GoodbyeBlueMonday

Agreed. They depressed me as a kid, and they depress me now. Absolutely exploiting the most impoverished among us. Vimes' Boot Theory holds there IMHO: https://terrypratchett.com/explore-discworld/sam-vimes-boots-theory-of-socio-economic-unfairness/

I agree with you in boiling it down to: Democrats have failed the people because they haven't done enough good things, while Republicans have failed the people by actively doing terrible things.

So my conclusion is that yes, both parties have done terrible things, and I agree that Democrats haven't gone far enough on most issues I care about, but the GOP is actively going against the things I care about.

It's an easy decision at the ballot box, and it is an easy decision for me to do more than simply vote. Voting is the lowest bar for participation in a democracy.

If your eyeballs are missing, I can make an assumption that your vision isn't great just by looking at you. That's not a moral judgement.

Doesn't mean blood tests are useless, and in fact it means we have some idea where to start investigating a potential health problem.

Yes, I agree that there's bias against folks who are overweight, and also that there's a range of risk associated with being overweight. It's pretty clear, however, that obesity is a health concern that we should take seriously. If someone smokes five pack of cigs a day, I'm going to make an assumption about their lung health. There's always outliers that live to 100 smoking and not doing exercise, but it would be a shit doctor if they didn't tell folks not to follow their example.

You sure you aren't a being a titanic jerk right now? Even your username might be evidence that you're consumed by negativity, but that's beside the point. Why would you assume they're hallucinating that racism exists? Seriously: stop and ask yourself that question. Why side against this person who has done nothing but share their experiences?

I'm a white dude from the southeast and I have these stories: the only time I've gotten harassed by podunk shitheel cops is when I'm around Black and Latino friends, and when I had a truck with FIGHT RACISM written on the back. The only time I get followed around stores is with friends that just so happen to be darker than me - what a coincidence, eh? On the other end of the spectrum, I've had to put up with racist shit being shared with me out in the sticks from white folks who assumed I'm as racist as they are. Saying that folks are looking to be a victim makes you either complicit in or ignorant of racism that still exists in the here and now, and more than likely some of both.

TLDR: If you're not a troll, then all I have to say is bless your heart. Look inward and try to improve yourself.

Not thought crimes. Marching in the streets with literal swastikas on flags. Their "set of certain beliefs" killed 17 million people (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocaust_victims) as part of their beliefs: and that's without counting the deaths they caused by starting a war.

It's not some clever gotcha to pretend this is a grey area. It's not folks saying to go after GOP members, people in militias that are dogwhistling, or even the Proud Boys. It's not folks that loudmouths on twitter are claiming are nazis. The issue here is literal fucking nazis. I actually have a PhD, and I consider it wise to chase literal goddamn nazis out of town with violence. Tolerating the most extreme intolerance is not a path toward a good future.

From the article:

“All the satellites which re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere burn and create tiny alumina particles, which will float in the upper atmosphere for many years,” Takao Doi, a Japanese astronaut and aerospace engineer with Kyoto University, warned recently. “Eventually, it will affect the environment of the Earth.”

I wonder if there will be a couple Putin-approved "vaguely possibly anti-Putin" talking points allowed, for the sole purpose of avoiding that (obviously true) accusation. So the Fox News heads can say "Tucker has the balls to stand up to Putin, it's not propaganda!", and Putin still wins.

True, but imagine if we gave everyone an automatic weapon and told people they need to be responsible for what they choose to shoot. True, but we probably shouldn't have given out so many weapons.

It's a terrible metaphor, but there's an intersection between personal, collective, corporate, and technological responsibility that we need to consider, and it's hard to articulate in a few sentences. IMHO we're all in an ouroboros of thought and action, internally and externally.

We saw the uniforms go mostly black in DS9, so I think it is meant to show how the Federation isn't totally recovered from the Dominion war...I wish they had pushed than angle harder re: the struggle to help the Romulans, the Synths, etc. At least by Lower Decks they're back to the more colorful uniforms!

I saw your post the other day and didn't have anything constructive to add (my instinct was to say 'just see where it goes, but don't force it to be romantic', but I know so little about the situation that it's hollow advice), but I came across this article in the NY Times that might speak to your situation. It talks about limerence, which is a new word for me. I say might, because it might not be what you're feeling, but it's worth a read regardless, and the tips on how to overcome it in the article seem useful (and have backing by different researchers, so they're bound to have more material on the subject that would be potentially related to what you're going through).

Gift link so no paywall: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/27/style/limerence-addiction-love-crush.html?unlocked_article_code=1.RU0.qcHQ.OMOM2nOkSCqy&smid=url-share

It's a slow start, but it's worth the investment IMHO. Have a good one!

Reminds me of a conversation in the Wire between Carcetti and Bunny, about "Old Man Stryker": https://youtu.be/MTrvAnP5U18?si=UvjiXno_gbefGCuG