NeuroTypical

I appreciate the education. Almost all of this is new information to me, but it gives me a place to start doing some research. When arguing online in the cesspool, I'm occasionally told that I'm showing up with racist or fascist or genocidal dogwhistles. But I know nothing about those numbers, or the My Pillow guy (other than I know he weirds out folks on the left). On it's surface, a lot of this really sounds like the left-wing version of stuff like Qanon beliefs about how Hillary Clinton and John Podesta run a secret global pedophile ring, and the proof is their use of the term "cheeze pizza". I've seen stuff like this since my childhood. The '70's were full of commie plots to fluoridate our drinking water. The '80's were full of commie plots to fake the fall of the USSR, but now they were working behind the scenes in the UN and Greenpeace. In the '90's I encountered actual humans who were sharing stories about being abducted by mormon leaders who were reptilian lizard people. And as far as I could tell, they weren't joking or lying. Then folks of this mindset got scared about Y2k, which apparently had been engineered by either the Rockefellers or the Japanese to get a virus into every computer system in America. In 2010 the worry was about 2012, 4chan is full of kids who want to see the world burn, and relish in their ability to get earworms into our grandparents. They've contributed to qanon, tidepods, birds aren't real, the bronies, and the incel movement. Ooof. I'm trying hard to give that statement respect, but I'm really struggling. It's just that I've always heard stuff like "You can tell a commie because they always have a reasonable explanation about how they're not a commie". Variations of "You can tell she's a witch, because of how innocent her actions look." That said: I guess we all dismiss things, and accept other things. You mentioned secret combinations. I think/read/think much about Ezra Taft Benson and other church leader's writings on that stuff, and modern-day Gadianton Robbers. Also, I'm weirded out about the timing of Russian twitter bots infecting American notions about vaccinations, happening a year and a half before COVID showed up. Such things are hard to dismiss. And my church revamping it's curriculum to "home-centered, church-supported" just ONE FREAKING YEAR before we all went into government-enforced quarantine lockdown isn't helping me see coincidences as just coincidences. So yeah, um, I guess I'm ok resisting 1488 and the people who like what it means. My dad did it in WWII as he participated in the Battle of the Bulge, when they were all in one place and easy to find and defeat. If I ever see one, I'll try to figure out what they think about principles of constitutional conservatism. I'm guessing they don't think much about them, which means they're nowhere close to my side of the political fence. That said, Imma google up "1488 4chan" before I come to any conclusions about Mike Lindell. Me too. I'm a fan of cleaning up your own back yard.

I totally agree. I used to use all of it as a place to argue religion and politics. After FB gave me an account violation for sharing a New York Post article, I mostly gave up on using FB for that purpose. Now this place, X and TikTok and some other places, where I can post anonymously, is where I do most of my arguing. The anonymous stuff is sort of a requirement these days, with all the death threats and invitations to fight and doxxing and threats to contact my employer and all.

lol same. Except here are things that people have called me or said to me. (If any of them sound tame, try adding the word 'f*ck*ng' in front of it, because it's usually there.) - Nazi Bootlicker - Brownshirt - Actual Nazi - Alt-right racist [beep] - Transphobe who wants to genocide trans kids - I've been invited to drink bleach and die in a hole. - I've been invited to unalive myself. - A buddy of a left-leaning buddy on FB threatened to get me fired from my job and ruin my family. The shared buddy ended up apologizing for him, defending him with "he's had some hard times lately" @Phoenix_person, I appreciate the crap out of how civil and polite you've been. Mormons in general, and Thirdhour is no exception, are mostly on the right side of center, and you're in the minority here. I'm grateful to have someone on the left with some brain cells to rub together, willing to engage me in civil debate. Even as we run up to the election. Especially as we run up to the election. I had a leftie FB arguing buddy for years on FB. Unfortunately, his PTSD got the worst of him during the George Floyd stuff when everything was on fire and gunshots were going off. He became nastier and nastier, pursuing me as I tried to stop arguing with him. I finally had to block him. I'm glad to find another leftie with which to argue.

I'm about 80% in agreement with your general gripes about social media being a dangerous place full of lowbrow evil. It's like YouTube comment sections have always been bottom feeding poison, but now everyone can see it. But even though I spend time on Twitter, I see hardly any nazi stuff, even though I follow the IDF and other pro-Israel and mil opiners and read their comments sections. Where are you seeing it all? "dogwhistles on the right" - I'm still hazy on what that means. A dogwhistle is something that you blow into, and only the dogs can hear the noise. So the claim is that people on the right are talking in ways that only others on the right can understand? About what exactly? I keep hearing about the 'alt-right nazi fascists' associated with the word, and I've been called such things more times than I can count on FB and X over the last 3 years. I guess I need a little help understanding you. I'm on the right. Do I send out dogwhistles? What are they about? Who on the right hears me, what messages to they receive, and how can you understand them if they're a dogwhistle?

Oh, SNAP! The story is getting picked up by news outlets. https://townhall.com/tipsheet/leahbarkoukis/2024/10/17/meta-software-engineer-says-anti-harris-posts-automatically-demoted-n2646358

Oh, snap!

Are there not two sides to that equation? What of post-war Palestine, and how they've been handled/treated/manipulated/used by places like Iran, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia? In the record of human history there are recurring themes about what happens with defeated peoples, but an awful lot of that didn't happen with Palestinians. It seems to me they've been far too useful as a permanent pawn to be used by nations that don't like Israel or the Western world. Give 'em missiles and guns and bombs and training to fight Israel, but only as a deadly nuisance. If we're looking at other powers intervening in that area for 100+ years, it seems a bit myopic to only look at half the powers. They tell me enough money has poured into the occupied territories to have turned it into another Dubai. It could have been a beautiful paradise with human advancement and universities and art. And yet it's a place of permanent refugee camps. Really can't lay all that on the western world. Can we? Well, no matter the history, Israel is out to make permanent change. Bring October 7 to a nation where "never again" is part of their shared multicultural DNA, and get what you get. I'm interested to see if Israel has enough ability and national will to bring some sort of permanent change to Iran.

Ooooo! More abandonware I can get for free!

I could go with that. Gotta agree.

I remember that game! Right as we were moving from Steve Jackson's Car Wars, into Battletech. Then college ended and I got married and everyone moved away and life stayed bleak until Mechwarrior 4 became abandonware and you could find it for free. Then life was bleak again until MW 5, but it only un-bleaked things for a few months. These days when I have time to kill or thoughts to process, I play the old PC games 2003 Galactic Civilizations or 2006 Sword of the Stars.

If there's a 2nd place to all this, I'd vote the Boston Dynamics robots. https://www.facebook.com/share/r/8Kuat8GJnyQM8ngA/

One of the valid concerns I keep hearing from the pro-Palestinian side of things, is all Israel is doing is raising the next generation of terrorist killers, who end up that way because of the trauma going on around them as Israel and Hamas wage war. Reading up on Sinwar's life, dude is sort of the dictionary definition of that concern. Born and raised in refugee camps, being deeply impacted by the communal living conditions and dependent on food distribution run by people he thought of as the enemy. Radicalized by Hamas and in prison by 20. Getting his fellow Palestinians killed when he thought they were Israeli collaborators by 22. Blood on his own hands probably about that time. I hope Israel is successful in eliminating Hamas, so there's nobody left to radicalize the kids being traumatized today. But of course, the Palestinians have to eventually be sick enough of their rulers that they finally refuse to stop being Hamas pawns and human shields. I hope the people left standing can figure out a way to help bring that about. I hope they can accomplish something like what happened in Germany. Where Germans were split into Germans, who were able to rebuild and live life with honor, and nazis, who were hunted down, tried, imprisoned, and often executed. I doubt they'll never accomplish anything like Imperial Japan after WWII. Japan's emperor surrendered, not only surrendered to allied forces, but also surrendered his status of deity to the Japanese people. I don't see anyone in Hamas left who can do that.

"The smarter you get, the more help you need coming in out of the rain." - LM's dad Honestly though, one of my favorite bishops was a chemistry professor. As a clerk, I worked closely with the bishop's wife to make sure he was properly fed, reminded of coming appointments, and eventually pushed out of his office so he wouldn't be too late getting home for things he and his wife had planned.

Dad, I feel you. I have been where your kid is. Both of my children have been where your kid is. So, honest question: Were those members of that social circle living the gospel? Your kid has lost trust in these people, and from what you are telling us, he is right to do so. People who gossip and spread untruths? People who refuse to find out the truth of people within their stewardship, and just go with the story of some kid playing the victim? Of course this is a totally healthy struggle for a teenager. The teenage years seem designed by God to be the years where we begin to struggle with such weighty matters. Peer pressure, and the desire to find a place to belong, a brain developing long-term planning ability and growing in the ability to grapple with complex social and moral issues: All of this ramps up in the teenage years. I totally get the list of how this experience is impacting him. I feel it deeply. I had similar things happen to me. I've watched my kids go through similar struggles. I've spent my share of nights fearing for my kids. I get it, and I'm not brushing it aside. Ideas: - Love him as best you can. You might try expressing a little pride in him. Dude is hurt because people who were supposed to be the good people and role models passed untruths about him, and nobody seems to want his side of the story. Dude is reacting with pain and hurt and stress and loss of sleep. You know how other kids react? They turn mean. They get manipulative or vengeful or angry or even. They look for approval in bad places. May God continue to bless your kid with a strong moral foundation that allows him to see wrong and say wrong. - Empathize with him if you can. How were things when you were a teen? Do you remember how you reacted to such things? - Walk this road with him, not for him. This can be a harder thing for a parent to do. Teenagers are moving from needing constant protection and guidance, to moving out and exploring the world. The parent has the impossible task of letting them stumble so they can grow, but keeping them from going off the cliff. I don't think there's a loving parent out there that doesn't wrestle mightily with this. - I note that you seem rather invested in signaling adherence to church things. Your screen name indicates you're an RM. You signed your first post as an active full tithe paying Mormon. You get that your kid doesn't care, right? You're telling us he just got betrayed by a bunch of active tithing RM's. Your kid doesn't need to know you do/are these things, he needs to know why you do/are these things. Assuming you're giving an accurate account, he needs to know why you are a good example while the kids, the parents, the bishop, the youth leaders, and the stake president's wife are all being a bad example. What's the difference between you and them? Figure it out, and talk to your kid about it. That's my attempt to help, assuming you're giving a complete and clear picture. If there's more to the story you're not sharing, please consider sharing it. I mean, if your kid actually did something that warrants such a reaction, and you're protecting him instead of helping him repent, then the situation is totally different than how you are portraying it. I'm not saying that's what is happening. It's just out of the last 50 times I've heard a story like yours, maybe 20 of them it turned out the parent was doing their own share of lying and making their own kid look like the victim while hiding the kid's actions and protecting the kid from just consequences. Again, not saying that's you. But not everyone with an "my kid is the only good one and everyone else is being bad" story is being fully honest. Are you being fully honest with us?

So, having two grown kids and also being a kid myself, I remember plenty of social drama. That said, those two sentences really don't work together. You're telling us about the kids, the parents, the youth leaders, the bishop, and the stake parent's wife. If all that is a true recounting of the events, why on earth would any parent want to teach his kid that this is how a "good solid social circle" acts? Do you think all that has transpired, is how a "good solid social circle" acts when young drama shows up?

Oh noes! The US declared bankruptcy and dissolved! The people who stepped into the power vacuum call themselves "the federated confederation of southern canada", and say they know nothing of this US treasury of which you speak of. They direct you to China for further inquiries.

Yeesh. Trying to buy a used car. Trying to get dollars moved out of one account and into the checking account, so I can write the check. Transfer request Friday evening, now it's Wednesday. Transfer is still pending. Called customer support, spent 20 minutes trying to verify who I am before they'd help me. They got my social, my account number (after satisfying the website's verification check by sending a code to my phone). I changed my security word while I waited on hold for a supervisor, so they could have that too, but apparently their system doesn't update real time. The supervisor was finally able to send my phone another code, and they could finally get into my account to help me. Spent the last 9 minutes hearing that transfers take 2-3 business days, and then I finally won the argument about how many business days I've been waiting (we finally agreed on 3). Now, with all those obstacles out of the way, the customer support response is "wait until the end of day and try again". In other words, I take the sense of unease we've been discussing, and raise with my story. Anyone got anxiety yet? 😨

I don't know one way or the other. But I do know how the world generates backlash against transformative people. It wouldn't surprise me one bit that a hundred talking heads are out there publishing articles and making that claim. It also wouldn't surprise me one bit that every single one of them is painting an inaccurate picture. In 2002 he was the CEO and chief engineer. Per Wiki, they're his current titles. I suppose someone can be an absent figurehead or a rubber stamp with such titles, but Wiki says this: Doesn't sound "that SpaceX is the one area which he doesn't actually impact that much." Again, I don't have the faintest clue. I'm just going off of what I see when I search online for an answer.

And if she's doing the same thing, this is how miracles happen and folks find each other.

As we approach the election, the tea and coffee people both try to look appealing to the cocoa bois.

I've got a few buddies who I've watched trying to enter the dating scene when they're past their '30's. It's a scary meat market full of weirdos and scammers and liars and unstable immature people. If you have a chance at something nice with someone nice, take the risk. I second Gator's advice. Be honest and transparent. If she runs, she runs. If she sticks around for a deeper look, give her one. As every single one of my buddies quickly found out - there's so much more than just money and great health. They found that out, after running into all the people that were missing the other things. Thirdhour is rooting for ya! [edit: it’s like this out there. If you don’t lick chalk, you have an advantage.] https://www.facebook.com/share/r/s7TZ2oVP9ZkCxaJ8/?mibextid=N9fs7i

If you're gonna get out of stocks, now is a good time to do it. I remember in 2008 at the bottom of the recession, I heard a similar LDS buddy in a similar LDS forum saying this: "My retirement has lost 32% of it's value. I'm getting out while I still have something to lose." Dude not only bailed at an all time low, he also missed the massive upswing that is the hallmark of a recession's end. It's all about fortune telling. Over the next year, is the market gonna do this: or this: If the first one, you'll consider yourself a saavy investor. If the latter, it might be partially due to an upswing in inflation, and you'll be kicking yourself for bailing and losing all that purchasing power. Happy guessing! (Oh, also, what's "something more stable"?)

Nah, the left has always been civil and truthful.

Yeah, I run into folks like that. I suppose I can't really gatekeep the title "conservative" to keep out teh idjits. Just know that most of us are about as proud of them as the left is of the poor college idiots that try to debate Charlie Kirk, or the OnlyFans/stripping defenders at @Whatever studios.

In my school career, whenever I got an E (or E equivalent), I never had any teacher ever say "well done thou good and faithful student"...