In somewhat-surreal-modernity news:

Sensitive readers may wish to look away now:

Traumatic scenes of the desecration taking place can be found below:

A group of five to six kids just starting doing donuts and creating skid marks on the Pride Mural. Right in front of me as we’re reporting on three people getting arrested for doing the same thing last night.@KHQLocalNews pic.twitter.com/FMXGAg77fx

— Adam Schwager (@schwagerTV) June 6, 2024

The situation is of course terribly fraught and further complications have been uncovered by our tireless media professionals:

After allegedly causing “widespread damage” – again, see photo, above – three suspects have been arrested and charged with first-degree malicious mischief, a class-B felony:

Clearly, feelings run high.

Though it occurs to me that the pretentious weeping currently underway could have been avoided by not painting one’s weird religious symbols on the chuffing road at a busy intersection. As if that were a perfectly normal thing to do, and in no way a potential irritant or an invitation to mischief.

And then, inevitably, the sly conflation:

At which point, readers may wonder whether the children’s scootering, and the wider disaffection for the increasingly cluttered and kaleidoscopic Pride flag, may have less to do with “homophobia,” as claimed, and rather more to do with a symbol that is now associated with creepy, compelled unrealism, fantasy pronouns, and the steering of children towards experimental drugging and surgical mutilation. The kinds of things that many people, including many gay people, might find a little contentious, or alienating, or morally repugnant.

That the repeatedly ‘enhanced’ Pride flag now represents a range of things to which a great many people, including gay people, might conceivably take exception – or find obnoxious, indeed degenerate – is apparently unthinkable. Or at least unsayable. And so, with the deploying of the word “homophobia,” gay people are being used as a rhetorical shield against objections to, for instance, pornography in schools, the ideological grooming and sexualisation of children, and cross-dressing men in women’s intimate spaces.

Among other things.

However, pretentious howling is very much in fashion, and so,

I’m guessing the wear and tear caused by normal foot traffic will be monitored closely. Dog walkers will doubtless be urged to avoid the sacred space at all costs, lest the unthinkable occur.

Thin blue line. || At last, a third thumb. || Hollywood magic. || Sandals of note. || Just resting his eyes. || Prehistoric Women, 1950. || The progressive retail experience, parts 554, 555, and 556. || A miracle has occurred. || Arachnoid encounter. || Quality credentials. || A life of necessary extravagance, 1968. || Not yet, you bastards. || Niche entertainment. || Go with what works. || Meet the Glaswegians. || A G.I., his wife, and Hitler’s cloak. || Bureaucratic drag. || Long-nosed goblins befuddle Japanese, 1543. || The genre of Christian ska was previously unknown to me. || The thrill of calculation. || The thrill of thrust. || Not sure who’s winning. || Falkirk scenes. || A family night in. || And finally, “The infant should be tested for telekinetic ability at the earliest possible opportunity.”

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And is therefore much more special than you:

That’s it, I’m joining Westboro pic.twitter.com/3CFGnrKDyJ

— Katie Herzog (@kittypurrzog) June 5, 2024

In this hour-long podcast, Hannah McElhinney, above, and her equally self-preoccupied associate Rudy Jean Rigg – “teacher and creative” – can be heard blathering at length – and sometimes seemingly at random – about “queer temporality” and “how LGBTQ+ people experience time differently to straight and/or cisgender people.”

Though conscience compels me to warn you, it’s an hour you won’t get back. Indeed, the sheer arse-chafing tedium of it is difficult to put into words.

Among the deep wisdom on offer, this:

This is the rhetorical pattern for much of what follows. There’s no shortage of self-reference, and paying attention to one’s queerness, and much airing of niche woes – the endless agonies of being a “creator,” a “creative,” and an “influencer.” And of course the terrible burden of being so much more complicated and interesting than all those other people. The ones who experience time in a humdrum, heteronormative way.

The whole thing – which I endured, heroically – calls to mind some kind of therapy session for the terminally tedious and inadequate.

We also learn,

So. Much to chew on.

Or choke on, should you happen to be a physicist.

When not experiencing time differently – and showering the credulous with tales to “validate” and “inspire” – Ms McElhinney and her fellow Bringers Of Arcane Knowledge feel a need to,

So, clearly, the rumblings on offer are entirely free of conformity or modish pretension of any kind.

Via Katie Herzog.

The subject of pretentious timekeeping has cropped up here before.

For newcomers, more items from the archives. Come, let us spend time with weirdly neurotic progressive men.

Daddy’s Baggage.

Two-year-old boy likes footballs, tractors. Father “spirals into darkness.”

An Alien Presence.

Senior editor of leftist publication encounters a tradesman. Panic ensues.

Please Stop Objecting To The Assault Of Your Person.

White educator denounces “white supremacist violence” of complaining about actual violence. Say, after being punched in the face.

Consider this an open thread. Share ye links and bicker.

I expect to be busy for a couple of days, so you may have to amuse each other.

She would make love to them, selflessly. || Solemn oath, precious memories. || Cower in FEAR – the LASER is here, 1962. || Incoming. || She makes it work. || Incriminating stains. || Suspense. || Secret revealed. || Dating in Sardinia, 1964. || Blushing bride not blushing enough. || Some clenching of the buttocks. || Hey, it’s better than your cheap-ass robot horse. || Heroic rescue attempted. || Tidy is good. Alternatively. || “Yeet the mammary meat,” they cheered. || It’s his lemon dress. || Locals displeased by nude cyclists, altercation ensues. || Terry’s Chocolate Apple. || The thrill of pigeons. || The progressive retail experience, parts 551, 552, and 553. || “I’m parking right now.” || Parenting test, level 10. || Guatemalan action figure. || Retro-futurism. || And finally, no, after you.

If inclined, you can follow me on X / Twitter.

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Lifted from the comments, a small point, on suburban versus city living. And those who would prefer that you didn’t have a choice:

I went out on my porch last night and there was a guy milling about in front of my neighbor’s house, sitting on their retaining wall, just, you know, hanging out on somebody else’s property at 11pm.

Freedom from that (and a million related things) is what suburbanites are… https://t.co/O94JKBdBv5

— wanye (@wanyeburkett) May 30, 2024

A thread ensues.

In the comments, Jacob adds:

Well, yes. Quite.

Not having to guess whether some stranger sitting on your wall at 11pm is a threat, or just someone with an impaired sense of boundaries – and not having to do that regularly – is freeing. Likewise, being able to park your car on the street outside without fretting, routinely, about whether someone may try to steal it, or steal some part of it, or just vandalise it out of moron spite, is similarly non-trivial.

And contra Mr Gifford, a thing one might wish to enjoy.

Update, via the comments:

Mr Gifford, since you ask, is a proponent of the “15-minute city.” He doesn’t much like car ownership, or people having the option of living in the suburbs. He’s also rather disdainful of the fact that some of us would rather not “live closer to all kinds of different people,” a proximity to difference – now there’s a euphemism – that is presented as some kind of unexplained moral imperative.

That some people prefer to have neighbours with broadly compatible values and expectations – say, regarding behaviour, noise, the observation of normal boundaries, things of that kind – seems to vex Mr Gifford. The word “privilege” is deployed in a rumbling kind of way.

A rumbling we’ve heard before, while marvelling at its implications.

Update 2, via the comments:

Regarding Mr Gifford’s enthusiasm for our proximity – that’s coerced proximity – to “all kinds of different people,” MattS notes,

Another non-trivial point, one touched on here, and about which readers may have views somewhat at odds with those of Mr Gifford.

Dicentra adds, not unreasonably,

YOU WILL CARRY THOSE FOUR BAGS OF SHOPPING ON PUBLIC TRANSPORT. OR DIE IN THE ATTEMPT. CITIZEN. 

And where, needless to say, you will delight in being surrounded by “all kinds of different people.”

At which point, this came to mind, along with this. And of course this infinitely charming scene. Among many others.

Update 3:

In the comments, Daniel Ream adds,

And if everyone involved has shared values and behavioural expectations – the kind of cultural common ground – and moral common ground – that Mr Gifford would presumably disdain as problematic, as mere “privilege.”

A while ago, I mentioned that for many years a neighbour has had an ‘honesty box’ on a small, home-made stand on the pavement outside their house. Passers-by can help themselves to surplus produce from the owner’s vegetable garden, or small plants, or unwanted toys, or whatever. People leave the suggested, very nominal charge or whatever they deem appropriate.

In a box. That doesn’t get robbed.

Almost every time I pass it, I’m faintly pleased that it exists. It does seem rather symbolic. And it serves as a reminder that I’ve lived in neighbourhoods where such a thing would very promptly be vandalised and thrown into the road, and where delight would be taken in its destruction – and in the misery of its owner.

And the difference between the two scenarios – or between this scene and this one – is not caused by poverty, or indeed “privilege.” It’s about being better people. The kind of people one might, say, prefer as neighbours.

Update 4:

Regarding the reference to better people, EmC replies,

To acknowledge the obvious does have an air of scandalousness. Such is the practised dishonesty of our times. But at risk of being thought “privileged,” or insufficiently egalitarian, I would prefer to walk down the street without someone doing this in order to do this. To me or anyone else.

Outrageous of me, I know.

From the recent batch of Ephemera – Chloe makes these videos because he wants you to relax:

“Chloe”, a man who identifies as transgender, makes ASMR videos dressing up in women’s and girls’ clothing. One depicts a violent abduction and torture fantasy.
Some videos are aimed at children.
Chloe is allowed to use facilities for women and girls. pic.twitter.com/DmoNeSWOLk

— Genevieve Gluck (@WomenReadWomen) May 23, 2024

The above features highlights from a video titled Psycho Girlfriend Kidnaps You.

You are feeling relaxed, aren’t you?

Perhaps you’d prefer some roleplay about a bra-fitting appointment.

Hey, I’m just giving you options.

Oh, and our whispering wonder’s Instagram account is a heady mix of seductive pouting, décolletage, and filters working overtime. He also wants us to know that women have no reason to be wary of gentle lady-beings such as himself.

It’s possible he’s not being entirely honest.

For the adventurous, an OnlyFans option is also available.

Via Genevieve Gluck.

I expect to be busy for a couple of days, so consider this an open thread.

Sex scene. || Soccer rethought. || An “activity book” for six-year-olds. || Our betters discuss crime. Alternative positions here, here, and here. || Keep ’em coming. || Cultural commentary. || Job candidate. || Don is a spankologist. || Downdraught detected. || If you don’t date trans people, you’re a “transphobe,” but if you do, you’re a “fetishist.” || Today’s word is tarsorrhaphy. || She has a wand. || He was approached by a Venusian while he was washing the dishes. || Low-meat diets and mental illness. || Décor. || Sweet dreams. || One for devotees of cheesy, low-budget trash. || Chloe wants you to relax. || “What is going on, New York?” || Nick of time. || A game about underpants. || Family fun times. || Young love, first kiss. || And finally, in good-fortune news, finders keepers.

Update, via the comments: A musical interlude, on the word dildo.

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Quoted below, extracts from a conversation that in many circles would result in much hissing and flailing of limbs, but which, it seems to me, very much ought to be had:

From the following video, in which Andrew Gold talks with the formidable Mia Hughes, author of The WPATH Files, about pseudoscience, malpractice, and experiments on children.

It’s a forty-five-minute watch, but there’s plenty to chew on. Much that could be quoted. I should point out that the later sections of the interview, which explore surgical affirmations, or as one surgeon puts it, “creating body types that do not exist in nature,” does get a little vivid, and indeed surreal.

For newcomers, some items for the archives, on a loosely health-related theme.

The Very Best Of Hands.

“Equity” woo comes to Canada’s Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Get Thee Behind Me, Mr Kipling.

The trauma and violation of being offered a slice of cake.

Trust Me, I’m A Witchdoctor.

Guardian columnist denounces Western medicine as “outdated,” champions use of bush dung.

By all means, consider this an open thread. Share ye links and bicker.