themeatbridge
@themeatbridge@lemmy.world
- Comment on What is my sexuality if I’m exclusively attracted to traditionally feminine people, regardless of whether they are male or female? 9 hours ago:
“There’s nothing more intoxicating than the clear absence of a penis.”
- Comment on What is my sexuality if I’m exclusively attracted to traditionally feminine people, regardless of whether they are male or female? 9 hours ago:
My condolences. He died too soon.
- Comment on What is my sexuality if I’m exclusively attracted to traditionally feminine people, regardless of whether they are male or female? 9 hours ago:
Sure, but it’s also helpful to know that there aren’t labels for everything, nor do we need labels for everything. Really, the only person you need to communicate your preferences to is the person you prefer. In my (admittedly limited) experience, romantic partners don’t want to be reduced to a subset of their attractive physical features. “I like you” is generally sufficient, and it’s not really anybody else’s business what you like or don’t like. We’re conditioned to try to label ourselves, and I would argue that it is unhealthy reinforcing that conditioning by inventing new labels.
OP could describe themselves as bi or pan or omni, but none of those are the sum total of OP’s lived experience. We should describe ourselves, not define ourselves.
- Comment on A family of 5 downsized to a one-bedroom apartment to escape feeling 'house poor.' Saving money hasn't been the only benefit. 10 hours ago:
I agree this is a dystopian nightmare of a story. But… if we had to downsize, one of the first things to go would be all the toys my kids have accumulated over the years. My daughter has a doll house she got from grandma 6 years ago that she hasn’t played with in 3 year. My son has a collection of Hess trucks that he never really asked for but grandpa gets him one every Christmas (he loves them, but he’s 12 now).
If we had to, we would donate a lot of toys and the kids would be OK with it. We keep them for sentimental reasons, but only because there’s a corner of a spare bedroom/playroom/office that has the space. We have gone through their toys several times for donations, and the kids feel better letting things go when they go to a good cause.
Trump is a douche canoe, and saying people can buy fewer dolls is ghoulishly out of touch. Donating your kids’ toys, though, isn’t at all the same.
- Comment on What is my sexuality if I’m exclusively attracted to traditionally feminine people, regardless of whether they are male or female? 14 hours ago:
Labels exist to describe what is. You don’t need to fit neatly into a category. You like who you like, and you shouldn’t apologize for it.
- Comment on How to avoid a kid who really likes you? 15 hours ago:
Be direct and honest. “Hey, buddy, I want to hear what you have to say, but I’m feeling a little overwhelmed right now.” Kids learn from the example you provide, and expressing your feelings in a positive and honest way is how he’s going to learn to do the same.
I would also suggest you put that energy to good use. Kids enjoy feeling helpful and a part of the process. If he’s rambling on, you don’t need to send him away. He’s just excited to share with you. Maybe ask if he wants to color with you while you talk, or ask if he just wants to sit with you a while. Maybe he’ll get bored and run off to do something else, or he’ll sit with you and just enjoy the peaceful moments. Either way, it’s his decision to respect your boundary, creating a healthy relationship.
If, on the other hand, he doesn’t respect your boundary, eg you ask him for a moment and he just keeps talking over you, it’s not impolite to ask him to pay attention to your request and respond. You’re not his parent, so you’re not responsible for discipline or manners, but it’s helpful to a child if you explain to him how he’s making you feel. “It doesn’t seem like you heard me. I said I am feeling overwhelmed, and I need a few quiet minutes to myself. Can you respect that?”
Try to say that as calmly as possible. Don’t make it about him, but tell him directly what you expect him to do.
- Comment on No movie has a bigger cultural impact than Final Destination 2 2 days ago:
Jaws permanently changed our dynamic with an entire species and the ocean in general, and with just two notes.
- Comment on Why aren't Americans filling the manufacturing jobs we already have? 3 days ago:
Yeah, back in the day, you didn’t need to be a manager to generate upward mobility. You could work 40 hours a week and pay for a house, a car, and a college education without going into debt.
- Comment on [deleted] 3 days ago:
I always ask, but some people feel greedy or selfish if they tell you what they want. Plus, it’s nice to have someone else think about you and your needs and desires, and then put some effort into providing that for you.
Like if I said, “I want fancy jewelry,” that would feel petty and bratty. If my friend gave me a gift and said “I found this, and I thought it would fit your style and look great on you,” that is going to make me feel good about receiving it and about our relationship.
It’s always OK to ask, but it’s not OK to insist they tell you. Demanding an answer is like saying, “I don’t care enough about you to learn and remember your preferences.”
That said, there are things I won’t buy my wife because her preferences are too mysterious. I’ll pick two seemingly identical handbags, same dimensions, material, color combinations, etc, and she will determine that one is gorgeous and the other is shit. It’s a running joke with us that I’m hopelessly obtuse when it comes to style, and she’s far too capricious in matters of taste to predict what she will like. She loves handbags, and I support her getting whatever purses and bags she likes when she sees them.
Likewise, she doesn’t buy me techie stuff or tools.
- Comment on Understanding your target audience when marketing 3 days ago:
I think you just missed the beginning of the conversation and tried to jump into it.
We started by saying that these should have a flared end, and I said that without a flared end, it’s going to require medical intervention. That’s where you jumped in to say, rather condescendingly, that’s what the flared end is for. Go back and re-read the thread, because I really just think you’re missing the context of the conversation we’re having.
- Comment on Understanding your target audience when marketing 3 days ago:
… there’s a picture of them. The picture is the same regardless of our respective necks or woods.
- Comment on Understanding your target audience when marketing 3 days ago:
Right, except they don’t.
- Comment on Understanding your target audience when marketing 3 days ago:
Yeah, all I see are embarrassing trips to the ER.
- Comment on What was she thinking when she did this? 3 days ago:
She was thinking “this is going to look awesome!” and she was right.
- Comment on [deleted] 4 days ago:
It is a bit insane, because the world is a bit insane right now, and honestly I think it’s your fault.
Well, not you specifically, and it’s not entirely your fault. But part of the reason tyranny and fascism have gripped power across the globe is that political discussion is considered impolite. It’s offensive to point out how absurd or dangerous a political policy is, so we just avoid the subject. Wouldn’t want to offend a conservative bigot by pointing out other people exist.
And because polite people avoid the subject, only extremists engage in the debate. Nuance is lost, and the crazies take charge of the nuthouse whilst “normal” people, like yourself, fret about people talking about the problem.
It would be fucking fantastic to look at a picture of the sky and not think of how air pollution is being deregulated, how Qatar is buying influence with the President by gifting him an airplane, how space is being monetized by a South African Nazi, or how we’re all likely to die of an airborne virus because the person in charge of coordinating our healthcare response has a brain that’s mostly worm poo.
It would be wonderful to stop talking about politics, but not talking about it has led us, inexorably, to this point. We have a duty to discuss ideas when they affect all of us. We have a responsibility to point out stupidity and ignorance and make conservatives feel ashamed of it. It’s not fun for us, either, but if we were to follow your lead, we will end up murdering children in death camps. Which is exactly where we are.
- Comment on [deleted] 4 days ago:
It really is tough to talk about anything else, and even when you do talk about it, it’s more of an exasperated sigh than a conversation.
- Comment on doctors 5 days ago:
I wasn’t going to get into it, but I think you’ll find disability is far more widespread than you think it is, and the other limiting factor is poverty. Obese people skew poor for the first time in history, and it’s because the working poor are limited in food choice, healthcare, and disposable time. People who say “start small and work your way up over months or years” never worked 80 hours a week for minimum wage and it shows.
- Comment on doctors 5 days ago:
Sort of. We have drugs that can help you lose weight, but they come with their own challenges and risks, and you still need to eat right and exercise. And even then, it’s prescribed and covered for diagnosed diabetes. If you want it to lose weight, you probably have to pay for it.
Eating right is much more difficult than people pretend it is, and exercise is simply not possible for a lot of overweight people. You might as well say “don’t be poor, and also don’t be poor.”
So when you say on top of that, “we’ve made it easier for you to lose weight with this new drug, as long as you aren’t poor,” that’s not really helpful.
- Comment on AI will replace routine — freeing people for creativity. 6 days ago:
That you. I don’t feel strongly one way or the other.
- Comment on AI will replace routine — freeing people for creativity. 6 days ago:
I dunno, that’s a lot of reading. I’d rather share what I think than learn what someone else thinks. Can’t I just react to the first impression?
- Comment on Will all these multiplayer games being released without support for LAN or hosting our own servers no longer be multiplayer when the company shuts down the servers? 1 week ago:
Can confirm, I remember when Madden introduced online multiplayer, and there was a small kerfuffle because there was no way to bypass their servers. I remember having the conversation with my buddies that it didn’t matter, because we would all prefer to play together on the couch in the same room, and playing strangers on the internet didn’t sound appealing.
- Comment on Why does Australia still have 2 major political parties despite preferential voting? 1 week ago:
I am not an Australian, so I can’t speak for specific local cultural issues, but it’s important to understand that Instant Runoff elections still have a lot of the same problems as First Past the Post voting. We could deep dive into the sociology and math of it all, but the short version is that politicians seeking power will always seek an unfair advantage. A two party system is easier to game than a multi-faceted, multi-party confluence of issue-driven voters. The specifics are unique to Australia, but the underlying causes are the same.
How badly do you want true democracy? Are you willing to vote for it? Are you willing to donate money and time to it? Are you willing to stand up and protest the people who would keep it from you? Are you willing to run for office? Are you willing to fight for it? To kill for it? To die for it?
Because there will always be someone who wants power and is willing to go the distance to take it.
The most successful democracies are forged in the crucible of tyranny. Rebellion against a dictator unites the people in the common belief that people should be free. But a free society will fall again to fascism as free people become complacent. If the subtle seduction happens slow enough, then the people will not rise up until fascism has already taken hold.
A two party system provides some semblance of “balance” as power is rocked back and forth like a boat on the waves, moving from left to right and back, but never leaving the deck.
- Comment on Anyone? 1 week ago:
If your cuticles do this on their own, or you notice pitting on or under your nails, it might be an early sign of psoriasis.
- Comment on A Judge Accepted AI Video Testimony From a Dead Man 1 week ago:
It is like a home movie in that it is an attempt to humanize the victim. There is no evidence in a home movie, no relevant facts, just an idea of the person that’s gone. You’re right that one is a memory of something that happened while the other is a fabrication of something that might have happened, but they are both equally (ir)relevant and emotionally manipulative. Many jurisdictions do prohibit victim statements beyond a written or verbal testimony. Some countries and states require you to use a form and won’t admit statements that do not adhere to the form.
- Comment on A Judge Accepted AI Video Testimony From a Dead Man 1 week ago:
Victim statements to the court are always emotionally manipulative. Depending on the state, the defense doesn’t even have the right to cross examine or challenge factual statements. It’s akin to playing a video of home movies of the deceased, and obviously the judge understands that it is a fictitious creation.
- Comment on Prices are out of control 1 week ago:
Look, I enjoy good butter, too, but are you cooking with it? You probably won’t notice a difference if you switch to a generic.
- Comment on Wolf Reboot 1 week ago:
Sure, but we still have conservatives and capitalists ignoring the best advice of educated experts because it’s easier and more profitable.
- Comment on Wolf Reboot 1 week ago:
Most people like to argue that “people didn’t know better back then.” That’s absolute bullshit. There were ecologists and scientists fighting to preserve wolves in the 1920s, and conservatives and capitalists chose to ignore the best advice of educated experts because killing wolves was easier and more profitable.
- Comment on TikTok fined $600 million for China data transfers that broke EU privacy rules 2 weeks ago:
That just seems like the EU sold a bunch of data to China for $600 million.
- Comment on Senate votes to overturn EPA rule that limits 7 hazardous air pollutants 2 weeks ago:
So, basically, industrial plants that produce toxic air pollution have to meet stricter standards than, say, a food production facility generating far fewer toxic air pollutants. The rule calls the former a “major” producer. But the oligarchs who run the plant are arguing that, once measures are in place to resuce their air pollution down to lower levels, they should not be considered “major” producers anymore and thus should not be subject to the stricter standards. In other words, because the regulations worked, they should no longer be regulated.
This is some absurdist department of new truth bullshit.