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“My friendships mean everything to me and the thought of having to do all that awful socializing to make new ones fills me with dread.” – “Can You See Me?” by Libby Scott and Rebecca Westcott, p. 153 As I’m reading this book, about an 11-year-old Autistic girl navigating her new middle school, one persistent…
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Disclaimer: All base images below were generated by AI. I am aware of the ethical considerations here. I am sharing these for entertainment purposes only; these are not commercially available. If you feel any of these images infringes on your or someone else’s copyright, please let me know and I will proceed accordingly, including deleting…
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I My mother taught me how to needlepoint, but not to cross-stitch or embroider. Those other things were too complicated. She taught me to hook rugs and macrame, but not to knit or crochet. She* knew she was supposed to be able to do those things, but she wasn’t good at them. My mother taught…
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Here are some possible positions on transgender rights: I have marked the position of these statements based on where I think society was perhaps a decade ago, before this topic became front and center in an ongoing culture war. The Progressive Left would likely prefer (2) to be the “Moderate” position. The Regressive Right is…
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My mother died this Sunday. By which I mean: The human entity which gave birth to me more than half a century ago left this mortal coil. She’d been in assisted living for several years. Late last year, she was classified as being in hospice. Last December, just after Christmas, my brothers and I (as…
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Here is a belief that is not a fact: All people are born “biological male” or “biological female”. Here is a fact: In the US and most other countries, when an infant’s birth is registered with the appropriate authorities, they are assigned “male” or “female” based on their genitals. In some cases, where the genitals…
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This is about a stress event that happened last week at work. It’ll take a detour first, though. It is a half million years ago. Protohumans are actively evolving, living in small groups. The world is full of dangers: Toxins in the environment, cliffs and rocks that can break bones, predators that can eat us,…
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NaNoWriMo is under fire for suggesting that AI tools might be acceptable under certain circumstances. Here’s my position. It is unethical to use AI tools to create works that you then sell as your own product. That is plagiarism. It is unethical to use AI tools to create works if you have the financial resources…
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It’s a common thing to say: We cannot tolerate intolerance. But, in reality, we not only can, but a healthy society must tolerate intolerant beliefs. In our quest to be pithy, we are missing an important distinction: We cannot tolerate intolerant actions. I am queer. There are people who, because of their personal beliefs, think…