You pee in your stall, I'll pee in mine, life goes on just fine

Same shit, different day. Don't bug me in the bathroom, I won't bug you. This isn't rocket science; it's common fucking sense.

I don't need to know if the person is transgender. I don't give a crap. Hell, I've used the Men's bathroom more than once in my life - Hellllooooo, I've been to a rock concert and the fairgrounds more than once in my life. Should men now be allowed to beat the crap out of me for going into the Men's bathroom?

The whole "don't let men into the women's bathroom" is just such a load of shit. You don't need fucking discrimination, you don't need to whip idiots into a frenzy, you don't need to tell idiots they have an excuse to hurt people - any pervert who was going to sneak into the Ladies' Loo before the "Trannie Gonna Getcha!" sham terror campaign is still going to sneak into the Ladies' Loo. 

Don't be a fucking idiot and tell yourself transgender people didn't exist before 2015. Don't be a fucking asshole and tell yourself it's suddenly okay to harass, harangue and threaten people because you're a big chicken.

Short-Sighted Fools

#DemExit ? Seriously?

The Judean Peoples' Front and the People's Front of Judea. Common enemy crushing both of them, yet happy to bicker among themselves.

I fucking give up.  Stupidity is the strongest force in the universe. History proves this.

To be clear, I don't agree with everything the idiots at the DNC are doing, and I actively disagree with a lot of it.  The root problem is that we have a common enemy - the GOP are the fucking enemy, and we live in a binary two-party system, so the best chances are not to further fragment, but to reform the DNC from within.

Stupid Memes: Revisiting 9/11 fools again

What temp does the floor material in-between melt at? The aluminum ductwork has a lower point. What temp does melting plastic rise to? Plaster board? Computer equipment? Aluminum file cabinets? How much do all those things weaken when thousands of gallons of water from ruptured plumbing floods throughout? Or possible explodes the pipes due to sudden vaporization? But, you know, thinking is hard, 9/11 make everyone angry as Hell, and believing in conspiracy theories makes people special.

To hand wave and dismiss 9/11 as a conspiracy theory is to diminish the deaths of thousands of people and the genuinely heroic actions of hundreds of rescue and emergency responders who rushed into the fires a and saved as many people as they could, before dying themselves.

Conspiracy theory throws simple answers at hard problems and makes everything worse.

Grow up and deal with reality. Reality sucks rocks hard enough without making it worse by diminishing it into some childish feel-good fantasy-rama.

Promised Land: A Modern Fairytale of same-sex true love

When a young Prince and a farm boy meet in the forest, a growing friendship between them blossoms into love. However, when the Queen re-marries, her sinister new husband seeks control of the enchanted forest and the land the farm boy’s family are responsible for protecting.

In a Kingdom where all are considered equal regardless of what they look like or who they love, Promised Land is a brand new fairytale about friendship, responsibility, adventure and love.

Written by Adam Reynolds & Chaz Harris the book features 32 stunning illustrations by Christine Luiten & Bo Moore sure to delight kids young and old.

Apple Pancake Recipe (totally for fun)

Dice up honeycrisp apples to really small chunks.

Get pancake mix, put in 1/4 TSP sugar, 1/4 TSP ground cinnamon, a pinch of nutmeg, and a splash of vanilla extract.

Use coconut oil cooking spray on the pan.

Pour 1/4 cup batter into the pan (medium-low heat) and sprinkle six to eight pieces of diced apple into it.  Use a knife to push the apple under the surface.

Wait until the bubbles stop popping and flip it.

Cook only one at a time, so it has the pan to itself and your full attention.

Drizzle with maple syrup and no-sugar-added applesauce (homemade lumpy with skins is best.

Enjoy!

Small donations add up

I've rearranged my budget to make monthly donations to ACLU, SPLC, PPNA, and one other I'm forgetting at the moment. Not a lot, but if 50 million people pitch in 5 bucks a month, for two years, even the oligarchs lose ground.

Also, the sheer number of donors can rattle cages, too. And frankly, there are a lot of cages need rattling right now.

Life isn't simple: politicians and oligarchs both need a bitch slap

Yep. But, meanwhile, we got politicians in our faces burning down our homes, so we need to deal with Both at the same time.

Life isn't simple. Life is messy and complicated. It doesn't let us deal with one thing at a time. It just takes paying attention, staying focused and chipping away to deal with it.

Fools' Folly

Fool me once?

Shame on you.

Fool me twice?

Well, let's just say I didn't take very well being fooled the first time, so if you fool me twice, you're not just lucky, you're also a special kind of stupid.

Trump SUPPORTERS - You Smell Like Shit

It's a basic rule of life - if you spend time with shit, you smell like shit. If you roll around in shit, you smell like shit.  If you attach yourself to a group of assholes, then you smell like shit.  I've covered this topic before.

President Donald "grab her by the pussy" Trump has been building a cult of personality based on hate for eight-plus years.  You don't have to "believe" it.  Reality doesn't give a fuck what you "believe."  Reality remains true, even if no one "believes" in it.  Trump supporters prove this.

You don't want to smell like shit?  Stop hanging around assholes, and take responsibility for cleaning the crap out of your "conservative" house.

Mock the Meme: Special "Gated Community"

Mocking the meme: Must be why the conservatives are demanding so many prisons be built, and putting all those "freeloading" poor and non-white people into them. Ironic all prisons are paid for with taxpayer money. 

Just be so much smarter and cheaper to quit whining and fund free education, free healthcare, cut the crime rate, and let all those people now being locked up earn wages and pay taxes. But, you know, those "conservatives" (quotes used very deliberately) aren't known for thinking strategically, are all so whiny and insecure they need to keep telling themselves they're right and better than "libtards," so they can feel good about themselves.

Let's be real, too. The subtext - the meaning behind the meaning - is that "conservatives" are Special, and their little world would just be paradise if only those meany "libtards" were all locked up and would stop picking on them. Because, you know, it's the "libtards" that become gun-toting terrorists like Robert Dear, and rape unconscious women like Brock Turner did, and everyone knows those ISIS lunatics are "libtard" Muslims, and those hard-line Israel militants are all "libtards," too. 

No, no. Every asshole in that example is definitely a "conservative" by reasonable definition of the word, and usually their own self-described appellation. They all know their way is the only right way, and definitely "God's Way."

So, hey, "conservatives," laugh all you want at how special your little world would be if the people who brought you freedom of religion, unions, weekends, health insurance, and freedom of speech, were all locked up where they couldn't tell people to stop fucking you over.

Fucking stupid meme that I'd be embarrassed to laugh at.

Can't stop the rant

I keep trying to stop, but "give a fuck" seems to be hard-wired into my system.

Decide your passion. Pick your battles. Never give up. Never surrender.

Rant of rants

It's a rant -

Are you asking me to accept that assholes come in all political flavors, or that there is parity in the volume of assholeness between "conservatives" and "liberals"?

And when we say "assholeness" are we discussing physical violence, willful disregard for human life in policy, or other?

If you want to me say "sure, assholes and sociopaths and psychopaths sometimes join the Democrat party and are otherwise liberal progressive types," then yep, I just said that.

If you want me to say there is parity between asinine shit and willful disregard for human life between "conservatives" and "liberals," including the willingness to commit acts of vandalism or violence, then piss off, because there isn't parity.

"Conservatives" are the ones collecting guns and chanting "kill them all, let god sort them out." 

"Conservatives" are the ones with the racist memes, and trying to kill health insurance for Americans, and Republican governors are blocking Medicare and Medicaid assistance to the hungry and struggling people of their states - in order to crush those people more.

"Conservatives" are the ones who deny marriage rights, and family planning, and magically discover in 2015 that transgender people exist and need to pee in the toilet like everyone else, and "suddenly" need to have laws that invite violence against these people who have been there forever and no one cared until 2015.

"Conservatives" are the ones who require women to carry a fetus until her body expels it - either because it's time to deliver a live baby, or the fetus died in the womb and is rotting.

"Conservatives" are the ones who love the fetus, and place burdens upon pregnant woman to care for the fetus, whether she can afford to or not, and then "conservatives" refuse to pay for food and shelter for the child they demanded be brought into the world.

http://icarusloofem.blogspot.com/2015/01/humans-are-selfish-conservatives-more.html

http://icarusloofem.blogspot.com/2015/04/i-study-human-behavior-therefore-i-am.html

http://icarusloofem.blogspot.com/2015/12/ovomit-new-and-disgusting-lows-in.html

http://icarusloofem.blogspot.com/2014/09/marriage-defined-in-real-world.html

http://icarusloofem.blogspot.com/2016/04/transgender-is-old-news-wtf-do-we.html



And the post from which this spawned
https://plus.google.com/105715535008319012960/posts/BtDGouUqgad

So piss off.

Butt Lasers

Because sometimes a non sequitur about "butt lasers" is just that funny.

(Keep going if you really need to ruin it by knowing the setup :)

Draft Bernie?

"Draft Bernie"? Why do I have the feeling these are the same people who, when Bernie said "If you believe in me, vote for Clinton," all shouted "Fuck you, Bernie!" and stayed home, voted Stein, or - my favorite - wrote in Bernie's name?

I totally agree with everything Sanders stands for. This isn't about what he stands for. This is about the hubris of dragging him back into running when he already made his position clear and the "Berned" told him he betrayed them and told him to suck it and they still bitch about it.

Icarus Rants - Things to See and Do

I've tweaked the blog interface a smidge.  Some of you have probably noticed that I reference my old posts frequently. Hell, if I wrote something once, why write it again?  Plus, COMMENTS - comments are awesome - you get this history of good ideas and conversations, all linked to a central point (the blog post).  See?  This isn't just ranting, it's creating a knowledge base!  (Okay, fine, that was a stretch, even for my ego.)

Anyway, if you look at my blog page, there are lots of ways to find old posts.  I cover bloody well near any topic (other than Human Stupidity), even Batman/Iron Man/Pepper Potts, Beetle Costumes, and things I really don't want to know that people are doing in the privacy of their own homes.

So, if you look to the right (or see the handy graphic below, showing you where to look on the right), you can see there is a search field - so, say, search the word "nexus" and see what comes up.  (Or, maybe not, since I was looking for the Amaranthe video, but there's that whole NSFW post that comes up before that in the search results.).

(Irony - "Fuck Social Media" - haha)

And there's "Labels" - where I tag my posts and group them together into clumps that make sense to me.  Okay - fishing for feedback here - give me some ideas (comments!) as to what kind of labels you would find useful - or if you think any of the ones I already have are crap.  I'm crowdsourcing for suggestions to improve your user experience with my blog.  Thank you!

And the "Archive" - I'm a busy beaver.  Click the drop down arrows, skim the titles, pick something that looks interesting (or gloss over anything that doesn't).

"Blogs I Monitor" - this is new.  These are Google Blogger/Blogspot blogs, until I figure out how to add others.  It's a widget, and a feature.  Anyway, I check in on these people to see what they're up to, and you might also find them enjoyable.

Thank you for going on this tour of "Icarus Rants!"  Love you and have a great day!

:-)

You have value, fuck social media

A lot of words have been spent pointing out how social media is depressing as fuck, especially since we get this idea it means anything. Social media is healthiest when used as a tool for self-expression and not the unnatural tool of self-esteem.

Social media will kill your self esteem in no time, because there is no way to ever have enough feedback (especially for women).

I've managed to adopt a philosophy of "one +1" is great, because someone cared enough to click, and more than that is just gravy.

See, people have this warped view of "Likes." Ask yourself "Why do I click +1, and when? What motivates me to move my fingers and click the button?"

If you're normal, the answer changes from time to time, depending on your mood, depending on how tired you are, depending on the device you are using, blah, blah, blah.

That makes you normal. My point is that if you can recognize all the random, irrational, erratic and silly reasons you do - and so not - click +1, then you realize how little value it has. How pointless it is to give a crap about the number.

Focus on saying what you want, because you want to.

Here's a rule of thumb I have: multiply the number of Likes by 10 or 15, and that's a useful estimate of the number of people who have seen the post. That's the number of brains you have infected with your words. That estimate has a bit more value. I admit, it also feels better. I can't deny that. The numbers feel good, and fuzzy numbers feel better, because they are safer. E.g. "Well, only five people clicked +1, but that means 50 people saw it!" Accurate? Pft, I don't know, but I'm going to get the best mileage from this addiction to social media that I can, right?

Here's an example of what I mean. By most considerations, this is a good post. The kind that people out to bother to twitch their fingers for, right? Yet only TWO people bothered to twitch. And only TWO comments, potentially not even from the same people who Liked it. People are silly that way.

See what I mean about how absurd the whole thing is?  There are so many reasons to motivate someone to click somewhere - good "sticky" design - yet the responses are practically random - 33 "views," yet only 3 likes and 2 comments.  Plus, the poll has check boxes - and only 16 total boxes got checked - and obviously, some of those are duplicates.

So, basically, let's review:  "Likes" and "+1s" don't mean shit, because people are silly and lazy.

Angry Pink Unicorn

I thinking I'm going to declare my gender as "Angry Pink Unicorn." Not because I have any issues with gender identity, or gender fluidity. On the contrary - I'm very much of the mind that my gender nature and preferences are nobody's business, but mine, and anyone I choose to share it with.

You got a problem if I want to put a tutu over my jeans and wear a pink tiara? Tell me how it hurts you, and threatens your children, and maybe - but not likely - we'll see if it's really anyone's problem but your own.

(Addendum: see the comments below for "Fuzzy Yellow Unicorn")

Bowling Green, Ohio

I have been to Bowling Green, Ohio, many times. Lovely place.  Never been a terrorist attack there.  Very offensive to such a nice place, and such nice people, for a lying sack of crap to drag them into some fantasy farce that's nothing more than a narcissist's naked power grab.

(image from Tropic Thunder)

Kellyanne Conway, Trump's number one lying surrogate. She doesn't even try to hide her lying. I suspect she is also a narcissist, but is definitely a sociopath.

Trevor Noah. As is the case this past 30 years, it's the comedians who bring the truth to light, because such has always been the true role of the court jester, and since everyone else is lying so badly - either nakedly or by omission - someone has to bring the truth to light.

Trump EARNED the mockery heaped upon him

There's a part of me that resists mocking the POTUS, out of respect for the Office. But then I remember Trump spent the last eight years mudslinging at the Office (and now it turns out paying people to urinate on the figurative Office), and now Trump embarrasses and insults the Office every day from inside the Office, and so there is no mockery nor insult of President Trump worse than Trump himself.

And there's also this

The GOP aren't in control of the GOP

The GOP are rotten to the core - but the problem is that the lunatics are now running the asylum.

Even as the GOP implodes and collapses from its own rot and corruption, both the lunatics and the neo-feudalist oligarchs feeding the lunatics will remain.

Until we can get enough people to wake up and recognize the root problem, it will never be fixed - we must break the power of the oligarchs and drive the lunatic cockroaches back under the floorboards.

The oligarchs - using their media outlets of Fox, Breitbart, and worse (yes, worse) - have normalized racism, ammosexualism, misogyny and religious bigotry.  We have to remind people that devaluing human life is a mental illness and that it is NOT normal.

That is the harder challenge.  The Neo-Feudalists have always considered the GOP disposable - that's why Trump was able to play random x-factor circus ringleader and sweep in and steal the mob right out from under them.  Trump is playing his own game, and the GOP are doing what everyone does with Trump - they try to ride the tiger and hope it turns out for them.  Damn fools refuse to learn from Trump's scorched earth legacy - he destroys everything he touches, and the GOP are going to fall right along with America (and the GOP fools will stand around shocked and confused when their billionaire oligarch masters do nothing to save them).

So, yes, the death of the GOP is immanent, but still too far away - and ultimately the death of the GOP isn't enough, because the GOP isn't the root problem.

Bannon is pushing for war

Bannon, through his homeboy Trump, is laying the groundwork to start a war (preferably a civil war), so he can suspend the Constitution and declare himself dictator for life.

You think I sound crazy now, but in two months, you'll wish more people had been listening.

And just so we're clear, the fake event known as the "Bowling Green Massacre" is something that  sociopath Kellyanne Conway pulled out of her ass - she totally invented something that never happened, and won't stop claiming it did.  That's called LYING and GASLIGHTING.

Trump Tower is the New Swamp

Somebody explain to me again this "draining the swamp," bit. You know, where Trump is supposed to eliminate graft, and corruption, and surround himself with decent human beings?

I mean, "drain the swamp"? If you're still bobbling that nonsense around, then pull your head from your fucking ass.

She was warned; she persisted

Rage On.

(Elizabeth Warren, Federal US Senator for Massachusetts)

Iesha L Evans, BLM protester in Baton Rouge

Shirley Chisholm, first black congresswoman

(Wendy Davis, State Representative for Texas)

(rwNJ "paid thugs" in Berkeley)

Rage On.

Don't be a bobblehead - demand Trump step up and BE POTUS

Look, even if you fancy yourself a Trump Supporter, then don't be a fucking bobblehead and defend everything he does. That's not patriotism; it's stupidity. Step up and demand Trump and the GOP represent all Americans. Don't cheer when they "fuck over the libturds," because chances are you are collateral damage. Look how their policy choices actually affect you and demand they quit fucking around and help you instead of just making up fierce sounding bullshit that only helps their billionaire swamp masters. This isn't rocket surgery; it's just not being an asshole.

Your Guide to the Sprawling New Anti-Trump Resistance Movement

An explosion of new activism offers a ray of hope in these dark political times. 

By Joshua Holland

See also this G+ thread

Willful ignorance is inexcusable

The incredible, mindful, willful, and - worst of all - *deliberate* self-induced delusional ignorance of people is making me ill.  The experiment is a failure. I'm closing my eyes and dreaming of giant asteroids.

I'm not always angry

(You were expecting more?  Have you seen my blog?)

(source)

(see also the comments here)

Sacred Order of Ninjacats

Going to try something for Savage Worlds, like Mark Craddock does.

NINJACAT

Wild Card
Attributes: Agility d10, Smarts d4, Spirit d6, Strength d4, Vigor d6

Edges: Martial Artist (Cat-Justsu)

Hindrances: Stubborn (cats are never wrong, Ninjacats even more never wrong)

Skills: Climbing d6, Fighting d8, Notice d8, Stealth d8

Size -2; Pace: 6; Parry: 6; Toughness: 1 (it's hard to be Tough when you only weight 7 lbs.)

Special Abilities:

• Invisibility 1 (Ninjacats can literally disappear from sight, as long as they have something to distract the foe even just for an instant, forcing foes to make Notice rolls at -2 to detect them again, and suffering -2 penalty to attack the Ninjacats. The effect ends when the Ninjacat attacks.);

• Jinx (Through combination subtle defensive techniques and mystical tricks, enemies constantly suffer minor slips and mishaps, suffering a mishap on skill die till natural 1, regardless of the Wild Die roll);

• Leaping 1 (Ancient Feline Secrets give the Ninjacat the ability to leave 4 yards vertically and 8 yards horizontally)

Rich people aren't insane

Why is it, do you think, that everyone assumes President Donald "grab her by the pussy" Trump is actually sane?

Oh, yes, because he's rich. Rich people don't suffer mental illness - they merely "become eccentric."

Life is not binary, it is possible to chase multiple offenses at the same time

Americans suck at complicated thinking. Americans want everything to be black and white, right or wrong, this or not, but it doesn't work that way.  This leads to stupid memes like this one, which presents the idea that it has to be "one or the other, but can't be both."  Wrong. It can be both, and it can be even more complicated than that.  Welcome to the world of grown-ups.

The Primaries got investigated already - it may have been immoral and unethical - but it was legal - that horse sailed, get over it. With the caveat that lessons need to be learned, so it doesn't happen again.

The same goes for GOP suppression of voting - Trump spent all summer bitching the election was "rigged" against him, and then flip-flopped the instant it looked like he'd have an Electoral College win. Voter suppression still needs to be investigated, along with gerrymandering and other bullshit. Again, a lot of this is "legal," but immoral, unethical and total bullshit, by any rational standard.

The Russian connection is illegal and needs to be investigated. Amazing, though, how the New Fuhrer President is doing everything he can to shutdown the investigations - and suppress the due process, and suppress the rule of law.  Even Republican lawmakers want it investigated.

Yes, I found a meme, and I hacked it up. Let me know if the yellow color (the color of piss, but really just a halfway decent contrast) works, or if you have suggestions for a better color choice.

Abnormal Trump is bad, not good

Nothing about Trump's campaign was normal - he broke every rule and said "fuck you" to every convention, tradition and even common sense. His presidency has been even worse - absolute disregard for the dozens or hundreds of people who should be engaged before slapping down policies (if only to get feedback on the chaos or causes), and absolute disregard for the tens of millions of lives disrupted every time he slaps down a fiat order.

This "renegade disregard" appeals to a block of his followers, but that speaks more to their ignorance of the function, role and operation of government than anything positive about Trump.

Practical guide to resisting Trump's Tyranny

Well, when the enemy has been so bloody effective, it is time to learn lessons from him. But, you know, do one better and be more polite, since death threats are never okay.

History vs Republican Presidents

Funny thing, history. They say it's "written by the victors," but that isn't really true.  Records tend to remain around, and people dig them up and analyze them, and popular view and understanding of history changes, but history itself always remains the same.

I confess, I'm surprised the number of convictions under Pres Clinton is so low - I mean, fucking Ken Starr blew $45 million taxpayer dollars on a witch hunt, and turned up jack shit - that's incredible.

And I'm surprised the convictions under Pres G.W. Bush (43) were so high - I mean, the GOP keep changing the laws along their sliding scale whenever one of their number gets into trouble, you'd think it was impossible for anyone to get busted under a GOP President.

The right-wing spin media liked to portray Pres Obama as "the most corrupt President ever" - but the truth remains that he ran a clear house. He had too - the entire fucking world was watching the First Black President - if he screwed anything up, it would destroy the future for any woman or person of color who wanted to try to be President.  The really sick thing is that it didn't matter - Americans lost their fucking minds and voted for the KKK candidate.