2025-11-29 03:19:00
... the person had added a disclaimer about not being a medical professional ...
Where is the personal responsibility in the USA?
(I have a loosely related rant about leftists failing on this front and will put this at the end)
If I read a blog here or elsewhere... regardless of what the writer is saying or even if they openly encourage readers to apply their advice...
It is MY CHOICE.
Why is it any different than if I watched someone across the road doing something and tried it for myself? Again I made the choice to watch, I made the decision to try it, I took the action to do it.
So, I think the issue comes up when people speak authoritatively about any topic, and the disclaimer about "not being a medical professional" is how the speaker takes responsibility for what they're communicating.
It is downright irresponsible to act like you know what is right for other people and speak authoritatively on it if you're speaking from your own personal experience.
That being said, readers also should take some responsibility too, and we should be thinking critically and leading with some skepticism, at least when it comes to randos on the internet. Personally, if I see some medical advice online, I'll ask my doctor about it during our next visit. I think this is good.
And the speaker's disclaimer is NOT proof that I'm gullible or don't take responsibility for my actions. It is proof that the speaker takes responsibility for their position. You do have a responsibility to be transparent and honest, especially if thousands, or sometimes millions of people will hear the shit you say.
Why is it different than if I was in a restaurant and I overheard some people talking about doing something in a certain way and I tried it for myself?
Because people online do often speak authoritatively about their experience and prescribe that experience for others to try. Over-hearing someone in a restaurant is decidedly NOT that.
Places that still have enough common sense that if a kid touches a hot stove burner and gets burned the parents do not blame the stove manufacturer.
Well, if the oven has no indications that it is hot, no indication that it is on, then the stove manufacturer does deserve some blame. Yes, the kid should still learn from the experience and approach more carefully next time. But ALSO the stove manufacturer should take responsibility for their design and communicate that the stove is hot.
All that being said, we are a fairly litigious country, and disclaimers help protect from legal liability. I suspect that has some contribution. But my biggest issue with your perspective is the assumption that people are not taking responsibility for OUR own actions. The "I'm not a medical professional" disclaimer actively encourages people to take responsibility for their own actions.
Now my rant. First of all, I am a socialist and when I hear leftists (and often-times liberals) advocate for policies, I agree about the policy goals.
BUT the political left (at least in America) does seemingly care very little about personal responsibility, and I find this rather frustrating. One example of this is with concern about voting laws and voter suppression. Absolutely, YES we should have voting laws that make it easier for people to vote. We should not create barriers that prevent people from voting.
BUT ALSO people are fucking grown ups and we should encourage our people to overcome those barriers when they exist. Often, rhetoric around these issues comes off as ... patronizing. As if it's impossible for millions of people to navigate the barriers that republicans want to put up. Like, I completely disagree with the voting law proposals that would require married women (who take their partner's last name) to provide birth certificates in order to vote. It is stupid, and it is voter suppression. BUT ALSO, I believe women are capable of overcoming that barrier, and when I've listened to people talk about it, it seems infantalizing.
This is just one of many examples where I 100% agree with the policy position, but I DON'T agree with the patronizing rhetoric.
The right has us completely beat on personal responsibility. But they also want the government help promote white supremacy and make it harder for people to challenge white supremacy. We (the left) should BOTH champion personal responsibility - You can do it, here's how - AND work toward policy that lowers burdens and improves access.
Another area where I feel leftists fail on responsibility is personal finances. Yes, wages are low, yes billionaires make too much, yes housing and food and other goods are too expensive. Yes, these are real problems we should fix through policy. BUT ALSO, we should advocate for people to spend responsibly, within their means, to avoid using debt, to live in smaller homes, to buy fewer cars, to cook more meals at home, to cancel subscriptions, to use your library, to lean on food banks if you're really poor, and to step up and provide mutual aid if you have the means. (there is talk of mutual aid, but it too can come off as patronizing.)
Health is another arena, but I think you're getting the point. Better healthcare access is good. But ALSO exercise and healthy eating are important to your health, REGARDLESS of healthcare access.
blah blah, you get it. And I could do another whole extensive rant about why it's actually really fucking hard to exercise and eat healthy. I'm not discounting that. I'm just saying those criticisms don't help anyone RIGHT NOW. Encouraging people to be take personal responsibility can have immediate results. Policy takes time and may never come. We must work within what we have, not within what we want.
2025-11-28 12:59:00
Add footers to posts based on the tags on that post, simply by clicking a button. Adds a page to edit configured footers. You can access this page via a link at the bottom right of New Post/Edit Post pages.
Copy+Paste this into your Customise Dashboard page:
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/ReedyBear/bearblog-plugins@automatic-post-footers/plugins/tagbased-post-footers.js"
data-first_tag_only="false"
></script>
Configuration: Set data-first_tag_only="true" (must be lowercase) to only add a footer for the first tag in your taglist. By default adds configured footer for every tag in your taglist.
Note: This plugin has been submitted to Herman's Bearblog Plugins. Once Herman accepts my submission, the plugin can (and should) be installed from there. It can take up to a week after new plugins are approved for them to be available via my Plugin Manager
(for example, the footer below - linking to Bearblog Tools\Tips - was added using this plugin)
2025-11-28 01:26:00
I first started trying to be vegan 6 or 7 years ago because animal agriculture is extremely resource intense when compared to plant agriculture, and I want to minimize my contribution to climate change.
Animal welfare was always a side-benefit. Like it's nice that I'm also reducing my contributions to animal suffering.
But lately, my feelings are changing.
I've been thinking about animal subjugation. I don't really have moral qualms with hunting, as long as you eat what you kill. The deer gets to live its life and be free. The deer is not subjugated. The deer does not live a life of suffering.
But the cows and chickens do. From birth they are subjugated. They have no freedom, no will, no real life. They're forced into small spaces, crammed with many others like them. They survive in horrible conditions and are quite literally tortured.
Where I could justify eating a little bit of meat with regard to my climate concern - my footprint is still pretty low - this justification doesn't work with regard to suffering.
Yet I'm still eating meat. Today is Thanksgiving, and I will be eating chicken & rice soup. I will probably eat more animals (and their milk) tomorrow during my other Thanksgiving celebration.
I eat TV Dinners that have meat in them, and sometimes a turkey sandwich (I always want to spell it sandwhich) from the deli.
The lack of vegan options in my area is part of the problem. My mental limitations keep me from cooking consistently for myself, and my grocer's pre-made vegan options are very slim and very expensive. The restaurants are no better, not that I eat out much.
But I want to make the leap. I want to stop eating animals. They deserve to live good lives, to have joy, to experience love and kindness and warmth and freedom. Cows and chickens deserve it just as much as cats and dogs.
And dairy is no better. Dairy cows live a cruel, torturous life. The killing isn't really the problem for me. It's the cruelty and captivity.
2025-11-27 15:41:00
I recently posted Better Edit Post Page.
In part, it removes header links, and this was a problem on the main page of your dashboard where you edit your home page (bc you really need your header links there, but you don't on your new post page)
I've updated the script code at the link above to fix that problem. The main dashboard page is no longer modified at all.
I will probably make more changes to this, as I'm having a rough experience trying to scroll my edit post body on mobile.
If you follow my posts tagged with bearblog you'll see when/if i post a new update.
2025-11-26 12:06:45
don't.
But that thing you feel, about how wrong it is.
Why cats? Why just cats?
Do cows not live and feel and suffer and love?
Do chickens not deserve respect and care and freedom too?
2025-11-26 04:53:00
I've long been slightly annoyed at the edit post page because it just feels like the area I write in is unnecessarily constricted, and there's too much empty space. A bigger frustration has been that there are two separate scrollbars - one for the page, and another for the textarea you actually write in.
These dashboard styles fix that. I do think a better version of this can be made. The post header area still takes up too much space IMO. And this modification works better on desktop than on mobile. But this is what I was able to throw together in just a few minutes. (If you follow my Bearblog Posts, you can find out when/if I post a new version).
Note: It's disabled on the home page (Nov 26, 2025 update)
This code will go on your Customise dashboard page.
First, add this to your Dashboard footer content:
<!-- Add class to body on new post pages -->
<script>
if ($textarea
&& document.querySelector('body > main > h1:first-child')?.innerText?.trim() != 'Home'
){
document.querySelector('body').classList.add('edit-page');
const docs = document.createElement('a');
docs.href = 'https://docs.bearblog.dev/';
docs.innerText = 'Docs';
docs.target = "_blank";
document.querySelector('.helptext.sticky > span:first-child').appendChild(docs);
}
</script>
That block of code above modifies the HTML so that the styles below will only affect the edit post page. It also adds a 'docs' link to the links at the bottom, since the normal footer is hidden.
Second, add these styles to Dashboard styles:
html:has(> body.edit-page){
height: 100%;
}
body.edit-page {
width: 100%;
max-width: 100%;
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
height: 100%;
}
body.edit-page main {
height: 100%;
}
body.edit-page .helptext.sticky {
padding: 4px 16px;
}
body.edit-page header, body.edit-page footer {
display: none;
}
body.edit-page .post-form .sticky-controls {
margin: 0px;
padding: 4px 16px;
}
body.edit-page .sticky-controls button {
padding: 8px;
margin-right: 8px;
}
body.edit-page details {
margin: 8px 16px;
}
body.edit-page form.post-form {
display:flex;
flex-direction:column;
height: 100%;
}
body.edit-page form.post-form textarea {
flex: 2;
max-width: 1000px;
max-width: 100ch;
margin-left: auto;
margin-right: auto;
padding: 4px 16px;
}
Also, if you like my purple/yellow, add these styles as well:
#header_content {
background:purple;
color: white;
}
#header_content b {
color:yellow;
}
