I said it before and I'll say it again: for as long as I live, I will never, ever, understand how so many people decided to torch their reputation all so a rapist reality TV star with the intelligence of a dog turd can play king.

The thing about USAmerican as a word is that it’s never been about clarification, because so rarely would someone talking about the Western Hemisphere call the collective population of the Western Hemisphere “Americans.” They would say “People in The Western Hemisphere.”

USAmerican is an in-group signifier meant to convey a set of values through ingroup terminology, kind of like how Incels use Chad/Stacy or how gay people use drag terminology like gag slay or snatched. It’s purposefully clunky if you don’t know the cultural/ideological context around it, but once you do, it’s useful for signaling to everyone that reads/hears it that I Am One Of You.

With that in mind: I think there’s an existing word that could convey the same feeling and not look pretentious while doing so and I’d like to suggest this site use more: Yanks (derogatory)

Yeah, thing about “USAmerican” that instantly reveals it’s performative nonsense (in English; I've been told Spanish has some kind of equivalent but that's not what we're speaking lol so) is that as much as they claim people from the USA aren’t the only “Americans”, they never refer to Canadians as “CanadAmericans” or Mexicans as “MexicAmericans", for example. That instantly sounds stupid, doesn't it? They’re still just called “Canadians” and “Mexicans”, and “Canadian-American” and “Mexican-American” refer to people in the USA, so that doesn’t count. You're right, it's just an in-group term that's quite frankly based on an extremely bizarre hang up from chronically online non-Americans and tiresome self-flagellation from chronically online American bloggers lol.

The thing is that I don't even think "Yank" is a neat equivalent because yeah, some people use "USAmerican" in a derogatory way, but there are people on here who use it neutrally and act like it's a politically correct term, to the point where they act like you're intentionally being exclusionary and problematic by saying "American" when talking about people living in the USA. Again, it's just very bizarre and unnecessary, and one of the weirder hills people have died on

This is like saying "the thing about 'Latinx' that instantly reveals it's performative nonsense is that they never change 'folks' to 'folx,'" (whatever your opinions about "Latinx," that'd be a bad argument because the point of "Latinx" is to be a gender-neutral alternative to "Latino" and "Latina" and "folks" doesn't need a gender-neutral alternative because it's already gender-neutral).

"Mexicans" is a word for people from Mexico that doesn't conflate Mexico with the entire Americas. "Canadians" is a word for people from Canada that doesn't conflate Canada with the entire Americas. The point of "US Americans" for the people who prefer it is that it's a term for people from the USA that doesn't conflate the USA with the entire Americas. It's not hypocrisy to try to change parts of normal language that conflict with your preferences but continue using parts of normal language that don't conflict with your preferences.

I’m not saying it’s hypocrisy, I’m saying it’s stupid, pointless, and not thought through at all by the people who started using it as soon as tumblr told them to. The whole damn point of “people in the USA aren’t the only Americans!” implies that other people in North America are also Americans, but no one in English outside of tumblr dot com and bluesky ever refers to anyone but people from the USA as “Americans.” This doesn’t exist, and regarding this supposed conflating, there is no collective “American” cultural identity outside of the USA that requires this needless clarification; in fact, one of my Canadian mutuals’ response to this post in DMs was “you will get punched in the face if you call us ‘Americans’ after Trump’s 51st state bullshit.” They’re not Americans by any stretch, they’re Canadians, and that’s fine. Again, this is an extremely bizarre hang up over a problem no one in the Anglo-sphere even thinks exists outside of this fringe internet space. “But other countries in North America exist and ‘America’ conflates the country to the whole continent!” implies that there are actually people who believe the USA is the only country on the continent, which again, is a correction for a non-existent problem. No one looks at “America” as shorthand for “the United States of America” and thinks “oh well that’s surely the only country on the continent then 🤪 Nahhh can’t have other countries because they don’t have ‘America’ in there.” This is pure nonsense.

And regarding “Latinx”: time and time again, polls have shown that “Latinx” is not at all used by the vast majority of people the term is supposed to apply to, and a lot of those people actually get pretty annoyed with people trying to force a label on them that they don’t want (no one who speaks Spanish at my job uses it or heard of it before entering the non-profit sphere). It has been repeatedly pointed out that “Latinx” doesn’t even follow grammatical gender rules in Spanish, and is consequently difficult and clunky to incorporate into the language, while English speakers in left-leaning spaces generally ignore a gender neutral alternative that fits Spanish much better: “Latine.” So there are people who are not fond of that term at all, independent of any other internet term like “folx” (which yeah has always been unnecessary because “folks” is already gender neutral)

Anyway, no one can stop people from going along with tumblr’s bizarre lexicon and using “USAmerican”, just as no one can stop me from pointing out how strange, terminally online, and unnecessary it is lol

This is now a glasses Penny account

And bonus Rubes

And another Penny

Yes, for the record, cricket sounds can be heard when she does that.

average Sailor Moon fan

if someone responded to me with something like this, i would not be okay

I saw this going around on Twitter as well, and while obviously the video is simply incorrect on all its points, it is also by a complete nobody making their first video with less than 200 subscribers. In the world where this is an authentic video, they really don't deserve the hundreds of thousands of eyeballs that have been generated calling them a garbage tier analyst - it's a good rule to be civil with everyone, but especially with people who "didn't sign up for this" and don't have a platform of relevance. You can dunk on a NYT writer to your heart's content; they agreed to that by writing in the biggest newspaper in the world. I don't know if this person did. This is just how it happens of course, most individuals aren't trying to do anything super mean, but the net result is rough.

And the other world is one where they are making deliberate rage bait for clicks. Which, well, there ya go. Don't fall for that.

"Why didn't the Democrats codify Roe v Wade?"

They didn't have enough votes to bypass the filibuster because of Joe Manchin

"Why didn'-"

The answer is probably Joe Manchin.

"They had 60 votes in-"

For a few months and that entire time was spent wrestling with like 11 Joe Manchins from a bunch of red states in the senate to get health care reform passed.

"What about the Filibuster-"

JOE FUCKING MANCHIN

Why didn't Democrats codify Roe v. Wade when Obama had a fillibuster proof majority in 2009? (Because this is where the talking point originates).

The myth is Obama had one for 2 straight years and failed to deliver, ergo, we cannot trust Democrats to codify Roe.

Well, my sweet, summer children, that is bullshit.

For two glorious years Democrats had full and total control of the House, where bills originate. The lie is that they had the same in the Senate. Because while a bill only needs 50 votes to pass, it needs 60 to be brought to a vote in the event that it will be fillibustered first. (Spoiler alert- it will be.)

In 2009, we had 57 Democratic seats and 2 independent seats that usually reliably caucused with the Dems (Bernie Sanders and that fucking twice-baked potato, Joe Lieberman.)

So 59 seats, 1 shy of the magical 60.

Except the 59 is an illusion. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts has a seizure (he had brain cancer) during the inauguration and never returns to vote. So we're at 58.

Al Franken of Minnesota isn't seated because of a contested election that requires recounting. They are down to 57.

Arlen Specter becomes a Democrat in April, though. So back up to 58.

Robert Byrd gets sick in May 2009- down to 57 again. (He died in June of 2010)

Franken is finally seated in early July, Byrd returns in late July (he's not dead yet but he's looking peaked, y'all.) 59. Almost there.

Ted Kennedy, who never returned, dies in August and his seat is filled by another Democrat, Paul Kirk, at the end of September- temporarily until they can have an election.

60. Woohoo. Total control of Congress. Yesssss.

Until February when Scott Brown (R) wins Ted Kennedy's old seat. (Yes, blue states can elect Republicans. Elections matterrrrrr.)

4 whole months.

Do you know what they did with that 4 months (keep in mind they recess in there, too, so it's not even consecutive)? They pass the Affordable Care Act. Barely. After Joe twice-baked fucking potato Lieberman tanks the public option. One of the most consequential if not wholly imperfect pieces of legislation passed in the last twenty years. And it very nearly didn't. Seriously. Barely.

In that magical four months there was no political capital to codify Roe and pass the ACA. There just wasn't. Because that magic 60? It included Ben Nelson (NE), Peter Bayh (IN), Blanche Lincole (AK), Kent Conrad (ND), And Mary Landrieu (LA), among others, who were anti-abortion/ pro-life Blue Dog Dems. (Think Joe Manchin, but lots of them, ratfucking progress left and right.)

They didn't have the votes, darlings. And with the sad, small amount of time they did before Republicans wiped out Democratic control of both the House and the Senate in the 2010 midterm bloodbath, they changed health care as we know it (yes, it was even worse than it is now- so much worse).

That's the story morning glories. It's messy. Fraught. And it requires a lot more political knowledge than some knob on social media pontificating about "why didn't they just?" with absolutely no effort to put into the historical context.

We need to bring back School House Rock, I fear.

going through my drafts again and I am so tempted to post that essay about how the headcanons around Gothamites being paranoid/suspicious of doctors/doctorate students could worsen the socioeconomic divide in Gotham.

Please say more

I mean you've pretty much hit the nail on the head! We see how much conspiracy and misinformation hurts trust in medical professionals in the real-world. And that's not even to mention medical malpractice, which often comes from painful, personal experience. After all, the stereotype that doctors become Rogues came from somewhere. It's not baseless, per se.

And yet, it's still a massive assumption that hurts far more people than it protects. In many canons, Gotham has a population in the millions, on par with New York City. That should mean they have hundreds, if not thousands, of doctors practicing in or around city limits. Even with a healthcare professional crisis, blaming (for example) 500 doctors who save lives because of the indiscriminate killing from five or so former licensed professionals is simply unfair.

And think about their poorer districts. Crime Alley is underfunded and often likened to the slums. It is not sanitary. It is overcrowded and overrun. If this vulnerable population is afraid to go to the doctor, what does that mean for them? Their poor living conditions make them a hotbed for infectious disease. Except they keep putting off that vital doctor's appointment until they can't handle the pain or illness anymore.

However, will they be able to afford the treatment now that their diseases have progressed? And if parents are sick, then it's their kids who try to pick up the slack. So they quit school because they have to work but then they can't get work because they don't have a degree or diploma so they take dirty jobs on the streets to make ends meet which means more gun fights and trafficking and drug overdoses and the list goes on.

And here we have violent crime. Drive-by shootings are unfortunately very common with gang violence, and sometimes there is collateral damage to innocent witnesses. But do these victims go to the emergency room or urgent care or even just a clinic with an open door to tend these wounds? We know that there are doctors like Leslie Thompkins and Thomas Wayne who would, did, and are more than willing to help these people free of charge. Any doctor, worth their medical licensure, should do the same.

i have never understood or played magic the gathering, but i have nothing but respect for it after seeing this tittieless snake woman

you could have gone the easy route. you could have given her titties. but you didn’t. cause she’s a reptile. thank you mtg. thank you.

She is feeling Fresh and Fabulous. 

SHE SURE IS because she is literally finishing up a shed there, look, you can see the last of it clinging to her tail

but she’s already dressed again, after peeling off the skin that would previously have been under that armor

the only logical conclusion here is that she wanted a picture of herself at her SHINIEST and PRETTIEST and hurried to get dressed once enough of her fresh and shiny new skin was uncovered

I bet her bestie took the picture and has been eagerly waiting with the magical fantasy camera for like, hours

“oh my GOD T’sissra your scales are SO VIBRANT this picture is going to be AMAZING”

Extra bonus points because she used that skin as part of her backdrop. Its like a banner behind her head.

‘Out with the old, in with the glam!’

I read “finishing up a shed” and for a few microseconds I was like “sexy AND an accomplished carpenter”

When I find myself in times of trouble

Uncle Iroh comes to me,

Speaking words of wisdom,

“Have some tea”

John Brosio, State of the Union, 2011, oil on canvas

there’s a sequel !!

John Brosio, State of the Union 2, 2014, oil on canvas

Oh sick!!! Big fuckin crows!!!

OH SHIT EVEN BETTER

since when did snapple start dabbling in elemental elixirs

I love how they went for the four classical elements but realized they can’t call a sweet flavored beverage Water

Water. Earth. Fire. Air. Long ago, the four snapples lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Fire snapple attacked

did some mlp redraws :)

dragunsblood