To this day I have NO IDEA what any of those people have ever said on those topics, and in most cases, I never even heard of them outside of conservative complaints and memes. I would never know the name Anita Sarkeesian if she wasn’t one random blogger out of thousands that an obscure niche of people went positively ballistic over. I’ve never heard of anyone accepting the existence of global warming just because non-scientist Al Gore said to.

I always see people saying George Soros pays people like me to protest (I wish), or buses people to vote on battleground states, some way or another he has us under our thrall.

I don’t even know who the fuck George Soros IS

Why Creationists are obsessed with disproving Darwin - not his theory, but the man himself. As if casting doubt on Darwin-a-dude-born-in-eighteen-fucking-oh-nine-for-chrissake-’s personal beliefs will somehow completely disprove the ensuing two centuries of scientific research.

Why various idiot politicians try to legislate away Global Climate Change, as if making laws against the ocean will stop it from rising. 

including anti-Vietnam War organizers, activists of the Civil Rights Movement or Black Power movement (including Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Black Panther Party), feminist organizations, anti-colonial movements, as well as many groups belonging to the new left. (Many non-violent groups were targeted and portrayed as violent) Their goal was to “expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, neutralize or otherwise eliminate” the targeted groups.

According to attorney Brian Glick in his book “War at Home”, the FBI used four main methods during COINTELPRO:

- Infiltration: Agents and informers did not merely spy on political activists. Their main purpose was to discredit and disrupt. Their very presence served to undermine trust and scare off potential supporters. The FBI and police exploited this fear to smear genuine activists as agents.

- Psychological warfare: The FBI and police used myriad “dirty tricks” to undermine progressive movements. They planted false media stories and published bogus leaflets and other publications in the name of targeted groups. They forged correspondence, sent anonymous letters, and made anonymous telephone calls. They spread misinformation about meetings and events, set up pseudo movement groups run by government agents, and manipulated or strong-armed parents, employers, landlords, school officials and others to cause trouble for activists. They used bad-jacketing to create suspicion about targeted activists, sometimes with lethal consequences. (Psychological warfare in this age is also conducted through the internet, in addition)

- Harassment via the legal system: The FBI and police abused the legal system to harass dissidents and make them appear to be criminals. Officers of the law gave perjured testimony and presented fabricated evidence as a pretext for false arrests and wrongful imprisonment. They discriminatorily enforced tax laws and other government regulations and used conspicuous surveillance, “investigative” interviews, and grand jury subpoenas in an effort to intimidate activists and silence their supporters.

- Illegal force: The FBI conspired with local police departments to threaten dissidents; to conduct illegal break-ins in order to search dissident homes; and to commit vandalism, assaults, beatings and assassinations. The object was to frighten or eliminate dissidents and disrupt their movements. (In some cases, police murdered targets.)

The reason this is still relevant today is that these tactics are still in use. In addition to new tactics via the internet.

The NRA was silent because it doesn’t profit enough from black gun owners. It profits far more from the political force of the police, which operate as an enforcement mechanism for our white supremacist laws and norms.

I’m “bad at” working on long-term projects without an imminent deadline or someone breathing down my neck? Okay, let’s change that: I can’t work on long-term projects without an imminent deadline and someone breathing down my neck. So let’s create an imminent deadline and recruit neck-breathers. Find a sympathetic prof who will agree that 3 weeks before the due date they expect me to show them my preliminary notes and bibliography. Get a friend I trust to block off an hour to sit with me and keep asking, “Are you working on your project?” Write a blog post about my progress. Arrange to trade papers and proofread them with another student.

-these stories were written down by monks with an obviously christian agenda they edited the story to adhere to, in some parts more obviously so than others. considering the roman catholic hatred of trans people at the time, it would not be unreasonable to assume that if cu chulainn was in fact trans in the originals that were being written down said monks would attempt to cover that up by making him cis.

-dude changed his name which is a very trans™ thing 2 do obviously

-the whole thing with the curse and how he was the only one ready to throw the fuck down while all the other men were in bed with the pains of birth like this is such a classic example of using gendered language in magic shenanigans to ur advantage

-often described as being small & beardless “this is supposed to show he’s young” but is it really??? it’s not uncommon for masculine women to be mistaken for young men and him being both notably small and unable to grow a beard is brought up several times in text. either way it’s not like being young and being trans are mutually exclusive. really makes you think.

-alright here’s the big kicker that really says Cu Chulainn Is Trans 2 me in big shiny letters: he had to prove himself as Really Being That Tough over & over again to a frankly ridiculous degree. multiple times (at least 2 in the tain bo cuailnge that i can remember rn) there’s some enemy fuck who knows god damn well the one in front of them is cu mother fucking chulainn who has been absolutely obliterating his enemies by the hundreds but the moment they see him & notice he’s beardless (again, this is usually interpreted as meaning he’s young but that doesn’t necessarily have to be the case) they’re like “nah I’m not fighting that get me a real enemy” and cu has to put on a fake beard to convince them he really is A Big Tough Dude Who Can Kick Your Ass. another time in the tain cu used his sick sword skills to make a fool of someone who was mocking him and the fucking idiot didn’t stop even after cu literally shaved the guys head clear & cut off his clothes with a sword. there’s one story (called bricriu’s feast) of a competition where cu easily beat everyone by a wide margin in everything they compete in but none of the other contestants wanted to accept the result so they kept bringing in other judges trying to get someone other than cu to be declared winner. 

there’s this really weird refusal of people in the ulster cycle to accept that cu chulainn is as good at things as he is (specifically things considered masculine like fighting) and idk about all yall but that really fucking screams good old fashioned transphobia to me lads. like trans folks are still dealing with this shit in modern day with athletes not being allowed to compete with their own fucking gender bc it ~wouldnt be fair~ or other such nonsense. this fuck shit with ppl absolutely refusing to acknowledge cu as possibly being good at Man Things is incredibly Trans Relatable™.

-ALSO i just remembered this but there’s also at least one and i’m pretty sure more than one time where cu talks to people who are like “yea we’re trying to hunt down cu chulainn” and they don’t realise he is in fact that very same cu chulainn or are even remotely suspicious of him which would make a lot more sense if they mistook him for a woman

here is a free online archive of nearly every mythological text from the british isles, all in english. the ones featuring cu chulainn are the ulster cycle

here is a free online book that compiled the ulster cycle into one complete thing, prefaced with a lot of interesting meta discussion and comparisons to other mythologies

Black Goth Appreciation Day

Today’s post is an appreciation day inspired by @victoriankisses17‘s recent video. Watch and read here for a compilation of photos and inspiring quotes from black goth bloggers.

“For all my black goths out there who struggle with acceptance from family members, patience is key when it comes to educating and answering questions about your…’lifestyle’, as they call it. Answering them without an iota of sarcasm and malice, being concise with your answers and dispelling stereotypes helps the relationship run smoother.It also helps if you research the history of Goth (the music, the fashion variants, the philosophies, the literature, etc.) because if you answer the questions with “I wear black because it matches my soul and angst!” you will garner raised eyebrows and people won’t take you seriously, something you don’t want. Trust me, I know from experience.Being informed about the changing subculture of Goth not only helps you get more educated, but your friends and family will know that you are mature and serious about the subculture;” […] – My Experiences as a Black Goth and the Lessons that Came with It, Dejanae Jackson

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Photography: @jasminedenise (Jasmine Denise Photography), Bliss photographed by Ari Seth Cohen, Erica, unsourced images. If you recognize anyone please source! We do not want artists going uncredited.