• Floyd Mayweather vs Conor McGregor
    And don't forget - he has a tiny head!CasKev

    Zika wasn't around yet.

    Probably a result of maternal drug abuse. But he had a fine childhood.

    "When I was about eight or nine, I lived in New Jersey with my mother and we were seven deep in one bedroom and sometimes we didn't have electricity." Mayweather said. "When people see what I have now, they have no idea of where I came from and how I didn't have anything growing up."

    It was not uncommon for young Mayweather to come home from school and find used heroin needles in his front yard.[24] His mother was addicted to drugs, and he had an aunt who died from AIDS because of her drug use. "People don't know the hell I've been through," he says.

    The most time that his father spent with him was taking him to the gym to train and work on his boxing, according to Mayweather. "I don't remember him ever taking me anywhere or doing anything that a father would do with a son, going to the park or to the movies or to get ice cream," he says. "I always thought that he liked his daughter (Floyd's older sister) better than he liked me because she never got whippings and I got whippings all the time."

    Mayweather's father contends that Floyd is not telling the truth about their early relationship. "Even though his daddy did sell drugs, I didn't deprive my son," the elder Mayweather says. "The drugs I sold, he was a part of it. He had plenty of food. He had the best clothes and I gave him money. He didn't want for anything. Anybody in Grand Rapids can tell you that I took care of my kids".[25] Floyd Sr. says he did all of his hustling at night and spent his days with his son, taking him to the gym and training him to be a boxer. "If it wasn't for me he wouldn't be where he is today," he maintains.
    — Wikipedia

    McGregor, on the other hand seems not to have had a depraved or deprived life. Didn't get screwed by an Irish priest, didn't have a drunken Irish father who beat him. He

    Conor Anthony McGregor[12] was born on 14 July 1988 in Crumlin, Dublin, the son of Tony and Margaret McGregor.[1] He was raised in Crumlin and attended a Gaelscoil and Gaelcholáiste at both primary and at secondary level in Coláiste de hÍde in Tallaght, where he also developed his passion for sport playing association football. In his youth, he played football for Lourdes Celtic Football Club.[13] At the age of 12, McGregor also began boxing at Crumlin Boxing Club.[14][15]

    In 2006, McGregor moved with his family to Lucan, Dublin, attending Gaelcholáiste Coláiste Cois Life. Following that, he commenced a plumbing apprenticeship.[16] While in Lucan, he met future UFC fighter Tom Egan and they soon started training mixed martial arts (MMA) together.[17]
    — wikipedia

    He was spoused about 9 years ago and just had a son (well, his spouse actually "had" the child). He speaks Irish fluently, which is surely a plus, and probably speaks English quite well too. Haven't heard him talk. He started a plumbing apprenticeship. Don't know if he finished. I need a plumber. Maybe he'll be free after his match.

    I'm betting on McGregor.
  • What will a 'Post Scarcity' society look like?
    How will we as a civilization cope with the abundance of luxuries and lack of demand for any un-educated or unintelligent workforce? How do we prevent our civilization from ripping itself apart with workers revolts without halting technological progress?Eric Wintjen

    Technological progress is not our most pressing problem. The biggest threat to our future is a failure to build a civilization which facilitates meaningful lives for its workers and their families (who are 98% of the population). No one chooses to be uneducated or unintelligent, so one must assume that they were forced into that condition by design or neglect. If workers rip a civilization apart, chances are that the civilization had become an oppressive hell hole for the benefit of the 2% who are not workers. Such a "civilization" deserved to be torn apart.
  • What will a 'Post Scarcity' society look like?
    Eventually we humans will extend our reach beyond Earth and we will have access to more resources than we could ever consume in a calculable amount of time, as technology progresses we will be able to be able to harvest those resources with ease.Eric Wintjen

    This scenario is the basis for quite a few science fiction novels -- some of them very good novels. But it's fiction, not science.

    It takes a tremendous amount of energy to escape this kind-of-small-planet's gravity well. It takes a great deal of energy and time to escape this solar system. Our one pair of solar escapees--the 2 voyageur space crafts--have taken 40 years to get past the edge of the radiation flowing outward from our star into interstellar cosmic radiation.

    Novelists solve these problems by discovering escape hatches on earth that lead instantly to other places (worm holes) or they discover novel materials and energy sources that have eluded actual scientists. The Red Mars, Green Mars, and Blue Mars series by Kim Stanley Robinson is a good example of magical discovery. It's a good 3 volume set. I enjoyed it. It's a mix of hard science fiction and politics. The immense material success of the Mars society is perfectly fabulous. Fabulous as in totally impossible. (The technology is the impossible part; the politics are all too possible.)

    The fact is, barring the appearance of a convenient worm hole to someplace really nice, we're stuck here.
  • Good Partners
    Some people are horrible.Wosret

    This is very true.

    [quote="Wosret;100156"though, I'm not super great at it, and am a loner.[/quote]

    I'm something of a loner too. Plus, I don't have a great understanding of how to deal with other people in the most effective manner, at least most of the time. Sometimes I think I'm a loner because people are avoiding me.
  • Good Partners
    No, I made it up.Wosret

    Naturally. Other people make up their statistics, why shouldn't you? >:)
  • Good Partners
    How many people actually do this, though? I don't even idealize my mother, so it's hard to imagine there being swaths of infatuated kiddos...Buxtebuddha

    I don't have a number, but it is likely a small minority who do this. It's a fraught practice that tends not to lead to success. Most people just don't look for a mate who resembles their idealized parent.

    On the other hand, one's parents are the model of spouses that one knows the most about. So, the kind of parent one has are likely to influence one's spousal choices (and one's own spousal behavior) to some extent.
  • We need a complete rupture and departure
    The problem is wealth concentration not of production.Rich

    Exactly.

    According to Oxfam (and they were using the same data sources that everybody else uses) a handful of people, a few dozen, have as much wealth as 1/3 to 1/2 of the world's people--depending how many super-rich one bunches together. If you take the richest 1% of the world's population, then they have more wealth than just about everybody else put together.

    This concentration of wealth distorts, compounds, and aggravates both the routine and novel problems the world faces, making them all impossible to solve.
  • We need a complete rupture and departure
    things like quietly restoring local economies, quietly restoring the extended family, and quietly restoring local communities and anything else localWISDOMfromPO-MO

    In response to your comment to Rich:

    You think "the system" won't notice if you quietly reorganize the economy, quietly institute changes in the family (like establishing extended families), and quietly restore local communities to a state of former vitality? News Flash: making these changes will create an enormous amount of noise and disturbance. Do you think Target, Walmart, Macy's, et al are going to sit still while the behemoths of centralized manufacturing, transportation, and merchandising are taken apart? BTW, just how do you plan on getting the single women with children and the nuclear family couples back into 'the extended family'? Grandma probably isn't interested in becoming the live-in babushka, taking care of the children. Restoring local communities? Again, you're talking about a massive change in the modus operandi of late capitalism. You think the powers that be are going to sit still for all that?

    If you want to achieve those goals (and they are, actually worthwhile goals) you'll have to get rid of the richest 5% and then the government that enabled them to exercise their power.

    Good Luck!
  • We need a complete rupture and departure
    We need to think outside of that systemWISDOMfromPO-MO

    Right. Because...

    tumblr_ov87cqMp691s4quuao1_500.png
  • We need a complete rupture and departure
    There's nothing that says anybody has to accept the way things are and should not do anything to disrupt the order of things. That sounds like fatalism or something else from ancient times.WISDOMfromPO-MO

    Indeed, there is not. And I am not advocating that anyone just accept the way things are and not do anything to disrupt the order of things. I disapprove of many aspects about the established order of things. When I was younger I was much more devoted to disruption. When the opportunity presents itself, we should (figuratively speaking) take off our wooden shoes and drop them into the works (sabots = wooden shoes, dropping wooden shoes into the gears = sabotage.)

    At 70 I don't disapprove of disrupting the bad things about life, I just don't have as much energy as I once did. During the 40+ years that I was working, I resisted unreasonable authority and unthinking adherence to the dominant paradigm as much as I could. (Naturally, that made me a less than highly desired employee.)

    I don't use any fertilizer, weed or insect killer on my lawn. I use a minimum of energy keeping the grass short (it's not very short; in fact it looks like hell -- but there is no good reason to keep grass 3 inches short. See Thorsten Veblen's Theory of the Leisure Class). I let weeds that I like grow. If I don't like them, I pull them up. I recycle yard wastes, food wastes, plastic/paper/metal. I produce very little "garbage". I bicycle and use public transit. I eat a minimum of meat and fish. I live in a small house.

    I spent about 15 years working in a socialist organization educating "the public" about Marx, De Leon, economic justice, the meaning of class, and so on and so forth. I donated to the cause. I wrote material.

    People need to find the area in which they can make a difference, and go do it. Become informed, but don't keep listening to and reading the same old bad news every day. It's just too demoralizing. Keep abreast of what is happening, but that doesn't take a lot of time. Things, like the disasters, don't change that much from month to month.

    Do I believe that 'the people' can change the direction away from certain disaster that we all seem to be heading for? Sure I do. Do I think 'the people' will rise up, smash the corporate dictatorship, take over the government, and usher in a period of progressive ecological, economic, educational, et cetera policy which will get us all collectively out of the shit hole we seem to be sliding into? No, I think that is fairly unlikely.

    So, I continue doing what I can do and recognizing that my power to effect change in the world is quite limited. It's more limited than I would like, but there's not much I can do about it. Got a magic ring or something you could give me to enhance my powers?
  • Good Partners
    Like in what way?Buxtebuddha

    They have difficulty because they idealize their parent, and no live person is going to match that ideal.
  • We need a complete rupture and departure
    I said let's break the garage-in-garbage-out cycleWISDOMfromPO-MO

    Like I said, most of us are just too over-exposed to all this stuff, most of which is way beyond our capacity to control, affect, stop, change...

    Once you've become informed, you don't need fresh doses of this stuff. It's like if you eat a healthy diet, there is no need to take vitamin pills. For instance, there is nothing new to say about Marxism; liberalism; "progress"; conservatism; Enlightenment rationalism, autonomy of the individual, rule of law; empiricism/"science"; technology; transhumanism; postmodernism; feminism; queer theory; identity politics; neo-liberalism; "the logic of free markets"; globalization; populism; "democracy" vs. "tyranny"; dualism vs. non-dualism; overconsumption vs. prosperity; Malthus vs. Adam Smith, etc. etc. etc.
    It's pretty much all been said. Several times a day it is repeated. Unplug, tune out, turn off (as opposed to Timothy Leary's advice to Turn on, tune in, drop out).
  • We need a complete rupture and departure
    No, I am constantly adding novelty to my life.Rich

    Your genes are driving your novelty seeking behavior. Other people's genes drive familiarity seeking.
  • Good Partners
    by the application of the right strategies. In fact, it may be possible to turn such a person from someone who hates you at the time, into someone who deeply loves you once they realise who you really are.Agustino

    Perhaps you could share just what those strategies are that can turn someone who hates your guts into somebody who realizes who you really are, and then in love falls deeply with you.

    It sounds a bit far fetched to me. I passed it by a jury of 12 sentimental drag queens and they delivered a unanimous verdict (with very little drama) that it was highly unlikely you could do any such thing. They know a really bitchy queen, however, they would like you to demonstrate your methods on.
  • Good Partners
    "Then came Peter and said to him, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? until seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not seven times; but... How many times did Jesus recommend? (And was it a command or a recommendation?)

    490. That should get you a ways through a few years of your relationship. She of course will have to forgive you 490 times. (Or did he mean 70 squared? 4900 seems a little high to me. If you were to live 60 more years, you might have to forgive her (and she you) every 4.4 days, max.

    For which of you, your bride or her groom, will there be more difficulty forgiving 490 times?
  • How bad and long lasting does pain have to be for death to be good?
    "How bad and long lasting does pain have to be for death to be good?"

    Pain can be subjectively rated; to some extent it can be described. It's not possible to rate pain objectively, nor describe it objectively. The best one can do is create a subjective consensus about the kinds of pain and what subjectively severe pain does to one life.

    I've experienced what I would call moderate pain quite a few times, some have a fairly long (2 months) duration. I could stand that kind of pain. I've experienced severe pain (burns, post surgical pain, broken bones) quite a few times, but the pain did not last long. If this severe pain was expected to last a long time, I wouldn't be able to hold out indefinitely.

    There are two kinds of pain that I find difficult to tolerate: Very sharp, very strong 'stinging' pain (like that from a burn) or very strong dull-type pain accompanied by the feeling of 'coming apart'. Lower back pain might be an example -- not just pain, but the feeling of one's back being dislocated (which, of course, it wasn't).
  • Good Partners
    I think the willingness to forgive is important. And I don't mean just forgiving unfaithfulness, or an attempt on one's life by one's partner. Sometimes we have to forgive, or maybe a better word would be"overlook" or "tolerate" other people's flaws.

    After all, everyone has flaws, and most of us have at least one or two glaring flaws that are hard to ignore. But... our good mates overlook them, ignore them, or forgive them. And we in turn forgive their foibles, flaws, and fiascos.

    There is, however, a limit. A "mean drunk" alcoholic can be just too exhausting to put up with. A chronic gambler may be as exhausting as an alcoholic. Violence (hitting, striking, kicking, etc.) and frequent abusive speech ("you stupid, ugly slut"; "you worthless piece of scum" and so on) shouldn't be tolerated for long.
  • Good Partners
    "it" (whatever makes a relationship good) isn't this, it isn't that, you say. WHAT, exactly, do you think it is that makes a relationship not only work, but be good?
  • Good Partners
    Right. I don't believe in the perfect person. If someone has a reasonably good assortment of virtues, and not too many vices, that's as good as we get, this side of the grave.

    Expecting perfection, or even expecting a lot better, is usually a recipe for disappointment when looking for a companion/lover/mate/spouse/weekend fuck.
  • We need a complete rupture and departure
    I am suggesting that we all cooperate, respect one another, respect non-human life, and respect the Earth as the home of all life.WISDOMfromPO-MO

    Right. Keep it simple: Like Micah 6:8 says it, "What does the LORD require of you but to do justice, to love tenderly, and to walk humbly with your God?" One could lead a good life by following what you or the prophet Micah said.

    A complete rupture and departure from the worldviews that have created and sustained modern business and science might be a no-brainerWISDOMfromPO-MO

    No brainer in more ways than one. Obvious, on the one hand, brainless on the other.

    I agree that there are times when one wants to chuck the whole sickening mess. But, pause...

    One of the things that intelligent, well read, and maybe over-informed people need to do is selectively cut back on the data feeds that are plugged into their heads.

    There are tons of agencies out there serving up bad news about the world: the environment, the economy, the education system, the government, white supremacists, racists, and sexists, liberals, republicans, conservatives, democrats, private prisons, ISIS, lead poisoning, and on and on. It isn't all fake news, but it is very tendentious, and they don't generally offer any solutions. One is just left with more and more discontent and disturbance. We are overstimulated with bad news.

    I am not optimistic about the future, but I find some peace in the realization that there is nothing significant that I can personally do about most of the problems I know about. I get further peace from cutting back on hearing once again about x, y, or z problem. It also helps to cross some concerns off the list. I'm just not going to worry about the Alberta Tar Sands industry for instance. It's not that I don't care that it is an extremely filthy way to get petroleum, it's just that there isn't room in my agenda for the tar sands problem.

    Yes, I know there is a lot of plastic particles in the ocean screwing up ocean life. Again, I can't solve that problem. It doesn't help to read about it again.

    If the world looks like it is going to hell, it probably will--if for no other reason that it has been picking up a lot of momentum, and who is going to stop it? There are problems that I can make a dent in. Small and local, but I'll just have to settle for that.

    I too once felt we should have a complete rupture. Let the Revolution begin! It would be a bad experience -- at least as bad as the crap we are already putting up with. People would not be brand new beings after the rupture. It would be back to business as usual.
  • Good Partners
    Yeah, poetic, but let's not go there.

    The angle: many men look for a spouse that is like their mother, and many women look for a spouse who is like their father. They usually have a difficult time finding a spouse who makes the grade.
  • Why Relationships Matter
    There is a timer on reproduction -- more for women, but also for men. you have a few years before you have to worry about it.

    Welcome to The Philosophy Forum.

    Because of course, getting an education and a job is important, but if we forsake forming bonds in order to focus entirely on getting ahead in life, when we finally achieve that goal, how much time will be left?Eric Wintjen

    You can, of course, look for your mate while you are getting an education. After all, women in college are also looking for mates. Then, many couples start out relatively poor and develop their careers, have children, and in time reach their plateaus of earning, hopefully not too long before retirement (which is probably 50 years into the future, IF all goes according to plan).

    As for your parents...

    They didn't know how things were going to work out when they met each other. Nobody does. Relationships follow many different plots, sometimes ones which nobody wanted. But... that's life for you.

    Love as much as you can.
    Put 'being' before 'achieving'
    and do good work.
  • 'It is what it is', meaning?
    Not that I give a rat's ass whether it is, was, or will be, but... Que sera, sera. Whatever will be will be.

    "It Is What It Is' is an idiomatic phrase, indicating the immutable nature of an object or circumstance. This is commonly used in American culture as a response of acceptance to something that makes little sense or has little to no validity. [edit: used a lot because so any things make so little sense.] It may also refer to: It Is What It Is, a 2001 film directed by Billy Frolick.

    It may also refer to:

    It Is What It Is, a 2001 film directed by Billy Frolick
    It Is What It Is, a 2007 autobiography by David Coulthard
    It Is What It Is: Conversations About Iraq, a project by English artist Jeremy Deller
    It Is What It Is, a radio show hosted by Michigan sports radio broadcaster Sean Baligian
    In Music

    It Is What It Is (ABN album), a 2008 album by the rap duo ABN
    It Is What It Is, a 1982 album by the Australian rock band The Hitmen
    It Is What It Is, a working title for the 2007 album by the rapper Cassidy released as B.A.R.S. The Barry Adrian Reese Story
    "It Is What It Is (What It Is)", a song by the rock band Adam Again on the 1992 album Dig
    "It Is What It Is", a song by Lifehouse on the 2010 album Smoke & Mirrors
    It Is What It Is, a song by Kacey Musgraves on the 2013 album Same Trailer Different Park
    "It Is What It Is", a song by Lecrae on the 2016 mixtape, Church Clothes 3"
  • Good Partners
    It could have been that an alpha female looked you in the eye and said, "You. Follow me." And you followed.
  • Good Partners
    What resemblance do you think your mother will have to your sought after "good woman"?
  • Utilitarian AI
    May you, , be forever watched over by machines of loving grace.
  • Good Partners
    She found me, if you know what I mean, O:)Buxtebuddha

    I don't. Elaborate, in excruciating detail.
  • Good Partners
    Rather than looking for perfection...

    What is a reasonably good woman like? What is a reasonably good man like?
  • Is it ethical to have hobbies?
    Ok, now the ethical problem. Whether you should buy vinyl records or not is a "first world problem". Starving third world peasants have to make do with cell phones.

    How you make money and what you do with it is always an ethical problem, no matter what.

    Your first ethical responsibility is to yourself. If you don't take care of your own needs (within your ability to do so) then someone else will have to help you with your needs, or you will end up on the street. I don't know how old you are. If you are an adult, you are probably on your own.

    Taking care of yourself is a lifelong project. It isn't just today's needs that you need to take care of; it's also your needs in 10 years, or 50 years. If you don't save any money while you can, then eventually you will need help just to exist. You probably don't want that.

    Hence the budget. Don't spend all of your money each month. Save a substantial hunk of what you earn so that you can take care of future needs.

    Many people believe they have some responsibility towards other people. Some of that responsibility is discharged through taxes (some of which is spent on good works). An important part is discharged through voluntary giving. 30% is not sustainable, unless your income is really high (in which case you wouldn't be worried about costs).

    When you decide to give to charity, think about it carefully. Not all charities are "good". Some of them are more or less frauds, some of them are very inefficient (they waste a lot of the money they get on overhead), some of them are ineffective (they don't accomplish much), and some of them are self-perpetuating.

    Despite the bad ones, there are a lot of good charities. How to find out which ones work well:

    Start here - an article in the New York Times about how to pick charities

    Guide Star ratings

    BBB (Better Business Bureau) ratings

    Charity Navigator

    GIVE WELL

    CHARITY WATCH includes information about sneaky, slippery reporting by charities

    I worked in the non-profit sector for 40 years, at various agencies. There are a lot of hard-working, honest people doing excellent charitable work, but there are also a lot of ineffective charities run by hard-working honest people. Why is this so? A lot of projects run by charities are trying to solve difficult human problems, and it is just plain difficult work. Sometimes even honest hard-working people are just not able to accomplish very much. So... choose carefully.
  • Is it ethical to have hobbies?
    What is it about loving music (which is itself a very worthy thing) that requires you to buy vinyl records? Is it the music or the vinyl that you like? Or is the music you want only available on vinyl?

    You need a turntable (not terribly expensive) and an amplifier ("turntables" as such didn't or don't include amps), and either speakers or good headphones. One reaches diminishing returns after a certain point. Maintenance? What's to maintain? If you don't need high end equipment, the costs are not that great. And most people buy music over a lifetime, so one's budget isn't depleted on a monthly basis.

    30% is a lot for charity. I'm not knocking it, but but it sounds like your income isn't that great and most people's budgets won't support 30% for charity or religious giving. Giving to charity is imminently worthy, but a third of one's income? Don't forget saving money. Having money in the bank is TREMENDOUSLY helpful in all circumstances, and you don't have to have hundreds of thousands of dollars (right now, anyway). But having say, $10,000 in savings prevents so many minor problems from suddenly becoming major problems. (It takes time to save up money, of course.)

    You didn't ask for my advice, but I'm a font of advice, which I can't help giving. Try this:

    How much do you spend on these? (The percentages are what is considered reasonable.)

    housing.......................30% - 40$ (if you are living on your own. In some cities it is 50%.)
    food............................20% (assuming few meals away from home)
    transportation.............??? (car or public transportation or bike and foot)
    health insurance.........maybe 15% (if you are on your own; less if your employer provides insurance)
    savings.......................10%
    charitable giving........10%
    all miscellaneous expenses.....15%

    It adds up to 100%, or more (or less) depending on your circumstances.
  • The evolution of sexual reproduction
    Thanks. I was reading an essay by a sociologist who said that sociologists urgently need to get reacquainted with biology. "Sociology’s Stagnation Part II: Genetic Confounding"

    Sociology can be an important science, and sometimes it gives us valuable insights. But all too often sociologists and other social scientists are blind to anything other than social causes of social outcomes. Professionals in these fields continue to act as if we were blank slates waiting for social forces to mold us into the people we become. More to the point, many social scientists ignore the fact that genetic predispositions can explain social trends, and that individual differences in heritable personality traits can explain important social outcomes.

    That was part II. Here's Part I.

    How many students were taught that human beings evolved about around 150,000 years ago in Africa? How many know what a gene is? How many can describe Mendel’s laws, or sexual selection? The answer is very few. And, what is worse, many sociologists do not think this ignorance matters.

    In the minds of many sociologists, it is a great sin to “biologize” human affairs.
  • The evolution of sexual reproduction
    This is hilariously awful, DB. I recall an article a couple of years back about the dangers of zoos reinforcing gender stereotypes in visiting children.Wayfarer

    What were the animals doing that reinforced gender stereotypes? Was a female rhino doing the dishes while the male rhino worked on a car?
  • The evolution of sexual reproduction
    So, I came across this series of essays (I guess you could call them that)darthbarracuda

    You could call them screeds, rants, diatribes, tirades, harangues, attacks, fulminations, or just plain shit.
    There are alternatives.

    written by a belligerent feminist (or something)darthbarracuda

    Or something... Maybe she was a harridan -- a belligerent old woman. Or an ugly old hag. A witch. I don't know what she was,. Just pointing out there are other words available. Maybe she was a, gasp, bitter crank. (Lots of feminists are.)

    that basically claims that the chemicals in males' semen influences the behavior of females and that this is at least partially responsible for the patriarchy.darthbarracuda

    If only there were chemicals in semen that could influence their behavior. It's probably the enzyme patriarcase. It breaks down matriarcose.

    I would put this in the same category as a feminist's claim that an erect penis is tantamount to rape. Or a picture of an erect penis is an advertisement for rape. (You know, like the large billboards displaying a huge erect penis on wheels chasing screaming women through the streets.)
  • Studying Philosophy
    Studying philosophy just doesn't seem to fit into my schedule.
  • What pisses you off?
    Second or third syllable in, someone continues on with their conversation as if it wasn't obvious I was talking.Chany

    That bugs me a lot too. Sometimes I really wonder, "was I just imagining that I was talking?" when some jerk butted in and took over the conversation as if no one had the floor.

    Humorless knot holes.

    Sanctimonious hypocrites.

    The kind of conservative who is always saying no one wants to work these days.
    The kind of liberal who is always identifying racists, sexists, and so on.

    Micromanagers. (Well, really most supervisors and managers whatever they do.)

    People who are like cats -- who are very picky about who they will talk to, socialize with, purr for, sit next to, have sex with, etc, and {i}especially when they condescend to grace one with their presence.[/i] Elitist snobs, in other words. I lift my leg on them.

    I prefer the more egalitarian dog types.
  • Difference between Gender and Sex
    Even very young children have sexual interests, whatever adult sexual course they will follow. I vaguely remember having sexual thoughts (feelings? don't know) when I was maybe 4 or 5. (No, this is not a child abuse story.) I was always interested in other boys. I then had no terminology for any of this, of course.

    Question: Would it have helped me develop if my parents had been like the intrusive-manager parents in the documentary? (It would have helped me, certainly, if my mother had been less hysterical about childhood sex play. It would have helped her a great deal if she had been able to deal with sexuality and fertility before we were all born.)

    Answer: Almost certainly not. The medical/psychological understanding of those decades, and the probable interventions which were likely were not to be wished for. But I don't want to knock my parents too much. They both did as well as they could with limited resources and a large family, and it was not bad.

    Most people probably do not have "ideal" childhoods managed by "perfect parents". They muddle through and none-the-less manage to put respectable adult lives together when the time comes. (Of course, we all know people who decidedly don't manage.) The transsexuals I have known were also putting adult lives together, and their gender identity was one among several issues they had to cope with.
  • Terrorists and passports
    That's one of the things about the site -- it's an odd mixture of conventional and conspiratorial writing.
  • Terrorists and passports
    There is something fishy about the site. For instance, there is a screed about the Charlottesville business being linked to Clinton and Obama:

    The events in Charlottesville took place days after an earth-shattering Disobedient Media report broke into the mainstream, unequivocally and finally debunking the baseless Clinton-Obama argument that it was Russian hackers who interfered in the 2016 American election...

    Massive court victories by Judicial Watch calling for emails from Clinton’s aides around the 2012 Benghazi attack, and others pertaining to the handling of the infamous “Comey memos” the DOJ failed to turn over following former Director James Comey’s departure, have party leadership in a state of utter paralysis as various scandals unfold and the party descends into free-fall...

    There is also this weird ad on the site:

    tumblr_ov28moEIyF1s4quuao1_400.jpg

    I have every intention of rewinding my hose.
  • Is it harder to become an optimist from pessimism than otherwise?
    Let me know how I can get or adopt said tumor.Posty McPostface
    I'll have somebody send it to you as soon as I am dead.
  • Terrorists and passports
    It is at least quite strange (to mention one of the cases listed in the link) that the US authorities knew the Manchester guy before the UK authorities did.Mariner

    I thought that that was a result of a 'leak' of information that was supposed to have been kept confidential and wasn't.

    Yes, this is an interesting question.