Zephorah

Oh yeah. As a woman I cringe at the 1950s legally enforced housewifery/entrapment in favor of lesser men in the workplace. GI Bill, great in theory, created a generation of mean or “thin” moms and grandmas who couldn’t achieve the financial freedom to simply leave. Among other bullshit for other groups.

The idea though, it galvanized people to seek the better, here and elsewhere.

It’s not about unification, it’s an ethos of long history. They continue. I can’t imaging that long history doesn’t add a forceful momentum to the idea: our turn.

China is old. Really old. They’ve been around. 250 years is nothing.

We had a good run because we were based on freedom and so many other ideals. That document, the constitution, is a fascinating read, and kinda awesome such that it was inspirational, globally.

It only took about 200 yrs for that idealism to die. About 50 yrs for the fullness of the corruption to leech in and destroy it.

Meanwhile, China keeps moving on.

What a sack of idiots.

They undermine science with words. The entire funded push with the anti vaccine movement was to create doubt regarding a well established bit of science. A pivot point. Climate change. Suddenly scientists either don’t know what they’re talking about or, and this is my favorite, are paid off by “big wind” or “big solar” (a common argument among repubs going back 2 decades…I think Limbaugh started it.)

Republicans disparage teachers, working to undermine basic education for decades. Some states now teach Bible as scientific truth instead of science.

Then, they get into office this andmin and terrorize colleges, defunding those who won’t toady up regarding politics and fake science.

Then they harass and threaten scientists who are not born here at the border. Those scientists then flee, they do have other options across the globe, and never return. New scientist prospects take a fuck that approach to the notion of coming here. Given how politically biased the admin wants their idea of science, how much fake science they want, who would, even without the immigration thing?

Meanwhile, home grown scientists are in short supply due to education costs alongside the un affordability of everything else. Given the fuckery regarding student loans across the last decade, few are going to do that either. Even then, why would those scientists stay here?

Add in a dumb ass billionaire clicking “end” on a bunch of science based programs because he didn’t understand them. Enter screwworm, to name the most publicized fallout item.

And now the maga admin thinks it can have science in this environment? Even more delusional, they think they can have a golden age of science?

Clearly we’ve failed hard on education.

Online interaction isn’t the same either. I’ve done it. Playing an mmorpg with strangers and siblings. Even the sibling interactions aren’t the same as going their houses and such.

It gives you “hits”, sure, which lends itself to the addictive factor, but it’s not the real thing. Even the sibling interactions aren’t quite real.

Video chat is pretty good. The closest we have. But again.

There’s no egg in it so it can’t be custard. Pudding is gelatinized milk with flavors.

It’s more engaging and consuming now. That’s the point. Take it away and most people will seek each other out. Even the most introverted needs people, that’s our wiring. Helps when everyone around you is trying to do the same.

In the 80s, as kids, we did that too, even though there were 4 channels on tv, Atari, and books.

Going to a friends house and meeting new people regularly is valid entertainment.

Mulgrew. Flemeth. (Kidding).

Levar Burton will always be reading rainbow guy, no matter what he does.

Zachary Quinto. Silar. One of the better villains, until the writers went on strike and the show fell off the rails. Granted, this likely just marks the man’s range as an actor.

John Cho. The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon.

Koening. Bester.

You could argue that everything Stewart does is equally well done. Scrooge. X. Gurney.

I learned it on the PC game Civilizations.

I worked with an old nurse who said back in her day women could typically only be teachers and nurses, on the educated side of jobs.

She went to pilot school. She kept passing her challenges even after being told she wasn’t capable, as a woman, working hard, determined dealing with all manner of verbal crap from the men around her. It was her final bit of time there, with her last take-offs and landing with the instructor before she’d pass the program.

The instructor flat out told her women weren’t fit to be pilots. That even if she passed she wouldn’t pass. She did her final takeoffs and landings, perfect as she told it, just like the rest of the program that brought her all the way to the end, and was promptly failed by this instructor.

Which is why she was a nurse.

These stories aren’t new. Talk to your grandmas. Odds favor them having some horror stories for you.

There’s psychology in play here. For some people food is the only pleasure they get in their otherwise miserable existence. Genetically, some people get a greater pleasure “hit” from food than others, some of whom, on the extreme, treat food as this thing they have to do now and then in order to keep living.

Fixing this hedonistic approach to food means modifying their life to contain something else to replace this form of pleasure. If they can get their “hits” elsewhere, food consumption can then fall off.

Worse, in addiction scenarios, there’s no going cold turkey on food.

The resolution could be finding success in some pursuit. A relationship with someone awesome. Pleasure replacement can take many forms.

As is, for those who get a pleasure “hit” from food, there is minimal restricted access.