Lurker > Horith

IdiotMachine posted...

Prove to me it doesnt.

As I figured, youre a coward and a liar. You made the claim, put up or shut up.

Actually, just do the latter. The world will be a better place if you kept the soggy wad of bacon you call a brain from spilling its thoughts out.

BlueBoy675 posted...

As someone who works in an ER I can assure there are plenty of people who treat it like a clinic. They will come in for the most mundane, non emergent issues

I mean, its not as if in 2012 the GOP presidential canditate literally told poor people that couldnt afford insurance to go to the ER if they couldnt pay, tying up our critical resources instead of championing a plan that would allow them to get cheaper preventative treatment.

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/129937-team-obama-jumps-on-romney-for-saying-ers-a-care-plan-for-uninsured/

And if this is their baseline assumption, that ERs cover the gap, then of course thats going to be the only option available. Because the GOP have deliberately designed it that way.

super_felicia posted...

It could have photos and videos of her though? Kids will make fun of it possibly and idk its just a bit of an area thats off for a teacher teaching young children I cant explain it well

Then teach the children not to be assholes. If they make fun of the teacher for it, educate them on not doing that. Dont punish the teacher because parents dont want to tell little Billy to not be a bully.

And give me a break, should elementary school teachers not be allowed to have sex with their significant others? Would you want them fired if they were caught wearing something risque while on a date?

Or what about other social taboos? What if it was a male teacher working as a bartender serving alcohol? Say he properly cards all his patrons, and trusts the door staff to keep underaged people out. Should he be fired from the school for working in an environment not appropriate for his students to be in?

Icky feelings are not the basis for policy. No children are harmed because their teacher shows themselves naked on a camera online. Parents need to teach their children to not harrass people if something like this is discovered. And parents sure as fuck need to make sure the correct controls are in place so their kids shouldnt be able to visit adult websites anyway.

Basically, its not the responsibility of the teacher to avoid making you feel squicked out by what she does in her own private time. You are responsible for your own feelings and tempering them against the reality of the situation, you cant foist that on others just because you cant work through it yourself.

IdiotMachine posted...

This is exactly my point. The US healthcare system sucks right now. However, I dont want everything to be free, because itll be ripe for abuse.

As I said above, prove to me that it will be abused to such an extent that it will be a significant detriment to society. None of this half-baked assumptions, not anecdotes. Actual, real, reputably sourced studies that show that universal health care, when properly funded via taxes and used for the benefit of all members of the population, will be abused to the point of non-function. Not with the Tories or other conservative parties deliberately sabotaging it to prove that it doesnt work, not based on studies funded by think-tanks in the pockets of the insurance companies deliberately skewing the data. Actual, real proof.

And Ill bet you cant provide that proof, because it doesnt exist.

Your opinion that all people are shitty and looking to take advantage of a system does not justify robbing the majority of good, hardworking people a service that will benefit everyone. Yes, some people absolutely will abuse the system. But you are doing more harm by championing a system that has and continues to fail us than those people ever will bilking the system.

Heres a hint: Life is a lot better when youre not a corporate bootlicker.

UAZaqwert posted...

Anything provided for "free" is usually abused. You want some sort of incentive for people to use resources wisely and not be calling an ambulance because they stubbed their toe.

Just because youre a sociopath who thinks everyone would abuse the system because you would (that is the conservative mindset after all, everyone is trying to screw other people over) doesnt mean its actually true.

Go on, prove to me it would happen. Show me all the countries with universal health care where people abuse the system in such record numbers that it costs their country more money than we pay right now to fund the shareholders and CEOs of our for-profit insurance industries. Show me how many cities are bogged down by people calling ambulances for every minor inconvenience. If youre going to make these claims, show us all the fucking proof!

Your half-baked assumptions on the shittiness of other people is not proof. Your vague feelings on how much money it would waste is not proof. Your contempt for anyone who gets more of a direct benefit from the system than you is not proof. Its all you being a petulant child who refuses to acknowledge that, while universal healthcare systems are not perfect, they are a hell of a lot better than our system where our insurance companies have actually demonstrated that they do not put your well-being and health above their bottom line.

So many slut-shamers in this topic. People like Itachi and Leo have the same mindset of those in the 1800s; only unmarried women are allowed to be schoolteachers because of some idiotic puritans a few centuries back decided that oppressing people over doing something our bodies are literally designed to do was a good idea.

Meanwhile, if it was a sports coach that got caught molesting their students, the administration would cover that shit up in a heartbeat. Its never been about protecting children with these people, all they care about is trying to convince the world that women should only have sex to make babies, and that it should be as miserable for them as possible.

Im starting to become convinced that conservative men have a pathalogical fear of their own erections, and are lashing out at everyone else because of it.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


But on the other hand, I'll bet he felt like he was a complete badass hero when he made the shot. And isn't that what's most important? /sarcasm

Mistere_Man posted...

Please dont get me wrong, I am in no way defending this, I just want a explanation on what the hell happened. Nobody shot, but somehow she was shot doesnt cut it imo.

Its not confusing if you actually read the entire article. Half of it is dedicated to every single action the sniper took leading up to the shot that killed the child, including detailing that he wasnt using equipment that gave him clear visibility into the trailer and shot at a silhouette of the man without being able to identify whether anyone was in front of or behind him.

It took two hours between when the mother was killed until the sniper killed the girl, after which the man took his own life.

Yes, I read those first couple paragraphs and I see where the message was slightly garbled leading to your question. But had you actually taken the time to read the whole article, it would have explained it clearly.

https://www.kcur.org/news/2024-03-25/a-missouri-police-sniper-killed-a-2-year-old-girl-why-did-he-take-the-shot

This likely made the rounds back when it happened, but this is yet another fantastic example of how much more dangerous our law enforcement is by virtue of them being able to get away with anything. 100% failure from start to finish, an entire 800-page report detailing those failures, and yet the cop not only isnt punished but is still fucking employed by the department.

The only thing more sickening is the description of how, when he was told what he did, that all he could think of was how it was going to screw him over. And all his law enforcement buddies made sure it didnt. I dont believe for a second he feels an ounce of remorse over killing a 2-year-old. All of us, men, women, and children, are just target dummies for wanna-be heroes itching to pull the trigger.

Xatrion posted...

Mind, I've been modded for suggesting the same thing.

Yup, just saw the moderation. Can I try and use the excuse that it was in jest or just wanting a discussion? Seems to work for all the right-wing trolls and sealions around here.

Scardude posted...

He's really pointing out how the justice system can be rigged. Will this change anything?

Not a chance, because its always been rigged from the start. People like Trump are just no longer bothering to keep the curtain up because they no longer have to. All of his trials, each and every one of them, are seeming more and more like theyre intended to tell the public The system is, has been, and always will be rigged against you no matter what. Theyre basically taking the naive notion that all people are equal under the law and bitch slapping us across the face with it to put us in our place.

I mean, look at how brazen CEOs, investors, etc. have been about publicly venting how frustrated they are with calls for living wages and work-life balance. Theyre outright admitting they dont give two shits about anyone and would gladly throw us all under the bus, and half our population is actively cheering them on to do so. They can do this because they know there wont be any repurcussions; they have all the power, theyve bought and paid for our legislative, executive, and judicial systems to their advantage and know we cant fight back.

Hell, I may get modded for my call to lop their heads off in a remake of the French Revolution, but do you see me actually pulling out the blade sharpener? No you dont, and no one else is either. Well grumble our discontent about how our lives are being made worse, lose some karma if we get too aggressive, and then just go back to our daily lives. None of us, whether here or anywhere in the country, actually have the guts to fight back in a way that would actually be effective.

Seriously, can we just get out the damn guillotines already?

Community service? Fucking community service?! Oh yeah, hell definitely be doing that. /s

Why the hell did anyone even bothering bringing charges in the first place if this is the best they can do? This is just an embarrassment, and at this point theres not even a pretense that we have a functioning justice system anymore.

AlCalavicci posted...

Lmao. For those who don't want to click the link, this is the summary:

Student : Charlie Kirk has said a bunch of racist things

Rittenhouse : What has Charlie Kirk said that is racist? *crowd erupts* Wait, we're going to have a dialogue about this. What has he said?

Student : *brings receipts, lists things he has said that are racist*

Rittenhouse : I don't know about any of those things.

Student: Well I just told you what they are. Does it sound racist?

Rittenhouse: No comment.

*crowd erupts*

*Rittenhouse runs away*

Holy fucking shit, he cant even sealion correctly. This is so childish I actually think we could actually placate him with a pacifier and blankie.

ai123 posted...

Being discouraged from seeing family and friends.

Being verbally undermined/criticised.

Being sidelined when it comes to decision making, especially financial.

These are some pretty big ones. Id also like to add that an abuser can also use expressions of not knowing what to do if their partner left them, including the possibility of harming themselves, as leverage to make their partner feel guilty over considering leaving.

TC, highly recommend this resource (assuming you are US based, if you are not there are hopefully similar services where you are).

https://www.thehotline.org/identify-abuse/understand-relationship-abuse/

This should help explain some of the signs that are harder to immediately see, and there are resources for contacting someone to talk through these concerns you have.

Smallville posted...

Have you ever read anything about, that through most of human history pair bonding and monogamy was the norm......

Aggressively social was not meant to imply romantic or mating connections, just that socialization is a huge part of how our brains function, allowing us to survive as a species. We form large communities and families for instance, and its part of why we have such strong impulses with regards to in-groups and out-groups. Those in-group are aggressively protected and defended from any out-groups seen as a threat, even if that out-group is another set of humans. Its also part of why those who are socially isolated gravitate towards any group that will accept them, because our need to be a part of a social group is that big of a driving force in how we live.

As far as monogamy vs polyamory goes, that comes down to as much our created social constructs as anything else, and how we culturally make those connections. I know there have been cultures that recognized varying levels of relationships a lot better than we do in the modern era (especially in the US, where we have such a puritanical view on relationships that even having friends of the opposite gender can be viewed as a threat to a partner).

UT1999 posted...

really? maybe , like most other great apes chimps , gorillas also very social....many humans are not though

Individual humans may not be, but as a species we are aggressively social. I believe theres some thoughts Ive seen floated around that this contributed to us being able to domesticate dogs, another highly social predator species, but theres no way to know for certain.

UT1999 posted...

you guys in bad relationship why didn't you just very quickly break it off?

So different degrees of bad can make it easier or harder to break off. And ironically the worst relationships, the ones where a partner is abusive physically or emotionally, are usually the hardest to break off of.

Like, a bad relationship can be as simple as the two people not really connecting. Some people may try to stick it out to see if that connection forms, but the relationship I had where this happened I just flat out said This isnt working and that was more or less the end of it. I wasnt really in a spot where I felt like I could bridge the gap, and so breaking it off wasnt particularly difficult on my end. Cant speak for her of course, nor would I presume to.

On the opposite side, I was in a long-distance relationship for just under two years that was abusive. You would think being an LDR would make it easier, but no, not when your phone is constantly exploding with messages from your partner freaking out because youre not spending every minute of your free time with her. I was isolated from my friends because she was paranoid they were going to set me up with someone else, and at the time it was easier to give in to her demands than deal with the fallout of her being upset I wasnt talking to her. I was even told the relationship didnt look healthy by friends and family, but I was young and dumb and figured they were overreacting. It only ended because at one point I lost my temper, and she broke it off with me as a result. Thank the gods.

The fact that HOAs literally have the ability to put a lien on your property for no reason other than to be able to leverage literally taking your home away in order to conform to their standards is asinine. Whatever good they may do, and I live in one that isnt tyrannical thank god, is very much not worth having that threat in their back pocket.

2010 The Year We Make Contact

Yes, I actually like this over 2001.

Im copying over a post I made on the Star Trek board a few years back specifically talking about Dukat post-Waltz.

Alright, so this is coming from probably the only person in existence who actually liked the post-Waltz Dukat, and saw it as both a natural evolution of his character and a very good way to loop him into Sisko's plot with the Prophets and the Pah-Wraiths.

Dukat's rationalization for The Occupation wasn't limited to just Waltz. Bits and pieces of it were shown throughout the run of DS9 beforehand, especially with regards to how he thought he was a much more benevolent overseer than he was being given credit for. He thought he deserved the love of the Bajoran people for cutting back on the harsh punishments, providing more food, etc. Hell, he had a whole conversation about it with Weyoun during their stint on the station, where he asked with all sincerity why the Bajorans didn't have a statue erected in his honor. He'd always been delusional about his role in The Occupation, Waltz was just Sisko finally confronting him about it in a far more blunt manner than he'd been able to for the past five years. So as far as whether I liked Dukat's rationalization? Yeah, it fits perfectly with the character we'd seen for the previous five years, no question.

As for the aftermath, Dukat essentially gave in, and decided that if everyone was going to see him as the villain no matter what, then he might as well finally do something (in his mind) to deserve it. If he can't get the respect of Sisko as a friendly rival, he'll get that respect by achieving, to paraphrase a comment he made to Weyoun before they lost DS9, "A true victory by making Sisko realize it was wrong to oppose him in the first place. To force him to acknowledge his greatness." If he can't get the love of the Bajoran people by treating them marginally better than a brutish dictator would, he'll make them love him through the power of the Pah-Wraith. It may have been madness that drove him to that point, but everything after Waltz, to me, seems just as intelligent and cunning as ever. And that shows far more than his madness in future episodes after Waltz.

I don't think it was just the loss of Ziyal that drove him to that point either, it was more the straw that broke the camel's back. He was already losing it when he went looking for her during the evacuation of the station, ignoring Damar's pleas to leave as soon as possible. He had victory within his grasp, and it slipped through his fingers in mere seconds; the Cardassian people would almost certainly not back him after such a defeat, and the Dominion likely wouldn't allow him to keep his position as head of the Cardassian government for much longer either, if not outright execute him. Literally all he has at this point is Ziyal, there's nothing left. Hell, he even forgave her as soon as she admitted to playing a part in his defeat, and clung to her even after Damar shot her despite his insistence earlier that any traitor would deserve no mercy. Losing the battle nearly broke him, and losing Ziyal finally pushed him over the edge.

This is also why I like his involvement with the Pah-Wraiths. Up until now, the Bajoran religion was nothing but superstition, or at best primitive Bajoran culture trying to make sense of what are nothing but aliens dwelling in a wormhole. He paid them little mind until they handed him his greatest military defeat, at the behest of their Emissary Sisko. In this case, it was he that was forced to acknowledge the greatness of the Prophets, and see that they truly were a source of power. But, with at least a passing knowledge of Bajoran culture, he was able to find the Pah-Wraiths. And if they were as powerful as the Prophets and something that the Prophets themselves seemed to fear, then of course it makes sense to ally with them. If the Prophets were more powerful than even the Dominion military might, and the Pah-Wraiths as their opposition were equally powerful, then of course Dukat is going to pursue that power. Especially if it lets him deal a blow against both Kira, who he interacts with more than any Bajoran and is a deeply religious person that he wants to hurt for all the times she spurned him, and Sisko, the Emissary of the Prophets and probably the person who he wants to respect him more than anyone.

Something to keep in mind is that, from my understanding at least, this would ban the app if the company operations in the US wasnt sold to a US buyer. So TikTok could still be a thing if someone were willing to buy it up (and the owner wanted to sell it), which seems likely given that its still a powerful social media tool.

But make no mistake, none of this actually gives a shit about our privacy. If Congress cared about that TikTok would be a drop in the bucket compared to the privacy violations businesses make every single day in this country. This is just xenophobia and racism wrapped up to look like privacy protection.

Karovorak posted...

I'm 100% convinced that there was some guy high up in Boeing who said "Wait, why has QA such a high budget? We never had any quality issues, I'm sure we can reduce the cost there."

Ive worked in aerospace for about 7 1/2 years now, I can almost guarantee that not only is this correct, but additional comments were along the lines of not a value added department and we cant let them find more things wrong. I have heard the former first-hand from the manager at my previous company about why QA isnt important, and the latter second-hand where I currently work allegedly from our own Quality Assurance System lead when we were exploring getting more advanced inspection equipment. Trust me, management across aerospace is actively hostile towards QA as a function and literally only tolerates it because AS9100 required rigorous documentation. But as Boeing has demonstrated, clearly you can get away with actively undermining QA and face zero meaningful consequences.

thronedfire2 posted...

car manufacturing requires that exact same paper trail. the airlines problem is just not wanting to pay the people to handle it because they haven't been sued enough yet

Im pretty sure airlines have made the same calculation that Ford made with the Pinto: Lawsuit payouts are less expensive than actually implemeting the correct processes and procedures. And given our joke of a justice system, theyre right.

mybbqrules posted...

This.

Undecided voters are people who have a modicum of humility so they can't just outright say "I support christofascist dictatorships".

Enough humility to suffer embarassment, not nearly enough to actually reflect on why they feel that embarassment and consider changing their viewpoints.

The entire aerospace industry has a looooooot of problems. Most of it is that aerospace required a metric ton of paperwork: Pretty much anything on an aircraft had to be traceable from the mill that makes the raw material all the way through to the final component, and inspection reports for dimensions and processing. The more features and processing there is on a part, the more paperwork there is. And paperwork takes a lot of time to do properly. Theres a reason a bolt put on an aircraft is multiple times more expensive than the same bolt you buy at a hardware store, and paperwork is why. The constant refrain I always fall back on is that aerospace companies sell paperwork, not parts.

Now, the paperwork is not the problem! That paperwork is so that if something goes wrong with anything investigators can go back and find what all had happened to the part that failed every step of the way and determine what sort of containment actions are needed. The problem is higher ups, in both large companies and small-time manufacturers, dont want to take the time to do the paperwork properly, or even make the parts properly sometimes.

And a ton of this is further exacerbated by Just In Time Delivery. It costs money to have parts in storage, both just from the standpoint of you spent the money on material and labor on a part thats not being sold, and theres insurance costs on your inventory and thats more expensive for finished parts over raw material. So the industry as a whole has shifted heavily to wanting parts delivered right when the assembly line needs it. But that makes any production delays, anywhere along the chain, result in delays at the aircraft itself. So theres pressure all the way down when any production delays happen at all, which leads to rushed parts, and just overall its a total mess.

So yeah, this isnt just Boeing. Theyre just the sloppiest at this point, by far.

https://www.npr.org/2024/03/08/1235457301/state-of-the-union-biden-reaction

So rather than do her one job as a voter who votes based on issues, shes complaining that Biden didnt talk about every single issue important to her in an hour-long address, instead of looking into his policies and legislative goals/wins to determine where he lands on those issues.

Meanwhile Im sure if she listened to a Trump rally shed believe everything he said he wanted to do because he was bombastic, and spend zero time seeing if his record aligns with the issues she cares about.

Oh, and she works in healthcare and reproductive rights are important to her.

We are so fucked.

Good lord this. It's just so freaking obnoxious and makes it take twice as long as it needs to. So horrendously unnecessary. I've got way too many 'mons to move from the DS/3DS and I'm dreading having to organize it all.

In a GOP-controlled state, in a primary season where the Dem candidate is a sitting president with zero meaningful campaigns against him, versus a candidate that at least had challengers and a fanbase so rabid they literally killed themselves just to go to his rallies.

Look, Im known for being so cynical about our political system it borders on trolling/being a redhat. And even I dont think this is anything to get worked up over.

BGIII is absolutely recency bias. That automatically makes some of the rest of the list questionable.

Chrono Trigger high up is fine, I may disagree on how high it is but I can't argue that it's a classic and holds up well. There's a reason so many games have tried to ape the style of the game but haven't come close to matching the experience.

Pokemon Gold/Silver aren't even the best mainline Pokemon games, and even as a tremendous Pokemon fanboy that hates the tired "GameFreak is running out of ideas!" schtick, I'm not sure if any of the games should come that close to cracking the top 10. Pokemon probably should be on the list somewhere though, but deciding on where and which Gen is hard.

I feel like FFVII being that low may(?) be to keep both sides grumbly and unsatisfied, but not enough to actually complain about it.

Nier: Automata? No, just no. Yeah, yeah, personal opinion is a thing and I disagree with the general opinion held, but I was extremely disappointed with what the game actually had to offer outside of being a fun button masher. Especially the story.

I never played Cyberpunk 2077, but no game with that many technical issues should ever be in a Top 30 list of the best of anything.

Dragon Quest III being on the list is a pleasant surprise, one that I definitely don't disagree with. But I can also see it being bumped off for a lot of people.

I dunno, this kind of just feels like they had to pick a specific quota from each generation as well as spreading out amongst the different consoles. And I am noting in particular that all of the Nintendo-exclusive games are Gamecube or older (i.e. nothing on the Wii going forward), and Pokemon G/S is the only handheld entry at all on the list. Heck there's only one game that was originally on the PS2 and SNES respectively on the entire list! Two consoles that are still considered to be some of the best for RPGs to this day.

Holy Sea Lioning Batman!

Seriously, this is a textbook case. I'm surprised anyone felt the need to sincerely engage instead of giving TC the outright mockery they deserve.

Unknown5uspect posted...

Oh there's a way to hold them accountable baked right into the constitution tho.

Yeah, but we're too cowardly to use it. Do you honestly think if Trump won the election, legitimately or illegitimately, that people would rise up to put him out of our misery? I wish I could believe they would, but frankly if all the rampant anti-democratic laws in red states haven't gotten people to rise up, I doubt this would.

Takuya_Lee posted...

Which is strange because if that happens, those 9 lose any power they have.

You're assuming the end goal for them is the government functioning as it is. It's not, it's theocratic control of the government by any means necessary. They just want to break the system hard enough that once their ideal theocracy is entrenched they can sit back and do nothing because they've served their purpose for their magical sky daddy.
Alito gets right-wing Christian rule just like he always wanted, and as a cis-het white male he's got plenty of power already.
Kavanaugh is in much the same boat, with the added bonus of his blatant corruption never coming up again.
Thomas would shoot his own foot if it meant he got to spite the libs, that's all he cares about.
Gorsuch probably doesn't give a shit either way, he just knows which side will make his life easier.
Barrett gets to live with the comfort of knowing she's returned women to what she views as their rightful place: making babies and serving men. Phyllis Shlafly would be proud of her.
And last of all is the utter coward Roberts. He never has to be faced with another tough political choice ever again, and gets to continue to lie to himself about how he preserved his legacy and the integrity of the SC.

So yeah, I'd say they're just fine becoming a figurehead court.

mybbqrules posted...

Those were so damn good. How did they decide to stop carrying them? They were sold out pretty often.

It may have been due to a few reasons:
1) Some items just rotate out despite popularity in order to make room for new items, or to not compete with other dessert items they wanted to sell more of, i.e. the Cinnabon bites
2) Having to deep fry them on-site may have created time-crunches on their staff that they didn't want
3) It's very possible that a health conscious factor was in play, similar to why McDonald's stopped deep frying their apple pies

So you drank 8 cans club soda. How many cans did it take before you got a whiff of the fruit they hovered over the liquid before canning it?

Zikten posted...

Everyone has ID. You don't have a state ID, even if you don't drive?

Im going to assume youre not American, because the entire concept of universally provided state IDs is one of the big arguing points around Voter ID laws. Since states dont automatically issue ID cards, several red states have pushed to make an ID a requirement for voting while simulatenously shuttering or restricting the hours of DMVs in higher population areas more likely to vote Democratic.

So no, a lot of people dont have a state ID because lots of states make it very difficult to get access to them.

Yet another headline blaming Millenials instead the actual problems, stagnated wages and human rights erosions. But then, what would you expect from a right-wing rag--

Wait, Business Insider slants left? Oh for fucks sake!

First Contact is easily in the top 3, like not even a contest. And I can see some people swapping it and Undiscovered Country between 2nd and 3rd (unless you're a loon like me with Undiscovered Country being my favorite, at which point it's a lot harder to put Wrath of Khan below First Contact).

But the one mark against FC? It gave us the Borg Queen, an all-around terrible decision that really should never have happened.

You know, the fact that a quarter of the posts in this topic are only commenting on her body instead of the subject matter? Yeah, just proving TC's point.

I honestly have no idea how they deal with it either. It's absolutely mind-boggling how unabashedly entitled men are in thinking they have something important to say no matter what the other party is clearly signaling.

Bay leaves aren't going to impart a super strong flavor on their own, and they're never going to be the dominant taste in any dish they're used in. But they do add something, and are definitely better used in stews or slow-cooked recipes such as pork shoulder. But if you're using a lot of stronger herbs then they're going to overpower it so much that you're not even going to notice it's there.

A couple of things you can try though to give yourself a better idea of what a bay leaf on its own adds to a dish is to either brew with some hot (not boiling) water, or put one in the next time you make some rice.

But also, make sure you're using some actually decent bay leaves. The ones you get in the cheap tins in the herbal aisle at a grocery store? Nu-huh, those are usually so overdried and poorly sealed that any chance they had at adding anything is pretty much gone. At the very least get some of the higher quality ones at the store, or go to a dedicated spice story like Penzeys or Savory (heck, go to them for all your spices and herbs, it's well worth it).

As a perhaps good piece of fiction for people to watch that somewhat delves into this topic, I recommend Star Trek The Next Generations episode Half A Life.

Basic summary: Lwaxana Troi falls for a scientist who is trying to stop his solar systems star from dying. Over the course of the episode she finds that his culture requires people to commit suicide at the age 60. The episode doesnt go on a moralist streak to try and convince the planet to change its ways, but does a fine job of looking at the issue with all the pain and difficult emotions that come with how this conflicts with Lwaxanas feelings about how wrong it is compared to how the alien culture views the choice as the correct one for their society.

In todays topic, lots of people clearly dont understand just how many hoops people generally have to go through in order to actually have this happen. Colorado passed a Medical Aid In Dying bill in 2016, bill text can be read here:

https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb16-1054

Our law is definitely more restrictive than the Netherlands one, in that we only allow it for individuals with terminal illnesses with a prognosis of 6 months or less to live. The person had to be certified to be mentally competent to make their own informed decisions, is making the decison voluntarily and is not under duress, and this has to be confirmed by two medical professionals in their care team before a physician can perscribe the medication.

The goal is to allow a person to pass in a more peaceful and significantly less painful way than their illness will allow, or to do so before their mental condition deteriorates to the point that they are no longer functional. Many natural deaths are incredibly unpleasant physically and mentally, to say the least, and it is unconsciable to force them to endure prolonged suffering when the end result will be the same regardless of how they get there.

SpiritSephiroth posted...

No of course not, this is entirely my opinion. I don't have the answers to it all and I could very well be wrong. Which is why I started my post with "I think". The people who decide when someone should be euthanized should obviously be the ones that are medical professors or experts.

Well good news! Thats what laws like the one cited above in my state do. No one is handing these MAID perscriptions out willy-nilly, and the use cases are very narrow. I personally think they should be expanded somewhat, but this was a start.

Sure, when the body dies by itself.

As stated by a few people, bodies usually dont just go *click* and die. Its usually the result of multiple failures through the entire body accumulating until it cant deal with it anymore. Even relatively benign deaths like heart failure usually have a lead-up where the body is struggling painfully to keep itself going because thats what its designed to do. As a species humans are actually remarkably resilient, our systems keep us going through tremendous pain and deterioration that would be crippling for a lot of other species, but it comes with the downside of our waning years being pretty damn rough.

Your only chance of a natural death that wont be dragged out and (probably) not incredibly painful is a sudden anyeruism. A stroke, fatal heart attack, those are relatively quick compared to organ failure from cancer or disease, but still painful and could leave a person lingering for a small period before thry actually die.

Yes, of course. But we have burdens at every stage of our lives. Backpains, migraines, outright depression, limb dismemberment ect ect.

Not everyone handles their burdens the same. Some people can live fulfilling lives with the same burdens and pain that drive another to feeling suicidal. Its not our place to judge what a persons limits in living with terminal conditions should be. Every person should be able to decide when the pains of their life are too much to bear as long as they can do so in a mentally competent condition unaffected by outside forces or internal mental health problems like depression. Emphasis on that last point because depression specifically renders a decision to end ones life questionable in the mentally capable context.

When I say burden, I mean no chance in living a normal life at all. Not being able to walk or breathe normally. Being in extreme pain at every second of your life.

You could equate that to being old, I'm sure. But I'm also sure that not every old person is in pain to the point of them wishing to be dead.

The entire point is to avoid letting people get to that level of pain or non-function in the first place. To allow a person to go in a more peaceful manner before their body deteriorates past the point if having any reasonable quality of life so that their last experiences are not of being stuck in a bed riddled with pain and an inability to do more than sit and wait for the end. A person shouldnt have to be in agony for us to feel morally justified in letting them die, and making them wait to get to that point is frankly cruel.

Mechu posted...

Uh... Deadpool? Idk.

This, my family is watching it tonight. We did the premier on Valentines when it came out, and its always our go-to if other plans fall through.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


Not particularly, this just eats into the Republican margins a little bit, meaning they cant afford as many defections. But Johnson is still Speaker, and theres little chance theyll be passing any bills at all.

Its the same energy as this:

https://youtu.be/Xe5OynLQbJc?si=yDrP_fzoD2LM7fH2

And funny enough, the very first comment on the video notes that because The Doctor pulled that cheeky stunt, The Master was able to exploit the power vacuum to become Prime Minister and cause a significant amount of havoc. And he didnt try to convince people that she was unfit, that her actions were a stain on humanity, or anything in regards to her actions. No, The Doctor chose to make a jab at her mental fitness for the job in an off-hand way, and shes toppled.

So yeah, its the exact same shit. Without any policy of their own to tout, and knowing full well Trumps verbal diarrhea is to be embraced and not rejected, the GOP and their loyal dogs in the media just have to harp on Bidens age and the electorate will handle the rest.

LeoRavus posted...

Hopefully he gets paid well. It's amazing how stupid cops still are these days. After all the shit that's been exposed and body cams made mandatory, they're still oinking around making major fuckups.

How many of them are actually being held accountable though? All these kinds of incidents prove is that even when cops are caught they get at most a slap on the wrist. Chauvin being convicted was an aberration, and if this guy does get any money it'll be peanuts while the cops get to go around harassing more people the next town over.

Garioshi posted...

Let's use Pokemon mechanics.

The most opponents a Pokemon can ever have at once is 5, in Horde battles. The most PP a move can ever have is 64, so the most PP a Pokemon can ever have is 256. There are 1025 Pokemon, so if we assume that every one of their moves is a mythical 64PP move that instantly kills all opponents with 100% accuracy that doesn't exist, they only kill about 1.3 million lions before they're all down to Struggle. You can call me cynical, but I don't think every single Pokemon can Struggle nearly 1 million times before they faint. Lions win by sheer numbers.

I feel like you can make up some good numbers by using moves that hit the entire field at once. While Surf/EQ etc. will have less PP, they'll be vastly more efficient in PP usage by taking out tremendous amounts of lions all at once. Earthquake's max PP is 16, but if we assume a Horde battle of 5 lions against one Pokemon, EQ hits all five lions at once for a single use, KOing a total of 80 lions vs 64 by using a single-target move. If each Pokemon is allowed to be loaded with a Leppa Berry that's 130 lions down just by using one move.

I'd obviously have to math it out and that's a lot more effort than I can do right now, but I feel like that would cut things down by a pretty good amount, especially since there are Pokemon that can learn multiple AoE moves.