Luigi makes zero sense as a patsy. He has privilege, charisma, and intelligence. You don't setup an ivy league educated cousin of a state house representative with money for good legal representation. Not even porky is that stupid (I hope).

I think the elves must have been someone else. Ted's manifesto was mostly about technology being the root of society's problems.

I agree, but what else would you call being forced into a facility you can't leave? Especially if the pigs brought you there. The way people in crisis are handled in this country is appalling.

I have been in several mental health crises that I should have been in involuntarily hospitalized for, but was too afraid to ask for help because I would rather die than lose what little freedom I have. So I might be biased (and very bitter).

Honey, I haven't worked in two years because of mental illness and I haven't had insurance in three. I'm trans and live in Texas as well so Trump's election feels a lot like a death sentence and I've already lost most of my old friends and family to bigotry. Just since the election I have had four strangers clock me and yell slurs, one guy even followed me 40 miles and finally gave up when I stopped at the police station near where I am staying. I am so afraid that I get physically sick whenever I leave the house. If I didn't have family who could take me in and support me while I try to put my life back together I would be homeless, or more likely dead.

You're right, I don't live in fear of losing those things because I have already lost them. From the other side of those fears, you can lose everything and life still goes on, I promise.

Look, I am as heartbroken as anyone that the two crazies that tried, missed (or never got a shot off). But that's something else. If you're not trolling, you should probably talk to a mental health professional about those feelings.

Perfection is exhausting. I struggle with it. My brain tells me that if I'm not the perfect friend or know the right things no one will like me. It has consumed my life so far and has lead me to make very bad and disastrous choices.

More than that though, it's boring. I am so tired of spending my life trying to figure out what the right action is. I would much rather have fun with friends or rewarding sex or find an interesting personal project to work on.

Those are some thick, juicy crabby patties.

Americans over the age of 65 represent less than 20% of the population. The group of people 60 to 64 is 6.5% of the population. That's not even a quarter of the population.

As to your question, yes. Even if it was 90% of the population that was 60+. being an elder, senior citizen, a member of the grandparent generation, olds, or whatever you'd like to call them has more to do with the individual's age than how many of them there are.

"Nuh uh, it was the illegal immigrants we didn't kill with the razor wire", Ken Paxton after Harris wins Texas, probably.

Validation is one of the things on maslow's hierarchy of needs. It's essential for people to feel belonging and connection with other humans. We're hardwired for it and the lack of it leads to poor outcomes almost always.

Social media is not a good source of validation. If social media were limited to just the people you knew and communicated with at least semi-regularly it would be very useful for receiving validation. However once you branch out to people you don't know, healthy validation becomes more difficult. It also introduces a number of unhelpful facsimiles of validation (parasocial relationships, internet points).

100,000 likes/views/upvotes/retweets does not replace respect and acceptance from your peers for your emotional wellbeing, it's not even a good substitute.

No social media platform has figured it out yet, but that doesn't mean it's not possible to build one that could be a good source of validation. It's unlikely though so long as roi is important to the people that build social networks.

Omg, so many opportunities for evil:

• retrieve earplugs from purse, put them in, press the button, hand the staff a $5 cash tip and a pair of earplugs.
• loiter outside offering pairs of earplugs to anyone entering the business
• call the business, pose as a vendor so I get transferred to the manager, and play a recording of the sound.
• leave fake reviews claiming the employees are on a covert malicious compliance strike and to show solidarity everyone should push no-tip.
• before hitting the button ask to speak to the manager and push no tip while making eye contact with them.

The real problem is the employee who didn't create the policy would generally be the person subjected to any mischief so it'd lose its fun about the time the manager barred me from coming back the fourth time I no-tip stared them down.

Nonviolence is a lofty, and unattainable ideal. Unless you can create something that prevents violence in an absolute, physical sense or can successfully breed out the sadistic elements of humanity it will forever be subject to the whims of charismatic violent people. World history, at least from the perspective of governing authority, is nothing but physical and psychological violence.

The Buddhists would tell you that life is duhkah (suffering). Trying to force any order onto only increases suffering. The french existentialists would tell them that the only thing you can do about it is to laugh in the face of the absurdity of existence. Then they'd go to a bar and the buddhists would watch the existentialists drink themselves to oblivion respectfully and with a detached interest.

Anarchism, nonviolence, and philosophy in general, rarely align with your subjective lived experience. The best way to deal with Nazis is not to punch them, but to live your life the best you can and try to have as much fun with other humans as is possible. If you engage with them on their terms, those of violence and hate, they've already won. Hug a nazi, especially if you're part of a demographic they hate. Treat them like you would a slow child. Education, empathy, and kindness beat the nazi next door. Unfortunately though once they establish their fourth Reich like it seems they are close to, you have to wield collective hard power (tanks, predator drones, and boots on the ground).

You, the human reading this, will accomplish nothing by punching a nazi, hug them or ignore them until it's time to fight them collectively.