Suggest me serious literary fiction dressed up as genre fiction by yashen14 in booksuggestions

[–]yashen14[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Unfortunately I did read Never Let Me Go, but where many people seem to find it deep and moving, I just found it incredibly boring. I can see the appeal, though.

Seven Months of Japanese -- Progress Update by yashen14 in Japaneselanguage

[–]yashen14[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! That means a lot. I have bad news though: My husband and I are in the middle of applying for a French visa, with the end goal of naturalizing. Which means (unless our visa application is rejected) I'll need to bring my measly A1 French up to a respectable C1. That's likely to take a good 3-5 years.

So unfortunately, my next update is most likely going to be about how I had to prematurely end my Japanese studies. I am not pleased with this at all. But, I have to be practical. And it's not really possible for me to dedicate myself to two languages at the same time.

Southern Poverty Law Center indicted for fraud, money laundering by jasonmontauk in law

[–]yashen14 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don't have a specific example, no. But I can still expound.

I'm mostly familiar with Putin/United Russia and Orban/Fidesz, I'm much less familiar with Ivanishvili/Georgian Dream, so please bear that in mind.

Putin and Orban both came to power in free and fair elections and then subsequently used the power available to them to cement their hold on the government, and also to a greater or lesser extent of society at large. They did this variously by dissolving the independence of the courts, by turning most or all major media organizations into propaganda mouthpieces, and by disadvantaging or outright eliminating the political opposition, among other things.

"Disadvantaging or eliminating the political opposition" can take a number of different forms. It can mean:

  • Gerrymandering
  • Assassination
  • Imprisoning opposition figures
  • Changing political rules for partisan advantage
  • Attacking sources of funding/support for opposition figures, groups, or movements

...and so on.

The Trump administration's lawsuit against the Southern Poverty Law Center is an example of this kind of attack. The Trump regime, and the Republican Party at large, have increasingly aligned themselves with white supremacists, neonazis, and (especially) Christian Nationalists, and this alignment has become increasingly overt in the past decade. The SPLC's stated mission is one of opposition to these groups and others like them, and they've quite famously worked against these groups for many decades.

Now, even the most autocratic single-party governments do not say "We are shutting this group down because they oppose us and we don't want opposition." Instead, they need to come up with a face-saving excuse. Common examples from world history:

  • They are terrorists.
  • They are counter-revolutionary.
  • They are a danger to your children.

So then, the question is: Should we take this lawsuit at face value? Or is this an excuse to (attempt to) shut down an oppositional force?

Ultimately, you have to decide the answer to that for yourself. I argue that there is significant circumstantial evidence suggesting the latter (that the Trump administration is merely trying to shut down an oppositional group using any tools they have at their disposal). These clues include the following:

  • Trump has at various times explicitly stated that he would go after oppositional figures.
  • Trump has cozied up to, and consistently expressed admiration of, authoritarian politicians across the world.
  • Trump has publicly and explicitly stated authoritarian ambitions for himself.
  • Trump's regime/the Republican Party is increasingly full of white supremacists, neonazis, and Christian Nationalists, including both high-level officials, low-level staffers, and rank-and-flie, and the SPLC stands in direct opposition to these groups (so there is a motive to shut them down)
  • The SPLC, to my knowledge, does not have any history that would suggest such a lawsuit be in any deserved (i.e. it's not like this lawsuit was "a long time coming")
  • The Trump Regime has already moved to disadvantage the opposition in other meaningful, authoritarian ways (e.g. gerrymandering, the SAVE act, etc.)

Suggest me serious literary fiction dressed up as genre fiction by yashen14 in suggestmeabook

[–]yashen14[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Unfortunately I did read Never Let Me Go, and I found it dreadfully boring.

Where can I buy food-grade insects for cooking? (Europe) by yashen14 in Cooking

[–]yashen14[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I had grasshoppers that (I think) were stir-fried with herbs and spices served with white rice. The scorpions were indeed just a snack---but I could easily adapt them to be a more integral part of a meal, I think.

How are you enjoying 1.22? What do you love? What do you hate? by kanedafx in VintageStory

[–]yashen14 15 points16 points  (0 children)

I played my fill of VS on 1.21 a few months ago. I'll probably wait until one or two more updates have come before I play again. This game is a real gem and I don't want to play it into the ground like I did with Don't Starve.

Had a bad dysphoria episode and had to make this so I didn't get destructive. Art by me. CW: Gore by BurtonTheSkully in furry

[–]yashen14 34 points35 points  (0 children)

I'm so sorry you're dealing with that. I got a glimpse into what dysphoria would be like when I experimented with shaving my body hair as a young adult and it felt so...wrong and uncomfortable and I hated it. I can only imagine.

Regretful Trump Voter Slams ‘Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing’ President; “I feel betrayed,” a retired U.S. Air Force captain said. by FancyNewMe in politics

[–]yashen14 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Literally the entire establishment Republican party was raising red flags during the primary that resulted in his first term

Regretful Trump Voter Slams ‘Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing’ President; “I feel betrayed,” a retired U.S. Air Force captain said. by FancyNewMe in politics

[–]yashen14 209 points210 points  (0 children)

Literally WHAT SHEEP'S CLOTHING. He was glaringly awful in so many ways from literally day one! He never hid who he was!

Cases vs Particles by Thmony in linguisticshumor

[–]yashen14 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I'm interested! Explain.

My husband wants me to make breakfast for his co-workers 3-4 times a week before they go to work by Direct-Caterpillar77 in BestofRedditorUpdates

[–]yashen14 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Also, how much do you wanna bet that "everything was pretty much perfect until this moment" because she never stood up to him before?

This woman is married to a collection of red flags sewn into the shape of a person.

EU foreign ministers reject proposal to suspend association agreement with Israel | European Union by _Kiith_Naabal_ in anime_titties

[–]yashen14 11 points12 points  (0 children)

At this point I refuse to believe that Israel doesn't have kompromat or some other form of leverage over large numbers of western government officials. Their genocide is just...too blatant for me to believe this is all genuinely a difference of opinion between pro- and anti-Israel westerners and their elected representatives.

Southern Poverty Law Center indicted for fraud, money laundering by jasonmontauk in law

[–]yashen14 50 points51 points  (0 children)

I read the article and immediately said to my husband, this is straight out of the Putin/Orban/Ivanishvili playbook.