By David Futrelle
It’s a rarity in this year of terrible, but tonight has been a night of actual good news! Dems are winning elections, and Reddit has banned the toxic cesspool known as the Incels subreddit! Celebrate while you can in this open thread!
No trolls. Fuck trolls.
This is the first time a wall of news notifications hasn't been a nightmare in god knows how long pic.twitter.com/NpTaW5QK6e
— Ashley Feinberg (ashleyfeinberg.bsky.social) (@ashleyfeinberg) November 8, 2017
Dems have won all three of the marquee off-year races — NJGov, VAGov, NYC Mayor — for the first time since 1989.
— David Weigel (@daveweigel) November 8, 2017
Democrats decimated Republicans across the country tonight, at every level and in every branch of state government.
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) November 8, 2017
Thanks, Trump!
And this is the icing on the cake:
Trans woman Danica Roem (D) just defeated anti-LGBTQ candidate Bob Marshall (R) in Virginia, becoming the first trans state legislator in America.
— Laura Bassett (@LEBassett) November 8, 2017
The man who wrote the anti-trans bathroom bill just lost the election to a trans woman. Let that sink in. https://t.co/KFEZXSYvMy
— Laura Bassett (@LEBassett) November 8, 2017
Oh, and there’s this:
Jeff Sessions' DOJ Drops Prosecution Of Woman Who Laughed At Jeff Sessions https://t.co/slOPOhmLYN pic.twitter.com/ekRsU1RJAq
— Curt and Frank 🏳️🌈 (@curtandfrank) November 7, 2017
Let’s all celebrate by laughing at Jeff Sessions!
Meanwhile, on Reddit:
Reddit has banned the Incels subreddit. About fucking time; it was a cesspool of misogyny and violent hate. pic.twitter.com/8RieXtxZLN
— David Futrelle (@DavidFutrelle) November 8, 2017
HEALTH NOTE: Though cheered by tonight’s news, I’m still dealing with a shitstorm of health issues. I will return to regular posting as soon as I can, but I’m not sure when that will be. Thanks again for your patience and your support!
@Gussie Jives
I love Russell, but this quote makes me wary as I’ve seen too many people use it to advertise their smartness, i.e. “Well, I have doubts, therefore I must be really wise, unlike those idiots.” (I’m not referring to you, btw!). I prefer the thing that Socrates apparently-never-said-but-may-have, along the lines of “the only thing I know for sure is that I know nothing.” My kind of humility 🙂
@Brony, re indoor cats (also, such great news about Spooky!): where I’m living right now is much easier, as it’s a fairly big, 2-storey townhouse with a courtyard garden (the fence has been cat-proofed, just like mrex recommended). So there’s a lot for the fluffets to do here. The place is strewn with cat toys of all kinds, and cardboard boxes. Cats also love it when their humans play with them, obv.
People tend to think that cats basically look after themselves, but they do get bored, and for indoor kits this is more of an issue. No need for it to be expensive: boxes, scrunched up paper balls (not tissues), shoelaces, and scratchy posts. While they like routine, mine also get very excited if I rearrange a room 😀
@wwth, if you’re around, your cats are indoors, aren’t they? Any thoughts would be great.
Yes, my kitties are indoor. I let them hunt my hands by running my finger along the bed or floor near them and poking or grabbing at their bellies and then having them try to catch my hands. The downside of that is that I get many scratches. But they seem to enjoy it more than dangling strings or throwing toys.
I think it’s also crucial to provide good window seating somewhere in the home. Looking at the birds and squirrels outside from a safe spot inside is often just as entertaining as actually prowling out there. Plus, catnip is always good.
@wwth,
Windows, yes! How could I forget the importance of cat TV? Definitely a winner.
@Rastafas,
I only saw your comment now for some reason. What an adorable song! And ohmygodohmygod Catlady Records…..
Oh man, now George Takei is being accused of molestation. Say it ain’t so…
@freneticferret
Not Takei, too!
Accusations against Takei have to be a distraction, they just have to be! Or someone is mad at his fabulousness, and snarky takedowns!
=(
On one hand I am not thrilled about all the people I’d admired and all the stuff thrown onto the pile of stuff which is getting ruined as entertainment with each new revelation, but on the other hand regarding all of the people whose awful actions are being quite spectacularly yanked out into the open ITS ABOUT GODDAMN TIME.
Eventually the only non-ruined entertainment might turn out to be “cat tv”, when the cats permit. Maybe chasing the dog’s tail alongside with the dog? And a very careful selection of books.
@Msexceptiontotherule
Let’s… not do that, aight ?
Gross! Another slime for me to tear apart with my awesome SpukiKitty claws over at FSTDT!
About Takei; I hope that’s a false alarm!
Et tu, uncle George? His statement basically says it didn’t happen and also he doesn’t remember it. Not a good look. Just lost a serious amount of respect for the man.
Ugh. So they want slavery back? Whats next for mras? justifying human trafficking only if its girls? then if its boys, ridicule them for not being alpha enough?
I’m so sick of them and their master/slave radicalized dreams.
DID SOMEBODY MENTION RUSSELL AND SOCRATES?
http://existentialcomics.com/comic/196
@sinkable
Regrettably, tone is difficult to convey in text format, not even a frowny face added is something one can rely on as I again am learning.
So I do apologize for tossing out a bit that was intended to segue to my feeling of disappointment at another revelation which ruins things I’d previously enjoyed though the necessity is duly understood, and in retrospect that bit was a poorly thought out opener that did not need to be used regardless of intent.
I don’t believe the Takei accuser. I’ll happily eat my words if anyone else comes forward testifying to a similar pattern of abuse, but I just don’t find the story believable, for a few reasons:
– I have never, ever heard a survivor of sexual assault talk about how they’ve been recounting their story for anecdotal funzies for years.
– The “I just randomly met this celebrity in a bar when I was all sad over my break-up” bit is basically every male rape fantasy narrative request I’ve ever heard as a phone sex operator, ever.
– “Greg’s Blue Dot” is the name of a gay bar that existed in LA in the 70s and 80s. It’s also one of the first bar names that you can find if you Google “gay bars in LA in the 80s” and click the first link that actually talks about vintage bars. (You know, exactly like someone would do if they were making up a story and needed a bar name to sound convincing.)
– The word-for-word verbal exchanges he recounts (from, you know, decades ago) sound simultaneously like someone trying to imitate George Takei for a bad round of local improv and some troll’s attempt to imitate what a “perfect victim” and “typical predator” sound like.
– I have never heard a survivor say something to the effect of, “Who’s going to believe me? It’s my word against his.” This kind of priming-you-to-disbelieve tactic is far more often used by someone who is *playing* victimhood.
None of these things are necessarily damning evidence on their own, but put all together, and put next to the fact that some troll was *bound* to pull a false accusation to make a point, and the fact that George Takei was a pretty obvious target for this given that he’s gay and politically active (including advocacy for survivors), it’s fishy as hell. It reads to me as exactly what a troll who wanted to silence a vocal advocate would do.
“Believe survivors” doesn’t mean you believe anyone who claims assault, even if their tale seems fake and their motives for lying obvious. It means taking off your rape culture blinders and seeing that *most* assault stories are believable and stand up to scrutiny.
“His statement basically says it didn’t happen and also he doesn’t remember it. ”
No, his statement says that it didn’t happen and he can’t remember ever even meeting the guy.
@LaurelG
Got a bridge for sale, if you want first dibs.
He doesn’t remember it? So what? I don’t remember who the hell I had one night stands with in the 80s either. Doesn’t mean they didn’t happen.
@LaurelG
Man! I hope it’s just this one guy and that there are no other accusers.
If there are, however; I’ll just have to accept that Takei isn’t up-to-snuff.
If it’s one guy and it’s a one-time thing, I hope it’s just some jerk lying to bring down Takei.
That said; Each accusation needs to be examined….even a one-time thing.
If it did happen, I hope Takei fesses up to it, apologizes, confess how wrong it was and does all he can to make up for it. It allegedly happened decades ago and if it was a one-time-thing, then it can be a case of “Doing something stupid ‘That ONE time….'”.
I already had to turn on my favorite comedian due to him turning out to be a disgusting serial rapist. I don’t want a similar thing with Takei.
Shadowplay, I have not represented that I believe him because he says he didn’t remember it, I was just clarifying what his statement was. I understand that “I don’t remember” is something guilty people often say. My reasons for thinking this is a troll job is that is looks to me like a troll job.
I know I’m on shaky ground, and I’m sorry, but there has to be some room to acknowledge that this sort of thing happens, because even if I’m wrong this time, I’m strongly guessing that organized misogynists making false “gotcha” accusations is *going* to be a thing, and soon. How could they not? It’s an obvious tactical response to what’s been going on, from their perspective.
@ LaurieIG
I too am a bit disappointed at these accusations. I’d prefer them not to be true. However…
I think we have to be really careful to avoid the all too common narrative that there’s a ‘standard’ way for sexual assault survivors to react. It’s something that does crop up a lot in trials. Unless a victim does all the clichés like breaking down in tears and immediately raising a hue and cry it’s easy to suggest it couldn’t have been a ‘real’ assault. But victims can engage in all sorts of behaviour that seems counter intuitive. They may get on with their lives and not even mention the assault. They may even continue to engage with their attackers.
Judges here now read out to juries a little article about ‘rape myths’ that cover all these points.
As for
Isn’t that one of the most common reactions to assault? I’ve certainly heard it many times before.
It’s difficult to hear bad things about people we like or admire; but, I would suggest, that doesn’t mean we should hold them to a lower standard or extend them some enhanced benefit of the doubt.
Fairly said, Laurel, and yes, it is a possibility of course, and something to bear in mind. Innocent until proven guilty and all that.
I’m just trying to remember if and when one of these false flag (hate the phrase) accusations ever actually happened. Not recalling any that were shown to have happened (though recall a hell of a lot of claims of them happening), but I sort of drop out of following the news for months at a time due to work.
“If it did happen, I hope Takei fesses up to it, apologizes, confess how wrong it was and does all he can to make up for it. It allegedly happened decades ago and if it was a one-time-thing, then it can be a case of ‘Doing something stupid ‘That ONE time….’.”
No, someone who roofies someone for sexual assault is NOT having a forgiveable, one time lapse in judgement. That’s a sign of a very intentional and cruel degree of predation, and probably a pattern that has escalated over time.
Someone being drunk and say, making an unwanted second sexual advance after a first advance was rejected is a “doing something stupid” mistake. Drugging? Absolutely not.
Uh…me? I’ve said this to myself when determining whether to tell mutual friends about a guy raping me.
Alan –
There’s a reason I said none of these things are necessarily damning on their own.
“Isn’t that one of the most common reactions to assault? I’ve certainly heard it many times before.”
I have not. Not before the actual denial from the accused happens. I find that *most* survivors expect to be believed at first because they are telling the truth, and that nearly all liars use tactics like this in anticipation of not being believed, because they are lying.
“I think we have to be really careful to avoid the all too common narrative that there’s a ‘standard’ way for sexual assault survivors to react. It’s something that does crop up a lot in trials. Unless a victim does all the clichés like breaking down in tears and immediately raising a hue and cry it’s easy to suggest it couldn’t have been a ‘real’ assault. But victims can engage in all sorts of behaviour that seems counter intuitive.”
Only if you don’t actually understand trauma. If you do, or if you’ve been assaulted yourself, people’s real reactions make more sense to you.
I’m well aware of the “standard” or “perfect” victim notion vs. the reality. People’s expectations of how a survivor “should” are heavily shaped by rape culture. If you want to know what I mean by that, consider this question: has our culture been historically more likely to believe (a) women assaulted by powerful, respected men or (b) white women making false accusations of black men?
What I’m saying here is that these misperceptions aren’t random or innocent. We have, in fact, been operating as a culture under the notion that the liars are the most believable ones.
“It’s difficult to hear bad things about people we like or admire…”
I don’t find it difficult. I had no trouble at all believing that Bowie was a statutory rapist, and I’m a damn Bowie fanatic, much more than I’m a George Takei fan. I found it utterly believable. I don’t find this to be.
Kupo –
You’re right. And I suppose I’ve said things like that, too, in the context of talking to friends about my abuser.
Something about the way this guy said it struck me as disingenuous and rehearsed, but I suppose I can’t really pin down why as easily as I thought I could.
I trust my own ability to spot liars but I can’t ask anyone else to.
“I’m just trying to remember if and when one of these false flag (hate the phrase) accusations ever actually happened. Not recalling any that were shown to have happened (though recall a hell of a lot of claims of them happening), but I sort of drop out of following the news for months at a time due to work.”
Fair point. I don’t know of any, either.
But I think that they might start cropping up now specifically because this is (a) the first time I’ve ever seen the news media be so willing to report this shit rather than bury it and (b) the first time I’ve ever seen to many people in Hollywood speak out in support of the survivors and against enablers, rather than staying silent and stepping back and (c) this is the first time I’ve seen so many *male* survivors come forward.
So in other words, our side has made major victories lately in the realm of “actually being fucking believed for a change,” and it seems to me that that’s exactly when such false flag accusations would seem necessary to their side. And George Takei is just *such* a prime target for that sort of thing, and I think that’s my biggest reason for smelling a rat. And I *really* hope I’m not wrong and I don’t say this lightly.
Oh FFS
Please Please lets not pull out the “innocent until proven guilty” bullshit just because this time the accused is someone we like.
#ibelieveher
#ibelievehim
#ibelievethevictim – always.