To be fair, Nelson Mandela was sorta a terrorist. He wasn't as bad as his wife (she spoke at length about doing stuff like putting car tyres around enemies necks, filling the tyres with petrol, then lighting em up), but he did turn a blind eye to some pretty despicable shit that his supporters were doing. For a very long time Amnesty international didn't support him. Personally, I think the reason he was ignoring these things was good, but the acts themselves sorta don't justify it. But then, you have to do something to overthrow the oppressors and I'm a white male so I know I will never truly understand the motivations for these acts and can't really judge anyone for em.
Of course someone who thinks that shooting up a school is a good idea completely misses the messages that KMFDM espouse. Sure, all industrial music has a sorta implied violence cos of the nature of the music (which I guess you could say about metal in general. Not power metal though. I defy anyone to listen to that genre and not say "wow, this music is uplifting and inspiring"), but if you listen to the lyrics...
I'm an off and on again smoker myself, and whilst I haven't memorised all 5k+ chems in em, I sure as shit know "what's in em". Nicotine, which is what I desire and it is actually fairly innocuous, plus a shitload of supercharged death causing molecules. Cos I'm not an idiot and can look shit up. The ingredients for the vaccines were public knowledge. Google that shit. Still not sure about any of em? Guarantee either you or someone you know knows someone who can help...
Um, sweet and sour chicken/whatever protein you want is a dish you'll find in every westernised Chinese eatery, and it'll be one of the most ordered dishes.
For me here in Australia, my yearly check up (although I only go every two years) is paid for by the govt. Back when I was at uni and super poor, I still went to my childhood optometrist cos I still lived at home, she lived within walking distance, and why not? And over the four years, she'd do my exam for free, then give me all the info I needed to be able to go to the super cheap optometrist to get them made there. This was back in 2003, way before we had all these budget options we have now. So, being able to get a pair for $180 as opposed to the $500 my childhood one wanted for hers was worth it. To be fair though, her range was pretty damn stylish compared to the other.
And I dunno if you're saying that in case you think you might be offending me, but even if you weren't, a phrase like that would indicate you're an ally anyway! Also, who can get offended by being called brother? Although, I am male, maybe that's giving me some bias... Anyway, my weirdness aside (it's friday night, I've had a couple of beers hahahaha), yeah, shit. It's fucked. I actually get a double length session when I go now (still for free!). Twas my first time seeing this optician and she asked me "do you have ADHD? Or maybe youre otherwise neurodivergant?" And I was all "yessasssss...?" So now we take longer and do more stuff. I've never really fucked up, but there's been some glasses I've had where I'm like "yeah, this is like 85% instead of the 100% the last pair were..."
Nah, no need to apologise for that, I was just trying to relate to you on that issue. It doesn't bother me either, I could not give a fuck how I look 95% of the time (special occasions like weddings etc are different. And I bet my mum wishes I gave more than half a shit about my appearance in public hahahaha). But I do like to have choices (even if my ADHD does mean it takes me FOREVER to actually make a decision), so it does annoy me somewhat.
As for the online supplier, if you're North American, theres an online store called glasses are awesome (that's not actually it's name, but if you say the wrong thing is the right thing on the internet, someone will invariably correct you. It's like Zillow or zenni or something? Starts with a z, that much I do know. Used to get mentioned on Reddit a lot), but they were super cheap when my mate ordered their spider jereusalem knock off glasses for a costume party. His prescription is a bit more normal than mine so he might have saved some money there, but even with shipping from the states to Australia, it was still absurdly cheap (I think it was less than $AUD40).
Edit: Googled it like a sane person, its www.zennioptical.com and I just clicked on the first pair I saw. All up, they wanna charge me $USD26 before delivery for the most basic options (most basic lenses, no coatings etc. the coatings costs were kinda reasonable though, started at $USD4 and went up to like $USD35), and that includes a $USD9 additional charge cos my prescription is so insane. Seems pretty good to me. Way cheaper than what you suggested yours cost (you didn't give an exact price, but I'm not an idiot so I can figure out the ballpark of "10x more than $60" hahahaha).
As I said, and showed proof of before, guns can be addictive. And if you think the majority of cocaine that enters the US is doing it via peoples rectums, then you are even dumber than I thought you'd already proven yourself to be.
You are a giant idiot. I agree with you on the need for gun control bit, but all your arguments are extremely flawed. Like this one you've posted here. Sure, jimbob might struggle to get a gun across, but there is still gonna be a shitload of them getting across. It is literally the world's busiest border. Even a country with a hard on for authority like the US struggles to catch anywhere near close to everything that illegally crosses that border. And your asbestos argument? That's shit house too. For one, it's not even banned in most of the world (including the US). Two, there's still a problem with people trying to import products with it in into countries that have banned it. And three, it's irrelevant because the govts that have banned it have made alternatives readily available that are nearly as effective, thus giving the public legal alternatives. Why is that important? Because let's look at what happened when govts don't provide alternatives. Like when the US banned alcohol (which is a ban that still exists in some countries today). Or the war on drugs. Or the illegal trade of exotic animals. They are booming markets. Sure, be against all the horseshit we see come out of the US in regards to gun crime and advocate for tighter gun control, but at least try to be intelligent about it. Your whataboutism is not only wrong, it's a really dumb way to try and prove a point, even if you were right.
Er, the lenses are still stupid cheap. I literally paid $50 all told for both frames and lenses. And I just searched for online budget retailers here in Australia, went with the first result, and their single vision lenses (even with my current prescription which is a bit fucked cos my eyes are vastly different and one of them is so bad the lens may as well be the bottom of a coke bottle) start at $AUD9.95. Bifocal is a bit more expensive, but still quite reasonable with prices starting at $AUD42. Sure, they have fancy Kodak lenses for $AUD280, and getting coatings and UV coating costs more (I still say that $AUD80 for the ultra premium ones with added blue light filtering and all those bells and whistles is "cheap" compared to what I used to pay), but there is no reason you can't get a pair for under $AUD50 that'll do you just fine.
Someone's lucky enough to only need single strength lenses and/or have choices of lens suppliers.
Nope. Both eyes are vastly different, and I've never shopped around for lenses, just buy what the optometrist recommends me. I am in Australia, so things may be different due to that. And I feel you on the limited frame selection thing, one of my lenses may as well be the bottom of a coke bottle, I too don't get much choice when I select a new pair.
I've literally given you proof that you can. You can get addicted to anything that gives you dopamine. Either provide proof for your claim like I have, or shut the fuck up.
Nah, glasses don't have to be expensive. I notice literally no difference between pairs I've had that were over $400 and pairs that were $50. It's just shaped glass... And whilst I mostly agree with you on headphones, there are a very small number of manufacturers out there who are doing some fantastic budget headphones. The earbuds I use now cost me $40 and shit all over any others I've had (and have lab verified frequency response curves to prove they are legit too). Should add, that even though they are budget, some of their products can easily cost over $1k, but then they are emulating headphones that cost over $5k...
Here you go.