October 29, 2021

The weirdest thing just happened to me.

I got a call from the social worker at the care facility where my sister lives saying that THEY had received a call notifying them that I had passed away! (Thank God they hadn't told my sister without verifying it first.) Of course, I assured them that no such thing had happened.

AND I also got a text from one of my cousins saying that another cousin's wife got a call from someone claiming to be law enforcement, notifying her of my demise. Aside from the fact that I am absolutely very much alive, there's NO reason why any of my cousins or their spouses would receive a call like that, as none of them are listed anywhere as an emergency contact for me. My emergency contacts are my husband and my daughter, period, full stop.

Needless to say, I am a bit weirded out by all this, wondering who on earth would do such a thing and what their motivation could possibly be. I can't think of a single thing anyone could gain by calling random people to tell them I'm dead. I also can't figure out why they picked those two particular numbers to call. I literally never talk to the cousin's wife who was called. We're not even Facebook friends. We have some mutual friends on FB, but no connection beyond that. I don't even have her phone number myself, and she's certainly not on any list of contacts that I have on file anywhere, nor is the care facility.

Same thing with the care facility. If something happened to me, my husband or my daughter would notify thm, but there's NO WAY anyone else would know to do that,

Have any of you ever heard of anything like this? I don't know what to make of it. I don't know who would be trying to fake my demise, or what they could hope to gain from it. It seems completely nonsensical, and it's freaking me out.

If you've read this far, thanks for sticking around. I really appreciate it.

October 25, 2021

I think he meant that in a figurative sense.

This article is a summation of a blog post, which is linked in the article (but is really easy to miss): https://thegrio.com/2021/10/22/condoleezza-rice-foot-solider-for-white-supremacy/

Here's the first paragraph of the blog post:

He is criticizing her for putting the feelings of white people above all other aspects of this issue, saying, "Look at this Black woman who is more concerned about hurting white people's feelings than about teaching American history in an honest way! That's appalling!" The language he uses is very strong, harsh even, but as a white person, I'm not going to criticize the language that this Black man is using to express how he feels about issues that affect him personally in a way they will never affect me.

I don't think that he meant she belongs to white supremacist organizations, supports them with donations, or anything as literal as that. What he meant was that comments like the ones she made on The View have the effect of supporting white supremacy, whether that's what she meant to do or not.

In my opinion, she did not intend to do that, but she did it anyway, without knowing it, due to her own internalized racism. And i think it's really a damned shame that this highly educated and accomplished woman is so unaware of the impact of her own actions.

October 23, 2021

No, DON'T screw due process!

I hope you're joking, because that way lies madness and chaos.

Among other things, not following due process is UNCONSTITUTIONAL. We can't protect the Constitution from the attacks of RWNJs by violating its provisions ourselves.

October 23, 2021

This caught my eye.

From Sotomayor's dissent:

It's quite clear to me that Thomas, Coney Barrett, and the other conservajustices are not the least bit concerned about women suffering personal harm from the denial of their constitutional rights. Like other forced birthers, they regard the rights, needs, and suffering of real live women as purely secondary to the aim of safeguarding the (nonexistent) rights of embryos and fetuses. To them, women who seek abortions are evil jezebels who deserve to be punished, and causing such women to suffer is a feature, not a bug, of refusing to stay the Texas law.

I hope to hell the conservatives don't end up inventing some excuse to overturn Roe v. Wade, but if they do, I am sure the reaction will shock them. The outrage that will result is a kraken they will greatly regret releasing.

October 17, 2021

Absolutely true.

Based on what some mental health experts have said/written about him, I believe TFG is about as extreme an example of malignant narcissism as most have ever seen. That's saying something, because "malignant" narcissism is already at the extreme end of the narcissism spectrum!

I'm convinced he's absolutely incapable of caring about anyone other than himself. Since morals and ethics mean nothing to him (he's also a sociopath, according to many of those same experts), that means his lizard brain is basically in charge and calling all the shots, because that's literally all he has.

I'd love to see some scans of his brain, the kind that show which parts are functioning and which aren't. I think it would reveal a lot.

October 13, 2021

I never knew how common this kind of abuse was until I started watching Dr. Phil regularly.

He has done many, many shows on domestic violence, and you wouldn't believe how often this comes up, how many men there are who repeatedly choke their partner until she passes out.

And yes, it's men who usually do this, and it's women who are the typical victims. I'm not saying there aren't cases of this behavior between same sex partners (I'm sure there are), or that there aren't women who abuse men (there are, but very few women are physically capable of overpowering a man in this fashion).

So yes, this is terrifyngly common, and it becomes a habit with certain men, until one day the strangulation goes on just a tiny bit too long and ends up with her dead and him charged with murder.

The article you posted is excellent, and I hope lots of people will read it. Here's another: https://www.strangulationtraininginstitute.com/strangulation-the-red-flag-of-domestic-violence-that-we-never-discuss/

October 11, 2021

Thank you for your comments in this thread, WhiskeyGrinder.

I am one of those for whom deciding to have an abortion was a very clear and straightforward choice, and it annoys me when people opine about how it's "always" some huge, painful, and complicated decision. Because a) no, it's not, and b) it's quite possible to acknowledge that is IS painful and complicated for some people (and empathize with them) without insisting that it ALWAYS is that way, in every single case.

When people talk about deciding to have an abortion as if every single person's experience is always exactly the same as every other's, that negates the experience of everyone whose experience is different. If you claim it's always incredibly hard, you're negating my experience and the experience of every other person who had an abortion without agonizing or feeling guilty about it. If you insist it's a simple, unfraught choice for everyone, that negates the experience of everyone who found it to be fraught and difficult. None of this is fair to people who decide to have abortion. The truth is, we are all individuals, and no two people's decision making experiences are exactly alike.

What's more, the "abortion is always a difficult and complicated choice" trope often carries the connotation that people who are deciding to have an abortion deserve compassion instead of judgment BECAUSE it is of course such an agonizing decision that no one could be making such a choice "lightly" (whatever "lightly" means, and I'm pretty sure it means different things to different people).

This trope tends to be brought up in response to another trope common among those who don't approve of abortion, the "women want to be able to have abortions any time they feel like it because they are irresponsible and want to have all of the sex without any of the consequences" trope. That strikes me (and probably most if not all those reading this) as harsh and unfair. Unfortunately, the rebuttal tends to be along the lines of, "No, that's not true, because abortion is a haaaaaaard choice!"

The motivation for this rebuttal is all well and good, but the fact that abortion is actually NOT a hard choice for every person who is faced with an unwanted pregnancy sometimes gets lost in the desire to refute something that's harsh and unfair. Those of us who support the rights of pregnant people to make their own decisions about their own bodies need to be clear on the fact that that the ease or difficulty of making and acting on such decisions can run the gamut from agonizingly difficult to not terribly difficult at all.

Sorry to run on at such length. Sometimes I don't realize how much I have to say about an issue until after I've already produced a shocking amount of verbiage; at which point I have to figure out how to wrap things up in a coherent fashion. That's where I am with this right now, and it's getting late, so I need to bring this to a close, coherent or otherwise! On that note, I bid you adieu for now, realizing that I probably need to do some more extensive writing on this subject, in a format more befitting its complexity than a messageboard reply.

October 7, 2021

The effort to change the name of "Negro" Creek in Bureau County, IL

Changing the names of places and geographic features with offensive history behind them is a cause that is near and dear to my heart.

BUREAU COUNTY (Heart of Illinois ABC) -- With a history that includes an offensive racial slur dating back to the days of slavery, two people are now working together to change the name of a small creek in Bureau County.

"She said no, it's called n***** creek," said Depue resident, Charlie Klinefelter.

Klinefelter grew up near "Negro Creek." It's an 11-mile long stream, he said is often called another offensive "N" word by the people of Bureau County. He said his mixed-race children have been targeted with those slurs before.

10 years ago, Klinefelter tried to change the name, but did not know how to make it official. Now years later, a woman who grew up in Ladd wanted to be his ally.

*snip*.

The rest of the story, plus video, is here: https://hoiabc.com/2021/08/19/two-people-fighting-to-change-name-of-negro-creek-in-bureau-county/

October 7, 2021

Orangutans and others, oh my!

Love this story, even though the narrator repeatedly refers to orangutans as "monkeys."

October 5, 2021

Hard agree.

Especially the part about FB haters who can't seem to refrain from lecturing others about the "evils" of FB. Feeling strongly about something being a social, ethical, or moral evil is all well and good, but sometimes people get carried away by the strength of their convictions (about FB or any of a number of other things) and become convinced that anyone who doesn't share them must be educated to see how wrong they are. This kind of attitude, while understandable in some cases, is completely counterproductive, because it alienates and repells those one wants to influence.

When it comes to FB, I am neither a hater nor a huge fan. I have an account that I hardly ever use but am not going to delete because it serves as a connection to relatives I rarely see as well as local groups that I'm involved with. I know all about the bad side of FB, and I don't need people haranguing me about it. Furthermore, I'm pretty sure most people who post on DU have heard about the bad side of FB and don't want or need a lecture about it any more than I do.

I really wish we could all just accept the fact that we all have different views about FB and respect each person's right to hold the view that they hold. In particular, I really, REALLY wish people would quit making posts at DU about how FB is the root of all evil (so to speak). Those posts are not telling any of us anything we don't already know, and they are not going to change a thing.

Remember that old saying about trying to teach a pig to sing, how it's a waste of your time, and it annoys the pig*? The same principle applies to preaching to people about what you consider the error of their ways, concerning FB or just about anything else. It's a waste of your time, and it annoys the hell out of those you want to convince.

*NO, I am NOT implying that people who use FB are pigs. Do not even try to go there!