NeuroTypical

Catholic poster on another board puts it this way: As I hear news about Popes, for decades, I've heard similar things from Catholics after this or that news story gets everyone all excited.

Oh, it's part apologetic database, part personal diary - so I'll have to pass. You can find everything I have in my compendium, far better explained in the FARMS review of books. Or maybe the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies. Honestly - anyone who wants a thorough education in most of the scholarly criticisms of our church, and most of the best responses to those criticisms, I wholeheartedly recommend spending 6 months digesting the 39 or so issues of the FARMS book review, published between 1989 and 2011. It also gives a thorough treatment to all the dumb stuff.

Very similar to my experience. In the late '90's, I lurked on various boards, hearing the criticisms and how they were answered. I loved the old FARMS book reviews, where they'd take a critical work by a critic, evaluate the arguments, and respond to them. After a few years of lurking, I started engaging in online apologetics myself. That was quite satisfying too. But yeah, after a decade of all that, it started getting repetitive and boring. High point of my 'apologetic career', was on the Reachout Trust countercult board, where one of their best critics admitted that as far as he could tell, I might very well be a saved Christian. Of course he still believed that would be in spite of my church and not because of it, but it was still quite cool to hear. I guess a distant 2nd high point, was when I got the zealous antimormons at the Catholic Answers Forum to stop advancing a particularly unimpressive 150 year old garbage criticism. Because even 12 yr olds can read for 5 minutes and understand why "nephite coinage" isn't a valid criticism. Despite my best efforts though, people still thought there was a problem with "adieu" in the Book of Mormon. I guess what looked simple to me, a guy who had worked for a translation company for a few years, just still was too complex for some folks to get. These days, I still reference my massive knowledge compendium word doc once or twice a year. Just opened it and found it finally reached 100 full pages - 140,000 words. Most of it cutting and pasting others' words, but I'd bet a full 20% of it was me saving my own answers.

The way I see it, it is similar to the 2016 election. Not everybody who voted for Trump admitted doing so when asked. And now in 2020 when some on the left is trying to burning down cities, and attacking people on sidewalk cafes for not raising their fist in support of #BLM, one might think the effect will be even more pronounced. Show me a solid principled left winger who has been assaulted on the street for being a racist, and I'll show you a closet Trump supporter.

I think @Vort is on record somewhere as being on this list.

Forgive me if I'm on a TikTok binge here. But it's commonplace to tag your political TikToks with multiple hashtags (#Biden2020 #Trump2020 #2020Election, etc). So although my swiping preferences are feeding TikTok's algorithms, I'm perusing both sides of political thought. I'm seeing an astonishing number of #WalkAway lefties. I'm seeing absolutely zero from folks walking away from the right. Not a single one. I'm not being presented anything to dismiss.

I get all my relevant news from TikTok these days. And I'm astounded by the amount of #WalkAway liberals who have had enough of multigenerational betrayal by democrats, and they are ticked off enough to publicly come out as supporting Trump. The prospect of a guy who has been making the same promises to fix things for 4+ decades, and a Veep pick of the only person out there who has put more black people behind bars than he has, is just too much for them.

Of course this is timed. Like the release of Trump's taxes was timed. Like the rest of the headlines-grabbing "October Surprises" will be timed. Both sides vie for control of the news cycles, because for every dozen decided voters, there are a couple voters with no long term memory, who will just vote based off of how they feel about this or that candidate, and their feelings will be informed by what they listened to on the radio on the drive to the voting place. This is how campaigns are run. Seems a stretch to call it "election interference". 2020 is a rare thing, because we're thinking and talking about two totally untimed things: Trump's Covid, and RBG's replacement.

Heh. They impeached Trump over this. And now here it is.

This one is certainly trying my patience. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/10/15/facebook-twitter-hunter-biden/

I can certainly appreciate your perspective and firsthand experience, dahlia. (And welcome back btw! ) Of course I believe racism exists. My father personally witnessed the segregated busses in Chicago, with a movable sign that said "no negroes beyond this point". He personally witnessed a couple of idiot white college kids get on the empty bus, and laughingly move the sign back a few rows, and then laughed when the black lady had to move back. He was also very much a product of his greatest-generation culture, and I grew up hearing his distrust and opposition to black soldiers in WWII. True enough. There is enough crap going on in the world, even pre-covid, that I do not spend time looking for examples of this or that problem or bad behavior. (Other than online, where that's basically my go-to behavior.) I'm a massive fan of a high bar when it comes to judging others' actions as this or that. For decades I've aligned myself with Elder Oaks' 1999 Judge Not and Judging talk, which basically lays out seven hurdles that must all be passed before anyone should say something like "I just witnessed racism". When moving through my day, I'll look for threats to my family's safety. I don't look for racism. So, from that lens: Ok. I've never seen it personally. I cannot hope to truthfully claim "I have personally witnesed redlining against this or that minority". To do so, would be bearing false witness against my neighbor. Ok. I've only seen it personally once or twice in the past. I can not hope to truthfully claim "I have personally witnessed lots of times when people shot nasty looks at black folks coming into this or that establishment" Or anything like it. To do so, would be bearing false witness against my neighbor. My life is a never-ending series of interactions with my fellow humans, most of whom fail in at least one identifiable way during the interaction. For a guy who has perfected the art of being a snarky teenager, I can always find something offensive, objectionable, wrong, or stupid in tone of voice, body language, facial expression, word choice, driving behavior, you name it. I simply do not know enough about the individuals involved to have a hope in heck of making a righteous judgment about why they're acting the way they do. It would be unrighteous of me to ascribe this or that motivation to anyone, in 99.9% of my daily interactions. Totally agree. It's why I said "other than viewing media, and viewing crap on the internet, I pretty much never see racism." I know umpteen left-of-center people who exhibit this behavior online. I've seen umpteen videos, especially in 2020, demonstrating this behavior. But on the rare times I've been around a leftie personally, and we've talked issues, I've never personally witnessed this behavior. Again, I'm absolutely certain racism exists. Every single minority I've ever spoken to about the subject, without exception, have a list of valid firsthand experiences they can tell me. Again, in my small handful of personal interactions with this or that minority person, I've never personally witnessed it.

OK then. I don’t often encounter a new story that makes me physically ill much anymore, but this one managed to do it. A Lot of People Think the New Netflix Movie 'Cuties' Crosses a Line by Sexualizing 11-Year-Olds I went to Netflix, and found the listing. Will you folks join me in signing the change.org petition? https://www.change.org/p/parents-of-young-children-petition-to-remove-cuties-from-netflix?source_location=topic_page If Netflix starts showing borderline underage softcore porn shows, justified with the notion of “this will shock viewers into contemplating what’s happening to today’s kids”, Will you consider dumping your Netflix account?

Yes, neither side is innocent of such nonsense. I find politically-motivated tinkering with our founding documents to be in the same camp of a rowdy teenager trying to get around mom's "no tattoos" rule. Push hard enough, for long enough, and you end up with a tattoo. Either because mom is worn out, or you've semantically invalidated any reasonable meaning of the word. So I fight against tinkering with the supreme court seats, out of a desire to preserve the republic. Because I think it's the best form we humans have available to us. And it scares the bejeezus out of me to think of the great American experiment as just another in a long line of empires, following similar paths regarding lifespan and inevitable decline.

Oh, that's easy to understand. The dems are trying to weaken the phrase "court packing", so if Biden wins and starts doing it, the phrase will have lost it's oomph with the American people. And, calling foul on the other side is always what's expected when the other side is doing something.

I'm grateful for the presidential and VP debates. Because although one was a playground brawl, and the other a better-behaved brawl, it gives us all clarity on something that should be kept in the spotlight: Both VP Biden and Senator Harris have, every single time they've been given the opportunity, absolutely, openly, transparently, flat out REFUSED to say they won't seek to pack the court if elected. There can only be one reason for this repetitive, consistent behavior: A Biden/Harris presidency will seek to work with a democrat-held congress to increase the number of Supreme Court justices, in order to forward their political ends. It seems to me at this stage of the game, such a thing would be a deal-breaker for someone not wanting to find new ways to play politics with the Supreme Court. If you care about this enough, it seems like you'd have to abandon the Biden/Harris ticket on principle. I know something about this, having jumped ship and refused to vote for Trump in the last election, on the principle that Trump was a loudmouth divisive bully of low character. I believe many principled lefties (and of course they exist) will not vote Biden/Harris over this issue.

Mirk has been methodically checking off his list, waiting for October to start.

What's the source for this? I wonder if they're talking about having a temperature at one point of the infection. I wonder if folks are contagious only when temperature is present. Oh, I'm not holding my family's example out as something I want everyone to do. Since we're 80% reclusive anyway, it wasn't that big a stretch. We all got tested half to reduce our anxiety, and half to get past all the people pre-screening with their questions on exposure and whatnot. We get our temperature taken maybe 3-5 times a week.

Update: Netflix has been indicted by grand jury in Texas. Not sure how the legal system works here, but Yay! Pro tip: If you're gonna run a streaming service, try not to stream "visual material which depcits the lewd exhibition of the genitals or pubic area of clothed or partially clothed children".

Yep - the best artists know a thing or two about anatomy. And they think along these lines, eye sockets and everything. https://www.solopress.com/blog/art-design/famous-cartoon-characters-anatomy/

My last week: - Daughter got notified by her school, that he was in a college class with someone who tested positive. The exposure was a week in the past. - The 4 of us self-isolated. - The next day (Friday), we loaded up in the car and we all got tested at one of the free testing sites. Drive through style, never got out of the car. - On Sunday, we got results back - all clear. - Monday life went back to the new normal. My suggestion, is don't wait to be told to test, go find a testing location that'll take you, and get tested. That way you'll know whether you have something to worry about or not.

I usually don't bother speculating about the hereafter, but the scenario is so science-fiction-ey, that I'll make an exception this time. I want (in whatever form my eventual conscious self takes) to be able to experience time in ways similar to how this video does it. I wanna see stars die and grow cold, and fall into black holes, and stuff.

Yay! The Zoo is doing their usual Halloween stuff, with limited attendance, and we've got tickets! And, our ward is doing their usual Trunk or Treat, just doing outside only, and cutting the potluck/chili cook off. Yay! 2 of the 3 usual family traditions are happening (in some form) this year!

*shrug* I don't think that way. I understand that many people (including every african american person I've ever gotten to know) spend a certain amount of time thinking about their race, and developing some sort of racial identity with it's rules and whatnot. It's a way to draw circles around groups of people, similar to the other bazillion ways we draw circles around ourselves. So if you're thinking about a certain racial-based circle, and thinking about what would be good for that circle, I guess you can call that racist if you want. I'm more in the "let's predict how this or that circle of people will act based on what we know about them". I have a hard enough time working my way through my circles, to think about what's good for other circles.

Oh, just to clarify, I'm absolutely certain racism exists. Both the kind to which Vort was referring, and the kind we automatically think about. I'm buddies with a black cop who shares a zillion stories about both kinds he's experienced. I've seen it in crappy youtube comment sections and on twitter. And I'm sure it has happened around me, and I've been oblivious. Again - personally witnessed? Perhaps 3 or 4 times in my life.

I got to meet him in person a few months ago when he drove through Colorado. He continues to be a heck of a guy, and is doing well.