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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
Balderson is now up 700 votes with 95% of precincts in and supposedly most of the areas left to report are Republican friendly. I wonder if there'll be a recount, but at the moment it looks like Republicans are pulling it out by the skin of their teeth.
| Wandering, but not lost. | If people bring so much courage to this world...◊ |I don't care either way about "spirit animal" being seen as offensive. Its all semantics to me.
Watch SymphogearHere is a brief history
of the use of the term spirit animal.
What is your spirit animal? Is it the manatee? Is it the snow leopard? Is it Beyoncé perched upon a bear in the manner of Vladimir Putin? Perhaps it is the goldendoodle (because you are friendly and sassy and possibly hypoallergenic). Or the honey badger (self-explanatory). Or the spork.
...
By December of 2010, "spirit animal" had taken enough hold on the Internet to earn a mention on Urban Dictionary. "Online,” the unusually straightforward entry puts it, “saying something or someone is your spirit animal is a statement that said person or thing is a representation of you or what you want to be."
...
But most casual Internet-ers wouldn't think of it, because most don't think of the spirit animal—the conceptual meme—as an appropriation. Most of us think of the term simply as a shorthand, one that is well-suited to a web culture that has been thoroughly influenced by Facebook and Tumblr and other social media. And one that has also been, at this point, thoroughly commercialized.
As The Toast recently summed things up in its glossary of the Internet: "spirit animal: here’s something I like; I am not familiar with what a spirit animal is or does."
Here’s an article focusing on the issues indigenous people have with the term’s usage.
The problem is that the continued use of the phrase is a part of the cultural appropriation of Indigenous culture that seeks to commodify and erase the realities of Indigenous people.
...
The effects of colonization did not end after settlement, either. For example, American Indian Boarding schools, known in Canada as Indian Residential Schools, existed well into the 20th century. These church and state run schools sought to aggressively assimilate Indigenous children into European (i.e. Christian) culture, and did so by making attendance mandatory. Children were taken from their families, forced to live away from their traditional cultures, and faced neglect and abuse within these institutions, all while many of their family members struggled to survive on reserves because of the trauma, poverty, and illness stemming from the effects of colonialism.
At the very same time, romanticized images of “noble” savages were seen on the silver screen, and sold as children’s toys and costumes. Today, Indigenous populations still face discrimination, at both the personal and structural level; violent pasts have created difficult presents, and many (if not all) of the same issues still exist today. Movements like #idlenomore3 and #No DAPL 4 are evidence of some of the larger political movements which are gaining ground to tackle these issues, but at the same time, racist representations of Indigenous folks are still found all around us. Maybe this is why it’s so hard for people to understand the issue with the term spirit animal; we have a very long history of normalizing this type of oppression.
They’re both interesting reads; I think I didn’t learn about the origin of the term or issues with using it until like... a year ago? But when I learn stuff I try to pass it on. Or, as Xkcd puts it,
you’re one of the lucky ten thousand today!
Edited by wisewillow on Aug 7th 2018 at 11:36:01 AM
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Metaphors aren’t immediately beyond criticism, though. For example, we generally don’t use the term gay as an insult anymore, nor sarcastically ask people if they’re retarded when mocking their stupidity. I dunno, the way I see it personally, it’s a tiny linguistic change that costs me nothing but shows consideration and respect to some of the most disenfranchised people in American history.
As a replacement, I like to use the term “kindred spirit” for people, or “it me” for other stuff.
Edited by wisewillow on Aug 7th 2018 at 12:25:28 PM

Donald Trump says rest of world must choose between trade with US or Iran
The EU has launched a "blocking statute", designed to allow companies within the bloc to sue the Trump administration, if they are adversely affected by US sanctions, and has encouraged member states to continue trading with Tehran.
This EU legislation should protect businesses in member states who do not wish to break off economic ties with Tehran despite the reinstatement of US sanctions which came into effect on Tuesday, Mr Burt told the BBC.
"If a company fears legal action taken against it and enforcement action taken against it by an entity in response to American sanctions then that company can be protected as far as EU legislation is concerned," added Mr Burt.
"The Iran sanctions have officially been cast. These are the most biting sanctions ever imposed, and in November they ratchet up to yet another level," the president tweeted on Tuesday.
"Anyone doing business with Iran will NOT be doing business with the United States. I am asking for WORLD PEACE, nothing less!"
EU officials, however, have said the US' demands do not apply beyond its borders.
Firms which decide to follow the Washington directive will need to seek permission from the European commission first, and a mechanism will allow EU companies whose business is affected by the US move to sue the Trump administration for damages in national courts of member states.