluntly, expensive to keep alive. Nobody with a chronic condition is safe.
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Comment on The resistance is not coming to save you. It’s tuning out. in ~society
supergauntlet Link Parentit doesn't matter. I don't understand why people keep talking about the president or Congress like they matter. they exist for a show, for content. Chevron is a coup via the judiciary. Congress...it doesn't matter. I don't understand why people keep talking about the president or Congress like they matter. they exist for a show, for content. Chevron is a coup via the judiciary. Congress might as well not exist. who actually give a rat's ass about who is gonna be the Senate majority whip or whatever when the judicial system can just force any part of the government to do anything a corporation that's paid it off wants?
Seriously, this doesn't seem like cynicism to me. Why would they not do this? They already stole an election in 2000, why not dispense with the pretense of democracy? And do so while leaving this nonsense as a show for the ineffectual do nothing loser Democratic party loyalists to jerk off over? This seems like the ideal outcome for the corporate feudalists.
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Comment on How Bluesky, the rival of Elon Musk’s X, is seizing the moment in ~tech
supergauntlet Link Parentyes, and blocklists on bsky have this problem too. the problem on bsky is much less of an issue simply because the moderation is more intended to be tailored to the individual experience - I agree...yes, and blocklists on bsky have this problem too. the problem on bsky is much less of an issue simply because the moderation is more intended to be tailored to the individual experience - I agree that this is a culture difference but the design of the site reflects the culture, and vice versa. They are just different. Again, this is why the fediverse has a place - it is for the people who are willing to do that kind of digging to stay up to date on instance drama. I'm saying that the user experience influences the culture, and the way it's being done on mastodon and similar is kind of inherently designed for a different userbase and kind of fundamentally lacks broader appeal outside of nerd circles.
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Comment on How Bluesky, the rival of Elon Musk’s X, is seizing the moment in ~tech
supergauntlet Link Parentthis is kind of exactly why bsky is succeeding where the fediverse isn't - the fact of the matter is that the interface of most activitypub applications is kind of confusing to most people. if you...IMO, it's primarily an existing userbase problem, not a technical issue. Perhaps there is something to be said for the three-column interface scaring away the newcomers. If that's the case, the network is better off without them.
this is kind of exactly why bsky is succeeding where the fediverse isn't - the fact of the matter is that the interface of most activitypub applications is kind of confusing to most people. if you don't make it easy to use for 99% of people you'll only have nerds, which doesn't exactly replace Twitter.
plus the protocol lends itself to petty tyrant syndrome where one instance owner can decide to block another instance and you're just screwed. bsky has problems (annoying petty scolds) but they ultimately have no power because you can make them go away easily. The same is not true of fediverse where instance admins make lists of queer instances to block. sure, bluesky has dumb idiots abusing modlists, but they have no power. On fediverse they do.
I knew bsky would succeed when they had a bunch of dumb mutelist drama last year and it didn't result in a massive network-wide schism like it would have on fediverse. It is simply the only option out there for most people that makes sense to switch from Twitter. Where else were you going to go, threads?
I also think this likely won't be the same for what ends up replacing reddit. Reddit's core userbase has always been power users willing to tolerate some jank. Lemmy, kbin, etc are probably fine for them because the avg user is simply more technical. This is also why I think fediverse is always going to have a place - only allowing people who are kinda big nerds to join does have some genuine advantages too.
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Comment on LGBTQ folks check-in thread - how're you all doing? in ~lgbt
supergauntlet LinkI'm gonna be honest I'm completely done talking with any liberal at this point in my life. I know that they are going to take the Democratic party's lies that we (trans people) stabbed them in the...I'm gonna be honest I'm completely done talking with any liberal at this point in my life. I know that they are going to take the Democratic party's lies that we (trans people) stabbed them in the back at face value, and blindly goose step into 1939.
I have basically no patience for cis people, especially cis affluent people anymore. I knew the elite of this country thought I was subhuman but I didn't think they were quite so stupid as to willingly lose instead of refute it. I have been expecting a backstab from liberal society about our rights for some time but I expected them to do it after winning.
And the absolute gall of the Democrats to try fundraising immediately after the loss. People are going to die. My friends. The cost of their mistakes are going to be borne by my community. And the entire time cis """allies""" are just going to fucking watch, never lifting a fucking finger.
That said, at least now I know. I know that I was right and that there is little time left. And all that remains now is to prepare.
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Comment on AI is killing remote work in ~tech
supergauntlet Link Parentabsolutely agreed, I would just say the annoying users on Twitter are the Nazi kind of too online, and the annoying users on bluesky are the tumblr kind of too online. bluntly I think the Internet...absolutely agreed, I would just say the annoying users on Twitter are the Nazi kind of too online, and the annoying users on bluesky are the tumblr kind of too online.
bluntly I think the Internet is just broadly worse than 2 years ago because a lot of the people who post interesting content have logged off the corporate Internet to go do something else. there'll be backfill in time but. it will take time
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Comment on AI is killing remote work in ~tech
supergauntlet Link ParentBluesky kinda sucks, but I definitely think it's the cleanest dirty shirt. most of the legacy social medias are in some stage of collapse, Twitter is horrendous, and the fediverse has no real...Bluesky kinda sucks, but I definitely think it's the cleanest dirty shirt. most of the legacy social medias are in some stage of collapse, Twitter is horrendous, and the fediverse has no real solution to the moderation problem because of how they do federation. bsky has some problems with userbase quality, to put it lightly, but I think it will eventually succeed because it has a better user experience than fediverse and despite those problems still has way better content quality than, say, its most obvious direct competitor, threads.
If I open bsky I see art cats and funnies. I open threads and I see ragebait.
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Comment on Reddit is profitable for the first time ever, with nearly 100 million daily users in ~tech
supergauntlet Link Parentto be honest they were actually astoundingly effective. never forget the 90/9/1 rule, it doesn't matter that reddit found ways to prop up the loss of users with new low quality users and bot...to be honest they were actually astoundingly effective. never forget the 90/9/1 rule, it doesn't matter that reddit found ways to prop up the loss of users with new low quality users and bot traffic. The people who actually made the site what it is are long gone.
I had been saying that the suits that run these sites were playing with fire, that eventually they would go too far and drive off their core userbase, one by one, who would log off and find that doing so made their lives materially better in nearly every demonstrable way. From my point of view, reddit is a burn victim who's hopped up on adrenaline. Inertia is a hell of a thing. But with a long, slow bleed of people who actually make the website good (not just mods, but high quality commenters and contributors) the site is doomed to become Facebook or Twitter eventually.
And if that's what the owners want, so be it. But its utility will wane with the userbase quality.
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Comment on This journalist spent a year living with the embattled families of trans youth in ~lgbt
supergauntlet Link Parentit's too late for me to have a normal childhood. but I will fight tooth and claw to let even just one more child experience this. Thank you.After the name change is finalized and she leaves the judge, she cartwheels down the hall of the courthouse.
it's too late for me to have a normal childhood. but I will fight tooth and claw to let even just one more child experience this. Thank you.
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Comment on Community Check-In: How is everyone doing? in ~life
supergauntlet Link ParentI would suggest generally to avoid doing this even when you know you don't mean it (maybe especially then) because you're going to subconsciously reinforce incel ideology in your head. It's...I would suggest generally to avoid doing this even when you know you don't mean it (maybe especially then) because you're going to subconsciously reinforce incel ideology in your head. It's immensely frustrating to be taken for a ride like this. It's happened to me multiple times. I'm sorry and it shouldn't. But understand a big part of why women are so averse to direct rejection is because they are afraid of men, and you do not generally get second chances at guessing whether a guy is safe. As hard as it is you can't take it personally and you can't let it make you a misogynist.
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Comment on The third sex in ~lgbt
supergauntlet LinkAn article about the Hijra in India, Western cultural anthropologists, transmisogyny, and the confluence of the three resulting in an invented past of what the Hijra were as justification to...An article about the Hijra in India, Western cultural anthropologists, transmisogyny, and the confluence of the three resulting in an invented past of what the Hijra were as justification to codify third-sexing in law in the present.
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The third sex
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Comment on America is losing Southeast Asia: Why US allies in the region are turning toward China in ~society
supergauntlet Link Parentyeah, as always America is losing support around the world because it is a failing empire run by bad people. it's really that simple. Even the role Islam plays is that America's chosen Other...yeah, as always America is losing support around the world because it is a failing empire run by bad people. it's really that simple. Even the role Islam plays is that America's chosen Other ("radical Islamic terrorism") does have consequences. Turns out Muslims don't like it when you're really racist about other Muslims! wow, what a concept, what will these white people think up next?
Sometimes it feels like America forgets that the world existed before American global hegemony, and that the world will continue just fine after it ends. That its actually a shockingly short time in geopolitical terms.
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Comment on At the University of Michigan, pro Palestinian protestors have "Shut Down" student government, by being elected to it in ~society
supergauntlet Link ParentYou can see directly how they invest in venture capital firms that then also invest in deeply evil companies like Anduril. If even a fraction of the university's money is ultimately going to find...The Tahrir Coalition is making the argument that the university is investing in Israel indirectly via the tech industry - that by investing in tech, they support Israel. While it's true that there are connections and it seems they went through some trouble to trace them, I'm not sure I see it. It seems like the tech industry's profits are mostly from other sources?
You can see directly how they invest in venture capital firms that then also invest in deeply evil companies like Anduril. If even a fraction of the university's money is ultimately going to find drone software to more efficiently mass-slaughter Palestinians that's too much. I really don't find the creative accounting as a way to distance the endowment from the results of its investments all that believable as a shield. If I invest in 8VC and then I see that 8VC funded Edgybees, the company that makes software to identify targets to bomb, it is logical for me to feel like my money is being used to slaughter. Why is this different for a university's endowment?
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Comment on At the University of Michigan, pro Palestinian protestors have "Shut Down" student government, by being elected to it in ~society
supergauntlet Link ParentI had an angrier comment typed but I will simply not take the bait in your second paragraph. However I do recognize it. My only further comment is that if you see "nothing out of the ordinary"...I had an angrier comment typed but I will simply not take the bait in your second paragraph. However I do recognize it.
My only further comment is that if you see "nothing out of the ordinary" then the entire field is rotten. Every university invests in the military industrial complex? And justifies it by saying "everyone else does it"? And this is somehow supposed to be a rebuttal? No wonder the students are so livid if this is the level of complacency of the people running the funds. If you're going to have nearly 20 billion dollars to throw around at least do something more productive for the world than funding mass slaughter indirectly enough for liberals to run cover for you. Disgusting.
While I broadly agree I do think polarization has reached the point that we can't talk our way out of a lot of it. Like, how am I, a transsexual, supposed to find common ground with someone who actually just wants to put all trans people in camps and is actually part of a hate group that has done material harm?
I'm not talking about the merely ignorant, or the lightly propagandized. Those can be worked with. But we have reached a point where a significant portion of our society is simply not interested in reality whatsoever, that truly believe the sky is green. How do we reach those that have so stubbornly stuck their head in the sand? I hope there are enough others to outweigh them.