Olympic games, transphobia
Oh, dear. Here we go.
I get it, a woman boxer from Algeria gets smeared as being trans. That her elevated testosterone gives her an advantage. You know what really pisses me off when I see people rushing to her defense, even from within trans circles? That it's "she isn't even trans! See how anti trans sentiment hurts even cis women!"
It wouldn't even matter if she was. It wouldn't matter if pure testosterone dropped from her ears. It wouldn't matter if that gave her an advantage.
Why? Because this isn't the Kid's Participation Trophy League where everybody ends up on the podium at the end of the day. This is the Olympic Games, where top athletes compete. They are meant to be the most extraordinary athletes of each country.
Remember Phelps, who is genetically uniquely suited to be a swimmer, and had several proven biological advantages over his competitors? Did we give a shit? No, he was even hailed as extraordinary athlete for it.
Basketball players aren't disqualified for being taller than average, they are picked for it. In every discipline, the athletes with a biological advantage for it are encouraged, selected, specifically promoted to build on that.
Except women. Except if your melanin makes you different than ham pink. Except if in your past what a doctor jotted down at a glance didn't align with who you are.
This is the Olympic Games, not the Average Everyone Games. So flattening the defense of an Algerian boxer to "but she isn't trans" really sits badly with me, because what you're telling me is, being successful while trans needs further justification. That you see a trans person as lesser than a cis person, and being cis means you're beyond suspicion while being trans carries a burden of proof. You're telling me that you see us as being different from what we say we are - a man in a dress, a lesbian playing at being a man, someone who needs to pick a side already.
If you want to be around "more colourful queers" beyond gay and lesbian stereotypes (nothing wrong with those per se), you'll have to get rid of a looooooot of normative thinking.
You'll have to get used to trans people who don't stealth.
You'll have to get used to nonbinary people without expecting either an androgynous girl light, or a bearded guy light in a dress.
You'll have to get used to asexual people who will fuck your brains out.
You'll have to get used to aromantics who will perform the gestures like they were written by Shakespeare.
You'll have to get used to neopronouns.
You'll have to get used to a lot, because gender, sexuality, attraction, and relationships are a wild, wild cosmos.
And I'm not hopeful, since you seem to lose your mind already when finding out that a bi person stays bi when being in a monoamorous relationship with someone, and hasn't "decided for one side".
I accidentally found a local supplier of open-source scientific hardware - automated optical microscope, bioreactor, colorimeter. Nice! https://labcrafter.co.uk/
I kind of wanna do some biology now...
@lynn@a.bloodyno.se there! https://altruan.de/products/fluorecare-kombischnelltest-rsv-covid-influenza
They ship to other countries too, there's a language selector at the bottom
Coyotes on Telegraph Hill seemed very used to seeing people.
I'm not used to seeing coyotes, though.
Recently, Altbot has been targeted by DDoS attacks. While the motive is unclear, it seems tied to a misguided belief that the bot’s alt-text generation is harmful to the environment. Let me set the record straight.
Altbot uses Gemini-1.5-flash, a specifically low-power AI model. Processing a single alt-text request consumes around 0.0005 kWh, meaning that in the 4 months since I created Altbot—and tens of thousands of alt-text entries generated—it has consumed roughly 10 kWh in total. That’s about the same energy as running a single LED light bulb nonstop for 41 days or driving an electric car just 40 miles.
These DDoS attacks, however, have already consumed more electricity and computing power than Altbot has across its entire existence... in a matter of hours. This means the attacks have caused more environmental harm than the very thing they seem to be protesting.
Altbot exists to improve accessibility on Mastodon, not to harm the environment. Accessibility and sustainability can coexist, and I’m committed to keeping Altbot energy-efficient and purposeful.
If there are concerns, I encourage constructive dialogue—not destructive actions that undermine both inclusivity and sustainability.
Thank you to everyone supporting Altbot’s mission of making the Fediverse more accessible for all.
Can every website have near the top of its home page and about us that explicitly says what the organisation is?
"We leverage creative strategies to achieve a step change in your global reach"
Okay, but what are you?
"We're passionate about putting our customers at the heart of everything we do."
Which is what?
"We have offices in 13 countries!"
What. Do. You-
"We're leaders in our industry!
Which industry???
Wikipedia: "They're a bank."
Thank you!
“Fascists love to tell us that their numbers are great. They hate hearing that our numbers are also great. They want us to think we have a them problem, and we do. But we should not forget to give them an us problem.”
Biologist
Baby steps of learning r and p̶y̶t̶h̶o̶n̶ now rust oop kinda annoyed me.
Pls send a follow request
Follow requests have been turned on solely because a previous irl friend is stalking me on this account and I don't know their account name. If this is you, pls just stop.
Eds and post covid
Just a puppy