Ukraine's UN envoy: Russia uses sexual violence as weapon of war
Citing testimony from people released from Russian captivity, Ukraine's UN envoy Sergiy Kyslytsya said that over 50 percent of detainees suffered torture, rape, or other forms of sexual violence.
Citing testimony from people released from Russian captivity, Ukraine's UN envoy Sergiy Kyslytsya said that over 50 percent of detainees suffered torture, rape, or other forms of sexual violence.
I wonder if the current SciFi trope of robots who yearn for autonomy, and ultimately sacrifice themselves to save the (usually) human heroes, will soon feel just as problematic as the "loyal servant/slave dying for their master's family" ?
It's surprising how many stories with robots follow this pattern.
FWIW, that's already felt problematic to me for a few years now, because so many robot stories seem like such clear metaphors for slavery. The robots are self-aware and intelligent, but still property to be abused or discarded at the owner's discretion, and in some movies it's clearly presented as cruel and unjust. That's fine, the metaphor is obvious and intentional.
But then in other movies, the exact same relationship is presented from a different angle and suddenly it's supposed to be heartwarming that the property has such deep loyalty and love for its masters (with a nod tossed to those mean masters who are cruel to their robot, to show that our master isn't like that, our master is one of the good ones)
@uastronomer One example of how this trope is done fairly well, I think, is the Iron Giant. The robot was created as a weapon, and decides not to be a weapon. It couldn't continue existing, because its existence as a potential weapon was attracting too much danger to its friends. So it found the best possible compromise, since what it wanted - a peaceful life - was impossible.
@uastronomer ...thinking about it, maybe the reason I like The Iron Giant is because the robot is not a metaphor for a slave. It's a metaphor for being a soldier, or more broadly speaking, a person whose place in society is to do harm for what you're told is the greater good.
The droids in Star Wars are surprisingly more interesting, in that they clearly have agency and are able to choose their own loyalties, but whether they have freedom or are forced to obey with inhibitor units depends a lot on the norms of whatever planet/society they find themselves in. It's more complex and less problematic to me, because each droid is a unique personality. So C3PO is a timid creature who only wants to stay out of trouble and be a good servant, which is fine because he's an individual who has made his choices, while other droids are clearly trapped in brutal captivity (Jabba's palace and I think there was a scene on an Imperial star destroyer), but then you also have others who are enthusiastically and aggressively free, joining the rebels in their fight because liberty for some is a step towards liberty for all. Like R2D2, and that combat droid in Rogue One.
Thank you to the younger generations who every day remind Millennials it isn't 2002 any more. Every time I see a note about Millennial ages I take a sip of water and make sure my face and hands have lotion.
At this rate I'm fixin' to hit 60 looking like I'm 35.
The #Illuminati was an utter embarrassing failure. The knights of the golden circle were so much more evil and almost certainly members were the ones who used veterans donations to spread the myth of the lost cause, by publishing books like gone with the wind and the #confederate catechism. Thankfully they like the following #KKK waves all ended in disaster because they had no real plan beyond the #grift like all #fascists
#Anarchists have the hardest battles to face if they are to every be taken seriously. It really doesn't help that since #anarchism is so complex in practice and theory most anarchists don't know all of these, when pinned down most cant explain how it would actually work. 1) Convince people that capitalism is bad 2) convince people that government is bad 3) Show that all power corrupts and often makes you stupid and sociopatjic no matter how good you started out. 4) explain how the complex decentralized web of individuals, be it based on locality with #anarcho-comminism or based on their unions #anarcho-syndicalist will replace government 5) explain science showing that people, especially in disaster zones are essentially programmed to self organize and even thrive via mutual aid and only... show more
#Anarchists have the hardest battles to face if they are to every be taken seriously. It really doesn't help that since #anarchism is so complex in practice and theory most anarchists don't know all of these, when pinned down most cant explain how it would actually work. 1) Convince people that capitalism is bad 2) convince people that government is bad 3) Show that all power corrupts and often makes you stupid and sociopatjic no matter how good you started out. 4) explain how the complex decentralized web of individuals, be it based on locality with #anarcho-comminism or based on their unions #anarcho-syndicalist will replace government 5) explain science showing that people, especially in disaster zones are essentially programmed to self organize and even thrive via mutual aid and only those work power to lose engage in elite panic the opposite of what the powerful suppose. 6, Explain the processes of creating sustainable community. A hundred years ago, this was the easiest part as communities knew how to rely on each other and self organize for their needs. Now we are so atomized we can't even make friends as adults much less a long term stable community. This requires many psychological tricks to get peoples egos out of the way in organizing, used in six sigma in business to create consesus building. Can anarchism work? I haven't the first clue. The uphill battle of educating required is truely them most difficult of all political philosophies to ever implement and while the most efficient in practice is also the easiest to be taken down as no one with power wants a successful anarchist region to act as an example, so they have to do all of this AND survive geo politics. So who even knows if it can ever happen.
Apes together strong. The fact this isn't common knowledge is one of the most radical transformations to the human psyche that capitalism has achieved.
New research has revealed that pythons are an efficient, low-emission, and climate-resilient source of food, demonstrating superior feed-to-protein conversion rates compared to chickens or cattle.
Haha... I wish I had seen this sign a couple of years ago my sister had an eastern snapping long-neck turtle *Australian breed* as a pet. Dad took care of it.
Franklin (turtle) was foolish and lazy. I could have put this sign on his fish tank.
So in PA or NJ, unless you say you will be using your old plates from a dealer they will automatically sell you new plates. No one ever told me that or gave me that option when buying this #car . mind you this is only the third time I've bought a car from a dealer, prior to that It was personal transactions. The times I've dealt with a dealer were first with my dad, the second time I had the trade-in right there. Also #Pennsylvania is really weird as you go to the DVM for most things but for tags and titles you go to a private store. In every other state the DMV is a one stop shop for everything. It might be slightly more convenient but its also certainly more expensive. I've sure the dealerships and tag places have lobbied to keep this extra middle man to add extra charges.
A quick search on the internet for “climate change images” readily yields the familiar photograph of a lone polar bear on a shrinking block of ice. Despite signifying an impending crisis, such images make climate change seem abstract – happening a long way off (for most of us), to animals we’ve probably never encountered.
The idea that climate change is perceived as “psychologically distant” – happening in the future, in distant places, to other people or animals – has long been presented as a major barrier to action on climate change.
Despite the intuitive appeal of this idea, new research published today in the journal One Earth by behavioural scientists at the University of Groningen now challenges it. The authors argue the psychological distance of climate change has been overestimated – according to their results, most people view climate change as “psychologically close”.
Despite the popular and intuitive notion that people find climate change psychologically distant, a new review of the evidence shows that’s not the case at all.
One way to think of #DecentralizedSocialMedia is to compare #Christian #Catholicism to #evangelical #Christianity. The catholic #church is top down just like most social media sites, everyone must abide by the rules and judgment of the pope and cardinals. If you don’t like it, too bad but enough people like it that it doesn’t matter and it's what they were raised in and learned to think on their terms. Evangelical #Protestantism on the other hand is more like independent businesses. Literally anyone can start a church. You don’t like that church, you can just jump over to a different church. It can be a hassle but you have options especially if you don’t like the people in charge or if you have religious of philosophical differences.
I would love to see a study on the religions or former religions of #fediverse users and see if there is any difference in the casual user based based on that.
In Vietnam, farmers reduce methane emissions by changing how they grow rice
Vietnam aims to transform its rice sector, making it more resilient to climate change while also reducing its emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas far more potent than carbon dioxide #press
In the 1930s, the United States government introduced redlining, a discriminatory practice that categorized neighborhoods based on people's race or ethnicity and denied financial services to residents in certain areas—redlining disproportionately aff…
Listen to this episode from The Ezra Klein Show on Spotify. The internet is in decay. Do a Google search, and there are so many websites now filled with slapdash content contorted just to rank highly in the algorithm.
@paninid oh the irony of this being hosted on a platform that intentionally breaks itself, lying to claim it won't work on my device, until I instruct my device to lie as well, claiming it is a desktop PC, at which point the site works perfectly well...
...and the site does this is an attempt to force me to use their crappy app, which they do not make available for my device, and which I think is *actually* not compatible even if I could manage to get it.
But like, David Klion popped onto Bluesky a month or two ago and did the same thing. I'm just like, how is this consistent with being a leftist, which is essentially kind of utopian right? I get choosing your battles but I also feel like people aren't connecting this issue with their value and outlook in other areas. Aren't taking it seriously as a political issue.
As Trump freaks out about the start of his first criminal trial, we’re mobilizing to make sure he can’t avoid accountability by returning to power. We have an opportunity to end Trump’s political career and the “MAGA movement” in November. If you can, please support our organizing work to win across the country: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/stop-trump-again?refcode=mastodon20240422directpost&source=mastodon
The children’s section of the library now had 8 versions of the Bible, but only 1 picture book about Halloween.
Virtually everyone identifies as a Christian, and most folks vote Republican.
The divide is between those who believe the library should adhere to their own personal religious convictions, and those who argue that it should instead reflect a wide range of ideas and identities.
A battle over library books is dividing Metropolis, Illinois, which shares a name with Superman’s home. A pastor is framing the fight as a clash between good and evil.
The Metropolis Public Library is under attack by a very vocal, small group of individuals who seek to impose their own personal agenda on others in the community.
Trump inciting violence at the courthouse, like he did on Jan 6th in DC. Sound familiar? Cassidy Hutchinson, Trump on Jan 6th. "I don't f'ing care that they have weapons. They're not here to hurt me. 'Take the f----ing mags away! Let my people in, they can march to the capital from here. Let the people in. Take the f---ing mags away: Trump wanted armed supporters allowed on Jan. 6th https://youtu.be/BiuI4qfMp6s?si=DrTeWO5ENh2bZJiJ&t=377
Former President Donald Trump was furious on Jan. 6 that armed supporters were not being allowed into the White House Ellipse for his speech leading up to th...
California proposes law to allow Arizona doctors to perform abortions as ban proceeds
California Gov. Gavin Newsom says his administration is working on emergency legislation. Earlier this month, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that a near-total abortion ban could take effect. #press
Hedgewizard
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