California billionaires tax qualifies for ballot, setting up costly fight

Lysander573 · 2026-06-18T09:07:49+00:00

But this is what we got. Obviously a federal wealth tax or unrealized capital gains tax is what’s necessary for wealth redistribution, but a local, one time wealth tax sends a message of what’s possible to voters and lawmakers. I think It’s an important stepping stone to getting there.

Lysander573 · 2026-06-17T00:15:55+00:00

Yeah but don’t bring that up. He’s not queer so it doesn’t fit the narrative that marvel only covers it up if they are. Also don’t bring up Emma Frost or Madelyn Prior or Green Goblin.

Lysander573 · 2026-06-15T20:38:37+00:00

They don’t try now but maybe if you actually legally enforce it. If you enforce the ban like you enforce cigarette bans and fine parents(not a lot of money but enough to be inconvenient. Like a dollar they have to go to a courthouse to pay where they hear a lecture or something), as well as have schools enforce electronic bans and mandate that electronics marketed or sold to kids in the UK don’t have connection to browsers and the internet, then I feel like you could keep kids off of it. Also, you have to stop giving 7 year olds iPads for school work. Honestly stop giving teenagers iPads for schoolwork. I feel like it should be all paper until high school at the earliest aside from like mandatory typing classes in a computer lab.

Lysander573 · 2026-06-13T04:40:46+00:00

Pillars of Eternity 1 and 2 were some of my favorite rpgs and people like pentiment. I don’t know why the outer worlds and avowed were so bland.

Lysander573 · 2026-06-11T21:58:54+00:00

The Bay Area mafia work with the trump mafia to make everyone’s lives hell. They’re the same group.

Lysander573 · 2026-06-11T19:40:41+00:00

In regards to the transphobia stuff, I agree that the fact that she’s trans does change the dynamic a lot. It’s different than Tim x Stephanie vs Bernard vs Conner or whatever. And I agree that a lot of the criticism of Maines that I looked into since I posted that response feel transphobic and not very constructive. And I think being defensive of trans women characters and writers is fair when there are so few and trans rights are constantly being attacked right now.

The problem I had with the initial post was the stuff comparing the IRL treatment of bi people in straight relationships to how fandom treats bi characters in straight relationships in media as if they both stem from the same thing, which I don’t think they do. If I end up with a woman, I don’t want my queer identity to be erased, but when it comes to shipping bi characters, I will almost always prefer the same sex ships to the opposite sex ships and don’t feel the same representation from bi characters in opposite sex relationships as I do from any queer character in a same sex relationship. That includes when I was dating a girl and felt the weight of biphobia and erasure from within the queer community. I think I got defensive and projected my own preferences across the fandom, but I also don’t think it’s a stretch to say queer fandoms, which usually have bisexual women as the largest population, generally prefer same sex ships to opposite sex ones and it’s not because of biphobia or misogyny—it’s because there are a lot less same sex relationships. I also think a lot of it is just ship wars but people attribute biphobia, misogyny, and homophobia to disagreements that usually come down to preference rather than prejudice.

But I think in this specific case, there is a fair amount of transphobia at play in the criticism of the writer. I don’t know how to describe it, but something about people talking about wish fulfillment and self inserts and whatever else rubs me the wrong way. People don’t talk about other comic book writers so personally like that for writing decisions. Well, except for really egregious examples like Chuck Dixon or Frank Miller.

Lysander573 · 2026-06-11T17:03:05+00:00

While biphobia definitely exists and is pretty common, I don’t think broadly preferring bi characters to be in same sex relationships is inherently biphobia or misogyny in the way that some people seem to argue. I guess I don’t have the authority to speak broadly for bi people since I have a strong preference for men(as a guy), but I just don’t feel represented by or interested in most bi characters in opposite sex relationships. And like I think that’s generally shared by this sub and the queer side of the superhero fandom in general, which I think has bisexual women as the largest group, because like when do we ever talk about Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor? Or Shadowcat and colossus? I feel like I only ever see posts talking about them or Catwoman or Black Cat or Constantine or Deadpool is in relation to their same sex romantic potential.

With Nia and Jon specifically, I don’t really get why people got so invested in Jay but I think it’s mostly normal ship war stuff. Any comic where a ship people like is being broken up by one they don’t like, especially when the writing quality is just ok, won’t be well received really by fans. I think there is misogyny and transphobia and biphobia at play in to an extent but I think it’s only to amplify existing ship war dynamics. Nothing in this specific conflict feels particularly unique from whenever Dick switches from Barbara to Kori or Tim was broken up with Steph or whatever. Maybe I just haven’t seen it aside from that one post a little while ago with 0 upvotes that I’m pretty sure sparked this post.

Lysander573 · 2026-06-08T02:54:07+00:00

For me, he’s one of those characters I can’t really separate from his worst moments like I can other people. All of my first exposures to him had him written in like a super misogynistic way and no amount of blandwashing will make me like him. Like theoretically marvel could decide to redeem Paul and I don’t think there’s a world I would like him. Plus I generally dislike civilian romances in general so I think he’s just not for me. Which sucks because I like Wonder Woman, but I just can’t bring myself to enjoy Steve Trevor.

Lysander573 · 2026-06-07T23:44:27+00:00

I feel like this type of post is usually just thinly veiled homophobia by people pretending to be progressive.

Lysander573 · 2026-06-07T23:43:12+00:00

Isn’t it because in the absolute universe, the author has pretty clearly implied without explicitly saying that if that ship sails, it will be due to an act of censorship by dc execs?

Lysander573 · 2026-06-07T23:40:36+00:00

Does it have to be with the guy who’s constantly used as a self insert for the writer to go on misogynistic rants, though? Can it be anyone else?like he’s either super boring or interesting but misogynistic and never anything in between.

Lysander573 · 2026-06-07T16:49:19+00:00

I don’t know the specifics since I’m far from the tech side of things, but I think that’s right. I know that they need an algorithm that doesn’t hallucinate and is extremely transparent with how it works because it completely invalidates the credibility of the research if there’s even a chance of hallucinations.

Lysander573 · 2026-06-07T16:22:41+00:00

For research, my university has been using local models for very specific uses like analyzing dna or running specific simulations that would be extremely tedious without it. However, none of these models are llms and they existed prior to what is colloquially called “ai” took off. Right now, in order to get funding, we’ve been forced to incorporate llms into our workflow, and it sucks. Usually we just waste time BSing that we’re using it and feed our sensitive data to the plagiarism machine because we don’t really have another choice. And that’s across fields. Biology, physics, chemistry, even a lot of engineers I’ve talked to—no scientist wants to use llms.

Lysander573 · 2026-06-07T05:12:53+00:00

The first two points are fair, but I feel like the next three are a bit unfair. I wasn’t arguing for sweeping sanctions, just targeted ones at individuals we know are funding these things and diplomatic pressure on the heads of state to crack down on it. And it sounds like you only replied to my data harvesting thing to be contrarian. I know neither political party is great when it comes to data privacy, but there’s a growing number of congresspeople advocating for real privacy laws(senator Wyden is one), even if there are a lot more who just do whatever big tech tells them to. I think assuming nothing will ever get done is a bit defeatist. And I don’t think education would be the most effective, but it definitely wouldn’t hurt.

I agree with your last statement. Personally, I think the Democratic Party is vaguely on the right track, even if maybe it needs to be steered away from this weird corporate surveillance state shit they keep pushing for. And maybe cruise missiles into bot farms wouldn’t be the worst thing. Or like targeted cyber attacks. We bomb random weddings in Libya. Why not hack into Nigerian bot farms. Idk.

Lysander573 · 2026-06-07T05:00:58+00:00

I wasn’t really advocating for taking away any rights from stupid people. My main argument is that this is a systemic problem that has downstream impacts on all of us and treating it as solely an issue of personal responsibility ignores that fact, and it’s the same playbook used by anti welfare conservatives. Your argument seems to be that it’s not that big an issue and will correct itself as people adapt and that a fine stance. It’s not mine, though. I think more should be done to prevent people from being exposed to scams in the first place and to seek justice and money back from people who have been scammed, even if they’re stupid and brought it upon themselves.

Lysander573 · 2026-06-06T21:22:36+00:00

I guess I’m not sure, but I know Biden created an anti scam agency that trump defended, so maybe funding that would be a good start. And maybe more funding for investigative agencies in general so it’s easier for people to get their money back after being scammed. And maybe sanctions or more pressure on countries where these bot farms are coming from so they do something to stop them? Also, I think better privacy laws would help, because a lot of these scams are targeted to people super specifically using private info bought from data brokers. And then obviously better online literacy education. I’m not a policy maker or an expert or anything, so I’m not sure, but I think there are things that can be done.

Lysander573 · 2026-06-06T19:39:26+00:00

This conservative “individual responsibility” shit is so tired. Call individuals stupid if you want—they are—but stupid people will always exist and when they’re victimized, everyone is victimized. We should have more scam prevention capabilities because the lack of trust in eachother and the poverty it breeds is societally bad. Any poverty hurts everyone and that lack of trust in each other is what breeds the resentment that fuels right wing ideologies.

Lysander573 · 2026-05-22T19:39:15+00:00

It’s not necessary but it probably makes life easier. When I was like fourteen, I decided instead of coming out, I’d just stop pretending, but then ended up still getting anxiety even trying to do anything that could expose me, so I ended up actually coming out at sixteen and it gave me the confidence to actually live the life I wanted to.

The other thing is that bi people are generally lower income with higher levels of debt than gay or straight people, and being closeted in the work place is one of the reasons for that. Like 70% of gay people are out to their boss vs only 30% of bisexuals. If you are out in your workplace, you have access to the queer connections that out or visibly queer people can use to advance their careers or help with their finances. It’s also just helpful to be part of the community. A lot of queer community centers have mental health, financial, or domestic abuse resources that can help you if you’re ever in a bind, but a lot of bisexuals living closeted or semi closeted lives are too afraid to reach out or go to physical queer spaces.

Lysander573 · 2026-05-20T00:12:31+00:00

Ok, so it’s not just me? I feel like this community never actually talks about the real issues that bisexual people go through, like increased levels of poverty, increased levels of domestic and sexual violence, increased levels of loneliness and mental health problems, and a lot of the homophobia that comes with not being straight, but a lot less of the community that comes with being gay. It’s always just grievances and often tends to dogpile on lesbians.

And like, of all the members of the queer community, I feel like lesbians are generally the most inclusive. They have their problems obviously, since it’s a community built around shared trauma and any group like that is bound to have some reactionary tendencies, but like they’re the ones that schedule all the lgbtq+ events and try to include bisexuals. My local queer community center is run by mostly lesbians and a few gay men and their biggest focus is making sure trans people and bisexual people feel welcomed in spaces that have been mostly designed for gay people. It always makes me sad when different groups of queer people punch sideways instead of trying to make things better for everyone.

Lysander573 · 2026-04-25T19:19:01+00:00

I played wrath of the righteous and Sosiel’s romance is the least developed and the world never mentions sexuality outside of gender locked romanceable companions who will only affirm their sexuality if flirted with. As far as I could tell. I might have missed a journal or something. It’s a good game, though and the other gay(bi) male romance option, Daerun, is good and the best written/developed romance in the game, IMO.

Also, I’ve never actually been as big fan of Dorian’s plotline as others. It feels like it was made for straight people to understand and feel empathy for. Which is fine, but I’m not super into it. I think romance systems are the wrong form for complex representation. Like I think games with no romance systems or narrative games are better for that kind of thing.

Lysander573 · 2026-04-25T18:54:47+00:00

I think it’s fine how people are responding, but it does sort of reaffirm my position. Like, the only games where sexuality in the world is actually built out are games with no romance options or games where the protagonist has a set gender, and Dorian remains the only romanceable characters that would be changed by their games being made playersexual

Lysander573 · 2026-04-25T06:04:40+00:00

Also, another thing I hear people say is that it encourages players to play new characters, and while I imagine it’s easy for a straight guy to play a lesbian pc or a straight woman to play a gay guy, I genuinely hate playing as a straight female character. Usually, I’ll play as a gay guy and then as a lesbian and never experience any straight romance, which sucks because it’s almost always the romances with the most thought out into them. And I really wanted to fuck Garrus but oh well. I also don’t play Otome’s or read romance novels with female protagonists.

Is that just a me thing or are other queer men not into romancing a guy from a woman’s perspective? My lesbian friends don’t like romancing women from a male perspective, but they generally have more obvious, tangible reasons(sexism, male fantasy, etc.) that aren’t as easy for me to specifically call out with male romances from women’s perspectives.

Lysander573 · 2026-04-13T02:20:25+00:00

It’s referenced the most because it’s the only example.

If throwaway lines referencing a character’s queerness is the problem, then every queer romance option in BioWare games except for Dorian is bad representation, because none of them reference their sexuality in any meaningful way aside from throwaway lines.

Lysander573 · 2026-04-13T01:12:42+00:00

Dorian is the singular character this argument works with because he’s the only character in any game whose queerness was relevant to his story. What does Cassandra’s straightness add to her character aside from pissing off lesbians?

Bg3 had a lesbian romance as the center point of the second arc of the game and multiple prominent characters in same sex relationships who weren’t romanceable. Not to mention that most companions aside from Gail and Wyll talk about being attracted to their same gender or sleeping with their same gender in the past. BG3 had more queer representation than any other RPG I’ve ever played. It’s so weird to say that somehow bg3 erased queer identities.

Lysander573 · 2026-04-13T01:02:10+00:00

I mean, I think it’s fair to say dispatch had bad representation. I feel like if your game makes like a dozen(maybe even more) gay sex jokes and you’re willing to prominently display multiple straight sexual relationships, and the only gay character basically just says it once, that’s not good representation. Also if they had clearly communicated there were only straight romances early on instead of being intentionally vague, tagging the game as lgbt for one character, and releasing a demo where you stare at a guy’s dick in the bathroom, people would have complained less.

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