The Dread Slender Gnome

https://spinster.xyz/users/Gnomeshatecheese

The more you push me, the less I'll give in.

"Correct, but obscure." (Feart, 2022 or thereabouts)

From an anonymous YouTube commenter:
"I never gave these nutters my consent to change my reality."

Ceterum censeo, Carthaginem esse delendam!

A recalcitrant, ill-tempered gremlin:
Gargoyle of Beelzebub:
And one with a shop: https://www.redbubble.com/people/stroppygnome/shop :

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gnomeshatecheese_at_spinster.xyz@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsx3wncdwud466whpg50tg3au7x7rxlddz0479cz885dg367v5su4cpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0dswx0u6h

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relay.damus.io

nos.lol

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Last Notes

2026-03-17 19:52:07 UTC

Ali Larijani, the de facto acting leader of Iran, is dead.
As is the head of the Basij guard.
Mullahs and their families, as well as IRGC members and their families, have been spotted arriving in e.g. Australia, as well as Canada. A steady trickle of rats abandoning the ship seems to be continuing.
Tomorrow or today is (can't really follow which in my current state) going to be the eve of the Persian new year, an ancient traditional festival of light and fire. The regime has forbidden the traditional celebrations, fireworks, fire crackers and bonfires, and are threatening to shoot anyone seen participating in the festivities in public. That's probably something to look out for tomorrow.

2026-03-17 15:07:02 UTC

Seems that an Iranian top dog was explaining to remaining IRGC brass that Mojtaba Khamenei survived the strike that hit his compound because he happened to step outside into the yard for some reason. And apparently that was "god's will".
If that's their god's will, then either a) their god is rather feeble since the only thing he can do is kind-a sort-a save one member of the ruling family and not, say, even half of the top commanders. Or b) this god in fact doesn't much like them. As in almost at all.

2026-03-12 18:15:29 UTC

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Who cares. I peel all my apples.
You're not obligated to chase diminishing health returns if you don't want to.
(Allergy reasons, peel is more likely to trigger symptoms than the rest of the apple, but I would peel even if it was just a dislike.)

2026-03-11 23:14:21 UTC

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I'm not sure whether I've come across the NY version.
I'm mostly familiar with the celtic one. I thought it was a very elegant solution the problem of English ditching the distinction between singular and plural second person pronoun.

2026-03-11 23:04:47 UTC

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"... while youse are in here skiving..." is the phrase I remember, spoken by a Scottish man.
Or is it "yous"? Not sure how one would spell it.

2026-03-11 23:02:36 UTC

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"youse"
That one's my favourite.

2026-03-11 23:01:08 UTC

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Finland is a bit different. There's been a push away from formal address and to informal address for a long while now. It has become the norm to use the informal familiar singular "you" to everyone. It's meant to be friendly and so on, but I'm not a fan.
I much prefer the formal plural "you", which then gets changed to informal by mutual agreement. But practically nobody does that anymore.
I'm getting to be old enough that I'll soon be able to say "I don't think we've agreed on informal speech" (there's a set phrase for that, more or less). It'll probably start working too once my hair goes white.

2025-09-13 21:20:36 UTC

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I've fairly recently had two people, independent of each other, ask if I'm "on the spectrum". I found both cases very odd in general, since I don't think I'm even close to abnormal in any real sense. And in specific I found them odd because of the reasoning, e.g. the second one was prompted by me bringing up I bump into things.
Surely there's just such a thing as being inattentive or clumsy? Since when did any such thing mean that one is "autistic"?
Sure, there probably has historically been some underdiagnosis. But it's very much starting to look to me that perfectly normal quirks are being folded into the concepts of "autism" and "neurodivergence".
(Obvious disclaimer, I have no idea to what extent this is also an issue among actual relevant professionals, and to what extent it's purely a lay issue. That remains to be determined.)

2025-09-12 20:08:37 UTC

Seems the word on the street is that Antifa have grabbed *Bella Ciao* as their own anthem.
Well fuck that.
I'm not letting those thugs ruin or steal a wonderful little song dripping of history.
I'm going to keep on playing it while also declaring Antifa to be a bunch of cowardly little shites without even a semblance of sense in their heads. I bet they don't even understand how profoundly sad the song is.
Fuck Antifa.
Here's a great song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CI3lhyNKfo

2025-09-07 11:11:36 UTC

Should a 6-year-old know how to cut their own plated food into pieces?
Question courtesy of a tiktok mum who was cutting up sausages for 6 and 8 year old kids.

2025-08-22 19:08:00 UTC

One of the things that really irks me about this whole Trans-shebang is how the supposed skeptic "community" has either completely fallen for an irrational magical belief, or fallen in line behind one for political reasons.
So any time I see anyone taking one or more of them down a peg over the matter, I'll happily devour the content.
Here's one example. Rebecca Watson, the self-proclaimed "skepchick", being brought to task over the matter. Haven't yet watched beyond the start, but I intend to finish the video while sipping my evening herbal tea.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jz5VZtWTvbY

2025-05-29 20:35:57 UTC

So tomorrow morning I'll be setting off.
I'll be offline for the most part. Hope everyone has a lovely first half of summer.
In the meantime,
I'm going home.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9nlU0q4eiw

2025-05-22 15:51:36 UTC

*NOTE: Youtubers are overall a questionably reliable source. Many have been known to distort, leave things out or otherwise colour the truth. So do take that into account when evaluating the following.*
I'm listening to a long video on penis enlargement surgeries and the issues associated with them. There seem to be distinct similarities between these procedures and the doctors willing to do them, and gender "affirming" procedures.
The most striking one is that some doctors have started to give the men who came to them a diagnosis of "penile dysmorphia", which, spoiler alert, isn't a real diagnosis.
But the reason behind this seems to be that the men who are given such a label, are apparently far more likely to agree to the procedure. It seems that being convinced they are suffering from a mental illness much like Body Dysmorphic Disorder, makes these men much more susceptible to the surgeon's sales pitch.
If this is the case, then it means that even the diagnosis of "gender dysphoria" or "sex dysphoria" in itself, even with conservative treatments, may in fact predispose the patient to think more favourably of surgery.
So if what this youtuber says is a known effect in men looking at genital surgery for cosmetic reasons, gender medicine really needs to be re-evaluated also in this respect.
Penis surgeries have been around apparently since the 70s, and like genderist surgeries, have all kinds of complications. The motives for going for these treatments in general also seem to be oddly muddled. It seems to me that the genderist surgeries are really a continuation of this sort of cosmetic surgery.
(Link to the video in a comment, I don't imagine many are particularly interested in spending 47min of their lives on this sort of morbid curiousity.)

2025-05-15 20:09:09 UTC

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He's already hugely mired in Ukraine.
He'd be a fool to divert his military forces now.
Which doesn't mean he won't try more unconventional means.
Estonia will want to keep a close eye on its undersea cables, at the very least.

2025-05-04 18:20:58 UTC

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> A female officer from Northumbria Police described the NPCC position as “keep calm and carry on – we hate this ruling and are looking at options to circumvent it.”
I'm sorry but...
Isn't the police meant to be part of the same branch as the judicial system? As in they one that's supposed to enforce the law?
It's one thing to refuse an order one considers unlawful.
But a lower part of the justice branch looking to "circumvent" the very top of the branch?
Since when has that even been *a thing*?

2025-04-16 07:00:37 UTC

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I never said I would be a badass swordfighter! 🤣
Just that I'd have a lot of fun doing it!

2025-04-15 21:54:35 UTC

One of the things I'd really, really like to do is historical swordmanship.
But unfortunately there's nothing in my area for that. The drawbacks of living in the backwoods.
Not only do I like historical stuff in general and swords in particular, it would be a really fun way to do upper body training.
Alas, it doesn't seem it's going to be feasible while I live here. Sad face.

2025-04-15 20:11:28 UTC

Sydney Watson on what's going on with the whole OF thing. And I agree with her video title.
Too Horrible Didn't Watch: OF is speedrunning the shift from pin-ups and regular porn to hardcore the-worse-the-better gonzo.
She has a follow-up on the two women who have become big names on OF lately, due to their apparent competition to do the most outrageous thing ever.
Of these two, I think Bonnie Blue is genuinely creepy. There's something unsettling about her. Watson uses the word "sociopathic" in the second video, and I'd say I'm getting the same vibe.
About 30min.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utKxrWzNsXA

2025-04-14 21:02:06 UTC

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> When I contacted my bank they refused to give me any information beyond the fact they were following government orders, and they gave me a number and name to contact.
I read this to mean that the person she was supposed to contact was from outside the bank.
But it could mean either.
However, she later says she kept trying and in the end called a general number, in which she was stonewalled. She writes:
> “What exactly is your job—what is it you are being paid to do with the tax dollars of Canadians.” She explained her job was to refer people who called to the appropriate departments, numbers, and individuals.
I took this to mean she wasn't speaking to a bank employee, but a government one. Also, after that passage, she says she has had no information "from the government".
It's not explicit, but based on the above, my impression was that she was attempting to get information from both the government and the bank, and wasn't getting anywhere with the government, while the bank was refusing to give information in writing.

2025-04-13 08:30:42 UTC

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Had to edit because I'm clearly tired and my logic was not logicing.
I'm most fascinated by the second reason, that an unstable mind will, because of its unstability, be attracted to ideas and ideologies that rely on detachment from reality.
I also think in the case of trans, it's the least talked about, and deserves more attention.
But people in both other groups are personally invested in shutting down any discussion of this one, because to admit its existence is jarring the same way as being told he's an AGP is jarring to an AGP. It undermines the very thing they're trying to accomplish.

2025-04-07 07:53:08 UTC

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I was just telling the Spouse the other day that if I were living alone now (and wasn't skint) I would most likely get myself two kitchen appliances: a rice cooker and an air fryer. But an air fryer/toaster oven combo would possibly be even better.

2025-01-28 09:56:58 UTC

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> It's a reaction to the other side. The left reacts a lot to what the other side does
Which is, really, the only thing I was wondering about.
So it is unthinking reactiveness in your opinion.
(And as for the "in and out" thing, well that's certainly not helped by leaving the gang members to roam free. The other alternative is filling the prisons with them (and then you'd have to revamp the prison system to such that it doesn't actually foster gangs). This is essentially a "criminals are always ahead of the cops" argument. BUT this was not the point of my post so I'm not going to go on further about this. )

2025-01-28 09:34:54 UTC

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Well, that may all be very true and completely accurate, but it really has little to do with my question.
I wasn't thinking about the actual practical and political issues involved in deporting criminals (though I do think that should be done, by and large).
I was specifically thinking about that particular contingent on the far left who oppose the deportations of violent gang-members and other violent criminals. And I was wondering what kind of logic would bring one to that conclusion.
So actually, your last sentence,
> The far left is just doing performance art, the way they always do, to Fight The Man.
is the part of your post most relevant to my issue here.

2024-12-02 21:02:57 UTC

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If we're talking national languages, leaving out the tiny surviving relatives of English, I would actually say Dutch.
Dutch is kind of the bastard child of English, Swedish and German, which is easy to see in the written form if you know those three languages. It has a few sounds that'll be tricky, but not nearly as many as, say, Finnish.
Second option, I'd say Swedish. Still close enough for it to be of help, and has a simpler structure than German.
Both have grammatical gender though, which English mercifully has forgotten about, so your second language learner would have to wrap their head around that.

2024-12-02 19:24:42 UTC

@FeartnTired
As it happens, I was just thinking about German, and languages in general.
This video is actually a pretty good illustration of how different grammars approach things differently. Now I'm sure he's hamming it up and exaggerating here and there, but the point still stands. When I first learned English, I had to get over exactly this sort of issues between Finnish and English. One example being that in English one says "it is raining", with a pronoun, but Finnish can do verbs without a pronoun, so we would just say "rains".
That's because "suomessa ei ole passiivimuodossa ylimääräisiä sanoja", or "in Finnish no is in passive form extra words".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50jkO2s4Sp0

2024-08-29 19:13:42 UTC

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Yep. See the insanely long post below...
Fish can be a bit expensive in shops, especially the wild caught stuff, but a lot of people fish themselves or know someone who does, so that makes it more easily available.
Fun fact: fishing with a rod, floater and a hook is these days free-for-all in Finland. As long as your fishing rod doesn't have a reel, you don't need any permits or fees for fishing.
Berries are sold at markets and those who don't pick themselves, often buy crate or few in the season, and freeze them for the winter. But a lot of people still go out and pick their own wild berries.

2024-08-29 18:25:10 UTC

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Neither of us felt like cooking so I had a tub of mozzarella balls with balsamic glaze, salt and pepper, along with some rye cream crackers.
But the mozzarella had to be eaten, lest it go old, so someone had to sacrifice for the good cause.
(It was delicious.)

2024-08-24 10:55:03 UTC

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If you set up a premise, where "god told me to do it" means "the person looked wrong", then yes, it would be a reasonable conclusion. Or even if your premise is something a lot more vague, like "sincere belief that god told them to does not exist as a murder motive".
It's not reasonable if you're looking at it from outside of the premise, but if you first adopt that premise and then operate within it, it is internally consistent.
It's still stupid and insane, of course. But it's internally consistent.

2024-08-24 10:27:56 UTC

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I think by saying that the concept of "sex" is not a biological one, he is in fact saying that Grover's belief of Tickle being male, is irrelevant. He was stating that in law, "sex" means something that is not tied to biology, and therefore when considering whether one is allowed to discriminate based on "sex", one can only take into account that non-biological definition. If this is where you start, Grover's argument becomes almost a non-starter.
His comments are consistent IF, and only if, you adopt the premise that "sex" is in fact not a matter of biology. And he clearly (in my opinion) did adopt that premise, and didn't even consider in his opinion that one might reasonably treat "sex" as a biological concept.
And THAT is the problem. That "sex" is treated in law as something other than it actually is, and that allows for all kinds of insane, yet consistent, outcomes.

2024-08-23 10:50:00 UTC

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He's not making things up *there*, to be exact. He had already appealed to case law, which has treated the concept of "sex" as being this or that thing, depending on which way the wind blows, and concluded that in law, the concept of "sex" is not a matter of biology. Ergo, it must be based on social and psychological matters, in addition to or even indstead of physiology. If that's your premise, then it follows that whatever Grover's ban of tickle was based on, it could not have been based on biological sex. And since Grover banned him on the basis of a photograph, therefore she must've banned him based on his appearance.
It is, as I said, internally consistent. It's just that the basic premise is nutty. And the nutty premise can exist because courts and legislation have been so inconsistent in their use and definitions of what the word "sex" means in law.

2024-08-21 20:39:16 UTC

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That's a fair point too.
I'm honestly not too sure which outcome to wish in this case.

2024-08-21 20:37:37 UTC

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That sucks. Especially since sport makes such a big difference when it comes to quality of life.
But I have a back condition which basically forces me to prioritise sport, lest I get continuous pains. It's one of those things when not having an option is a good thing in the end.

2024-08-21 20:34:30 UTC

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I'm finding a nice time slot in the morning for exercise, before work. It has an added benefit of burning up my excess nervous energy, so I can focus on work a lot better. But this is largely because I have the luxury of setting my own hours.
Injuries are a bitch. I've had two joint injuries and one muscle injury on my left leg, and getting them back to pain free was a massive chore. I do believe it can be done though, with enough mobility and muscle exercises.