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!
@ Contrapangloss,
I am new here, did study eng. (mechanical). Yep, it’s hella work 😀
One of the things that bugs me in regards to this (any STEM study, work), they say we need more people in this, they get bent out of shape over women and minorities in it, but do they do it?
No.
We fellow engineers wave hi! 🙂
Keep going!
DP^ Sorry.
Hey, I never said I was Einstein 😀
And in this case I do know what it is – it’s my mouse batteries going bad. Not a complex ‘puter issue, batteries are crapping out in the mouse.
Or, it’s such an excellent thought it should be repeated, ha. Or I must be like a S. Jobs now, B. Gates, figuring out all these IT things….
It’s the batteries in the mouse.
And also that I mostly don’t know what I’m doing, applies to most things…
Darling Mish, thank you! ?
The Austrialian news gladdened my heart, also.
In other News Of The Absurd, Dotard Trump sent this tweet ot tonight:
——————
May God be with the people of Sutherland Springs, Texas. The FBI and Law Enforcement has arrived.
10:34 PM • 14 Nov 17
SMDH WHAT IS WRONG WITH HIM?? Jesus wept.
SAME-SEX MARRIAGE IN AUSTRALIA!….
….WOOHOO!
As for the latest shooting….as soon as we get all those GOPer goofuses out of power, we’ll start pushing gun laws and ban assault weapons!
And to cheer everyone up….
….here’s our ol’ pal, WOMBAT!!
I love this guy! Did you know their round fuzzy butts actually are hard cartillidge underneath? They have literal (more-or-less) “BUNS OF STEEL!”
Don’t get too excited about the Aussie marriage equality vote just yet – the party in power has already introduced a right temper tantrum of a bill that boils down to “Okay, fine, we’ll graciously allow you icky people the right to marry, but only in exchange for full apartheid.”
I don’t use the word “Apartheid” lightly, for obvious reasons, but that’s the only way to describe this shit.
[cynicism intensifies]
I wonder who is behind this? There’s a ridiculously fake robocall in Alabama, which… well, just read the transcript:
Presumably the goal is to get voters thinking “damn librul Jewy McJewenstein trying to make up shit against Moore! Imma definitely vote for him now!”
@SFHC
I know, there’s a way to go yet. But today I’m happy because:
1. Gay peeps know that most Australians are on *their* side here
2. It’s a big fuck you to homophobes
3. Paterson’s bill is going nowhere. The PM has confirmed it – Dean Smith’s bill has bipartisan support. Plus 3/4 of the upper and lower houses have said they will vote yes, given today’s result.
So I’m celebrating for now ?
Well done Australia, even though that survey was kind of a chickenshit thing to do.
Unrelated: Just Louie Gohmert things.
For any Americans who haven’t been following the topic as closely, turnout for the gay marriage postal referendum was 79.5%. That’s higher than the turnout for Brexit or the 2016 election. After Virginia, this is only more proof that progressivism is dependent on voter turnout.
@ PeeVee
I can’t help suspecting that President P***ygrabber is in the early stages of dementia, and his ‘senior moments’ will get worse.
@Moggie,
Damn straight, the survey was revolting and cruel, especially given we already knew that a majority supported marriage equality. And it allowed so much bile to come out.
But people seemed to make a decision when it was announced: ok, this sucks, we hate it, but you’re gonna get your vote results, damn you. The huge turnout speaks volumes, I think.
There are massive parties happening all over the country. A normally very serious work colleague just messaged from a pub – she’s extremely merry!
forgot to add:
@SpukiKitty
Love your contributions upthread, and wombat always makes me smile. Have a baby sugar glider in return 😀
@Mish
I know, and I apologise for being a wet blanket, I just don’t trust that spineless skidmark Turncoat – remember, his first promise as PM was equality before the end of ’15 the only to turn around with “LOL JUST KIDDING” the next bloody day. -.-
On the other hand, if he does do the right thing for once in his cowardly life, my gay ass’ll be partying harder than the rest of the country combined.
@Kevin
Comments policy, thanks.
@Moggie “Bernie Bernstein”? Did Marxist Globalbankerowitz sound too unrealistic?
Hi contrapangloss! So glad to see you again! I’ve been wondering where you were.
If I hadn’t already been convinced that reactionaries don’t have a single creative bone in their bodies, “Bernie Bernstein” looking for “FEEEEEEEEMALES” definitely would’ve cemented it.
Regarding the article Tovius linked above about evangelicals and underage “courtship”/”marriage”.
The relationship between parts of American society/politics and religion is kind of baffling to me, so I have to ask: Is there no possibility to take legal action to protect those girls? Like, can the “evangelicals” who are publicly preaching this not be prosecuted for advocating criminal behaviour or something? Can’t you shut a “church” like that down because it supports criminal actions? Or is that all covered by freedom of “religion”? (Marriages to 14 year olds *are* against the law in the US even with parental and bridal “consent”, aren’t they?) Is there even the possibility to notice when parents are doing or allowing this or can people just say they “homeschool” their children and then do whatever they want to them with no one the wiser?
It’s just so f*cking devastating that parents can do this to their teenage daughters and nobody can or does help them… 🙁
I need to ask my soon-to-be-a-lawyer brother how those things would be handled over here, but I can’t imagine religious freedom or freedom of speech covering publicly advocating child abuse. Maybe I’m just too naive, though.
Yes! Another seat flipped!
Last night in Oklahoma, Democrat Allison Ikley-Freeman beat Republican Brian O’Hara 50.35 percent to 49.65 percent for the District 37 state Senate seat.
If a deep red state electing a 26 year old lesbian to Congress isn’t a poke in the eye to the current old man cluster fuck in DC, I don’t know what is.
@LittleLurker –
No. Minimum age is 10/12 in some states, with parental AND judicial approval.
One of the things that keeps tripping me up too is thinking of the USA as a single country. It isn’t, really, despite how it seems. It’s 50 countries under an overall government. Strange system, I know.
Any mammotheers looking for a car? My friend found the perfect one but she just got herself a new car already:
https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?listingId=467030904
[smart car in MLP livery, asking about $9500]
Abars01 you are so right about progressive issued being dependent on turn out. Which is why I wish the US progressives would stop trying to pander to down in the dumps racist white dudes and focus on 1. Voter suppression and 2. Gerrymandering. Gerrymandering has made it so that the left has to get an overwhelming majority of votes just to squeak by in many places, and voter suppression may have been the final nail in the coffin for us in the Presidential election.
And congrats Australia!! ??
Thanks for the link Shadowplay.
Germany’s laws were apparently changed in July this year to be stricter than before. Minimum age used to be 16 with consent, I think. It doesn’t seem possible any longer now, though. Plus all marriages legalunder other countries laws but illegal here seem to be considered void now (If I understand that part correctly). And religious or other ceremonies intended to form a marriage-like contract are prohibited now, too. But as I said, that’s fairly recent.
@ boobury
I’ve been reading the Dems ‘autopsy’ on the election campaign. I guess that is a bit geeky. But one of the many fascinating facts is that the DNC had a grand total of one person with responsibility for tackling voter suppression.
(It’s now four)
@LittleLurker
My pleasure and no problem – had it in my history still, since someone mentioned marriage ages a couple pages back and I didn’t believe they were that low either. 🙁
I have to ask – what triggered the change in Germany? Voiding marriages under other countries laws seems pretty antithical to the ethos of the EU. I can probably guess, mind.
@Alan Robertshaw
Now that’s just infuriating. Why won’t they take it more seriously?
@Shadowplay
Your guess is probably right. It was to prevent young people from being send to other countries and/or get married against their will. Or being “married” unofficially here and circumventing government oversight.
Personally I think it’s mostly a good thing, but the motives of some groups in favor of this law were…suspect, at best. 🙁 But then again, those same people spread Islamophobia under the cover of “protecting women from rape”, so nothing is too low for them, apparently.