Holy shit I completely had no idea, why doesn’t this ever get brought up when they talk about voting in general? Thank you for letting people know.

damn, that sounds like you were part of a case study in your childhood. Is there a difference with how your brother turned out and yourself? Interested to know if you picked up skills like DIY and stuff while your brother isn’t capable of those things.

It’s interesting the preconceived notions over managements usefulness and the actual role a CEO plays in a company. I’ve had a lot of conversations with people over the years and everyone just expects that it “has to be this way or it won’t work”. Like every admin position is critical or the company will fail, completely disregarding that most of those positions didn’t exist before and the company ran just fine.

There’s a lot of misinformation over what their actual job entails. Management is mostly just one big “telephone” game (been on all sides of it, got out just in time before it warped my perception of life). The original role of being support is completely absent in their duties as our society and culture has changed. People also think a co-op would never work because you need a big shot CEO who runs the company and makes all the decisions (they don’t, plenty of examples in reality).

It’s kinda funny to hear a lot of the tech people on here mention imposter syndrome. Every person in administration has this feeling deep down inside that they aren’t important and they have no clue what they’re doing. The only difference is everyone in the C-suite pat’s eachother on the back and help build each other’s ego up so they can just pretend they don’t feel it. It’s why people in these positions get so defensive and irate if you start dissecting their actual duties and importance. They’ve been reassured everyday that what they do is integral when it’s suppose to be the managers job to make his employees feel that way.

I think it’s important to realize that we fantasize the person more than actually knowing them in the beginning. This can be bad if you’re expectations are high and you find yourself fantasizing about a partner often. It’s especially hard when just chatting online as we tend to form that person in our head before we actually meet them.

Just remember it takes time to really get to know someone. You can spend a lifetime learning someones inner workings and never really figure it out 100%. It can be a blessing though since it will allow you to fall in love with the person more than once.

edit: meant to add that it’s also a similar struggle if you fantasize about “The One that Got Away”. It’s not reality, that person isn’t who you believe them to be in your dreams (both literally and figuratively if you dream about them at night). Your perceived notions of what that relationship would be might hold you back from actually fully committing to the person you’re interested in.

Ah, guess we’ve just hit different perspectives in life. I live in the rural south of the US. So radio, local news, politicians, and social conversations all basically skew either religious or right-wing (often times mixed). The fear-mongering is constant. One of the reasons why I was so discouraged by the DNC this last election cycle; they lead with fear mongering lately, which I was already inundated with.

I think you’re just gonna have to double-down on returns if you want that in-person experience online without jumping through hoops. Just make sure to shop online at places that have a good policy, some clothing websites know this is how it works so their policy is setup to compliment that (free returns, awesome customer service, decent return time policy).

Think of the mail delivery as your personal entourage, they bring you clothing to try on at your leisure (which you’ve pre-selected the style/etc) and you just give them back if you’re not satisfied. You can schedule pick-ups easily without needing to go to the post office every week if the company has a decent enough packaging system (some even send return slips/packages or are printable etc).

To make it easier, I would suggest getting into the measurements of your body. It’s not like your body is going to dramatically change from day to day so it should be something you’ll be able to monitor and get used to real quick (male centric video/female centric video). It’s a little more work, but will last you a lifetime as a skill to better understand your body. It will probably help lower the number of returns as well since you’ll be better informed.

Kinda sad to see the local news comment. I’m not sure if there’s just a really bad local news station by you or there’s some preconceived notions floating there, but you’re more likely to remember the reporting of a death versus Grandma Martha’s award winning plant that got recognition.

If you have other techniques for staying up to date with local and state events please share them, people need to be involved with local more than national (both are important, statistically you impact local more though). I have a couple of local news stations that I follow with their online postings. I feel it’s important to comment and discuss on those because the only vocal people seem to be extremists on there, people need to see that there are like minded people nearby so it’s not so weird to think differently to them.

I’m also confused by your religious missionaries and leftists comment, are you including the right-wing with religious? I can’t argue that everyone doesn’t push the whole savior narrative, just not sure why you singled out those two groups and left everyone else out lol.

It’s tough. Just keeping up with “trying” to be aware is a full-time stressful job (there’s literally only so much time in a day to absorb information, some have less/more). That would be hard even if everything was awesome news all the time in a world so connected.

It helps to realize that it’s always been this way, the world is a busy busy place. Everything going on, all the time, never stopping. It doesn’t pause, you sleep and the world continues on without you. It’s overwhelming, but kinda cool at the same time.

So for me, I take a step back with “mindfulness”. It’s just a word, but what you’re going for is a feeling. For instance, if you’ve been on here a long time, turn off your screen for a minute and look at your surroundings. Don’t let your mind wander back to the screen. Literally give your mind a second to realize you are just existing in a small space. Look at your wall and pick out a detail you haven’t seen before, or a tree (anything to let your mind think about something else).

Take some deep breaths or stretch or feel your toes, there’s lots of different techniques people use. But, you’re going for the disconnected feeling. If you’re breathing and still thinking about what’s online you gotta refocus to your immediate area. That argument or event is not in your vicinity. You are not helping by stressing out over it. Don’t be a fire-fighter who’s in a firehouse worried about all the houses catching on fire.

You can compensate your mind’s news addiction, by realizing you are better prepared to interact and absorb information online if you’re more stable. At some point your cognitive mind is tapped out but you’re still scrolling from habit, or you’re less likely to get your point across with proper communication if you’re not in your best mindset.

By just giving your mind a little room to breathe you’ll start figuring out what you want to do with that time. Local organization, hobbies, chores, your mind will try to fill that void with something and you’ll be able to hopefully choose something that helps your current overwhelming feeling. Fire-fighters check equipment, play games, shoot the shit, etc. They’re still extremely helpful when the time comes.

From recent events I believe online discourse is an important part of society interaction. Look at the media attention over the CEO, instead of just demonizing him, they had to spend time trying to fight all the online support and looked like fools during it.

Yeah! Can’t understand why they believe checks comment…oh… climate change? Umm, sure. You got them, glad you gave them that mental check and brought them back to reality…weren’t just being insulting or anything.

It’s morning and don’t have a lot of time but this is an interesting question I wanted to answer while it was relevant.

A lot of people have touched on the basics which kinda follow along any industry. Price gouging, variety is more expensive than just making one repetitive design, etc. Few things I wanted to touch on,

1. You shouldn’t really be replacing faucets that much. They design them to have internal structures which can be replaced. Even the crappiest low cost items can be fixed with a few bucks (they call these mobile home models, what gets put into all the mass manufactured items and are usually in a different section all to themselves). Pick a design you want and look into it’s replacement parts to save some money (if you’re worried about the part being reliably available, just get like 3 kits and you’ll be set for life).

2. Supply chain cost. Manufacturers make a product for 30, they sell it to distributors who mark it up to 50, they sell it to a store who then marks it up to 80. Home Renovision DIY has a great video detailing the process, compares online vs boxstore vs plumbing store. Also cuts them open and shows you the internals which is all great with a 13min video.

I mean, you’re not the first one to say thing. People picket, people protest, people make noise. College students are arrested, protests either get Zero media attention (or worse, are regulated to an ineffective location because of regulations) or the protestors switch to disruptive tactics that actually get noticed and are demonized by everyone for it.

Like I keep hearing this “You have to go out and take action”, EVERYONE IS! People are walking up and knocking on people’s doors and getting punched in the face. People are outside houses getting cops called on them and arrested. Everyone is now more able to point out the bad actors and exactly how that’s effecting the parties and policies.

You have Bernie Sanders and AOC out protesting and “making noise” in the spot light every damn day.

• third party doesn’t work
• you can’t solve the 2 party system
• The way to solve the issue happens between votes

our election cycle is every 2 years or less depending on the occasion. IT IS ALWAYS ELECTION CYCLE IN AMERICAN POLITICS. They have to plan early and extensively to knock off any candidate they don’t want (pulling national resources to squash anyone they view “outside” their establishment).

At this point the “make noise” comments need to reiterate what the end goal is for that make noise. You’re setting people up to just be angry and upset and protest the inequality or inefficiencies of our system when that’s exactly what the politicians want (it’s a feature, not a bug). No amount of protesting, a litany of policies at that, will be effective when the complete political spectrum is against change. Take a look at the Civil Rights Era and the voting that was concluded, it looks completely unlike anything we have now.

The political parties have strengthened their stranglehold (I’ve argued in the past that they are “political parties” in name only, they are more incorporated or an oligarch representatives at this point and should be regulated as such). They listen to power only, the power was taken from the working and lower classes a long time ago. We get our shows we can put on, but it doesn’t move the needle anymore. It used to at least force them to talk about moving the needle, even that’s gone now.

The great majority of adult Israelis are militant settler-colonizers

link: Conscription in Israel Since the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948, fixed-term military service has been compulsory in Israel.

I don’t see how your statement and the hyper-texted link are relevant. I went through the sections but it’s just their basic military service that a lot of countries require?

This is not in defense of a government, just want to make sure we’re not making vague blanket statements on a populace.

sniffs your hair deeply

Those OPEC Countries, who rely on ICE Engines like they’re a future ATM Machine, are just maddening. They’re a HIV Virus plague on the world and NASA Administration need to launch them into LEO orbit.

oh I was thinking Pete Davidson (funnily enough I had to search “druggie snl celeb” for his name and he popped up lol)

I’m the opposite, love dead pan humor though so could be why. Once they start cracking up I’m out of watching SNL. The only times I think it’s funny is like “who’s line is it anyways” where it’s not a scripted scene. SNL tries to do that with prosthetics but it’s such a shtick that you can tell the people are laughing because they’re supposed to.

I want to be as gentle as possible and just kinda point some things out that I’m reading as a stranger. I don’t think anyone is blaming you or trying to shame you about the ass beatings. You’ve put up with a lot and not calling the cops kept it from escalating. It sounds like you’ve got solid boundaries in place now so hopefully you can look back on all of it a little more relaxed and from an outside perspective like I’m forced to have.

You gotta understand, we’re all a little crazy dealing with life. Mental health ranges from having a stretch, to full on institutionalized psychiatric care. A person can sit down with a therapist for years and never open up to get a proper diagnosis. Behavior disorders can have no neurological symptoms, chemical imbalances can go for decades without being discovered. Sometimes the systems just aren’t able to provide the right support because there’s no flashing red sign to point too.

He seems like a functional adult from what you’ve described. Probably have a lot of “ok” moments with him where it just makes you want to smack him upside the head when he starts doing the fuckery shit. There are so many other things to do in life besides shoving hamburgers in your pocket and giving your parents the worse algorithms after searching “help son stuck on bed post” online. I enjoy gaming and tinkering while also coming on here. I could be carving a special tree in my back woods for some play-time, but I never learned and/or didn’t have the wiring to enjoy sexual pain as a release and gratification (not kink shaming, just not built that way).

We all have stupid shit we could be getting into, thoughts that come into our minds or dark paths we decide not to go down. It’s that impulse control that keeps you floating above water. You could argue that he “physically has the ability to use that control”, but regardless of the wiring, it’s not being used. His actions have a negative effect on the people around him and are harmful, even if it’s behavioral and a “daddy didn’t love me enough” kinda excuse, you will still need support and proper guidance to address the issues (sometimes shit’s just too tough for people to handle on their own, a lot of us suffer in silence and some don’t even want to know anything’s wrong).

Support can have it’s limits. But at that point you seek other support mechanisms, we don’t really have a functional mental health system that can lead you to the next steps properly. I’m sure there was more recommendations to address his behavior but it probably became circular with no real progression.

A lot of “Ryan’s” are in jail because they stole from the wrong person or didn’t have a community like you guys were to him. There’s a lot of Ryan’s running around everyday that you pass by but they keep their shit together for those fleeting moments to seem normal. idk what else to say really, I hope you don’t have any more run-ins with the guy. Just sounds like a horrible experience and that’s gotta be stressful as a family. I feel sympathy for him though, hopefully he finds what he needs for a more peaceful rest of his life where he’s able to make the decisions that benefit him and those he loves around him in the future.

Yeah, I couldn’t help reading this and feeling extremely sad for Ryan. If they’re in their 50’s-60’s, the parents had tried to get him diagnosed as a kid in what, the 70’s?!? I’m not sure what they’re expectations are for people with a mental disorder, but it sounds like they’re expecting a trope and someone halfway functional is completely fine.

There is apparently a childhood full of sexual deviancy, which was never properly addressed and caused more anxiety and strain on his relationships his entire adult life. Dude’s stealing post-it notes and anything/everything regardless of value, that’s kleptomania 101

Kleptomania (klep-toe-MAY-nee-uh) is a mental health disorder that involves repeatedly being unable to resist urges to steal items that you generally don’t really need. Often the items stolen have little value and you could afford to buy them. Kleptomania is rare but can be a serious condition. It can cause much emotional pain to you and your loved ones — and even legal problems — if not treated.

Kleptomania is a type of impulse control disorder — a disorder that involves problems with emotional or behavioral self-control. If you have an impulse control disorder, you have difficulty resisting the temptation or powerful urge to perform an act that’s excessive or harmful to you or someone else. (link)

He’s doing these things, but I think the expectation is that he should “just stop” or “get over it”. He’s so out of control he can’t even stop him self while in front of other people or performing dangerous sexual acts, this is a person who has been untreated and needed help for decades.

That is neat on getting your kids into a better online environment where development isn’t purely incentivized. But surely you must know that’s not the end-all of a kids user experience when being online. You’re not always gonna have them on just your setup either, they will be at their friends and on foreign devices. There’s unfortunately not much you can do in that instance without making a huge fuss.

Is everyone just young without kids and had free reign on the internet and got by ok so it’s more relaxed to you? Were you in a situation where middle school and that age have direct communication to each other? I know teachers and other parents with horror stories of the shit that comes out. It’s mostly what would be considered old school frat boy or fraternity shit but at a way earlier age, some grow out of it but I imagine others just carry on since it never effected them and then we wonder about the trolls who exist on social media lol.

lol I don’t want to get lost in analogies, but these sweets are in their pocket. Their friends are giving them new brands and better sweets. You know what sweets you have in the cabinet, you have no idea how many sweets your kid is eating per day. This is all pretty generic through when considering the entire childhood. Of course you’re gonna be there and watch your kid so they’re not over doing it at age 4, but 12+? Eh, it’s an uphill battle you should stay vigilant on till they’re legally and showing at least basic adult responsibility.

If you’re nearby your kid when you’re in the park or they’re at school interacting with other kids (etc), you’re gonna be curious and want to make sure they’re doing alright but just kinda peripheral paying attention to their actions while mingling yourself. It can be treated respectfully and non intrusively by just checking your router (other devices), what kind of traffic is coming in and out (generic safety), and maybe something along the lines of just asking to see their app activity in their account to get an idea of how they’re spending their time without diving right into their private data.

I don’t really understand the disconnect going on here and maybe everyone is a lot more innocent than I was. I for sure was up to some bullshit online at a young age and that was dial-up. We’re really looking at everything like how the election went, social influencers, and young people getting radicalized online and just throwing our hands up saying it’s all good?