Has there ever been a supervillian called The Master of Sock-puppets or somesuch? If not, there should be.

Well, there was a villain on the Tick (animated version) where a big, dumb goon was wearing a puppet, and the puppet was the brains of the operation. I can't remember the characters' name, though.

"Read a BOOK!!!!"

I think maybe the ability to go out on the Internet (and radio and TV to a certain extent) and find support for your position, no matter how ignorant it is, has insulated people against facts and actual experts.

ignorance is bliss?

eta: in response to Allyson

Also, I see this more and more: "Everyone has a right to their opinion."

Yeah. The inability of people to agree on facts is really fucking this country up politically.

I think it's that you work at JPL, Allyson. You don't spend a lot of face time with the "Don't make me think!" crowd.

Apparently my straight FTM cousin doesn't tell his dates early on that he's trans. I have no idea how I'd deal. I think the whiplash of expectations would be a big deal--is it easier to come to terms with that up front, or to already fall for someone and then process it later?

Then again, I think he's a fairly religious Jew (and, obviously, black), so the whole dating thing is massively complicated.

Also I think the media (in least in this country) has gotten lax about trying to report actual facts, preferring to cover the debate instead.

Also I think the media (in least in this country) has gotten lax about trying to report actual facts, preferring to cover the debate instead.

Yeah, that's a definite problem. Especially when you have two sides to an issue, where one side is mostly right and the other side is insane.

Paul Krugman once wrote that if Republicans came out saying the world is flat and Democrats said it was round, the headlines would read: "Shape of the World: Two Opposing Views"

Also, I see this more and more: "Everyone has a right to their opinion."

Oh, that one! Grrrr.

I mean, can you imagine that census question? LGBTQI, for starters.

I find the LGBTQI (which also tends to include asexual, now) umbrella interesting because of the way it conflates sexuality (LGBQ and A for asexual) with gender (TI, and Q if you want to add genderqueer).

Someone on LiveJournal said that that abbreviation should have U added for "unsure," and then the letters can be rearranged to spell QUILTBAG. Which is AWESOME.

I don't like any of the labels.

I fall in love with, and have sex with, people - not organs.

Yes, but -- for the purposes of this discussion only, not sexuality in general -- we've been talking about people's sexualities, which are *not* based on their organs/genitals.

I totally get what you're saying, and it's the most sensible approach, IMO.

But I just wanted to clarify that, since we were talking about straight/bi/gay, those categories of sexuality aren't about genitals.