[conspire] (forw) Reminder that we are NextDoor's product, not customers

[Rick Moen]

Quoting Paul Zander (paulz at ieee.org):

>  Add to the list of misappropriated symbols:  
>     88 is an century old Morse code abbreviation for "hugs and
> kisses".   Now the same people that claim Tyr also have a different
> meaning for 88.

Ugh, yes.  The list appears to be long.

o  The Viking Odal rune, legitimately signifying heritage; inheritance,
   inherited estate,  Was in the Elder Futhark runic alphabet.  Asshat
   use this to refer to their sad little ideology.
o  Nested parentheses around a name.  (Asshat is signaling that the
   named person is asserted to be Jewish.)
o  Various combinations of 14 and 88.  More sad little ideology related
   to their dead dictator and such.
o  The 'OK' hand signal.  Don't know why, don't really want to.
o  Emojis for frogs (because Pepe) and milk (because white, I guess?)
o  Thor's hammer, Myolnir.  (Asshats don't want us Nordics to have good things.)
o  The Norse 'life rune'.  From the Younger Futhark.  More sad little 
   ideology and budget mysticism.
o  The Norse 'valknot' (knot of the slain) symbol that properly 
   refers to the afterlife.  Asshats say willing to give my life, blah
   blah.
o  Celtic cross.  Apparently useful to asshats as invoking Chrisianity
   without requiring it.
o  Sonnenrad (black sun, sun wheel).  Himmler artwork.
o  Germnic 'wolfsangel' rune, from heraldry.  (Looks like a wolftrap.)
   In ancient times, was a symbol of liberty and independence.
   Asshats use in a predictable way as a semi-deniable symbol for
   National Socialism.
o  The triskele (which will annoy the Coriscans, Sicilians, and Manx a 
   lot, among others).  Asshats reportedly started using this after some
   Afrikaner nationalists did.

There's a lot more, and ADL keeps track of this sludge so we don't have
to.  These guys can't be bothered to create their own symbols; that's
work.  They'd rather steal.

I found it quite striking when I came across organised "neo-heathen"
religion groups -- the Ásatrú effort -- about how they make a dignified 
and very determined point of having absolutely nothing to do with that
lot (which tends to try to co-opt them and all their symbols).  

FWIW, hanging out with the Ásatrú people is, to use the old saying, a
trip.  RationalWiki has its usual slightly jaundiced view:
https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Asatru .  A footnote on that page observes:
"It is unclear how far modern practitioners of Asatru actually believe
their mythology. High priest, Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson sees the stories as
metaphors for human psychology and natural forces."  

Er, quite.  I was flummoxed in having conversation with them, as I kept
wanting to blurt out "In what sense, specifically, do you assert that
Odin, Thor, Freyr, Loki, Ragnorak, etc., are real?"  At the same time,
once you stop worrying whether the guy in front of you is going to carry
out a blood sacrifice, they really do come across as old-fashioned
culturally Scandinavian in their ethics and outlook.  Trust me, I'd
know.

The name Ásatrú is a modern Icelandic coinage, meaning 'devoted to the
Æsir', the gods of Asgard.  Not the Marvel Comics version.