unixknight

So I've been studying Russian off and on since high school. I'm already fluent in Spanish and wanted to branch out. I mean, I've heard of people who know a dozen languages, so getting into a third can't be so bad, right? So I have been feeling pretty confident and decided to look online for a pen pal in Russia. I did find one, and she is also studying English. She suggested a live chat on the phone. And this afternoon, I discovered just how awful my Russian still is. *sigh* Ah well. Could have been worse, I suppose. I guess I need to spend more time with Duolingo than I have been..

Don't do it! Don't encourage this behavior!

Heck no. Murder is murder. That said, I wouldn't want to be the deciding vote on a jury if it had been something like meth. I mean, cocaine is bad, but the horror of meth addiction cannot be overstated.

Agreed. Meth, on the other hand... I think a case can be made. (I kid... sort of.)

It doesn't matter. In the '80s, would a group of kids have specifically mentioned it being mostly white people? No. That's a 21st century lefty race obsessed phenomenon.

Spoiler alert: The show is written for the 2019 audience.

The article seems to be making an excuse for them remarking that it's "White people" as if this were an honest effort at historical awareness. C'mon. It's 2019. That wasn't about being accurate in a positive way. In 2019, that's just a lefty term for "racists."

I hope so too, man. Sincerely. You don't want to use a lie to get a recommend. Just be honest. You won't regret it. I know it's scary, but you can do it. It'll be worth it, I promise.

So... not meeting that responsibility means the responsibility doesn't exist? That isn't how it works, brother. As I said, you're his dad already. But until you actually do something about that, you're being a very poor one.

You don't? How do figure? Define "ready." Because every minute you use that as a reason to not do anything for your son, you're choosing yourself over him.

So you're thinking... what? You'll just keep quiet about it, lie when asked about being current with your obligations, and still expect to be worthy? Not a good plan. You're a dad whether you're ready or not, bro. The only choice you have is whether to be a good one or a bad one.

we do have it pretty good here in the U.S. I think people often forget that.

Late to the party with an unpopular view. I have a real problem with this. Gonna be blunt here, and I mean no offense to anybody. I really think the "but it's a public health risk" argument is WAY overblown. The vast majority of people are vaccinated, yet people sometimes talk about anti-vaccine adherents as if they're the harbingers of the pandemic that will be the doom of all humanity. They aren't. It's just not that big a problem. No, it just isn't. Honestly... I think in most (not all, but most) cases it's a natural human instinct to want to impose control over others. Libertarianism is the antithesis of this urge, while authoritarianism indulges it. The vaccine issue is a way we can feel good about imposing control on others, and that's why even a significant chunk of the Libertarian movement are on board. It's really, really easy to support curtailing someone else's liberty if you can do it with a good, convincingly emotional argument that has a dash of "it's science!" behind it. Sorry to be more blunt than usual. I'm not pointing fingers at anybody and I haven't read the thread, so please take no offense.

Dave Reuben is partnering with Jordan Peterson and they're working on that very thing. He's starting up some kind of Internet venture and has strongly hinted at its nature. As has been said, there are alternatives but the problem with things like Bitchute is the same as problems with Gab and Minds... When they say "free expression" they MEAN it. There's some nasty stuff on those platforms that you have to navigate through, which we aren't used to seeing on YouTube. Plus, certain financial institutions have begun to refuse to do business with conservative outlets. You know how Patreon started dumping content creators like Sargon of Akkad? (Who isn't even a Conservative... I guess the cause of free speech makes conservatives of us all.) Well, SubscribeStar is an alternative that's being used, but you can't use PayPal with it because PayPal won't do business with organizations that don't punish thoughtcrime. There's almost certainly wording in the contract that either allows YouTube to change the rules at their discretion, or the wording is vague enough that it doesn't really mean anything. Bill Richmond is looking into it though.

Yeah the 1979 Suprman movie was pretty awesome. If you're into long form video essays, I recommend Moviebob's "Really That Good" analysis of the film for why it worked so well. I won't say it aged well, because it was a product of its time, but it does stand as an awesome film.

I used to be politically on the side of making exceptions in cases of rape/incest, but I stopped because of exactly this problem. If somebody wants an abortion badly enough, they'd now be incentivized (sp?) to falsely accuse someone. And as much as I wish I could believe that such incidents would be vanishingly rare, We already have a problem with retroactive accusations of rape these days with no incentive at all.

I haven't read the text so I don't know, but I'd be very surprised if there weren't a provision for cases like that under the umbrella of "medically necessary." Otherwise I'd call that a serious oversight.

(But seriously... the new Abaddon model is sweeeeeeet)

I'll offer you (and anyone else reading this) a piece of sincere friendly advice: You may want to avoid doing that until you've built up enough of a rapport with someone that they'll know how to take it. Human communication is 20% words and 80% body language. Without the body language component we're going to communicate at 20% effectiveness at best, which means we will always tend to take each other's words at face value unless we have reason to do otherwise. It's the best we can do.

I hate it when people accuse me of saying things I didn't say too.

Yeah I explain the reason when asked. If people don't ask, I assume they don't care so I leave it at that. In practice, declining coffee results in people asking why about 99% of the time so there it is.

I'm not really sure. As I think back on it, my co-worker may have only been drinking water, as I was. I didn't pay very close attention so my initial statement that "everybody else" had wine may have been mistaken. His friend (also Muslim) had some but I think for him it was more about the culture. The person who had the most was another co-worker of mine, a Baptist.

What I said was "when I say I'm unable to partake in those things because of my religious beliefs, they understand completely and that's that." Nowhere did I say anything that could reasonably be interpreted as "giving a big speech," as you accused me of doing. And yes, I will bother with an explanation because I am asked why. That's still not the same as "giving a big speech." Whatever hostility or pre-conceived assumptions you may have, please don't lay them on me.

Why would you assume I make some kind of speech? Is this lecture based on that assumption? @Midwest LDS hit the nail on the head.

NO YOU CAN'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO! YOU'RE NOT MY REAL DAD!!!!