Old note of Queensland-induced rage. (Semi-interesting.)

(Note: The following was written literally months ago, and then just forgotten about. This is probably reflected in the fact that it contains more vitriol towards people who think living in “small towns” somehow automatically makes them virtuous or exemplary. They say you cannot go forward if you do not give what you are leaving behind proper consideration. So history might learn a lesson or two from what is in here.)

Offensive language. Real offensive language, I mean.

In the constant back and forth about the use of so-called “person first” language (that is, “person with autism” or the like), a dangerous gambit or concession emerges. The “person first” camp, with all of their smugness and self-entitled ignorance of the implications, like to tell us that it is up to what the individual prefers. This seems perfectly reasonable at first, in spite of how some of them attempt to use this as a platform from which to bully us into adopting it. But just like “person with blackness” or “person with Hebrew” or “person with Chineseness”, to cite just a few potential examples, are unacceptable and not a matter of preference, neither is “person with autism”. I do not care what you have to say for yourselves, “person first”ers. I could be the only autistic individual in the world who feels this way about your separationistic language. That would only mean I am right, and everyone else is wrong.

Revisiting the classics: A look at A Scanner Darkly

Okay, A Scanner Darkly (the film) is not that old that it really should be called a classic. But is one anyway. The novel on which the film is based is now thirty-five years old. The film turns six years old in July of this year, which should tell you something about the lasting dark appeal of the novel. Now, I will step up to the plate right here and admit that I have not read the novel. Unlike some assholes I can name, I did not rush out and buy an e-reader the second they were brought out because it is the hip, “noooooooow” thing to do. And unfortunately, controlling the flow of literature into a country like Arseholia is even easier than controlling the flow of unapproved films or music.