!g*mers !anime !coomers?

49,500円, ~320$

#ポケモンセンター から
等身大サーナイトのぬいぐるみが登場‼️🌟
◦⊹⋯⋯⋯⊹◦◦⊹⋯⋯⋯⊹◦#サーナイト と一緒に暮らせば
いつか心が通い合うかも……☺️https://t.co/Bo788YVsDb pic.twitter.com/vezIw4FxnW

— 【公式】ポケモン情報局 (@poke_times) January 31, 2025

https://www.pokemoncenter-online.com/?p_cd=4521329424057&lp=poketimestw

!jidf

🚨JUST IN: Pentagon reports Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) collided with the bulk carrier Besiktas-M off the coast of Egypt ⚠️

What is going on? pic.twitter.com/F2nTWDhaQJ

— Matt Wallace (@MattWallace888) February 13, 2025

Subs hitting underwater mountains, carriers hitting cargo ships at this rate entire chink buildup will be pointless

The r here stands for r-slurred btw

hikaru nakamura, ego personified, cried yesterday about how he's getting old n shit because he repeatedly choked under pressure

https://old.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/1imfnqr/hikarus_post_match_interview_honestly_its_sad_to/

he failed again today lmao. btw his op, the world champ gukesh is yet to win a match HAH

the hyped semifinal match, caruana v sindarov ended in a draw. wunderkind sindy came close to take another W shit but settled for a draw. the documentary stocks are all time high

https://www.chess.com/events/2025-freestyle-chess-grand-slam-weissenhaus-ko/02-01/Caruana_Fabiano-Sindarov_Javokhir

the local nazi, vicent, continues to take dump in people's breakfast and defeated magnus carlsen in SF2, with the later left shaken & traumatized. still no one is taking vincent seriously as the favourite and magnus will play with white tomorrow so it maybe true. vincent may win the tournament in flesh but still people will call him "that guy"

https://www.chess.com/events/2025-freestyle-chess-grand-slam-weissenhaus-ko/02-01/Keymer_Vincent-Carlsen_Magnus

rest of the minor matches can go frick themselves

absolutely foul

bongs in the comments seething lol

https://old.reddit.com/r/shittyfoodporn/comments/1ifzctm/british_chinese_food/makl354/?context=8

!goyslopenjoyers thots?

traverse390 asks:

Are we at risk of censorship of LGBTQ+/adult material re: U.S. 2025 federal policies?

The short answer to your question is yes. Of course, there is a risk of increased censorship of LGBQT+ and "adult material" in 2025 and beyond for those of you living in the United States.

The worrying trend of banning books in schools and public libraries across the United States will worsen before it gets better. The Comic Book Journal reported in September that:

"The American Library Association's Office of Intellectual Freedom, which tracks book challenges and bans around the U.S., recorded that 378 different graphic novels were threatened with bans or challenges in 2023, with a total of 1,020 total censorship attempts. In the last three years, the numbers have seen a huge jump – 2023's total censorship attempts are twenty times what they were just three years ago in 2020."

In March last year, The Guardian reported on the recent American Libraries Association report covering all of 2023's known book bans. Amongst other things, the report detailed "Seventeen states [that] saw attempts to ban more than 100 books: Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin."

Why is the banning of books so prevalent across American public schools and libraries?

Sadly! The banning of books and the occasional outright burning of them has been a regular occurrence throughout American history. Despite its relatively young age as a country, the USA has been banning books pretty much from the get-go. Think about it this way. The first white Europeans arrived in the country and settled in Jamestown, Virginia in 1607 and these same "Founders" banned their first book in 1637.

The first book ever to be banned in the United States was New English Canaan by Thomas Morton, who established an early colony in Massachusetts where settlers and native people co-existed fairly harmoniously. Morton espoused a more pragmatic approach to colonization with the land's original inhabitants. This was seen as a threat by the Puritan settlers, and Morton was subsequently twice exiled back to England, where he wrote New English Canaan. He was not a white savior of any kind. He was a fur trader and businessman, and most of the book describes the "opportunities" the New World presented to entrepreneurial readers. Nonetheless, his pragmatic views on peaceful co-existence with native people were seen as a threat to the fabric of the new society the Puritans were attempting to build, and he was punished for it.

It is the fear that certain types of ideas, practices, and beliefs can "undermine" the cultural fabric of America that drives book bans. So! It comes as no surprise that graphic novels that depict "non-traditional" romantic and erotic relationships and/or characters who are non-conformist to the hetero-dominant culture will be targeted by censorious organizations and individuals.

While I wish to focus specifically on the type of material that matters to you in your question, I would like to remind everyone that it isn't just LGBTQ+ material that is being banned. Far from it…

The most recent high-profile case of statewide book banning, including comics and manga, happened last year in Tennessee when the state legislature brought in the HB843 mandate. Books in school libraries must be suitable for the age and maturity levels of the students. Some of the types of content deemed inappropriate for school-age children include any type of nudity, "descriptions or depictions of sexual excitement," excessive violence, and of course, LGBTQ-related subjects.

ANN reported on the mandate at the time that includes the first eight volumes of Assassination Classroom, Jujutsu Kaisen, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, My Hero Academia: Vigilantes (volumes 1 and 3), all of Attack on Titan, and Akira, which really pisses me off. Rumiko Takahashi's Inuyasha is also on the banned books list in Tennessee, which is a perennial favorite of many younger readers. It contains some sexually suggestive moments, and some of the key characters, including the protagonist, possess an element of what one could argue is gender fluidity, but it is incredibly subtle, and I am genuinely surprised it made it onto this list.

The depiction of LGBTQ characters in manga is not uncommon, and so you have every right to worry about whether more works could be banned in the future. Manga like Sailor Moon, Claudine, Hunter X Hunter, and Rose of Versailles vary in their depictions of same-s*x couples and/or openly trans characters. Some depictions are more overt, others are more subtle, coded even. Some are serious and core to the story. Other characters provide light relief. Nonetheless! They exist and they are featured in some of the most popular and important works of the past forty years, which I find surprising because Japan is also a socially conservative country. For these works and for these characters to exist, and be known and popular with readers is remarkable and a testament to the fact that the majority don't have major issues with depictions of "alternative lifestyles" in literature, contrary to what much of the media and some politicians tell us.

ScreenRant reported in November that Richmond County School District in North Carolina recently banned (pending a review) Unico: Awakening Volume 1, the new reimaging of Osama Tezuka's classic manga by Samuel Sattin and illustrator, Gurihiru following a complaint from a "concerned parent." The parent's six-year-old son purchased a copy of the manga at a local Scholastic Book Fair, and she was "shocked to discover depictions of animal cruelty (I hope they never read Tezuka's Buddha Volume 1. That poor bunny!) and gun violence".

The book ban movement in the USA over recent years has most definitely grown, and as The Guardian reports it is "particularly prevalent in Republican-led states, as religious-political activism gains strength," but the canceling, boycotting, and banning of pop culture in your country is something that unfortunately is a "both sides" issue, and it cuts to the bone of your First Amendment rights. The more organized book banners know this, and while many of us may wonder whether your federal law-makers might seek to increase the scope of these bans, it isn't necessary to achieve the ultimate goal of reducing access to what they may consider to be "dangerous" and/or "unsuitable" reading material for children and young adults. The market will ultimately decide what reading material you can have access to, and unfortunately, book banners know this.

The Unico manga is a case in point. School libraries never used to hold graphic novels or manga in them. Public libraries barely did either. Unico is a flagship manga title for Scholastic's Graphix imprint, which is dedicated to publishing creator-owned graphic novels for early, middle-grade, and young adult readers. Graphix launched in 2005 with Jeff Smith's epic series, BONE #1: Out From Boneville. This imprint came about in part because of the huge shift in boy's reading habits starting in the late 90s. This is when I, as a 15-year-old, first discovered "edgier" books like Alan Moore's V for Vendetta and The Killing Joke in my local library.

This recent ban, "pending review," of Unico is noteworthy because Scholastic is the world's largest publisher and distributor of children's books and a major supplier of books to school libraries. They have a better understanding of what is and isn't acceptable when it comes to age-appropriate literature for school-age children than almost any other publisher. Censorship is a slippery slope, and what one parent may find unacceptable for their six-year-old to read is not necessarily the same as another parent who also monitors what content their kids are consuming. I wanted to use Unico as an example of censorship that isn't driven by an organization, and which doesn't seem politically or religiously motivated.

America's moral majority has been at war with comics as a corrupting influence since the early 1950s and what is now commonly referred to as the "Moral Panic," which was a reaction by the press, religious groups, and politicians against what many considered to be the gradual decline in standards of decency and morality in the media and the arts. Especially film-making and comic books. This moral panic also coincided with a rise in reporting around juvenile delinquency. Senate hearings were held, and miles of column inches were printed, resulting in the voluntary implementation of the Comics Code Authority, which was a self-policing and self-censoring program committed to by all of the major comics magazine publishers at the time. Unbelievably, "The Code" continued well into the 2000s with the final holdouts, DC and Bongo Comics, discontinuing their carrying of the unmistakable CCA badge on every comic cover they printed.

What concerns me is that with your country's rightwards political momentum when it comes to issues of identity and culture, alongside its anti-globalization economic policies, increasing downward pressure on manga and comics publishing will impact readers well beyond the USA's borders. If America sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold. Less than 21% of comics, manga, and graphic novels are currently printed within the USA. If aggressive tariffs are brought in against the majority of America's major international trading partners, including China, where 24% of domestic publishers print their books, the price of the average tankoban is likely to increase considerably. This will mean lower print sales. Combine this with potentially more states banning more manga, and it isn't out of the question that some books may be discontinued and others not printed at all. And sorry, Canadians, Aussies, and Brits, but if fewer books are published in the USA, that means fewer titles for you, too.

I abhor the idea that a book can be dangerous, and I find it ridiculous to believe that a comic or a book can fundamentally change the reader's sexual or gender identity. I've read a lot of books in my lifetime, and none of them caused me to become a straight, cis-hetero male. I am just one, and that identity has, in all likelihood, influenced what types of comics, books, novels, etc. I like to read, as well as what types of movies, series, animation, etc. I like to watch the types of video games I like to play. I feel seen all day long by the culture I inhabit. Erasing what little pop culture is available that recognizes those of us who are not part of "the norm" seems unnecessarily cruel to me.

Based on the strength of some of the aforementioned LGBTQ-friendly manga brands, it could be commercially damaging for some of the biggest names in manga publishing, too. I believe that a change is coming, and it may well impact the print publishing of manga and comics in a significant way. With English-language digital manga and comic sales barely representing 20% of all graphic novel sales currently, perhaps these changes will signal a significant increase in digital manga sales.

References:

Deb Aoki report re: impact of tariffs on manga imports… "In The Comics Journal, Gina Gagliano explains how new tariffs will likely affect comics/manga publishing in 2025 (spoiler: it's not good for readers or publishers)."

"What will potential tariffs mean for comic publishers in 2025? "We'll likely have less customers." - The Comics Journal

"The state of comics and censorship during Banned Books Week" - The Comics Journal, September 2024 [Source: The Comic Book Journal "The state of comics and censorship during Banned Books Week", Gina Gagliana, September 23, 2024

"Books bans in US schools and libraries surged to record highs in 2023 - Though the list is broad, many of the 4,240 books were targeted because they related to issues of LGBTQ+ communities or race " - The Guardian, March 14, 2024

Choice quotes from the forums:

Well, censorship of adult or controversial content is already happening.Whether it's Japan doing this to itself or due to social changes around the world.

This is absolutely drop dead terrifying.

The focus on library bans seems geared toward the all-ages LGBTQ+ side of the question, but don't forget that the same forces are pushing for blanket criminalization of pornography. There are already multiple states that companies releasing adult manga/anime won't ship to.

Mod note: don't conflate libertarianism with LGBT. This is your only warning.

Also, I mentioned that if the book ban goes beyond anime/manga, is that going to escalate to targeting Asian-American/AAPI communities. I asked because a few days ago, I read an article from KQED (a local PBS in San Francisco) about the local Japanese-American communities are going to protect undocumented immigrants and come to the defense of the larger immigrants communities due to their experience of the Japanese internment during WWII. So that is my biggest worries as a anime/manga fan, if Japanese-Americans are building a big resistance toward Trump's treatment to the immigrant communities and the wider AAPI communities, is this going to lead to Trump and MAGA attacking not only the Japanese-American communities, will the MAGA/Trumper dare go after anime/manga and the fandom as an act of retaliation, is that going to lead to more manga ban in the school and public libraries? Is that going to lead to the FCC going after companies like Crunchyroll, Netflix, and other streaming companies that stream and license anime, what about manga publishers like Viz Media, Kodansha USA, etc...

The only thing really saving us from censorship and the other crazy things that these Christo-fascists want to do are the judges and courts blocking the orders and lawsuits being made and present right now which will only increase as time goes on at this pace and will be an astronomical amount.

literally not a single judge will defend queer cartoon kiddie porn sweetie

As a straight person, I feel like the opposite has been in effect on Reddit for a few years now. Unless you're towing water for Left leaning causes, you'll get downmarseyd or your comment will be deleted by a mod. If platforms would stop censoring opposing viewpoints, that would be great. This applies to both Left (Reddit) and Right (X) dominated platforms.

chud whining about chuds being censored on reddit in unrelated topic award

https://old.reddit.com/r/redscarepod/comments/1chy8zm/kendrick_lamar_is_beyonc%C3%A9_for_str8_white_men/

https://old.reddit.com/r/redscarepod/comments/1h9tyjz/the_redditor_seethe_over_the_kendrick_lamar_post/

When we work as partners and allies,
Canada and the United States can achieve so much together. Thank you @SenTimKaine for an excellent discussion. pic.twitter.com/LOAprrQHKP

— Mélanie Joly (@melaniejoly) January 31, 2025

Top Drama

Relative Drama (takes into account the size of the subreddit)

autodrama: returning jobs to dramneurodivergents. Ping HeyMoon if there are any problems or you have a suggestion

This story broke within the last few hours. This appears to be the largest thread so far on Reddit.

Prediction: the story gets largely buried. Search 'title:ncaa' on Reddit over the next 24 hours if you care to I guess.

also https://archive.is/7gmHU

Not copypasting the whole article, but nice fleet dorks:

Almost as soon as the Caleb entered the Pillar Point Harbor in the summer 2017, its crew ran into trouble, leading to the San Mateo County Harbor District filing a lawsuit against Danielson and Powell. The first time the U.S. Coast Guard boarded the tugboat for an inspection, the agency warned Danielson about the dangers of anchoring the dilapidated vessel, which carried 3,000 gallons of diesel fuel.

Danielson signed papers acknowledging her obligations under the Clean Water Act. But neighbors had already lodged complaints about the Caleb being docked illegally and storing 500 gallons of oily bilge water, court records show.

The Coast Guard called the boat "an imminent threat to the public health" and ordered the owners to finalize a mitigation plan. Rough seas in winter 2017 sent the tug into other anchored vessels, damaging them, the lawsuit stated.

By December 2017, Danielson had registered two more boats at Pillar Point Harbor, including the Islander that she and LaSota once shared and a boat called the Letoile de Mer. Over the next year, the vessels all faced anchor problems, and other harbor tenants raised concerns that the massive tug might ram them, harbor officials said.

A former employee at the harbor, who asked to remain anonymous out of concerns for his safety, described the vessel as less than seaworthy and its "shabby" crew as a nuisance.

"Feral humans we called them," the employee said. "They're just living, trying to get away with whatever they can under the wire. Most harbors have them, harbor rats that are just living the alternative lifestyle."

When the employee boarded the vessel to inspect it, he said the living quarters were a "mess." He recalled seeing s*x toys and lingerie in "plain view" in one of the bunkrooms. "It was filthy," he said. "They weren't hiding anything, that's for sure."

Back at Pillar Point, the Caleb's troubles mounted. In 2021, San Mateo County authorities determined the boat was no longer seaworthy and ordered the owners to remove it. No owner responded and its anchor continued to drag. Then in early 2022, winter storms tossed the boat around the harbor, endangering other vessels. No one responded to radio calls to the Caleb, the district alleged in a lawsuit.

The night of March 12, 2022, Danielson and her crew moved the Caleb to the harbor's work dock, but staff explained the boat was too large to be there, harbor officials said. "Danielson and crew got into a vehicle and drove off and have not been seen at (Pillar Point Harbor) or near the Caleb since," the harbor district's lawsuit stated.

The Caleb had been abandoned. The harbor district, records show, wound up paying a marine salvage company to remove hazardous materials from the boat and anchor it away from the dock.

A few months later, in August 2022, LaSota faked her own death.

While Danielson and LaSota haven't been seen at the harbor in three years, their legacy — a 345-ton heap of metal waste — rests near the community of Princeton-by-the-Sea and the cliffs of Mavericks Beach.

Harbor District General Manager Jim Pruett said the price tag for removing the ship would be about $2 million. It's a big ask for an agency with an annual budget of $13 million, Pruett said, so he's applying for grants to shoulder the cost.

Trump launched air controller diversity program

"FAA Provides Aviation Careers to People with Disabilities," the agency announced on April 11, 2019. The pilot program, the announcement said, would "identify specific opportunities for people with targeted disabilities, empower them and facilitate their entry into a more diverse and inclusive workforce."

that program was launched during his first term.

!chuds DEI was the cause of the crash

!nonchuds but the DEI policies are Trump's fault

だしって…なんかホッとしないですか？
CV：市ノ瀬加那 @ichinose_1220#ひとりのよると赤緑 pic.twitter.com/G8IZ3I2dtM

— 【公式】東洋水産株式会社（マルちゃん） (@toyosuisan_jp) February 6, 2025