iNow

You'll find me and Phi, but not String. His is super confusing, I know. Mine's short for InfiniteNow, and early summary of my feelings on time.

See also: Bill Cosby

-1

There’s been at least one mass shooting in the US every single week of the year this far. It’s only May, and already 8,000 people have been killed by guns this year.

Well, they HAVE given you someone to look down upon and feel holier than, so I suppose there’s that. Life’s so much easier when we can dismiss entire humans with simple monolithic 1-dimensional labels and ignore the actual being they truly are. Having a simple life is nice, so I suppose there’s that, too.

Probably simpler like the air used to fill the balloons wasn’t zero percent humidity.

Because those we do elect keep cutting funding for public education and the self-perpetuating cycle continues.

And you’ve quoted me, why?

You could’ve shared that without all the whiny childish vitriolic BS. You’re nothing if not consistent.

Did he tell you that’s why he left, or is this another unfounded assumption you’re presenting as fact? Maybe he took a new job that disallowed him from online forums, or had kids, or got sick and died. There are thousands of possible reasons as to why he is no longer an active poster here. What evidence do you have confirming it was due to the site culture? Darn. Whatever will we do without your thoughtful, informative, reasonable posting style where you’re always so quick to supply evidence when asked?

I’m supportive of this in parallel, but not in place of, improving our concept of normal. In terms of this thread, one way we might celebrate trans kids is by letting them compete in sports and not making it against the law (I know you’re already onboard with that, am just reinforcing it more generally).

P1: We have a serious problem with gun violence in this country. More children die from guns than from car accidents. P2: Hmm. Have you tired solving it by selling more guns to more people, and ensuring the people closest to those kids also have guns? P1: Hot damn, you’re right! Why didn’t I think if that!?!

Every 13 minutes, someone is killed with a gun… just in Oklahoma, one of our 49 states who had their own mass shooting in the last day.

You're always so steady and inviting of reasonable rational dialog without needless vitriol or attack. Thank you for so consistently leading by example and setting the proper tone that leaves personal barbs and aggro provocations at the door. It's truly a sight to behold!

This is completely fair and valid. The distinction, however, seems to suggest your position is that those expectations of themselves are innate and not themselves also being learned/transferred/enforced by the culture into which they happen to be born. The same idea applies with religion. If you're born into a Muslim family, you'll have X expectations about yourself. If you're born into a Hindu family, you'll have Y expectations about yourself. If you're born into a Buddhist family, you'll have Z expectations about yourself. None of those expectations were with you upon exiting the womb. All of them were learned and taught. Same applies to acceptance and cultural understanding of ones own non-binary sexual identity. This seems profound on it's own, but unsure how one would EVER separate the two. Feels more like a distinction without a difference. If we as a society stopped trying to force kids into one or the other binary buckets for sex, I bet a lot of these damaging "not who you wish to be" perspectives pretty well vanish as a direct result. At that point, they're just being who they are without a constant and daily onslaught of people they love, trust, and respect telling them they're unnatural or wrong just for authentically being who they are.

The flag which identifies whether or not you've read a post (or a post has been marked as read) applies at the user profile level and is not browser specific.

If men are being abused and ignored, then yes. That should change. We should support people being abused, help them into healthier situations, and follow the evidence instead of our own biases whenever we can. Traditional sex and gender roles are rapidly shifting and even crumbling. This issue of abuse is no different, nor should it be. We should attempt to protect people as a whole, not limit focus on specific sexual or gender identities as if they exist within a vacuum. And I can justifiably state all of this without accusing Koti of being some PC woke social justice warrior for even beginning the discussion here. Amazing!

Parents and much of society, too. They’re fine with who they are. The people with whom they interact each day too often are not.

I'm sure trans kids are the same. Confused about some other things whilst growing up, but not about their gender/sexuality. Why would your experience and my experience lack such confusion, but theirs have confusion? You are making an unfounded assumption here. If you weren't confused, why assume they're confused?

Correct on both fronts. Sadly, by focusing on tribal signaling, identity politics, and sociocultural issues like trans kids in sports, their voters turn out to support them in far greater number and with far higher intensity. Then, to follow Peters actual point, why do you believe trans kids are confused?

I likely would have by now had I been autonomous myself as the sole decider for the family.

Too often overruled by statewide legislation.

If I’m going to advocate and try bringing people to my side on this issue as I am doing, I need to seek guidance from people like y’all who are smarter than me to highlight my current blind spots and partner with me to identify potentially better approaches.