be the brick you throw
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i-rohl.bsky.social
be the brick you throw
@i-rohl.bsky.social
890 followers 910 following 5.5K posts
Epistemic justice warrior. Crazy aunt. Gender outlaw. Rootless cosmopolitan. Disaster bi. Running on amphetamines & wrath.

My cyborg uprising will be intersectional or it will be bullshit.

they/themself, Mx./Dr.

https://linktr.ee/i_rohl
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i-rohl.bsky.social
If we as a society are going to have any concept of crime (something about which I am ambivalent), then this shit needs to be considered some kind of criminal recklessness.

www.404media.co/power-compan...
[Screenshot from 404 Media] The Idaho National Laboratory, a Department of Energy run nuclear lab, is already using Microsoft’s AI to “streamline” nuclear licensing. “INL will generate the engineering and safety analysis reports that are required to be submitted for construction permits and operating licenses for nuclear power plants,” INL said in a press release. Lloyd's Register, a UK-based maritime organization, is doing the same. American power company Westinghouse is marketing its own AI, called bertha, that promises to make the licensing process go from "months to minutes.”
November 14, 2025 at 6:39 PM
i-rohl.bsky.social
I still think about this tweet.
[screenshot of a tweet by twitter user @C_Zinkiev. text of tweet follows] "Went on a date with a guy I really like. I dressed nice, did myhair, ggave him an extensvie 30 minute lecture on coelacanths, yet I haven't heard from him 🤔 the only thing I can think of is perhaps I did not provide enough information about coelacanths?? Fish people pls advise"
November 14, 2025 at 3:54 AM
i-rohl.bsky.social
Why am I only just now learning about the honey possum (Tarsipes rostratus)?

There's a tiny marsupial that drinks nectar and pollinates flowers! How was I not informed?

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey_p...
Photo of a honey possum (Tarsipes rostratus) - a tiny mousey-looking marsupial with a long snout - perched delicately on some flowers.
November 14, 2025 at 12:05 AM
i-rohl.bsky.social
Seen on CNN front page.

The claim that Trump "hasn't been accused of wrongdoing" in connection with Epstein would presumably come as a shock to Katie Johnson.

Does "accused" or "wrongdoing" mean something different for the folks at CNN?

(Article link: www.cnn.com/2025/11/13/p... )
Screenshot of an article link from a news website. The headliner eads "The political danger of the Epstein files for Trump". Below the headline is a photo of Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein. At the bottom of the photo appear the word "ANALYSIS" and an attribution to "Davidoff Studios Photography/Getty Images". Below all this appears the text "The president hasn't been accused of wrongdoing, but he's doing a great job of looking suspicious with his handling of the matter.
November 13, 2025 at 10:48 PM
i-rohl.bsky.social
I keep thinking about this exchange from six and a half years ago on the bird site, where I was writing about a friend using the common internet idiom "die in a fire", and I got a reply talking about how this idiom was vile and, in the process, using a common traditional idiom about shooting people.
[Screenshot of a twitter exchange] [tweet by @dr_i_rohl follows] Putting aside general questions about who's punching up, who's punching down, what's a reasonable basis for a joke, &c... "DIE IN A FIRE" IS A FUCKING IDIOM It's an established fomrulaic expression of rage & disgust in internet usage. (I remain opposed to people dying in fires.) [reply by user with redacted name follows] It's vile. There's no need for it. My 13 year-old said it recently as an idom (she didn't get the memo that it's only for internet usage). I gave her both barrels and I doubt she'll be using it again. She is a child. Adults ought to know better.
November 12, 2025 at 9:52 PM
i-rohl.bsky.social
... here are some samples of what I found.

Which of these do we think would be treated as violations of a prohibition on "content that threatens or wishes harm to others"?

Which do we think ought to be TOS violations on a well run platform?

2/2
I really don't care about your project structure, I just want to strangle the social media manager. I want to strangle my coworker. Shes so slow. Like intentionally, to do less work. Its fucking annoying. Just move your fucking hands. Just finish it. Once its done we can stand here and bullshit but the longer you drag this out the longer we have to actually work. You fucking inexperienced welp. overhead my parents talking about the tesla cocksucker that drove them home yesterday after they ran into a deer and i lowkey want to strangle him for (unknowingly) convincing my parents to invest in one during their vulnerable state of mind I want to strangle every single person who told me I was overreacting in 2016 about the Supreme Court. I TOLD YOU SO!!!!
November 12, 2025 at 9:34 PM
i-rohl.bsky.social
Okay, I got curious about how these standards apply, so I did a quick search for the text "want to strangle", and ... 1/2
[screenshot of two skeets in a thread] Bluesky Safety‬ ‪@safety.bsky.app‬ · 2h The account owner of @sarahkendzior.bsky.social was suspended for 72 hours for expressing a desire to shoot the author of an article. The post, made 11/10, stated: "I want to shoot the author of this article just to watch him die." 1/2 Bluesky Safety ‪@safety.bsky.app‬ The account owner was immediately notified of the reason for the content takedown and engaged in a discussion with our moderation team. Our community guidelines prohibit content that threatens or wishes harm to others. 2/2
November 12, 2025 at 9:30 PM
i-rohl.bsky.social
And here's the ingredient list for some ubiquitous chain restaurant fries. Note that this features a lot of processes like hydrogenating the soybean oil and whatever it is they do to make that mysterious beef flavoring.

www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us/pro...
French Fries Ingredients: Potatoes, Vegetable Oil (canola Oil, Corn Oil, Soybean Oil, Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Natural Beef Flavor [wheat And Milk Derivatives]*), Dextrose, Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate (maintain Color), Salt. *natural Beef Flavor Contains Hydrolyzed Wheat And Hydrolyzed Milk As Starting Ingredients. Contains: Wheat, Milk.
November 10, 2025 at 8:10 PM
i-rohl.bsky.social
I'm broadly in agreement, but I must note that, depending on where you order your fast food fries they may contain quantities of various more processed-y ingredients like polydimethylsiloxane.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polydim...
PDMS is added to many cooking oils (as an anti-foaming agent) to prevent oil splatter during the cooking process. As a result of this, PDMS can be found in trace quantities in many fast food items such as McDonald's Chicken McNuggets, french fries, hash browns, milkshakes and smoothies[43] and Wendy's french fries.[44]
November 10, 2025 at 8:07 PM
i-rohl.bsky.social
I can say with confidence that that is absolutely not what these folks mean by "liberal feminism".
[In the screenshot transcribed below, the words "Or is there a form of conservative feminism that corrects liberalism’s mistakes?" have been highlighted.] Ross Douthat: Men and women are different. That is a core premise of conservatism in the age of Trump, that liberalism and feminism have come to grief by pretending that the sexes are the same. But what does that difference really mean? Should the right be trying to roll back the entire feminist era? Or is there a form of conservative feminism that corrects liberalism’s mistakes? My guests this week, Helen Andrews and Leah Libresco Sargeant, are both conservative writers, both critics of feminism, but they have very different views of what a right-wing politics of gender should look like.
November 7, 2025 at 4:01 PM
i-rohl.bsky.social
Happy World Numbat Day to all who observe!

Image source links:
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nu...

commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:My...

perthzoo.wa.gov.au/animal/numbat

www.numbat.org.au/news/2024/8/...
Photo of a numbat (an adorable brownish-and-cream striped marsupial with a pointed snout and a bushy tail) sitting up. (Photo by Mark Gillow.) Photo of a numbat (an adorable brownish-and-cream striped marsupial with a pointed snout and a bushy tail) standing on a log. (Photo by Kym Nicolson.) Photo of a baby numbat (an adorable brownish-and-cream marsupial) in someone's hand. (Photo from Perth Zoo.) Photo of two numbat joeys (adorable brownish-and-cream striped marsupials with pointed snouts and a bushy tail) sitting on a rock. (Photo by Luc Hoogenstein.)
November 1, 2025 at 6:53 PM
i-rohl.bsky.social
In reality, Democratic politicians and Kamala Harris specifically talked little if at all about climate change and trans rights in 2024—and spoke *constantly* about “kitchen table issues.” WelcomePAC’s formula for success is precisely what Democrats tried. It failed. WelcomePAC’s only answer is, “Well, try it some more.”
October 31, 2025 at 10:58 AM
i-rohl.bsky.social
Okay having found the post and read onward I think that cutting it here is doing the author a disservice.
And before you answer the question with: "Because I don't believe." I want you to answer this question as if you did believe. For me, the thing holding me back from being Christian, if I believed in mythology of Jesus, is how I feel like I would be endlessly edified to practice the correct form of Christianity. See, I think the amount of variety of Christian churches is a double-edged sword. Not only will you be expected to believe in a very specific form of Christianity (and lets be honest, non-denominational is Baptist in diguise) but if you mix and mingle your practice and ritualistic behaviors you'll constantly be judged negatively from other Christians about it. Many Christians don't believe LDS or JW are Christians. Some Christians don't even see Catholicism as a valid form of Christianity either. If I were a Christian - and yes - I've thought about this more often than I care to admit - I would be a hybrid of Universalist, Baptist and Messianic Judaism. I would treat the Sabbath (Saturday) as a day to learn about the Old Testament, Sunday to learn about the New, I would advocate only baptizing adults and also believe that Jesus saved all people and not just my fellow Christians. And I'm terrified at what other Christians would think if I tried doing that. What church could I go to that would accept that type of Christian doctrine and practice? There would always be someone criticizing my worship of God. Edifying is typically seen as a positive but in this case it would be toxic to me and make me feel too divided and not satisfied with any particular church. toxic to me and make me feel too divided and not satisfied with any particular church. So I decided it would be best to not be a Christian. Now, how about you? What's holding you back, besides the obvious "I don't believe in Christianity", that is preventing you from following the righteous path of Christ? And before anyone comes in and says this: I am not attempting to make anyone a Christian. This is not a post attempting to proselytize. I am not a Christian nor do I ever intend to be, since there is a tremendous amount of pull I get from my actual worldview. But I know that this subreddit has many non-Christians and I'm curious what other people would have to say about this topic. Edit: It has come to my attention that my question was a bit confusing, as I was asking one Edit: It has come to my attention that my question was a bit confusing, as I was asking one question in the title and answering a different one in the body. Refer to this comment I made to explain what I was trying to say... "I have noticed that many people answered the question by answering why they don't believe in Christianity. Which, writing the body of this post, I should have seen as a valid response to the question. If you believe in a religion, you are part of it, right? Others, on the other hand, analyzed my post from the point of view I wrote in the body, and thus saw my logical contradiction I made by asking a question from a paradoxical point of view. So, to reiterate, what I'm really asking is two things: 1 - Why don't you believe in Christianity? and 2 - Perhaps, if you could, which denomination do you think you could settle with? Now my topic should make more sense from an outsider's perspective."
October 29, 2025 at 3:01 PM
i-rohl.bsky.social
So I 100% respect the right of people of all genders to manage their hormone levels as they see fit, but reading this story it's hard for me not to focus on the various glimpses and hints of the horrors of heterosexual culture.
[screenshot from NYT article. the top part of the screenshot contains the below in normal-sized type] time they could have sex. Another woman told me she’d had more orgasms in the past two years on testosterone than in the entirety of her previous life; a third said that after years of “wanting to rip someone’s face off” if her husband so much as touched her, she now actively pursued sex with him — if anything, she now worried, she wanted it more often than he did. [the phrase "after years of 'wanting to rip someone's face off' if her husband so much as touched her" has been selected/highlighted by the reader] [below the regular text, centered and in larger type, appears the following] ‘It’s changed my marriage.’
October 23, 2025 at 2:31 AM
i-rohl.bsky.social
PROTECT
THE
DILLS
a photo of a jar of dill pickles (photo by Wikimedia user "Jonathunder")
October 20, 2025 at 5:08 PM
i-rohl.bsky.social
Who robbed the Louvre? Right answers only....
Image of Carol Kane as Pelia in the 'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' episode 'Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow'. She is wearing a red operations division starfleet uniform and has her hands on her hips. In the background we can see a number of storage crates and at least two framed paintings.
October 20, 2025 at 2:55 AM
i-rohl.bsky.social
Bonus deer content: the smallest extant deer species, the northern pudu (Pudella mephistophiles), is in approximately the same weight-class as a house cat or a King Charles spaniel.
A photo of a northern pudu - a deer about the size of a small dog.
October 17, 2025 at 12:23 AM
i-rohl.bsky.social
This is very much not an exhaustive list, but I hope the included options speak to a variety of possible tastes and moods.

Anyway, here is a tiny squirrel:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Least_p...
Photo of a least pygmy squirrel (Exilisciurus exilis), which, as the name suggests, is an absurdly tiny tree squirrel, clinging to the side of a tree.
October 14, 2025 at 1:50 PM
i-rohl.bsky.social
diagram of the chemical structure of testosterone botanical illustration of a the tea plant (Camellia sinensis)
October 13, 2025 at 6:51 PM
i-rohl.bsky.social
t4t vibes

(image source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ca...
A photo of a cattle tyrant (a passerine bird of typical shape about 20cm long, with a yellow underside and olive brown upper coloration) standing on top of a capybara (a livestock-sized guinea-pig-like rodent) right behind the capybara's ears.
October 13, 2025 at 4:06 PM
i-rohl.bsky.social
m.xkcd.com/1114/
an XKCD comic featuring a stick figure merchant behind a counter talking to two prospective customers. PANEL 1: Merchant: This sword was forgedfrom a fallen star. Antimony impurities make the balde surpassingly BRITTLE and WEAK. PANEL 2: Merchant: And THIS dagger is made from mettle from a far-off kingdom. It glows blue. Customer: When orcs are near? PANEL 3: Merchant: No, always. Radiation from the actinium content. Customer: ...Does it have eldrich powers? PANEL 4: Merchant: It gives the wielder +2 to cancer risk. Customer: I think we should find another shop.
October 13, 2025 at 3:56 PM
i-rohl.bsky.social
t4t vibes
A photo of an area around the clear window of a sea lion tank. There is a sea lion swimming up to the window from the interior side, and an otter wearing a harness and leash standing on the outside. They are looking each other in the face.
October 13, 2025 at 3:45 PM
i-rohl.bsky.social
but consider
Image of the 'Lady and the Tramp' scene where they're eating their way along opposite ends of a single strand of spaghetti, only with Stitch from 'Lilo and Stitch' in place of Lady.
October 13, 2025 at 2:04 PM
i-rohl.bsky.social
t4t vibes
a photo marked "@dornaye_omid" and "(c) S B Mousavi" The photo shows, at the top in the background, a tall, sledner white-feathered black-legged wading bird and, in the foreground, an otter with a fish hanging out of the side of its mouth.
October 13, 2025 at 1:08 PM
i-rohl.bsky.social
"the girlfriend of one of the founders of antifa"
Image of Haley Atwell as Agent Peggy Carter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
October 9, 2025 at 3:30 AM