the story breaks free here

Chief of Staff gets their own Secret Service agents, which means in the Santos Administration, when Josh Lyman has all kinds of meltdowns, he's going to do that with an audience.

those mountains are older than Saturn's rings and they want to blow them up and hollow them out for cell phone batteries

The thing that I find most annoying about signs in store windows advertising that they're welcoming to LGBT or that they accept everybody is that I really just assume that anyway. The sign is literally just a virtue signal and it's not there for any other reason, because every store is supposed to be open to the public by default. I would think it goes without saying you're not going to turn away a black person or someone wearing religious garb or a gay couple that walked in holding hands. If you did, word would get out immediately and you'd be in trouble. The signs are really a turn-off tbh because they're just so dumb.

It's like a restaurant putting up a "My cooks won't spit in your food!" sign.

If I was walking past a store with a sign that said "immigrants welcome!" my first thought would be "what did they do to suggest that they weren't welcome?", because why would you need to specifically tell members of a specific group they can walk in and buy things, that they can do what you want as many people as possible to be doing because that's how stores work, unless there was some reason for them to think they couldn't or shouldn't? That's the vibe it gives off.

Being able to see these as purely "virtue signaling" means you've had the privilege to only live in places where support is assumed, which is not everywhere.

I live in one of the bluest areas in the US and these kind of signs are still absolutely necessary. Because the assholes are all around like fungal spores and it can be the difference between them shutting up and fucking off or taking root and becoming regulars and inviting all their asshole friends.

Yeah as a trans lesbian living in Sask its relieving when places have that up, because its kinda the norm to not be treated well. Places doing that place themselves at risk to an extent. My uni regularly had nazi vandalization of our pride walk, theres a pretty famous video of a guy harassing volunteers who were painting the pride walk on broadway a few years back, and Ive heard of other instances around town. It has risk attached. It also makes me comfortable going places with my girlfriend, it makes me know staffs probably not going to harass us or stand by when I get called slurs in front of them(has happened many times usually when Im alone) or some weird transphobe in Harry Potter merch stalks me through a store(happened twice, the second time security of their own accors stopped the stalker just from how weird they were being following me). Its super helpful when medical places show it because discrimination is common, thankfully the pharmacy my gf and I go to has a really supportive staff, they display and wear pride flags and then back it up with how they support trans people going there for HRT. Sure a flag can be performative but not here, not when you can get harassed for it, not when its relatively uncommon. This reminds me of the people who whine about pronoun circles and other things and it tells me they've never lived somewhere thats norm isnt being queer supportive.

“city that traditionally decorates their doors with garlic found to have no vampire problems, therefore hanging garlic is useless vanity” is a hell of a take in the vampire states of america

i think the scientology speedrunners should start visiting the hospital mitch mcconnell is supposed to be in. i think it would be enriching for them

I will never be able to fully express how being a lesbian is not considered cool and sexy to average people, who aren't terminally online. It considered especially disgusting to people when you're a woman who doesn't look like a super model or actress. People are shocked and appalled at the thought you want to eat the pussy of an ordinary girl whose like a waitress or something. People are grossed out that two women who might be fat, masc with stretch marks/scars or without makeup etc find each other completely attractive and have completely fulfilling sex for themselves. Lesbianism that is devoid of the male gaze repulses people. It's why lesbians are rarely fully represented in media. It's not sexy anymore if it's not two straight thin decorated actresses directed by a man. They so mad when we want each other and don't care to meet their beauty standards or need their approval.