You mean Queen. Vanilla Ice simply stole “sampled” the riff.

As a non-right wing, non-psychopath, I’m uncomfortable with the idea of owning a gun at all.

I don’t want one in my home and I don’t want one on my person. Even if I did purchase one and ended up using it to protect myself, the knowledge that I took a human’s life would be too much for me to live with.

My family had a healthy idea of limits, closer to the “free range” philosophy, before such a term was required.

Our neighbors across the street, however, were the prototype for helicopter parents.

While my sibling and I gained confidence and navigational skills by biking around our confusing neighborhood before the days of GPS, the neighbor’s kids weren’t allowed to go down the street unsupervised. My siblings and I stood alone on the corner bus stop, but the neighbor’s mom sat in her car and only released her kids when the bus had arrived.

At the time, my parents made fun of theirs for holding such a tight leash. We also pitied the kids because they panicked about being “lost” when my siblings brought them on a walk around the block.

But now I see kids sitting in cars at bus stops as the norm. And of course, stories like the above article go to show that the helicopter style has won (for the time being.) The people who were raised to fear everything outside their front yard are now parents themselves.

Elon Musk is a once in a generation business leader

That’s not a compliment, that’s a prerequisite to becoming everything Musk currently is. If “a generation” of people had been afforded even one percent of the privilege he’s received, Musk would’ve been outshined by more competent people long ago.

Goddamn, way to make me flashback.

There was a point in my life where I was facing homelessness, was constantly job searching but hearing nothing back, and had to count coins to make sure I could afford to eat each day. Not only that, but the closest family member, who had invited me to stay with them if things went tits up, had just died two days before in a sudden and tragic way.

And my then-bf dragged me to a bar, where he and all his friends told me to “just let it go” and “loosen up” as if the basement rock of my world hadn’t just eroded out from under me. I sure as shit couldn’t afford bar prices, and not a single one of the group offered to get me anything, leaving me stone sober while they all got shitfaced. I ended up crying alone in the bathroom for an hour, and when I came back out, “bf” was getting a fucking lap dance from his friend’s fiancee.

That wasn’t even the worst part of the night. It definitely got darker before the light returned.

I’m okay now, over a decade later, in an infinitely-better place with supportive friends and partners. But man, what a journey.

It’s interesting how he somehow manages to have money when he “banks” one way, but constantly overdrafts when he “banks” another way. It honestly sounds like he has difficulty with money management when the money’s in an abstract form, such as a checking account. Having physical cash on hand is a lot easier to keep track of.

I, too, have dealt with that problem. But my solution was to carry a limited amount of cash on me and leave my debit card at home. I mean, I’m glad he found a method that works for him. I’m just concerned he’ll be SoL when the transition to digital-only games renders physical GameStops obsolete.

All work no play makes Jack the only coworker not invited when everyone meets up for drinks.

At some point they’ll start shutting down internet access to prevent recording of their actions

This is an interesting viewpoint. I think the internet is where the modern GOP has their strongest control over people. Yeah, there is traditional media, but the internet echo chambers are where a lot of their people go to express their beliefs. Shutting it all down would be severing a link that directly guides the populace’s minds. (Especially for the younger folks who don’t know a life without internet.)

Imagine no more Xitter propaganda, no more ignorant Facebook posts, no hate-inspiring memes propagating at the speed of light… Conspiracy theories and gossip would become localized again, and since the people inclined toward those things can’t independently determine reality, over time their viewpoints would inevitably diverge from each other.

I mean, a lot of things could happen, ranging from violent reactions, to increased empathy (from being forced to interact with diverse neighbors in-person.) But without a central command link, a brain to tell them what to believe, the tribal nature of their supporters would invariably cause fractures within their own base.

(At least, one can hope.)

Owl: ‘lo, Sun.

Sun: Hi, Owl!

Owl: Ugh, I forgot how cheery you always are.

Sun: Well, yeah! It’s important to look on the bright side!

Owl: Um. Sure. Anyway, I gotta go get breakfast.

Sun: Oh, have fun!

Owl: Goodnight, Sun.

Sun: … What’s “night”?

Yes. I also read the part of your previous post that said:

Do you want to try to explain to me how a protest that specifically targets progressive men is an effective way to get men to be more progressive?

“Just don’t be a bad guy and you won’t be the target!” This movement makes no distinction between conservative and progressive men, it is explicitly about absolute denial of sex, dating, marriage, and children.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m 100% in favor of women not dating conservative men if they don’t want to. A movement that draws attention to the fact that women have the option of breaking up with their boyfriends and divorcing their husbands would be fantastic. A movement that specifically tries to deny relationships to the people that you’re trying to deradicalize is not that.

I also read the original article, which includes:

The idea behind the movement is individual resistance against what it defines as a conservative political environment and the corrosion of reproductive rights.

You seem to have the misconception that this movement is primarily about women doing something to make an impact on men, despite there being nothing in the source stating that. “A conservative political environment and a corrosion of reproductive rights” casts a wide net, but “revenge on men” or “motivating men” are both invariably going to be a lower priority than, oh say, “not dying from a miscarriage.” Makes sense, right?

There’s more to being a feminist ally than simply believing in a woman’s right to choose. I’d be more inclined to believe that you truly support us if you showed any sign of having considered anything that I’d said about why women are drawn to this idea, or how you may have been initially mistaken by assuming it’s being done just to target men. But alas.

There are more goals than some grand, over-arching “change.” On an extremely basic, self-preserving level, there is a goal of “not getting pregnant while living in a country that actively endangers the lives of pregnant women.”

If it brings about change that would be awesome. But regardless of that, by swearing off relationships and sex, we’re still not getting pregnant. Ergo, we are able to keep our bodily autonomy. Which, I guess I have to remind you, we would lose if we got pregnant.

Unless (non-sterilize) progressive men have some special sperm that doesn’t attempt to fertilize an egg, creating an exception based on beliefs would still put our lives at risk.

For critically-panned movies that are arguably good, I recommend a scroll through this thread: [Meme] Which movie was this for you?

It’s interesting to see what everyone’s opinions are. I’ve already downloaded a few of the suggestions out of curiosity.

Although that may be effective to some, that format is too dry and science-y to tap into the people who need to be reached.

We need the power of a human being’s impassioned words, presented in the context of a natural conversation, converted into a meme-able format. The simplest way would be to copy/paste the original comment and start sharing it on other platforms. If there is a way to make the message more succinct, without losing that crucial human touch that inspires people to relate to the message, that would be ideal.

If you truly want to understand the nature of this protest, it’s important to understand where women are coming from with this.

No matter one’s sex or gender, the dating process can be exhausting. Guys are exhausted from always making the first move and getting nowhere for the effort. Women are exhausted from sorting through all the men and messages, most of whom show zero interest in her as a person. Cis-men don’t see the regular dehumanization and sexualization that all women experience upon entry to the dating scene.

On dating apps, so, so many guys will ignore profiles and send low effort messages like, “Ur pretty. Wanna hook up?” Checking messages can elicit the same feeling you’d get from clearing out your spam folder one email at a time… except each spam message expects you to suck its dick. Some even threaten violence if rejected. When women leave dating sites and dating scenes, that’s the male behavior they’re opting to escape from.

Now we also have (or are bracing to have) our reproductive rights taken away. We see the stories of pregnant women being denied care, suffering, and dying. We don’t want to become a reproductive rights martyr just because a condom broke.

This protest may have a consequence that men don’t like, but expecting women to give in just so progressive men can get laid ignores the issues that sparked this protest in the first place.

It tells us everything. It says you don’t understand what we’re going through. It says you don’t care what we’re going through. It says you think your desire to have sex is worth more than our very lives.

In a way, you’re proving these women right. If your attitude is reflective of other so-called “progressive” men, then I can’t blame any woman who chooses to have nothing to do with any men at all.

Yes, the neglect of our nation’s mental health is screwing every facet of society. The in-fighting that’s exploded since the election results came out is heart-breaking to see. Victims blaming victims, while the rich and the politicians who’ve spent decades using their money and power to actively withhold health care, attack the educational system, and sow this distrust in the first place are, once again, getting away without blame.

Trump’s not going to fix any of that. I’m going to keep bringing the focus to him and his ilk, because as easy as it is to lash out at each other, the blame squarely falls on the powerful people who’ve created this environment.

Lashing out when hurt is a maladaptive behavior. Giving in to someone who’s lashing out doesn’t solve the underlying issues. Instead, it serves to reinforce the behavior - making it happen more frequently. By contrast, therapy can absolutely help with both the behavior and any illness that’s aggravating it.

Do you honestly think Trump’s regime is going to help such people get the mental healthcare they need? If so, what, specifically, has any of his party said or done that supports that argument?

Tell you what. I just got a couple boxes of canvas. If they do “ban porn,” I’ll dedicate every one of these brand new canvasses to making erotic paintings out of spite.

And I mean, I’m not even a porn consumer. I just fucking hate fascists.

^{… *though I also* happen to enjoy creating suggestive imagery, as well as painting nude figures. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯}

It’s easy to look like they “got their shit on lockdown” when they’re straight-up copying the fascist playbook.

The blame game isn’t helpful, though. Divide and conquer is from that same fascist playbook. Blaming anyone except the Republican establishment serves only to diminish their primary role in this situation, and further divide us from each other. We have to stop attacking fellow victims and put that blame squarely where it belongs.

I know tensions are high and we all want to play the blame game, but doing so won’t solve our problems. I’m angry about the same things, but I know that attacking someone who’s ostensibly on our side does nothing but cause further division between us. That’s what the fascists want.

Right now, it’s okay to grieve. We’re all dealing with intense emotions that can overwhelm our better judgement. But OP is right - in order to look forward, we must first look out for each other. The establishment has failed us. We are all we’ve got now.

Trump: Get off that beautiful couch

Vance: Believe me, I’m trying!