Quote by Seeker4
I actually asked Jen upthread if we could use plural and there was no answer so far. I used singular anyhow. I think using the plural should be allowed at this point if they have been allowing this far in but clarification from Jen would be nice.
the plural is fine.
Quote by CuriousAnnie
Lol, the competition is announced. Three days later Annie submits, and its touch and go whether she will be one of the first 50 entries. I shall get on with reading others, once mine is actually published. Hope you all are having a great weekend.
just read your story and am now depressed by my own entry. thanks. not. 
Quote by Seeker4
Yeesh, who is moderating this week? Must be hitting the backstage liquor cabinet too hard or something.😉
Mine should come this weekend, maybe even today. It's set up as a draft, has a cover, and I think I like it as it stands. Just going to let the pot simmer a bit longer in case something hits me when I read it again.😎
my bad. i laced the brownies at the last mod meeting. oops. btw, i have mine in. first story i've written in... forever. it was fun. probably not going to win any awards, though lol
Quote by KimmiBeGood
Morning, Rumpies!
Fuzzy Lion, I freakin’ love your new avatar!
And Sweet Jesus, there’s like thirty entries already in comp. I’ll never read them all!
It’s Football-watching couch potato day for me! Enjoy today!
they're all 100 word or less. you'll manage. lol
Quote by deviantsusie
I love the bluntness and directness of this. I hated the idea of lush coins from the start. I saw it would be used to buy things other than tip authors but lush management think that’s ok and use coins however you want.. it’s just another example of Jello Biafra’s song That’s Progress
remind me to send you coins for name-checking Jello Biafra. 
met him once, btw. REALLY nice guy. and smart. DKs still get played here at Casa de sprite. them and The Ramones. \m/
Quote by Chryses
I also expect AI to be disruptive.
People who make a living by producing text must deal with increasingly effective Large Language Models.
AI has also, by sifting tirelessly through in weeks amounts of data that would have taken years if done by hand, already facilitated the discovery of two new antibiotics (halicin, abaucin).
yeah, we really don't want to speed up the discovery of medicines and cures, do we.
i'm not sure what kind of abuse Ms Heil received on Twitter. if it was simply people complaining about her article, than that's fair. if it was death threats and people using vile and misogynistic language (which is what i expect is what happened) then no. no one deserves that kind of abuse and, if that's what happened, i'd have to side with Noll with calling you a sick dude. no one deserves that kind of abuse for any reason. sadly, it's become a common place tactic with MAGA and the far right - somehow they think it's acceptable. being a woman, i find it very uncomfortable, since it bleeds over into dealing with anyone, especially women, that they don't agree with on any issue. or women who stand up for themselves when confronted with such behavior. ever get abused for objecting to being talked to vulgarly or being groped? that is exactly the atmosphere being condoned here.
Quote by Justlooking51
Wait! In Colorado, where smoking dope is legal, she was booted for vaping?
For once in your life, Felix, you might actually be correct.
vaping while in the audience during a show, yeah. not the same as vaping while hanging out in the parking lot.
Quote by sthtxs
All of the illegals need to go back! They are bringing STDs, mumps, measles, and possibly untreatable TB. And don't forget Covid if that is a real thing still. Keep in mind they required you the citizen to be vaccinated.
Another issue is the millions spent on this human debris that is of zero use to society. Few of them have any job skills just like our existing ghetto populations of various ethnicities.
well, if you take a look at history, that means, unless you're native american, you should probably get the hell out of here too.
human debris, btw. wow. yes, they are garbage people. good to know that we have some compassionate members here. btw, those people without any job skills are also keeping the economy from tanking as well as putting food on your plate - i assume you eat produce in some form or another?
now, excuse me while i tend to my wife who's sick with imaginary covid. i'll let her know to just stop pretending and get back to work. thanks!
Quote by Justlooking51
I find crap like this extremely offensive. I've known gay men, lesbians and trans people, long before it became les causes des jours, when before HIV was grip. I vote conservative because the other choice is putting Government into the bedroom. It wasn't Trump who was spanked by the Circuit Court for suppression of speech.
As for the original question, I don't think there is a single answer to the question any more than I think that conservatives are the only phobic people in the country. Some fear themselves, some fear the retribution of God, some believe that because history evolved from libertine Rome and Greece at the same time Christianity arose there is a connection between social evolution and repression of sexuality. [removed by moderator due to being irrelevant to present discussion]
I was a young teen when Christine Jorgenson had her sex change operation. If I were inclined to believe the popular press at all, I'd blame the rise in phobic behavior on Obama prefering to hide in the closet. As far as I can tell, none of the rhetoric got really vehement until his ascendency. "Whatever floats your goat" was the watchword of my generation and the one after that. Things started getting wierd when Gore lost and kept bending after that.
pretty sure Mr Obama isn't gay, so that really makes no sense whatsoever. and, actually, things got REALLY vehement after Trump was elected and he made it okay for all the extremists to speak up and follow up their words with action.
Quote by ElCoco
Glad to see you're good with me voting for what I think is the right direction, even though I get the impression you think it's a bare minimum.
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What's the "ant-lgbtq agenda"?
I'll admit I don't follow LGBT stuff much, certainly not as closely as you seem to. But I haven't seen the anti-LGBT agenda you're talking about.
For example - there's more, not less, 'L', 'G', and 'B' legal protection now than there's been in the past, so that's not the issue. The Colorado wedding cake decision was decided on Free Speech grounds, so that isn't it.
As I've said, I don't follow LGBT stuff, so if there's LGB legislation you know about that I don't, I'm openly asking you to show them to me.
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As for the 'T', are you saying that trying to save women's sports for women is anti-transgender? If you are, then there are many people who don't agree with you. I think they've got a valid point - male bodies are physically bigger, faster, and stronger than female bodies. Follow the science.
The other big social push back I'm aware of is against the idea a child knows enough about being an adult to make a life changing decision to go from boy to girl or girl to boy. I think that's a pretty shaky idea. Even there, I think in California, there's pending legislation that'll permit a kid's teacher to not tell the kid's parents about the kid's wants and plans, so that's still being debated there.
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This is a long post for me, but I'm trying to be open about my questions about what you've said. I sure hope nobody removes it.
it is the bare minimum. doesn't mean i don't appreciate it, but yeah, bare minimum. as far as the anti-lgbtq agenda goes, you might be interested in this article: https://www.hrc.org/press-releases/roundup-of-anti-lgbtq-legislation-advancing-in-states-across-the-country
A majority of the bills being introduced and passed are anti-trans. a majority, but not all. and yes, there are plenty of people who don't agree with me. i'm used to that. some people REALLY don't agree with me. lol
it is not legal for children to go through transitioning through surgery or estrogen/testosterone treatment. they can identify as whatever gender they wish, change their pronouns, look or dress how they wish, but that's the extent of it.
and think about it, if there is legislation pending about kids not wanting their parents being told about wants and plans, i think that says more about the atmosphere at home than anything else. if a kid is afraid of outing themselves to their parents, you gotta wonder what their home life is like.
Quote by Chryses
The New York City mayor said: "The city we knew we're about to lose."
Perhaps the White House will respond now. I hope it will.
new york is pretty big. not sure where it's going to get lost. i mean, i bet i could still find it.
