Culture war (transgender)
In the spirit of "fronting the 'of course' a little more" as Freddie deBoer puts it ( https://freddiedeboer.substack.com/p/perhaps-if-youre-a-of-course-trans ):
I believe trans people should be free to live their lives as their identified gender and receive the healthcare they need (and I don't just mean gender-affirming care; this also extends to things like gynecological care for trans men which from my understanding can be a struggle). Trans people deserve the same protections against discrimination as others do with regards to sex and gender and they absolutely do not deserve harassment, ostracism, and violence simply for identifying in a particular way.
Culture war (transgender)
"I won't speak for the conservative critics who don't believe trans people are real. I think one of the main concerns among the liberal critics is the conflict between multiple frames of trans acceptance." https://old.reddit.com/r/IntellectualDarkWeb/comments/1566zx2/my_latest_at_queer_majority_about_the_reactionary/jtn0j3q/
The portion about the second frame/paradigm is worth highlighting. If we don't want to limit the concept of transgender to those who experience gender dysphoria (which I don't), then I think we need to consider that just *maybe* gender identities, including transgender identities, are influenced by societal concepts of gender including, yes, gender roles. And I do recognize that that conflicts with the ideal of removing gender roles and stereotypes, but until we live in some sort of "post-gender" society this is going to be a point of contention.
From another comment in the thread: "Anyway, that's about 8 paragraphs of saying, 'I think we're reinforcing stereotypes here'." https://old.reddit.com/r/IntellectualDarkWeb/comments/1566zx2/my_latest_at_queer_majority_about_the_reactionary/jts07wx/
I just noticed that I mentioned an "update" without actually explaining what I was referring to. It's the update to my latest Tumblr post: https://collectedoverspread.tumblr.com/post/752240801304723456/things-i-hate-about-the-internet-when-the
Maybe you can appreciate why I'd like to give it some more separation.
US (California) politics
One thing I'm curious about is service charges specifically for large parties, which some reporting (e.g. https://www.latimes.com/food/story/2024-02-15/new-california-hidden-fees-law-service-fee-ban ) suggests would also need to be included in the advertised price.
I actually feel like this should be considered a fee for an optional service (in the words of the AG's guidance), that is, the service of waiting on/serving a large group of customers. Consider this: If you were a glutton and ordered ten dishes for yourself, in theory you wouldn't have to pay that charge, whereas a group of ten who ordered the same dishes would have to.
If the exemption doesn't pass, I'd like to see more specific guidance from the AG on this.
US (California) politics
"California lawmakers fast-track restaurant exemption to hidden fees law" by Dan Walters (@DanCALmatters@twitter.com) in CalMatters https://calmatters.org/commentary/2024/06/california-restaurants-hidden-fees-law/
I've been following the developments around #SB478 since restaurants started complaining about the AG's guidance FAQ from May, and I truly do not understand why they believe they deserve this special treatment. (Okay, I know why they're *advocating* for this treatment, but the arguments themselves don't make a lot of sense.) Yes, we know restaurants have thin margins and high labor costs, but the way to respond to increased costs is to raise prices (gasp!), just like virtually every other business does.
Is it just me or has #Tumblr totally nerfed the HTML support in posts? I can get over forcing <em> and <strong> into <i> and <b> (I think this has been a thing for a long time, and everyone gets it wrong anyway)...
But now I can't even add a sublist under a list item (it just gets flatted down to one big list), or even a second paragraph within an item! The update is just so awkwardly placed now.
"I don't know any YouTube creator who's happy with the way Content ID works," EFF’s @ktrendacosta told @arstechnica — but she "can't think of a way to build the match technology" to improve it, because "machines cannot tell context."
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/05/washing-machine-chime-scandal-shows-how-absurd-youtube-copyright-abuse-can-get/
"Things I Hate About the Internet: When the #InternetArchive Can't Archive," expressing my frustration about cases where the #WaybackMachine fails to archive things (especially on #SocialMedia #SocialNetworking sites) https://collectedoverspread.tumblr.com/post/752240801304723456/things-i-hate-about-the-internet-when-the #LinkRot
(Mostly unqualified) thoughts on technology and social dynamics from a software developer. Longer thoughts on https://collectedoverspread.tumblr.com/ Formerly @collectedoverspread@mastodon.host