Depends: do you want rules that apply equally to everyone or rules that apply selectively based on your demographic status?

Personally, I choose the former.

Beat me to it. 6.6 IMDB, 33% RT. It stars Antonio Banderas as an Arab, but goddamnit I love this flick.

Agreed. I never thought it would happen in my lifetime, but it looks like we’re going to have Star Trek computers pretty soon.

I’m an American atheist Jew, and I’ve had conversations with my (converted) mother about it. She’s pretty solidly on Israel’s side, but she’s also not very educated about the conflict. She just kinda goes by the mainstream media’s narrative and doesn’t think too much beyond that. When I present her with information, she’s horrified and agrees with me that “Israel is going too far,” but it never results in her thinking the U.S. should stop sending them money. She hates Netanyahu and his conservative government, but she’s very hung up on Hamas being a terrorist organization. And I suppose I am too, to be honest. I want a free Palestine and for the Israeli settlers to be expelled, but I don’t want to support Hamas and I think they should pretty much be eradicated. I’m just much more willing to condemn Israel for their actions than she is; she’s very caught on the idea that Israel has a right to defend itself from Palestinian terrorism, and has a hard time seeing that it’s gone way past that at this point.

Mental health counselor here.

The outcomes of treatment for bipolar disorder are unfortunately very variable. It depends on how severe your son’s symptoms are, how well he responds to the medications cocktail he’s being given, what that medication cocktail is, and how well he adheres to it.

The important thing is that your son controls what he can control, which is largely whether or not he takes his meds and how much he engages in therapy. Therapeutic skills involve insight/mindfulness work (i.e. how well your son can recognize his symptoms as they’re happening) and resource use (i.e. does he inform his therapist and/or psychiatrist when he notices he’s be king symptomatic). Mania often feels amazing to people experiencing it, so they’re often motivated against treating it when it occurs, and this is major barrier to treatment.

A big component is whether or not symptoms of psychosis are involved in either the mania or depression. Psychotic symptoms are: 1.) hallucinations (false sensory perceptions, like hearing voices, seeing things, smelling things, etc), 2.) delusions (false beliefs that don’t conform to “normal” societal beliefs, like “I am Jesus” or “God has a mission for me”), and 3.) paranoia (i.e. feeling people around you are hostile to you or are spying on you, etc). These can be experienced in either mood state, but are most often seen in manic states.

I would suggest getting in touch with an organization called NAMI (National Alliance for the Mentally Ill) as they have tons of resources for people struggling with mental illness and family members of mentally ill people.

“Terryology may have some merits and deserves consideration.”

I don’t hold this opinion, but I can guarantee you it’s unpopular.

Largely, yeah. I think it would have been fine if we’d stayed in the Iron Age. Things started getting fucked up with the Industrial Revolution.

LOL, the Amish Philosophy.

Nothing so crude. I simply think it’s better for the universe if we don’t propagate it, because we’re not a good enough example for other species to follow yet. It’s not about respecting “God’s” law so much as acknowledging humanity’s limitations. We’re a pathetic species, not ready for rulership over multiple planets, let alone multiple solar systems. My comment simply suggests I don’t have confidence we ever will be. This has nothing to do with the Amish belief that we’re better in a simplistic state; just that the universe is better without us in whatever state.

The ability for human beings to advance scientific knowledge further than it currently exists.

Something needs to protect the rest of the galaxy from us.

There is some truth to this in that one of the first distinctions infants learn to make is “good/bad” or “pleasure/pain,” in terms of its ability to analyze its own emotional states.

That being said, it’s still an increíble oversimplification of even an infant’s mind.

There’s a game called Haven that you might want to check out. It involves you playing your chosen side of a couple trying to survive on an alien planet, hiding out from a society that wants to prevent you from being together. Lots of relationship RPing and that sort of thing.

I’m paid $60k/year, have a caseload of 70 for 35 hours/week work, and work conditions force me to work 50 hours/week to complete my duties, no additional pay, overtime LOL.

We are not the same.

Mental health (masters-level therapist), shit.

Pick mah nose.

You could try a litmus test with your friend, based on the criteria you personally have for a friendship breakage.

For me, with my (now ex-)friend, it was a simple question: “Can you not see that Trump is a malignant narcissist who will—like at the end of his first term—not cede power at the end of his second?”

My (ex-)friend refused to render a judgment, so my response followed: “That cements it. I no longer have respect for your judgment of character. For you to support this transparent a wannabe dictator makes it clear you lack the basic moral fiber I expect in a friend. I’m sorry, but I no longer can call you someone I want to associate with, let alone a friend. I’m a truly, deeply disappointed in you, and will no longer tolerate your companionship. I have to draw the line somewhere. I tolerated your choice of husband, I tolerated your choice of political party, and I tolerated your first vote for Trump based on the idea that you didn’t understand the person you were voting for. No longer. You have had plenty of time to see the true character of the disturbingly mentally disordered candidate you voted for in 2016 and yet you still support him in 2024. I have such a low opinion on of you at this point that I can’t stomach keeping your company, even civilly.

Goodbye.”

Her response: a “HaHa” reaction to my comment.

We haven’t spoken since.

The real question is: why are we spending resources creating speed bumps when pot holes accomplish the same thing?

No, you shouldn’t, because nearly half the country voted against Trump. It wasn’t enough, but it certainly indicates a significant portion of the country opposes him and the ideologies behind him. What we, as Americans, should be ashamed of is our pathetic educational system, which is at the root of this problem.

Both Republicans and Democrats are at the core of this problem. Republicans don’t want any public education at all and Democrats have polluted public education with Far Left propaganda that has fueled conservative rage and helped Far Right people divide the nation. Race and gender issues have eclipsed class issues, which are the real problems of the nation. As much as LGBT and racial groups deserve their particular rights, the real divisions at the heart of America are between the middle- and working-classes and the ultra-rich. Corporations are the prime devil that need to be taken down, not White men. Plenty of White men are suffering at the hands of corporations and they need to be woken up. The most recent election has shown that non-Whites are just as susceptible to Trump’s charms as anyone else. We need to stop focusing on superficial divisors such as race and gender and start focusing on class divisors much more.

I never watched Squid Game and don’t intend to. Battle royale material just isn’t my thing.

Yeah, people will probably get angry and say mean things to you but those are just words which can be ignored. Offence is taken, not given.

This is naïve. The no one likes being insulted and downvoted for expressing their views. Sure, it doesn’t bother some people as much as others, but it’s not a conscious choice to “just ignore it,” as though that will prevent any negative feelings. The reality is that people with unpopular views stay silent to avoid these consequences, and that’s an entirely rational choice. You would do better to spend your time chastising people who attack those with unpopular views than to try to convince those with unpopular views to willingly expose themselves to online abuse.