themeatbridge @ themeatbridge @lemmy.world

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4,774

Joined

2 yr. ago

I said it elsewhere, but there's literally no version of events that is too crazy for our current reality. Like if you told me the soldiers were kidnapped by North Korea because they were trying to smuggle nazi gold and the ghost of Saddam Hussein rescued them from a prison in Pyongyang, it would be the tenth stupidest news article this week.

You don't need an ID for a job. You just need a social security number. Same for social services. And if you want to bail on society and live in the woods, you still have the right to vote. Thinking it's OK to make it harder to vote just because you don't respect the people who will have a harder time is about as anti-american as it gets.

I always tell my kids, you can try your best and still fail. Sometimes you will succeed without any effort at all. Luck will affect the outcome of anything you do.

But you have to be ready for the luck. You have to work hard to be in a position to take advantage. Hard work can mitigate your failures, and any effort you put into doing your best is never wasted because you're trying to be the best version of yourself.

That's why you try. Not because you might win and get wealth and fame and glory. You try because you want to be the person who tries.

See also, honesty, kindness, generosity, forgiveness. These are not things we do to be rewarded. The universe (not to mention other people) is going to let you down more often than not. You should still be honest and kind and generous and forgiving and hardworking because that's the person you want to be.

Right, but that's exactly my point. It's important to understand that everyone has a right to vote, and not just the people who have a life that looks like yours. And if you're willing to take rights away from people who aren't like you, then you're the oppressor.

He's trying to thread the needle. He owes a duty to his employer and stockholders, but he wants to benefit from the fascist coup.

Except the bodies weren't in the vehicle. That would suggest that the soldiers were either killed or abducted, and the vehicle was hidden in the water. That doesn't entirely rule out an accident, but it seems less likely.

There isn't a version of events too crazy for this timeline.

Their toothless kids don't deserve this.

She's almost an adult. Almost.

I understand your discomfort, but also she's going to be making decisions for herself for the rest of her life. Offer supportive guidance. Ask clarifying questions without judgement.

Is she simply dating multiple people, or is she in multiple committed relationships? Do the guys know that she is seeing both, and do either of them expect her to pick one (or neither) eventually? Are they sexually active? As a parent, that last question can be extremely uncomfortable, but it's a big clue to the nature of the situation.

I would advise that these relationships are dicey. It's an unbalanced equation. What are they sharing? Her time? Her affection? Her body? Who decides how she is divided up? Does she have the power in the relationship or is she a thing they are passing around? Why are they OK with having half a relationship? Jealousy is a sneaky demon, and the things people say often don't match the things people feel.

Polyamory can work in adult relationships if everyone is honest about what they want. Teens in relationships can sometimes struggle to advocate for themselves and might tolerate a lot more abuse before they speak up. If she feels like you are judging her for her choices, she may go even further to hide or suppress her feelings from you.

Make sure she understands that you are in her corner, and no topic is off limits. It might be equally uncomfortable for her to discuss it with you, but this is a situation worth monitoring closely. Her relationships should make her feel good about herself, and learning to be in a relationship is learning to balance your needs with the needs of another person. Is she being selfish or callous towards their feelings? Is she creating drama or seeking attention? Does the tension stoke her ego? Those would all be perfectly normal childish traits, and unhealthy attitudes to carry into adulthood.

This can be an important life lesson for her, but check in to make sure she's learning something that will help her in the long run.

I can't tell if you're being deliberately obtuse or you really just can't see beyond your own lived experience. Either way, your worldview is problematic, and you're standing on the side of fascists.

You keep saying obstacles to voting like they are no big deal because they are no big deal to you. Voting is a fundamental right, and shouldn't be limited to people that share your privilege. Not everyone drives, not everyone has $30, not everyone wants to suffer the indignity of jumping through hoops to prove they are too poor to pay for an ID card, not everyone can take the time to go spend the day at the DMV getting an ID card, and NOBODY SHOULD HAVE TO DO IT IN THE FIRST PLACE.

Not everybody who has the right to vote needs a driver's license or an ID card.

Conservativism, in all forms, is not a real ideology. It's narcissism. A conservative will redefine conservative values based on their own identity.

So the "socially liberal, fiscally conservative" idiot is lying to themselves about who they are. They want fiscal policies that benefit themselves, and they don't want to be labelled a bigot, but they are fine with bigots in office as long as they get the fiscal policies that benefit themselves.

Ask them what they mean by "fiscal conservative," and they will probably vaguely gesture and say "lower taxes." What they mean is "lower taxes for me." Fiscal conservatives still want to spend government money on programs they like. They want boondoggles in their backyard, earmarks and pork barrel projects, and social safety nets as long as they are the recipient (Medicare, Social Security, Veteran benefits, etc.)

They want to frame it as responsible restraint. Pull funding from programs they don't understand, like scientific research, or don't like, like foreign aid (except of course if strong ties to their home country).

And when they say lower taxes, when pressed, they will describe how their property tax or income tax or capital gains tax or death tax is really bad "for the economy." They want good schools and roads and infrastructure, but they want someone else to pay for it.

Calling themselves conservative gives them license to be as selfish as they want to be without having to admit that they don't actually have any values.

PA has always been a weird purple state. We have demographics across the political spectrum, and most of the elected officials on both sides of the aisle are moderates and centrists. There's little political will to pull the conservative social bullshit you see in the South, but there also isn't much of a progressive movement out of any of the cities. We have high concentrations of extreme wealth in the suburbs bordering extreme poverty in urban and rural communities. We have horse farms and cities. We have shale deposits, corporate headquarters, strong unions, and meth labs. We have a significant Jewish population and a significant number of hate groups and christofascists. We have immigrants and Amish. We have some of the best schools and worst schools in the country, and they play football against each other.

If there's one rule in PA politics, it's that business is business. Fascists and progressives don't get far because they both impede business. Most residents are exposed to a variety of people, but there's enough land between the haves and the have nots to prevent too much empathy from taking root. The state legislature will always be red, and the executives will tend to be blue. Even if there's a blue wave, it won't likely result in anything too impressive.

And annoying because everyone, regardless of their political belief, thinks they are the second person.

It still requires due process.

So you only need it under certain conditions. It's not a requirement to vote. So most people don't need it, because the vast majority of people don't visit military bases, secure federal facilities, or travel via aircraft.

Voting is a fundamental right. You really want to make it so only people wealthy enough to fly places get to vote?

Not everyone needs a real ID, and you'd just be preventing poor citizens from voting.

The best part of this feature is that it's clearly a result of iterative design. So engineers were trying to solve constipation, and someone with a PhD was like "Well, you know what works for me..."

The finger cot is there because zero G and dehydration commonly result in constipation.