Garret Polk (masked)

@garretpolk@mastodon.gamedev.place
89 Followers
146 Following
2.3K Posts

Indie game developer/programmer.
Programmer on BAFTA/GDC award nominated ManifoldGarden .

Former Symantec/Norton.

Made Promeatheus, Costa con Carne (H3VR mods), and the game Wondee.

Twitter@garretpolk
Pronounshe/him
YouTubehttps://www.youtube.com/@NunSuperior
Home pagehttp://www.garretpolk.com
Happy Explosion Day!

Yes, It Is Just Like The Nazis
Hey so remember Anne Frank? The Jewish young girl who hid in an attic and was killed by the Nazis? The emblematic person we think of when we think of victims of the Holocaust?

She did not die in a gas chamber or in a death camp. She died in a temporary' detention center for the mass deportations which preceded the death camps.
She was in that camp because a patriotic neighbor ratted her out to the German deportation force. She died, not of a bullet to the back of the head or choking on gas, but of typhus. She contracted typhus because the Nazis couldn't realistically deport people at the rate they wanted to, because before the death camps their infrastructure couldn't handle the sudden influx of ethnic minorities they had decided to imprison, and because they didn't care about the consequences of that so their deportation detention centers were unhygienic and prisoners were underfed and overcrowded.

And she was picked up by the deportation force not because she was an illegal citizen but because, just like the US is doing with asylum seekers, she was part of a formerly recognized class of citizens who were legally redefined to lack citizenship by a new administration.

Anne Frank is exactly like the children who have already died in the United State's detention camps. Exactly. Down to the very last detail. There. Is. Not. A.
Single. Difference.

So unless you want to fucking tell me that Anne goddamn Frank was not a victim of the Holocaust, y'all can shut the fuck up with that "stop making concentration camp comparisons, you're diminishing the suffering of the Holocaust" bullshit.

Its also worth noting that her family TRIED to flee to the US and was denied. She was in that camp partly because the US refused to let her refugee family immigrate.

Are you a boy or a girl?
I'm nonbinary.

Yeah, but what were you born as?
A baby.

No, I mean what is your sex?
Awesome.

FFS! Do you have a penis or a vagina??
I've had my share of both.

OMFG!! WHAT IS IN YOUR PANTS??
A frankly disturbing number of lockpicks.

Things are tough, so here's a whole bunch of positive news.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgAhEq1tuls

#PositiveLeftistNews

Panama General Strike vs. Neoliberalism & U.S. Imperialism! Positive Leftist News Roundup, June 2025

YouTube

The billions and billions of dollars this bill pumps into ICE far exceed any conceivable legitimate need the agency could have, even if you agree with its mission.

This bill takes the same masked, anonymous gunmen who have been kidnapping people off the streets and gives them a budget the size of a military.

This is not about honoring the law. This is not even about immigrants.

This is about creating a police state.

I see no other way to read these numbers.
https://mastodon.world/@MJmusicinears/114764606160963355

MJ Muse (@MJmusicinears@mastodon.world)

Attached: 1 image "If the Nazi death party reconciliation bill passes, Gestapo ICE gets funding through FY2029: - $45 billion for detention, on top of the current annual budget of $3.4 billion - $14.4 billion for transportation & removal, on top of the current annual budget of $750 million - $8 billion for hiring/retention - Billions more. Read what’s in the #BigUglyBill here. We try & have an updated analysis on Mon https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/house-reconciliation-bill-immigration-border-security Source: Aaron Reichlin Melnick, American Immigration Council

Mastodon

Well, there's some good news.

Four years after her passing ,the Nichelle Nichols Space Camp for girls 14-18 will open next year in Huntsville, Alabama.

Lt. Uhura will live on to inspire a new generation of space explorers.

Representation matters.

https://people.com/late-star-trek-actress-nichelle-nichols-honored-with-space-camp-for-girls-exclusive-11762359

Nichelle Nichols Space Camp for Teen Girls to Open in 2026, Honoring Late 'Star Trek' Icon's Legacy (Exclusive)

A space camp for girls, named for the late 'Star Trek' actress Nichelle Nichols, is launching in January 2026. Friends of the actress speak to PEOPLE about the impact the camp will have on women in STEM.

People.com
Hungary banned Pride marches. This is the response βœŠπŸ³οΈβ€πŸŒˆ

Hungary has banned anything that β€œpromotes homosexuality,” which essentially means Pride. Today over 500,000 people in Budapest turned up for a Pride march and told the government to: 'Fuck off!'.

#Pride2025 #Hungary #Budapest

Indian court rules a transgender woman is a woman

Activists across the country celebrated landmark decision

Washington Blade: LGBTQ News, Politics, LGBTQ Rights, Gay News

So the UK Met Office is inviting people to suggest up to 5 names for storms. And apparently lots of people have been suggesting "Storm Bigoil", along with BP, Equinor, Exxon & Shell... This is obviously appalling & definitely not to be emulated via this link:

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/forms/name-our-storms-call-for-names

Γ—

Hungary has banned anything that β€œpromotes homosexuality,” which essentially means Pride. Today over 500,000 people in Budapest turned up for a Pride march and told the government to: 'Fuck off!'.

#Pride2025 #Hungary #Budapest

@bullivant The people, united, can never be defeated. Happy Pride, Budapest! 🌈

@bullivant police said 40.000 ( ridiculously low). Organizers said 200.000. So, somewhere in between those, but much closer to the latter.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c23g02dl1z8o.amp

Budapest Pride draws huge crowds in defiance of Orban legal threats

Tens of thousands have gathered for the LGBTQ march in Hungary's capital, despite a police ban and warning from PM Viktor Orban.

@bullivant That’s how it works πŸ‘
@bullivant
Politicians joined from various European countries to pressure the government to not overreact. Great to see this, and without violence!
Happy Pride to all in Budapest & Hungary πŸ³οΈβ€πŸŒˆ

@bullivant

And very soon I hope!

@bullivant LOVE ❀️ IT 
@bullivant always suspected that Hungary was the most gay country within the EU. 😘
@bullivant that’s amazing good for them.

@bullivant

Hey Mr Orban… a few people want to have a chat!!

@bullivant that's a huge festival, in a country of less than 10 million.
@Flittermouse I 'think' that quite a few people came from neighbouring countries to attend. Not sure of the numbers, though.

@bullivant
To paraphrase Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young;

Bt the time we reached the Pride March,
We were half a million strong.
And everywhere was a song,
And a celebration...

@HMLivy @bullivant Love it! But I think Joni wrote it…
@Tattered @bullivant
I never knew that. Thanks. Always good to learn new things.
@HMLivy Very good. πŸ‘
@bullivant was it actually over 500k? that's way higher than other estimations i've seen but it's big if true
@lily That's the figure I saw. But, of course, estimating the size of crowds that size if fraught with difficulties.
@lily It looks like 500,000 easily. A nicely intimidating turnout. Will Orban be impressed?He should be. @bullivant
@Tooden @bullivant i'm pretty sure the organisers said 200k during the speeches but that might not be entirely accurate either
so who knows
@lily @Tooden Would the organisers have had a good idea of the numbers on the spot? But happy to be corrected.
@bullivant really stress testing the load limit on that bridge!!
@bullivant Homosexuality will exist whether they like it or not. It's not like they are fucking out in the streets, so who gives a shit what they are doing in their own bedroom. Just let them be. It's really not a difficult concept.

@rejzor @bullivant
But they might hug in public, or even... kiss! /s

At a railway or bus station, there is nothing so wonderful as seeing a couple joyfully reuniting, embracing and kissing the one they love after an absence. When it is a same sex couple, it is delightful to know that one is in a country where they feel safe & secure enough to express that love in public. #Confelicity

@bullivant
This is totally impressive

@bullivant how does one even "promote homosexuality"?
It's part of the naturally occuring world.

That's like trying to stop the promotion of sunlight. it just falls from the sky. trying to stop it sounds like a battle already lost when picked

@saxnot @bullivant If what fascists are saying doesn't seem to make sense then it doesn't make sense.
@soop @saxnot @bullivant Fachos are never reliable sources. If one told me it was raining I'd check for myself.
@bullivant Thats awesome to see!  

I do wonder where that 500.000 is coming from. Reports I just read said the organizers said it were about 200.000
@stefan I picked it up on social media. Happy to be corrected if other estimates are lower (Hungarian government/police, etc, not included). Whatever, it was a huge number in the face of threats and intimidation by Orban's cronies and thugs.
@bullivant its atleast the number I got out of some german media one being left media while the other is state financed media. Both say its about 200.000 according to the organizers of pride.

So it should be more true than that 500.000. I mean its from the organizers so there might be some error of being a bit more rather than smaller (I think?)

Seems to be a trustworthy number
@stefan Fair enough Stefan.
@bullivant more of these please πŸ₯ΊβœŒπŸ»πŸ™ŒπŸ»πŸ³οΈβ€πŸŒˆπŸ³οΈβ€βš§οΈ

@bullivant
Wooden it be weird if someone somewhere they banned homo sapiens?

#gravyBait