https://web.archive.org/web/20... Did the trick for me

Exactly. When are men going to have the chance to be in positions of power? When are they going to get the opportunity to make hiring decisions? Or make as much money as women? Just once I'd like to see a man elected to the highest office in the US.

Sarcasm aside this mindset really does put you in a reality distortion chamber. I'm a straight, white, cisgendered male and it's very obvious in all the ways society gives me the benefit of the doubt and doesn't throw up obstacle after obstacle in my way. I'm treated as if I know what I'm talking about even when I don't, and I see the opposite happen to almost all the women I've worked with at some point or another (I'm in Tech). The number of men in my circles that have been sexually assaulted or harassed is near zero, but it does happen. The number of women in my circles that have been sexually harassed is 100%. Assaulted is at least 50%, and those are just the ones who have confided in me.

Yes, Oct 7 was brutal, and Hamas is a terrible organization. But nothing started on Oct 7. Israel has been subjugating Gaza (and to a lesser but still significant extent) the West bank basically since it was created - which itself was a hugely problematic colonial operation that required the forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians and a great deal of violence.

You specifically said you had no sympathy, and never would, for the population of Gaza because they "elected" Hamas. The truth is that Gazans have very little in the way of self determination, as I pointed our re: elections, and as you noted the only real power in the territory is an Iran-backed militia. There is little that regular Gazans (who again, are 50% actual children) could do to remove them. It is textbook collective punishment, from one of the most advanced militaries on the planet against one of the poorest populations.

You can stand back and say "both sides bad" and to some extent that's true. Hamas and the IDF is awful - though the latter is responsible for a full order of magnitude more civilian deaths, despite being far more capable and well trained. The world stage certainly doesn't hold them both as awful though. By and large Israel is completely accepted by the modern world, their citizens enjoy a high quality of life, while Hamas is a designed terrorist organization (rightfully) with all the sanctions and restrictions that entails which then trickles down to Gazans. Your analysis of "it's just two groups fighting over land" could be said of Ukraine and Russia. Or Germany and Poland in '39. It's shallow, actively harmful, and helps no one except Israel and their campaign of ethnic cleansing - they have destroyed every single piece of infrastructure, almost every building, are responsible for most of the journalist deaths seen in the modern world, and are constantly found to be killing medics, aid works, international humanitarian missions, and have had Gaza under a complete blockade of supplies for months after unilaterally decided to end a negotiated cease fire. There is no equivalence here.

The election of which you speak was 2 decades ago. Here's some napkin math to point out why that's a problem.

50% of Gazans are children, and can't be held responsible for their leaders by any sane observer. Half of the the remaining Gazans are under 40, and wouldn't have been able to vote. So you have roughly 25% of Gazans who would have been of voting age in the election of Hamas, and around 45% of them voted for Hamas.

So you're basically saying that it's fine to commit genocide and ethnic cleansing based on the fact that a little over 10% of the current population voted for the current leaders, 2 decades ago. That's a bit thin for me, especially considering the tens of thousands of literal children who have had to pay the ultimate price for it

Well he certainly has the concept of a plan.

"Privilege" isn't a bad thing - all it means is having an advantage that not everyone has. Sometimes the word gets abused to tear people down, but more often than not it's simply a call to recognize the factors that are in your favour that you may not be conscious of or willing to admit. So yes, having family members who are willing and able to invest in your venture is absolutely a privilege. Doubly so if they'll help catch you if things go belly up.

In my experience this usually is brought up to combat the "anyone can do it!" narrative in cases where someone used resources that are, in fact, not available to everybody.

It's perfectly possible to have rules and laws about public use (specifically of smoking dry bud, which is the smelliest) without making it illegal in its entirety. We already do this with cigarettes, although I admit weed smell carries quite a bit more and might require additional measures. Banning the substance because some people are inconsiderate is complete overkill.

My comment about being Canadian had nothing to do with being smug - it was simply to point out that I live in a jurisdiction where it's entirely legal for recreational use so I'm exposed to non/light/heavy users on a regular basis, across all walks of life.

I could not disagree more with your take about hoping it becomes illegal again. The tax revenues alone are significant, not to mention the pure idiocy of clogging up the justice system with people who are not causing harm to society. Frankly, I'd like to see more illicit substances become legalized, but that's a bit of a separate conversation. We should have the freedom to choose what to put into our own bodies, and a regulatory framework that forces suppliers to meet certain standards.

I've read similar things - and I think there's a counterbalance to that which is tobacco smokers (cigarettes especially) tend to be heavier users than cannabis users. Even the heaviest stoner isn't smoking 50 joints a day, while a 2 pack smoker will go through that many cigarettes. Either way, it's pretty safe to operate under the assumption that smoking ~anything~ is harmful.

I suspect we'll start to get much better data now as it continues its march towards legalization in more jurisdictions.

This isn't entirely true - smoking cannabis causes similar issues to smoking cigarettes, so I'm quite sure people have died from lung cancer from smoking weed. Also getting ripped and driving is a problem. If you stick to edibles, and avoid operating heavy machinery though you're pretty much safe unless you're part of the very small percentage of people for whom it can trigger a psychotic break.

That said, it's definitely less harmful than its counterparts (cigarettes/alcohol) and should be fully legalized. I say this as a regular user and Canadian.

It's not just about the cost. When heading to vacation last year I was denied boarding on a connection because even though I made it to the gate on time, my checked bag was not going to make it (my first flight was late), and they wouldn't let us fly without our bags. We ended up stuck in a wintery city instead of flying down to Mexico for 2 full days, losing 1/3 of our vacation time. So yeah, I'll pack everything I can into carry on now unless it's TRULY not an option.

Not to mention that anyone who flies regularly tends to have a horror story about airlines losing their checked bags. I'd gladly pay the 30$ (although it's a lot more on some airlines) to check my bag if I had reasonable confidence it would make it to my destination and not interfere with my travel plans.

Sure they have: https://thehill.com/homenews/m... I'm as left wing as it gets, but MSNBC is really just a mirror image of FOX for the democrats, although it's not AS bad when it comes to outright fabricating things. They rely more on spin, selective reporting, language choice etc to advance their narratives.

Like everything else, nuance and context is key. I'm in my mid 30's and make a good living at ~120k USD. I work hard, the company appreciates it, and the client is very happy with my performance.

I have days where I'm just a bit burnt out, or totally unfocused because of other things in my life, and I'll absolutely take the day off because I'm not feeling it. I won't bail on critical meetings or deployments etc, but I have no qualms about taking the occasional mental health day (maybe 2-3 a year?) even if I'm not physiologically ill. I tend to come back significantly more refreshed and my overall productivity is better. This is doubly true over the long term because I don't fully burn out by relentlessly grinding my ass off. You can call it lazy if you like, but it makes me a more sustainable productive employee in the long term (so the bean counters are happy), and more importantly - I'M happier in the long term because I rarely have to slog through work.

Take a look at your user IDs too. Clearly you are 1 soul in 2 bodies - living nearly parallel lives

You're half right. It doesn't care about men vs women, but it DOES care about your sexual preferences in terms of activity. Anal sex results in a far higher transmission rate because the tissue inside the rectum tears much more easily than vaginal tissue does. Now since gay men tend to have a lot more anal sex than other demographics, the higher rate of spread in that community isn't particularly surprising. On a related note - blood donation in Canada has recently changed some of its screening questions to reflect this - I.E. it's less "are you a man who has sex with other men" and more "have you had unprotected anal sex with a new partner" now.

I absolutely would not. I have hit a sweet spot in my career where in my current position I make more than enough to cover my needs (both immediate and long term/retirement), but is also flexible enough to let me live my life. I can structure my own hours, work with a great group of people, and am engaged in what I do. More money is not a priority, whether or not I choose to smoke a little weed on my downtime.

Just to provide a fuller picture on me: I am wonderfully engaged in my life - with many hobbies ( music, running, gaming - both video and tabletop, volunteering, etc). A little weed helps facilitate relaxation and laughter, and so it absolutely gets thrown into the mix. Not much different from having a few drinks to loosen up.