Nat is in the valley of the shadow of death
@natlaowai.bsky.social
340 followers 310 following 5.6K posts
Originally from greater Los Angeles, lived in China 15 years, now in the San Joaquin Valley. White grey ace cishet, he/him. Religion, politics, depression, classical music.
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natlaowai.bsky.social
Dear Christians:

If you need help avoiding antisemitism, a great rule of thumb is BLAME THE ROMANS. This ought in theory to be something that you can instinctively do, since they flippin' killed your Saviour. And it's remarkably often correct.
natlaowai.bsky.social
The reason only Pharisees survived is that other groups like the Sadducees were deeply attached to the Temple, which the Romans (same schmucks who killed Jesus) destroyed. It was the Pharisees who had the attachment to the Torah, something the Romans did not destroy.
natlaowai.bsky.social
Massive Pecker Trophy Husband

(to the tune of teenage mutant ninja turtles)
natlaowai.bsky.social
It's much less common among Latino and Asian Americans (hence its being substantially less common in California than the rest of the U.S.)
natlaowai.bsky.social
It's really very much cultural. It's a thing where it originally got promoted because it would stop masturbation (lol no), then that it would stop penile cancer and UTIs, and by the time doctors quit recommending it, it was so engrained that most people kept on doing it. At least most white people.
natlaowai.bsky.social
There are better analogies you could use than one that's all about making bad Christians bad because they are too Jewish. The Pharisees are the sect that led the transition to modern rabbinic Judaism, not some historical punching bag.
natlaowai.bsky.social
Literally no one is asking for this except the tech barons who are totally out of touch with the rest of society.
natlaowai.bsky.social
Ugh, being in a group chat with him surely constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.
natlaowai.bsky.social
Rain makes the students hyper and depletes my energy. This is not looking like a good day.
natlaowai.bsky.social
Though with that, I suppose I should say that I think democracy is not really an on/off switch and more of a thermostat. That a country can be "kind of" democratic. I would not consider Singapore very democratic, but it's certainly more so than Turkmenistan, for example.
natlaowai.bsky.social
Has it ever truly been a democracy? The Senate and EC have always worked against that, and even the House, the theoretically democratic part, has always been susceptible to gerrymandering.
natlaowai.bsky.social
Hah all my unhinged takes are about *musical* literature. Takes like "Handel is way more interesting than Bach" or "The greatest Italian opera isn't by Verdi or Puccini; it's Bellini's Norma".
rachelfeder.bsky.social
Tell me your most unhinged literary opinion, as a little treat
natlaowai.bsky.social
I can indeed. Not going to lie though, you'd think I'd never taught capitalization at all the way these are turning out. 😑
natlaowai.bsky.social
Cool! I'm not. I need to mark a few more grammar exercises and enter them into Infinite Campus.
natlaowai.bsky.social
Californians, remember what we need to do this November.
nytimes.com
Republican lawmakers in North Carolina announced plans on Monday to redraw the state’s already gerrymandered congressional maps to further favor their party. The most likely target is the First Congressional District, which has the state’s only competitive House seat.
North Carolina Republicans Plan to Redraw Congressional Map to Add a Seat
The Trump administration has pushed Republican leaders to redraw House district maps before the midterm elections next year. His party already holds 10 of North Carolina’s 14 congressional seats.
nyti.ms
natlaowai.bsky.social
Gian Carlo Menotti.
katelynburns.com
name an italian more worthy of an american holiday than columbus
natlaowai.bsky.social
FIIIIIIIIGARO! Figaro, Figaro, Figaro!
jamescobo.bsky.social
I will never tire of this glorious moment captured on film
A yawning viscacha
natlaowai.bsky.social
We've said this a lot, but:

“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” ––George Orwell
natlaowai.bsky.social
I gave years of my time to editing and adminning there, and I'm afraid what I know about how tone-deaf the WMF is dissuades me from giving them a cent.
natlaowai.bsky.social
Yes, indeed, they don't listen. Blaming Rome is just a personal hobbyhorse, to the point it's my pinned skeet.
natlaowai.bsky.social
When a better comparison would be to the Roman legions who actually killed Jesus.