iNow

To the thread title, I never think of Islam and it only enters my thoughts when I see threads about it like this one. It’s a nice change of pace after all the stereotyping and bigotry and marginalization we saw after 9/11

It uses heuristics ✌️ A political gift to MAGA and nightmare for Biden’s already bad optics. He needs to just own it with a joke. A political commentator recently suggested Biden say, “Sure, yeah. Okay. I’m old, but he’s old AND crazy” then move back on topic I’ve raised this with several people expressing concerns over Biden. He’s had decades as a senator learning about these issues and forming strong relationships with key players and experts, many of whom are part of his inner circle.

Indeed. Some people have multiple boots with laces all lined up neatly on a dedicated shelf in their closets so it’s far easier for them to lift themselves up by their bootstraps than for those born barefoot to do so.

Reminds me of this one I believe your intended point is that you’re actually more socialistic and not libertarian. Is that a correct read of your facepalm reference?

Quibbling is a certainty with how one defines self made, but your request is is entirely fair and valid and aligned with site gestalt https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/2871-how-most-millionaires-got-rich.html# Here’s another take, though, and I find it to be a relevant counter to my previous claim (the above was from Fidelity, the below is from Bank of America): https://www.fool.com/the-ascent/personal-finance/articles/heres-how-many-multimillionaires-are-really-self-made/ I imagine you’re far more libertarian than most regulars here. We all benefit from shared governance and infrastructure

Only for some. For others, there are active efforts to legislate against these changes and even make them criminal. In other non-US countries, it even results in death

Turnout has been at record highs, actually. Problem is he only needs to win by a few hundred votes in one or two small counties in Wisconsin and Michigan. Pretty much every other location is already decided today based on gerrymandered districts and nano-targeted ads and social feed infusion https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2023/07/12/voter-turnout-2018-2022/

Approximately 70% of those considered wealthy are self-made according to multiple analyses, but they tend not to give credit to market returns (aka: luck) where that’s clearly a relevant factor.

Just the right amount.

quit being such a snowflake lol What if society chooses to call them nigger or kike? Maybe retard or dego? Surely "society" is often wrong and their choices must be minimized... Surely we all should strive to get better and pursue more inclusive paths, no?

Same mannequin, different wig

Back off, buddy. That’s my line! (and it’s Fat crayon) 🖍️

Strange game. The goal was Peace. Can safely assume any Peace would be long lasting among survivors of a nuclear holocaust since nobody would wish to repeat such horrors… and peace would be stable… until food ran out, that is.

I believe the staff would've said quit acting like an unsufferable stuck up asshole with a giant chip on his shoulder who can't seem to play well with others or acknowledge valid feedback and criticism or counterpoints, but in an ultimate tl;dr just simplified it with: Stop trolling I may be wrong, though. It happened to me once before. Interestingly, that was also a leap year.

Maybe you can clarify what you wish to discuss then

It’s more militaristic with a very clear top-down control mechanism, lots of underlings fighting and back biting, jockeying for position, clawing to get ahead etc. While we agree on the thrust of your point, will just point out that even the CEO must follow the whims and wishes of their Board of Directors, and they would further pass the buck by arguing they’re following the demands of shareholders. But the CEO is certainly the face of all that and again certainly nobody below them can refuse to follow their orders without risk of dismissal. It’s a bit like being deaf to a very specific note, but still hearing the rest of the music.

“You don’t need anybody to tell you who you are or what you are. You are what you are!”

I prefer not using the syndrome / abnormal framing and to instead just allow people to be authentically who they are openly and transparently. So long as they’re not harming others, then others should not seek to harm them. Nothing prevents us from acknowledging this is just another path through life and it’s one we can actively seek to acknowledge without judgmental valance, cultural taboo, or desire to legislatively strip away civil rights and protections. Some people they may call me a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.

At least nobody is arguing that biology disallows humans from being shorter than 4 feet tall. Or that being short is like claiming you’re an aardvark

In context of this threads topic, the only thing making life unbearable to trans people is their fellow humans and the hate (and refusal to accept) those fellow humans so constantly direct toward them, despite the complete lack of any physical harm a trans person authentically sharing who they are causes to those around them.

Transgenderism is neither a syndrome, a condition, a disease, nor an illness to be cured or treated any more than homosexuality is and that was the gravitational locus of my post. If someone needs treatment to improve quality of life, then they should have access to it, even if others like myself are referencing their situation in an attempt to shatter the canard of biology saying only two sexes are possible. I take the point, but they’re still wrong. If someone claims there are only two skin colors, then highlighting humans with vitiligo in response offers a rather simple and powerful counter example which has the benefit of calling their central claim into question.

People often claim there are two binary sexes, and then further try to cloak themselves in the respect of biological science when they do. In many instances, these claims are a direct conscious attempt to dismiss and dehumanize the validity of other citizens who are transsexual, to diminish and ostracize those who feel they were wrongly assigned an identity at birth that fails to match who they are today. Those who are simply being open and honest about who they are. People, including myself, are wrong every single day. It happens, but presenting information from biology regarding the approximately 10 other accepted “sexes” in science to those asserting “biology only allows two sexes!” ought to cause any rational honest person to do some rethinking and reevaluation of their stance, since the claims of binary categories is self-evidently false. There are more than two sexes in biology and this we’ve known for decades. Ignoring a spectrum like an ostrich with head in sand doesn’t magically make that spectrum invalid. Rather, it makes the claimant a liar or a fool when repeated corrections go unheeded. You identify as Italian. Maybe we ought to explore a cure or treatment for that? You identify as Canadian. Shall we push for a cure for that, too? I believe you’re an engineer, or a corporate employee. We likely will need to institutionalize you for fixing that, eh? If not, one must ask why your identities are any more valid or acceptable than someone’s trans identity. Usually bigotry is involved, or at least ignorance… which is thankfully fixable with open honest feedback like that which you appear to decry above. Tl;dr. It’s not a median outcome, but why frame it as an abnormality? Red hair is rare too, but that’s not abnormal. Words and framing matter.

Indeed ✌🏼