Art by R. Goodwin Faraday

reblogs welcome, reposts reviled

from my seldom updated art blog

just sayin'

This should be taught in school.

As someone who took etiquette lessons, politeness is an incredibly effective tool for disarming bigots. You can either force them to reconsider their words/actions by directly and calmly confronting their behavior (by using the rules of society in your favor), or you can dip entirely while they appear to be in the wrong.

Both options are great.

Because the thing is, when bigots pick fights, they are 100% counting on you to get louder than them. Or meaner. They want you to react emotionally and provide fodder for their 'You're Too Emotionally Immature To Understand' cannon.

What they aren't expecting you to do is say one of the following phrases in a polite, concerned tone:

For those of you who'd are spiteful and/or dealing with Fundamentalists/Evangelicals/generally shitty Christians:

And my all time favorite:

"It sounds to me like there are some seriously dark and angry forces at work in your heart."

(Nothing stops a Christian bigot in their tracks faster than implying the Devil is causing their bigotry. But you MUST be calm, polite, and gentle with your tone and wording. It is absolutely fair to twist the rules and play them at their own game, but you gotta play hard.)

TLDR: It's much faster to use etiquette, politeness, and rhetoric reversal when eviscerating idiots online and in person, because they aren't expecting you to weaponize their behaviors back in their direction. Don't get angry, get spitefully polite! :)

Oh boy!! It’s a fucking mystery?? A spooky scary mystery!! Better get fucking Sherlock Holmes on this one! It’s a big fucking mystery, with no obvious answer!

This is not a Sherlock Holmes mystery. This is a Scooby-Doo mystery, where the villain is an old white guy pulling a real estate / inheritance scam.

remember when "kaitou kid kidnaps conan and whisks him away to singapore" the movie cockblocked endgame? funniest shit ever

I got this message from a bot, and honestly? If I was a bit younger and not such a jaded bitch with a career in tech, I might have given it an honest try. I spent plenty of time in a tough situation without access to any mental health resources as a teen, and would have been sucked right in.

Chatting right from your phone, and being connected with people who can help you? Sounds nice. Especially if you believe the testimonials they spam you with (tw suicide / self harm mention in below images)

But I was getting a weird feeling, so I went to read the legalese.

I couldn't even get through the fine-print it asked me to read and agree to, without it spamming the hell out of me. Almost like they expect people to just hit Yes? But I'm glad I stopped to read, because:

I was curious about their business model. They're a venture-capitol based tech startup, owned by Airbnb, the famous mental health professionals with a focus on ethical business practices./s They're also begging for donations despite having already been given 2.5 million dollars in research funding. (If you want a deep dive on why people throw crazy money at tech startups, see my other post here)

They also use the data they gather from users to conduct research and publish papers. I didn't find them too interesting - other than as a good case study of "People tend to find what they are financially incentivized to find". Predictably, Koko found that Kokobot was beneficial to its users.

So yeah, being a dumbass with too much curiosity, I decided to use the Airbnb-owned Data-Mining Mental Health Chatline anyway. And if you thought it was dangerous sounding from the disclaimers? Somehow it got worse.

(trigger warning / discussions of child abuse / sexual abuse / suicide / violence below the cut - please don't read if you're not in a good place to hear about negligence around pretty horrific topics.)

Kokobot is incredibly predatory and exploitative. I wrote a post about how it exploits minors' empathy and gamifies "giving mental health advice", resulting in an unregulated mess that can only do harm to teens' mental health in the long run.

There are young people on tumblr that actively seek support from KokoBot right now, if you check the tag for recent posts. Those people did not get paid to promote it, so do not harrass them. If you can, direct them towards resources about Kokobot (like this post) that are more transparent about what this company is up to.

This... is DEEPLY DISTURBING.

SIGNAL. BOOST.

how fucking crazy will the posting be the day jk rowling dies

im holding out for her to die of like, racism poisoning or something in 2023

Like to charge, reblog to cast

So poor people don’t deserve to have money?!

THEY’LL JUST WASTE IT ON SURVIVAL! 

Also, if you’ve taken more than a high school economics course taught by someone who has never stepped foot in a college economics class,

Giving $500 to poor people multiplies it REALLY FAST. That $500 immediately goes into the economy and ripples more purchases until it hits a rich pocket.

Giving $500 to a billionaire takes $500 out of the economy permenantly. You could have set it on fire and made no difference.

That is such an important part of the conversation that rich people seem to purposefully misunderstand whenever it’s brought up

Money exists to be spent, not hoarded. Yes, people should have saving, but no one should be sitting on a pile of money too big to spend in a single lifetime. “The economy” as a concept only works if people are spending money, and the people hoarding the money are so quick to blame the people who barely have any when the economy starts to fail

Having a big string of numbers in an offshore account doesnt make you an economic genius, it makes you a parasite that is ruining the economy for everyone else

The objective of all conservative policy/rhetoric is for [white] men to inflict trauma on others.

Conservatives demand the overreaching power and none of the consequences.

That's why you never vote for Conservatives.

This is Lana. She is about 10 years old, and desperately needs a new home.

She belonged to my sister (now deceased) and then my mother (also now deceased).

She’s the worlds most cuddly cat. All Lana wants is to be picked up and pet. She’s never gotten the amount of love she properly deserves, but has remained sweet regardless.

I don’t live in a situation where I can keep her, but I’m trying to avoid putting her into a shelter.

We’re in Virginia, but I’m willing to drive her anywhere on the east coast if it means she will be given a good home!

Please repost so she gets more views! Help Lana find the forever home she deserves!

Signal boost ❤️

Signal boost also.

A Transformable Tiara/Necklace With Seven Oval Cabochon Ceylon Sapphires (and Diamonds) by Maker Michel Ballada for Chaumet, Circa 1921

Photo: Albion Art Jewellery Institute, Japan

Source: jewelryconnoisseur.net

See: cops, priests, youth ministers, repressed politicians, family member.

Gender identity is real.