Friday, August 15, 2025
We Have Enough Dead Friends Lena Oleanderson Come over. The doors are open, my flat’s a mess and so is my heart but the doors are always open. Come over. I will make soup, probably from frozen but the important thing is we will both eat. You don’t have to be dying, but if you are, or you feel like you are, or if living’s been hard, call me, and I will show up.
Friday, August 15, 2025
Society is Powered by Empathy Jarod K. Anderson Society is powered by empathy, by an understanding that diverse lives, goals, and perspectives deserve our consideration, respect, and mutual protection. This empathy is not just rooted in idealism; it’s rooted in the fundamental truth that our shared needs and fates outweigh our differences. This is true for human societies. It’s also true for our broader fellowships of life, Folks you have never met grow your food
Good evening, America. I am Alan Cumming, your treacherous host for the evening. And also the first person to host Jimmy Kimmel Live who has never actually appeared on the show as a guest. I know, it’s weird, right? Yes, they just… they never asked me. I feel now that I am a bit like… the best man’s speech at a wedding, and I have not been invited to the actual wedding, but I will gladly shag the bridesmaids and the grimsmen. I’ll be here all night.
Now, anyway, America, how are you doing? Now, really, how are you doing? I mean, how are you doing aside from being a country that’s just reintroduced concentration camps, taking health care away from 17 million people to give billionaires a tax cut, and also to finance an armed militia of masked men that commits heinous assorted kidnapping and crimes against humanity on a daily basis? Aside from all that, are you OK? I wouldn’t have thought so.
And talking of masked men, we have the Fantastic Four with us tonight! The Fantastic Four don’t wear masks. Oh, that’s right, yes. The Fantastic Four are not ashamed to show their faces at work because they’re trying to do good in the world.
I think I may be the first person ever to have played Macbeth, Hamlet and Romeo to have hosted this show. I think I must also be the first ever Bond villain to host this show. Yes, I am invincible! And also, because of my appearance in the original series of The L Word many years ago, I am certain that I am the first person to ever host this or actually any late-night talk show who’s been f***ed up by a lesbian with a strap-on.
Now… I know you didn’t hear that at home, America. Read my lips and, er, don’t knock it till you’ve tried it, all right? Ironically, a rim shot. Thank you. Germo knows what I’m talking about, though, don’t you, Germo? Yeah, a little bit, yeah. Just a little bit. Just the tip.
Yes. I split my time between New York City, here in the United States, and Scotland, my homeland. But as the host of The Traitors, which is all about backstabbing and treachery and full of people with plastic surgery, I feel right at home here in Hollywood.
Yes, I am an immigrant from Scotland. Are you scared of me? I am taking an American’s job right now. But don’t worry, according to ICE, I’m one of the good ones. And I’m very proud to be from Scotland. We’ve given the world so much — the bicycle, the telephone, penicillin, television, for goodness sakes. We’re also responsible for half of the current president, as sadly Donald Trump’s mother was Scottish. And that’s probably why, as a nation, we drink so much. Cheers.
Now… tonight’s show is all about superheroes. Not only are the Fantastic Four here, as I said, some of you may remember me as Nightcrawler from the X-Men franchise. Of course, these superhero movies are only pretend, but I happen to believe that there are actual superheroes in real life who walk among us. And these superheroes are called trans people.
Because… just like superheroes, trans people are born with something special and magical about them, and they often have to hide what’s special and magical about them from other people. Like superheroes, they grow up in a society that doesn’t understand them, that makes them the other, and often hates them. Like superheroes, trans people just want the world to be a safer place, and they believe we should protect each other and live our lives in peace.
Like superheroes, evil billionaires want to get rid of trans people for no fucking reason whatsoever. And just like superheroes, trans people are not new. They’ve been around forever, and they’re not going anywhere, no matter how much this administration tries to make you fear them.
There is… there is no evidence that trans people are a threat to women. There is, however, ample evidence that the President of the United States publicly brags about barging into beauty pageants, dressing rooms and grabbing women by their pucks. Wake up, America! Come on!
Millions, millions of Americans are obsessed with this idea that trans people are attacking women in bathrooms. Do you know what trans people do in the bathroom? They poop and they pee. And I’m sure they always wash their hands afterwards.
And why on earth… this is what gets me… why on earth would a rapist go to the bother of pretending to be trans in a country that actually treats rapists better than trans people? Do you think anyone in the Trump administration could actually name two trans people? They’d be like, oh, Caitlyn Jenner, and, you know, the yellow Teletubbie.
And, by the way, you just keep my dog, Lala’s, name out of your filthy fucking hands.
Here in America, the amount of hate crimes against trans people has risen hugely in the last year. And in Los Angeles here, they’re up by 125%. Another surprising statistic — our sitting President is a million percent more likely to be on the Epstein list than any trans person. So… let’s not pretend that we’ve got our eye on the ball when it comes to sexual violence, OK, America?
And how dare this President make random, unfounded accusations of sexual criminality against trans people when he was literally ordered to pay $83 million to a woman who accused him of sexual assault? It’s the pot calling the kettle black after trying to grab its handle in the changing room of a TJ Maxx.
Trans people are far more likely to be victims of sexual assault or violence than be the perpetrators. Now, I know that some of you don’t want to look at trans people, but please, America, at least force yourself to look at the facts.
There is no epidemic of attacks being committed by trans people. But do you know how many people are killed every year by gun violence in this country? Over 46,000. And you’re worried about pronouns? Everyone in this country’s pronouns should be gun and control.
And just… come on, let’s just stop pretending you have a problem with pronouns. I bet you didn’t even know what pronouns were before trans people told you.
Thank you.
To people who repeatedly attack the trans community — why? Why do you care so much? Why are you so upset by what other people do to their bodies in order to be happy? If it’s OK for the Kardashians and Elon Musk, shouldn’t it be OK for trans people? I mean… I can wear a wedding dress on The Traitors and no one bats an eye.
People love The Traitors because it’s camp, it’s theatrical, it is as queer as hell. So is my queerness and foray into non-binary-ness OK because I do it on TV? Is the solution to trans and non-binary people not being accepted that we should let every single one of them host their own competition reality show? Because that could actually happen, because there aren’t that many of them.
There was even a bill proposed a few months ago in Arkansas, that bastion of wokeness, that would have essentially made it illegal to give kids a gender non-conforming haircut. I’m not sure which branch of law enforcement polices this, but if any haircut should be illegal, it’s this. Or this. Or this. Or this. Or this. Or this. Or this. Oh, and also, moisturise, moisturise. And this. And, of course, this. Oh, Jesus Christ.
And talking of Jesus, even as an atheist, I am a big fan of Jesus, I really am. I mean, what’s not to like? A tall, gorgeous man with great abs and flowing hair, getting his feet washed by prostitutes and encouraging people to love their neighbours, all the while slaying in a loose kaftan. And Jesus was an immigrant, by the way, let’s not forget.
Jesus… Jesus would have loved trans people. He changed water into wine. Is that not itself an act of transition? And you know how I know that Jesus would have loved trans people? Because he loved people. He loved all people. And so, of course, he would love trans people and all queer people.
I mean, Jesus was followed around at all times by 12 hot single guys, all of them also sporting kaftans. You do the math. Jesus loved the gays, America. Deal with it.
The… the only thing our current president has in common with Jesus is that they both owe their careers to their dads.
But seriously, just take a moment to imagine what it must feel like to be a trans person in America today. Our government has legislated that trans people do not exist. It is trying to erase them completely. Imagine having to stockpile your essential life-saving medicine because your president might cut off access to it for no other reason than it makes him look strong to his base.
If the government is going to declare that a whole group of people shouldn’t exist, why can’t it be a truly dangerous group of people, like those who take their socks and shoes off on airplanes and then go into the bathrooms? Why can’t it be people who use leaf blowers at unearthly hours of the morning? Why can’t it be unkind people?
Which brings us back… to Jesus, I suppose. Jesus just wanted us all to be kind. That’s all. So, for once, America, I beg you, let’s all really try to give kindness a go. Like my little mum says, it doesn’t cost anything to be kind. And I guarantee that any situation you find yourself in will go better with a little kindness.
Now… speaking of kindness, despite this government’s slashing of funds for all things LGBTQ+, there are a number of great organisations out there still helping the queer and trans community, including The Trevor Project, PFLAG National and Trans Lifeline. Please call them if you need them and support them if you’re able.
Thank you so much for listening. We’ll be right back with the famous, the fabulous, the Fantastic Four.
If anyone tries to tell you that Shakespeare is stuffy or boring or highbrow, just remember that the word “nothing” was used in Elizabethan era slang as a euphemism for “vagina”.
Shakespeare has a play called Much Ado About Nothing, which you could basically read in modern slang as Freaking Out Over Pussy. And that’s pretty much exactly what happens in the play.
kiralamouse
It’s also a pun with a third meaning. There’s the sex sense of much ado about “nothing”, there’s the obvious sense that people today see, and then there’s the fact that in Shakespeare’s day, “nothing” was pronounced pretty much the same as “noting”, which was a term used for gossip. So, Flamewar Over Rumors works as a title interpretation, too.
The reason we call Shakespeare a genius is that he can make a pussy joke in the same exact words he uses to make biting social commentary about letting unverified gossip take over the discourse.
ms-demeanor
Hey, hey, hey, you’re forgetting the fourth thing, that noting (again, pronounced note-ing) was a pun on music NOTES and that’s why there’s a shitload of singing and dancing and puns about singing and dancing because Much Ado About Noting is basically Freaking Out Over Pussy The Musical: Gossip Making a Mountain out of a Molehill.
I choose Inclusion. I choose Empathy. Compassion. Equality. Dignity. Diversity.
I choose Community. Kindness. Integrity. Honesty. Respect.
I choose Justice.
I choose Facts. Peace. The Planet.
I choose Humanity. I choose LOVE.
_- Good Medicine Society _
The more things change, the more they stay the same :(
1940: ‘Superman’ Poisoning American Children, Irate Nazis Claim
BERLIN, April 24 — Das Schwarze Korps, organ of Adolf Hitler’s elite SS guard, today denounced the American comic strip “Superman,” drawn by Jerry Slegel and Joe Shuster,
The paper devoted a full page to reprints of such feats of the “Superman” as his single-handed destruction of Germany’s West Wall, and concluded that the “Superman’s” creator is a Jew.
“In principle, we could overlook the fantasies of Jerry Israel Siegel, but there is a catch,” Das Schwarze Korps sald. “The clever creator of ‘Superman’ is a Colorado beetle who works in dark, incomprehensible ways. He appeals to the ideals of American children under the cry, ‘Strength, courage, justice.’ Instead of taking wise advantage of the opportunity really to further serious virtues, he sows hate, dissension. injustice, laziness and crime in your hearts. Jerry ‘Sealing Wax’ (Siegallack) stinks. It is pitiful that American children who must live in this atmosphere of the west don’t even recognize the poison they daily swallow.”
“Superman” is a feature of The Springfield Daily News. The News thinks it will continue it for a while, anyway, even risking Nazi disapproval.
2025:
Tuesday, July 15, 2025
Hey, it’s Pete. I know a lot of us were frustrated and disappointed to see Congress pass the so-called beautiful bill and Donald Trump sign it, giving himself and his fellow billionaires a tax cut, paying for it by cutting health care off for millions of Americans and blowing up the deficit while they did it. This bill is full of destructive measures that will make life in America worse. It will make America sicker, literally, with thousands of people expected to die sooner because of the loss of health care.
Tuesday, July 15, 2025
Nick Cave: Okay, so the question someone has written in called Valerio from Stockholm has written in saying: “Following the last few years, I’m feeling empty and more cynical than ever. I’m losing faith in other people and I’m scared to pass these feelings on to my little son. Do you still believe in us human beings?” So this is the letter that I wrote. Dear Valerio, Much of my early life was spent holding the world and the people in it in contempt.
Tuesday, July 15, 2025
A: Hey man, you parked on my foot! What’s your problem? B: I don’t think he has a problem with you. A: Then why else would he park on my foot and ignore me? B: I think he’s deaf. A: Hey, you’re on my foot! B: He must be blind too. A :Then why is he driving? B: Ask him? A: Dude, not the time! It’s locked! I hate this guy!
Tuesday, July 15, 2025
www.youtube.com/shorts/tW… Whitney Cummings: Who do you think did 9/11? Soldier in Audience: Us. WC: So why did America do it? S: To finish Bush 1’s job. WC: Where’d you read this? S: I served 11 years. WC: Where in the military were you? S: Syria. WC: Yeah, I want the full conspiracy. Let’s go. S: I was at the V.A. a year and a half after an operation that we went to.
Trump Won Over Republican Budget Rebels With Some Lousy Free Merch
andthepeople:
Luke Skywalker in the context of Andor is sooooo. Smiley, insane, overpowered teenager from the middle of fucking nowhere shows up at the eleventh hour. No credentials, no connections, no resumé. Just happened to somehow rescue Alderaanian Senator Leia Organa from the Death Star with an absolutely braindead gambit in which he just… pretended to be a stormtrooper, with a Wookiee in tow.
Then he gets in an X-wing for the first time ever, turns off the targeting computer, and blows up the greatest weapon the Empire has ever created with one fuckoff impossible shot.
Meanwhile, all these rebels who have spent years, their entire lives, existing in fear and deprivation and exile, painstakingly building this movement with their bare hands, paying in blood and sweat and tears, so far removed from the world of the Jedi that the knights and the Force are just stories now, to most of them – these brave, exhausted souls who know that no one person can stand against the Empire, that it takes community, it takes trust, it takes you and the guy standing next to you – find themselves watching essentially the rebirth of a mythological protector, in the form of a guy who’s probably not legally old enough to drink, who sulks like a teenager whenever notorious smuggler Han Solo doesn’t pay attention to him, who follows Biggs around like a puppy, who falls for literally every prank anyone ever plays on him.
And this idiot kid is the first person in a generation who can stand up to the Empire, all alone, and make a difference. How much must they hate him, and how much must they love him, and how much must they fear losing him.
geekandmisandry: “I was thinking about how I have grown to value mandatory voting over a system that allows allegedly more freedom. Because in country, mandatory voting means I just have to send in a ballot. It can be empty or filled with the write in ballot “pickle farts” if I want.
“If I go to the voting station all I have to do is get my name checked off. I don’t have to vote if I don’t want to.
“But it means it is much more difficult for the government to try and suppress voters. Because voters have a legal obligation to go to the polls, so you can’t restrict them or try tactics to dissuade them.
“Voting polls are open long hours with access to food and water being a fairly standard staple. You don’t need any form of ID, you have to be given time to go vote in work hours without penalty if you cannot do it after work hours.
“Every now and then a politician tries some small way of voter suppression but it isn’t as easy. And so I have learned to appreciate it.
“But when I googled, out of curiosity, if the USA had ever had anything like that I was met with a barrage of websites talking about freedom and justice and the absolute liberty of Americans. I thought an eagle was going to bust out of the screen.
“Going through some of these I noticed they were think tanks connected to billionaires, one of them was funded and created by the Koch brothers.
“Gotta love how often the American ‘freedom’ is actually used as a way to further deny actual freedoms, both linguistically and politically.”
Bear S4E07: the magical enlarging undertable.
transpunkspacejunk: Be Christ-like this Christmas:
“A patch is not law. A badge is. A name is. A warrant is.”
“Are you a sworn law enforcement officer? What agency are you with? What is your name and badge number? Are you acting under a warrant?” Am I under arrest?”
“This person will not identify themselves, will not show a badge, and is trying to detain me without a warrant.”
Tuesday, June 24, 2025
Man: Hiya. Ticket Agent: Hi. Man: This is a bit of a strange question, but can you tell me how to get there? Ticket Agent: Where is it? Where was the photo taken? Oh, I know, that’s Millport. Right, what you would do is, get the train to Largs, from there you get the ferry, the train takes roughly… Man: No, sorry, I know how to get to Millport, but can you tell me how to get to there [points to photo]?
AND JUST LIKE THAT, nobody’s talking about:
Sunday, June 22, 2025
PANEL 1: Yellow guy, exited, smiling, blue star, green squiggly, red cone, yellow circle. Off-screen: “You’re too loud.” PANEL 2: Slightly faded yellow guy, discouraged, less bright. Tiny blue star, red triangle, yellow circle fading out. PANEL 3: Dimmer yellow guy with white speech buttons. Off-screen: “You’re being really annoying.” PANEL 4: Orange guy with speech balloon popping out. PANEL 5: Even dimmer orange guy. Speech balloon: “Haha, you’re so weird.
In this house we believe:
Sunday, June 22, 2025
As a reaction to Dave’s question I thought I’d ask my own, but with a twist – asking it to base its answer solely on their actions, rather than their words. Q: Based solely on actions by its elected representatives in the national legislative and executive branch and not on any stated principles, please provide 250 words on what the Democratic Party stands for. A: The party’s record since 2021 reveals a set of operational principles that repeat across issue areas:
Saturday, June 14, 2025
No more fear, no more ICE, freedom now—don’t think twice! Raise your voice, stop the raids—liberty must not be swayed! Tear down ICE, tear down fear—no more kings, the time is here! From sea to sea, our shining land—stand with migrants, make your stand! Break the silence, end the strife—ICE destroys our peaceful lives! This is home, we belong—your cruel laws are dead wrong! They come at night, they come in fear—rise up now, make it clear!
Wednesday, June 4, 2025
Psychotherapy Action Network (@PsiANorg): So, according the the FTC, BetterHelp: Sold data about all LGBTQ users who looked into “Pride Counseling,’’ teens who visited “Teen Counseling,’ Christians who visited “Faithful Counseling,’ & Spanish-speaking folks who visited “Terappeuta.” (at least spell it right?) Uploaded the email address of all current and former users to Facebook to target them and their friends with BetterHelp ads Falsely used the HIPAA logo to deceive patients that they met HIPAA requirements for privacy and confidentiality
Wednesday, June 4, 2025
Translated from Cat by Dora Round; revised by the editor. Originally Published in Intimate Things, 1935. This is my Man. I am not afraid of him. He is very strong, for he eats a great deal; he is an Eater of All Things. What are you eating? Give me some! He is not beautiful, for he has no fur. Not having enough saliva, he has to wash himself with water. He meows in a harsh voice and a great deal more than necessary.
NBC News: Tulsi Gabbard wants to overhaul Trump’s daily intelligence briefing to match how he “likes to consume information.” One idea: a Fox News style video version. Truly, the dumbest president in history.
esidubatl: For the record, Trump has only attended 12 intelligence briefings since he took office. In contrast, most American presidents, unless restricted by an emergency, sit down for an intelligence briefing EVERY FUCKING DAY.
Wednesday, June 4, 2025
Sen. Chris Murphy to Kristi Noem, Trump’s Homeland Security Director: [Y]our department is out of control. You’re spending like you don’t have a budget. You are running out of money for this fiscal year. You are illegally refusing to spend funds that have been authorized by this Congress and appropriated by this committee. You are ignoring the immigration laws of this nation, implementing a brand new immigration system that you have invented that has little relation to the statutes that you are required to follow as spelled out in your oath of office.
Saturday, May 17, 2025
I am undergoing some really good therapy. Certain aspects of life have backed off enough that at least sometimes, the sense of threat is not as strong as it had been in prior years. What is strange for me, though, especially having been freed from the very old fashioned requirements of masculinity, and also I think biologically, compounded by the additional estrogen, is that the trauma tends to float up. What’s bizarre about that experience is that I can suffer what’s termed an emotional flashback.
Saturday, May 10, 2025
libraford: I’m at the pediatrician office watching two 3-year olds attempt to break the language barrier. English-speaking child: baby! baby! Spanish speaking child: jesta bebe! [excited screaming from both] Spanish: [produces a toy of some kind] [excited screaming from both] Spanish: do … do you … quieres … ahhh … English: do you want to come pl- Spanish: ¿Juegas conmigo? [toy makes a sound] [excited screaming from both] 🗒
It’s been very hard for me lately. I’m not in danger of self-harm, but I’ve been haunted this month by the second anniversary of a friend’s suicide. I also am frankly feeling gender dysphoria pretty strongly. It’s just a general weariness. 🔗
I’ll say that today, I got an unexpected surprise sequel episode from a series I love, and it totally gave my Little Kid an absolute holy fuck that is amazing OMG reaction. :) 🔗