Category: Political

Maybe You’re An Arsehole

As I go through the old comics I have drawn over the years, sorting them, cleaning them up, getting them ready for public presentation, one thing becomes clear: I have, in the past, been an arsehole.

There’s no shying away from it, and I don’t have any excuses for it. It’s the ugly truth. I have been an arsehole.  I look back through my comics and I see that I have made jokes about self-harm. I have made jokes where “being gay” is the punchline. I have made jokes about “fake geek girls” — not ironically, but genuine gatekeeping bullshit.

(I have never made a rape joke. I am proud of that, I guess.)

These comics will not be seeing the light of day. I do not shy away from them and I do not disavow them. I am their author and I am responsible for them. But I am choosing voluntarily to censor myself and to not display them to the world.

Why do I do this?

I do this because I believe in improving myself. I believe in changing my behaviour as I learn new things. I believe in making others feel comfortable and welcome around me.

Here’s another thing I believe.

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An impassioned answer to the question that nobody was asking

Last week, Christina Sommers released a video as part of her series The Factual Feminist asking the question “Are video games sexist?” (A bizarre and inflammatory headline and not a question anybody has ever asked, but nevertheless). You can watch this video below.

Sommers’ video has seen overwhelming support from people who feel “social justice warriors” are taking over gaming, but she has also been labelled as a conservative and neocon by her critics. However, Sommers political leanings — and she’s a registered Democrat voter, for what it’s worth — are wholly irrelevant.

What is relevant is that the arguments she makes in her video are, despite the research cited, wide of the mark, ignorant, and largely irrelevant to current calls for better representation in gaming.

Continue reading An impassioned answer to the question that nobody was asking

Group of rich, white men quietly confident that nation’s most vulnerable can tighten their belts

Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey, who earns over $230,000 a year, has delivered his stunning vision overnight for an Australia in which everybody who isn’t staggeringly rich can “fuck off and die”.

“This is a budget full of tough decisions that will help get the country back on track, after Lame-bore totally ruined it, I guess,” said Hockey.

“When we say ‘tough’ decisions we mean ‘decisions that will affect those who are doing it tough’, of course,” Hockey added. “This is basically entirely driven by ideology. If you’re poor, just kill yourself now and save time.”

Continue reading Group of rich, white men quietly confident that nation’s most vulnerable can tighten their belts