“um, akshully, it’s not genocide, but it might still be bad or whatever.” Ridiculous

Setting aside whether Israel’s attacks, killings, civilian casualties and mass displacement meet a particular definition of genocide, what possible reason does the author have to quibble on this?

Either they’re merely being pedantic (which I find hard to believe) or they’re trying to blunt outrage over what I think any reasonable person would call a genocide. They’re reaching for any means possible to make these crimes seem less heinous. Seems like a move of desperation to me.

Here’s the closest I’ve got.

Priest - History In Black

Priest is an electronic music project originally formed by ex-members of the hugely popular band Ghost. I’d call this Darkwave, but the label doesn’t matter, it’s depeche mode-y and don’t let the gimp mask put you off, I believe the song is very sincere.

I can't stop, it's too late, it pours out, it's my fate
My legacy in black
Looking in to my eyes, see the things i despise
My soul is tainted black

I traveled with the enemy, i thought it was my destiny
I'm free of all the lunacy
I never want it back, my history in black

Silent screams longing voice, violent dreams, ringing noise
My memory is black
It's not a mask, it's my skin
Please don't ask where i've been
My heart is painted black

I traveled with the enemy, i thought it was my destiny
I'm free of all the lunacy
I'm never want it back, my history in black

I escaped from the cage inside

I traveled with the enemy, i thought it was my destiny
I'm free of all the lunacy
I never want it back, my history in black
My history in black

It’s a song that speaks to your flavour of depression. Makes you feel like someone feels the exact same way you do. That in turn makes you feel sane. Like you’re heard. Even understood.

Over time, songs (or movies or other things) can become a ritual - you feel awful, listen to the song, eventually you come out the other side as the depressive episode fades. Then the next time it happens you associate the song with your recovery. So over time it becomes What You Do when you Feel That Way.

This by far my favourite album of theirs. Every one a banger. Especially those you listed.

Electric Wizard - Saturnine

A black sun rises everyday / Shadows cross my path as if to say / “Change your life, change your ways, look up to the sky” / Tomorrow’ll soon be here then time to die

This is some loud stoner/doom metal. Cheesy? sure. Self indulgent? Absolutely. But when the mood strikes it hits the spot every time

“well tell me now laddybuck, are you feeling especially fortunate…? Eh Kirk my boy?”

I believe that that “cancel culture” is really just “consequence culture.” At one point users could hold powerful entities to account. The flattening of the public sphere twitter provided was a feature.

Absolutely there have been people who got targeted who did not deserve it - regular folks who posted a shit take that caught the mobs attention. But I think one of the motivations for Elon acquiring twitter and threads’ non-chronological feed is to clamp down on this kind of of organizing and centralize power.

As for hate speech, the problem that is that any solution at scale means AI and that reveals the biases of those who wrote it. These solutions can’t serve everyone.

And outrage fuels engagement - these companies are incentived to allow that.

So basically I think large networks can’t solve the problem. What’s needed is a decentralized approach with small interoperable communities vetting their members. Even if you get a hate filled instance it can be locked off so it can’t spread. Hate-motivated jerks have always existed, they just had no real access to the discourse until the internet. I really think the answer is the fediverse of tomorrow - if we make it that far.

“Interesting.”

Thrill me.

Pimento! Especially if they’re feisty.

I quit smoking by gradually stepping back until I got to the last 4 darts, which I just couldn’t shake. Then I moved to vaping, not trying to quit, but to be less worse for my health… Then my vape broke repeatedly in a short period and I realized going without wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Certainly not as bad as other methods of quitting it tried. So in this way I finally quit.

So I don’t recommend vaping as a way out really. It’s more that if you consciously realize which cigarette is your last you’re gonna freak out and relapse. It’s more that if you reduce your intake, then replace, you can step off more easily. Don’t focus on quitting or changing your lifestyle drastically, just keep taking steps. Eventually one will be the last.

I can’t, though I can lucid dream. When people say “read,” I feel like they’re thinking of printed text but I find some I have similar problem with technology use. Like sometimes I’m trying to find something on the internet, or to show something on my phone to someone and it keeps not making sense. And I keep trying it again and again and it just get worse until I realize I’m dreaming.

There are dozens of us! I bet it’s the single most popular join day.

you said it, bud

I know the metaverse has been commented, and this overlaps, but I’d say VR as a gaming format. I remember all this hype in the 90s - Virtual Boy for example. Now we basically have the tech - like say playstation VR - but it’s still really such a niche thing without mainstream traction.

And since i’m in that zone - wearable AR devices like Google Glass, snapchat spectacles, apple vision. I like the idea of having access to a giant screen in a small space but I’m not gonna wear it to my niece’s birthday.

Canoeing. I’m not an outdoorsy guy at all but everytime I see US tourists in a canoe they just spin in circles. It feels like Canadians are just born knowing.

your firearms are useless against them!

Or FATE and its numerous incarnations. I feel like I get as far as saying “it’s like DnD except…” before it veers off irrevocably into talking about DnD

I met my wife playing Mage: the Ascension. Truly one in million. I know. Never got to try out M20 though. That should put a rough date on when this happened…

They are called Nothing Adaptive icons ( not sure what’s “adaptive” about them) and I just found them in the play store for less than $2 CAD, which seems reasonable to me for an icon pack.