That's a story?

The spirit of Diogenes is alive and well

But it's not a chair. It's a bar stool.

This, however, are all chairs:

Each one is missing at least one component of the chair definition above.

transphobe with a separate

seat for one person

It also includes these fascinating paragraphs about the role of estrogen in different types of physical activity, directly debunking the widespread notion that estrogen is the weak human's hormone and only does weak human things:

Given the fitness world's persistent touting of the hormone testosterone for athletic success, you'd be forgiven for not knowing that estrogen, which females typically produce more of than males, plays an incredibly important role in athletic performance… The estrogen receptor—the protein that estrogen binds to in order to do its work—is deeply ancient. Joseph Thornton of the University of Chicago and his colleagues have estimated that it is around 1.2 billion to 600 million years old—roughly twice as old as the testosterone receptor. In addition to helping regulate the reproductive system, estrogen influences fine-motor control and memory, enhances the growth and development of neurons, and helps to prevent hardening of the arteries. Important for the purposes of this discussion, estrogen also improves fat metabolism. During exercise, estrogen seems to encourage the body to use stored fat for energy before stored carbohydrates. Fat contains more calories per gram than carbohydrates do, so it burns more slowly, which can delay fatigue during endurance activity. Not only does estrogen encourage fat burning, but it also promotes greater fat storage within muscles… which makes that fat's energy more readily available. Adiponectin, another hormone that is typically present in higher amounts in females than in males, further enhances fat metabolism while sparing carbohydrates for future use, and it protects muscle from breakdown. Anne Friedlander of Stanford University and her colleagues found that females use as much as 70 percent more fat for energy during exercise than males. Estrogen's ability to increase fat metabolism and regulate the body's response to the hormone insulin can help prevent muscle breakdown during intense exercise. Furthermore, estrogen appears to have a stabilizing effect on cell membranes that might otherwise rupture from acute stress brought on by heat and exercise. Ruptured cells release enzymes called creatine kinases, which can damage tissues… Linda Lamont of the University of Rhode Island and her colleagues, as well as Michael Riddell of York University in Canada and his colleagues, found that females experienced less muscle breakdown than males after the same bouts of exercise. Tellingly, in a separate study, Mazen J. Hamadeh of York University and his colleagues found that males supplemented with estrogen suffered less muscle breakdown during cycling than those who didn't receive estrogen supplements.

Mastercard, Visa, and other payment processors are still targeting material they deem obscene - whether or not it actually is.

We need to start calling again. Even if you don't like NSFW stuff or dislike porn - porn and nsfw is only the start of what they'll go after.

Among Mastercard's list of "high fraud risk" subjects in relation to Mastercard Threat Intelligence are the following:

Vtubing

Adult Content (which they define very loosely)

Tabletop Games

Video Games & their platforms

And likely more.

They're likely targeting political activism now in addition to this, and people who speak out against the companies. Notably now, Ana Valens is repeatedly having her payment processing accounts and platforms taken down or flagged as potential fraud - Buy Me A Coffee, Throne, Ko-Fi, Patreon - and in some cases, customer support from these platforms are citing information that hasn't been put on their platforms when explaining why they've targeted her accounts.

Completely SFW accounts of hers have been targeted, likely due to her speaking up about what the payment processors are doing and because of what she makes as a creative. She is at risk of debanking. (Edit: The old link now links to a deleted post. Here's a new one to the same person about the situation)

This happening to her means that other creators - Vtubers, game devs of both video games and tabletop games, creatives, sex workers - are likely at risk of the same. For many, it's already happening to them.

Companies and corporations should not have the power to censor what people say and do, or where their money goes - political power like this should not lie in their hands.

We need to start calling the payment processors again and making noise. Contact people in your circles, talk to people, spread the word. Contact your representatives about censorship laws. Spend less money this holiday season.

This is not just about sex work or NSFW. This is about people's right to decide what they spend their money on, and in some cases, people's right to access their finances. It's about creative expression and whether or not what we make gets censored, about what we get to say online.

Below are some resources that include info on phone numbers to call, email addresses belonging to the offending companies, and how to call. Start making noise again. Focus on the fact that companies should not have this power over what people spend their money on, at all.

Hey! Firstly, thank you for your help! Thanks to you, these stray animals are not hungry and have a lot of strength and energy! Secondly, I continue to feed them. Of course, I am not going to stop! For this, I need help again so that these cats and dogs have food in their plates! These animals are abandoned and have no home or family. Most people don't care about them. But we shouldn't be like that and help at least with food. We also found kittens and a mother cat, who we will try to catch and spaying/neutering later. So please help us help them. Because, unfortunately, there are many of them, and people who care are fewer. Thanks to you and our friends from Ukraine, we are able to help. So please continue: reblog, like or donate!

Please, reblog, like or donate if you can:

buymeacoffee

Patreon

pp [email protected] (please choose the family/friends option)

Thank you so much!❤️

And in the meantime, many have recommended getting a VPN, too.