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Everything posted by Fragile Bird
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UK politics - not inspiring but effective
Fragile Bird replied to BigFatCoward's topic in General Chatter
What the hell was that? -
RIP Brian Mulroney, dead today at the age of 84. As much as I loathed him, he did good things for the environment, he led the world wide fight against apartheid, continuing even in the face of the threats of the Americans and their anti-boycott laws, and then there was the free trade agreement and the GST. And the most debt in the history of Canada, which brought us the pain of the 1990s. My dad was dying in hospital in 1997, I still remember the fact that there were only two nurses on staff overnight for the entire damn floor.
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The Small Stuff That Doesn't Need a Thread. #8
Fragile Bird replied to LongRider's topic in General Chatter
Very nice! -
US Politics: The sides have gotten… weird
Fragile Bird replied to Ser Scot A Ellison's topic in General Chatter
We are going to disagree. As far as I can see you are a fanboy of this guy and you think he died for noble and altruistic reasons, with a clear mind. I, on the other hand, believe someone who does what he did had a serious problem. Neither of us are likely to ever know the truth. -
US Politics: The sides have gotten… weird
Fragile Bird replied to Ser Scot A Ellison's topic in General Chatter
Sorry, Kal, someone with a terminal illness in such pain and despair they put a gun to their head is not in their right mind. They are in a desperate state of mind. And that’s why I have no problem with assisted dying legislation in Canada, where people can calmly ask for help dying peacefully and with dignity. -
US Politics: The sides have gotten… weird
Fragile Bird replied to Ser Scot A Ellison's topic in General Chatter
I see the story is headlined by a phone number for a suicide help line. And I see, contrary to the claims made in the previous thread, that it isn’t a method of protest used historically for hundreds of years, but originated with the Vietnamese monks in the 60s. There's a reason they preface the story with the help line, you know. And yes, I still say anyone who commits suicide is not in their right mind at the time. -
12 c here today (just under 54 F), thunder and lightning and rain. Average high and low in Toronto for February is 0 (32) and -6 (21).
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US Politics: Courting Justice...or Disaster?
Fragile Bird replied to Phylum of Alexandria's topic in General Chatter
Ha, I was just going to quote your other post and say it’s certainly what people outside the US believe. US democracy is sliding down the mountain at greater and greater speed, and at the bottom there’s a swamp of toxic forms of government that democracy is going to sink into. It’s kinda like climate change, it’s happening faster than we originally imagined could be possible. -
US Politics: Courting Justice...or Disaster?
Fragile Bird replied to Phylum of Alexandria's topic in General Chatter
I’d appreciate it if you posted things people could read, instead of a paywall. -
US Politics: Courting Justice...or Disaster?
Fragile Bird replied to Phylum of Alexandria's topic in General Chatter
Geez, I go off grocery shopping and to make dinner and do tasks and there are pages and pages of responses. I’ll repeat what I said, I think that mental illness is involved here. I did not use the words crazy or insane or other derogatory terms. Depression is a mental illness. There are forms of trauma that create mental instability in people. The fact is this guy died by suicide, no matter how some of you want to dress it up, he killed himself. The US has the highest suicide rate of any industrialized country. And it’s been climbing. 78% of cases are men. The majority of people are seniors, and loneliness and depression are major factors. And being the US, being seriously ill is also a major factor, many people kill themselves because they don’t have health insurance and they don’t want to be a burden to their families. Being a member of the military I expect that wasn’t an issue here, but none of us know if he was in fact ill and decided to go out dramatically. I am likely the oldest person posting here and I have seen numerous suicides over the decades. All of them involved depression. Yes, people kill themselves for other reasons, but the likelihood is that some mental condition was involved. He was going to leave the military, maybe he was afraid. Maybe he was in a serious relationship that broke up and he was depressed. Maybe he had $50,000 of credit card debt. Maybe he committed a crime and was about to be found out. Maybe he simply was depressed, depression not caused by a break-up or fear or wrong doing but because he was depressed and didn’t see any way out of it. When I was his age I suffered from bouts of depression, and when you’re depressed it can feel like you’re drowning and there is no way out. Maybe he sincerely believed what he said before he died, and since he was contemplating suicide anyway decided to make a statement so it wouldn’t seem like it had all been for nothing. I’m gonna kill myself but if I say it was for a cause maybe my family will forgive me. I have strong feelings about suicide and I don’t think people are in their right minds when they kill themselves. You can go ahead and disagree with me and paint his death as altruistic and noble, and I say bs. There are lots of people in this thread who expressed very strong and powerful feelings about the events going on in Gaza. Hands up those of you who are planning on self-immolation. My expectation is that there are zero hands up because none of you are suffering from a serious mental illness. Oh, and I don’t expect there will be a series of copycat suicides in the US military. Those of you dreaming of death are going to be disappointed. -
US Politics: Courting Justice...or Disaster?
Fragile Bird replied to Phylum of Alexandria's topic in General Chatter
I suspect that a person who sets fire to themselves to protest a war rooted in centuries of religious conflict is likely mentally ill. I understand Buddhist monks doing it, but neither of them were monks. -
The Small Stuff That Doesn't Need a Thread. #8
Fragile Bird replied to LongRider's topic in General Chatter
I understand… -
The Small Stuff That Doesn't Need a Thread. #8
Fragile Bird replied to LongRider's topic in General Chatter
Er…. -
I’ve never tried making the overnight oats even though some friends love them. Maybe I’ll try now. I finally bought some steel cut oats and was shocked to see how long they took to cook. Texture, yes! eta: I actually came here to say I’ve been having such a craving for chocolate the last couple of days. Nothing I’m using to satisfy the craving is really working. Ugh.
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US Politics: Courting Justice...or Disaster?
Fragile Bird replied to Phylum of Alexandria's topic in General Chatter
Women are used to sexual freedom, indeed, and I agree with you, Kissd, that there will be a big increase in unwanted pregnancies. But things will change after a few years of suffering, I think it could go back to the way it was before the pill came out. People have always had recreational sex, just not in the amount our generation enjoyed. Out if curiosity, are you male or female, and how old are you? I suspect reality will hit hard for females. -
US Politics: Courting Justice...or Disaster?
Fragile Bird replied to Phylum of Alexandria's topic in General Chatter
If they get birth control pills banned, a helluva a lot of recreational sex will vanish. Pregnancy + no access to abortion is a grim combination. -
US Politics: Courting Justice...or Disaster?
Fragile Bird replied to Phylum of Alexandria's topic in General Chatter
Trump is famous for being the first president in a hundred years who didn’t have a dog. -
The Small Stuff That Doesn't Need a Thread. #8
Fragile Bird replied to LongRider's topic in General Chatter
I don’t know what you guys have in the US, but there are no “watch repair shops” that I’ve ever seen in Canada. You go to a good jeweler, the kind that sells watches. They usually have a repair person on staff. -
US Politics: Courting Justice...or Disaster?
Fragile Bird replied to Phylum of Alexandria's topic in General Chatter
I’d give them the benefit of the doubt. They’d had previous German Shepherds without a problem. The stories say they brought in trainers, and when a professional trainer can’t break the biting habit I don’t think you can lay that at the feet of the owners. -
The Small Stuff That Doesn't Need a Thread. #8
Fragile Bird replied to LongRider's topic in General Chatter
I have a rant about shopping carts. I feel I should conjure up @Ser Scot A Ellison at this point. I am so annoyed at my fellow Costco members. Not only do some leave their carts lying around in the parking lot (not as much as regular grocery stores) but they leave so much trash in the cart. I don’t think I should have clean up pizza slice plates and food sample cups and empty boxes. Very annoying! -
US Politics: Courting Justice...or Disaster?
Fragile Bird replied to Phylum of Alexandria's topic in General Chatter
“Everything happens for a purpose!” -
I see the London, Ontario court hearing the case of the truck driver who ran over the Muslim Pakistani family, killing four of them, back in 2020 has found it to be an act of terrorism. That’s a first in Canada for white violence. It carries an automatic sentence of life in prison with no hope of parole for 25 years. The judge refused to use his name in court. He’s only 23 now and I assume time in custody will count towards the 25 years, so he could potentially get out of jail at the age of 45. I sincerely hope not, but time makes people forget things. The name of the family was Afzaal.
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US Politics: Courting Justice...or Disaster?
Fragile Bird replied to Phylum of Alexandria's topic in General Chatter
Bloody German Shepherds have been completely ruined by stupid breeders in North America. For decades they’ve been bred to be aggressive, for the security dog trade. I see from stories the dog has had lots of training sessions. The Bidens had the same issue with their previous German Shepherd, Major, the dog having been banished from the White House. I think Commander has been banished now as well. One of the stories says the White House tours had to be stopped at one point to clean up a puddle of blood near the gift shop, for crying out loud. The Bidens love the breed, having had other German Shepherds in the past. It’s unfortunate they’ve had bad luck with two dogs in a row. Decades ago you saw people in the park around here with German Shepherds but they’ve completely vanished now. In my local area there were some bad incidents with the breed and dogs were put down. The only trace of them is cross-bred mutts that have obvious GS looks. Oh, and that slender look was bred for, and the breed became notorious for hip dysplasia. People stayed away from the breed because no one wants monster-sized vet bills with the end result of advice from the vet to put the dog down because it’s in such pain. -
The Small Stuff That Doesn't Need a Thread. #8
Fragile Bird replied to LongRider's topic in General Chatter
Bring it in to a good jewelry shop to get an estimate of what repairs would cost. You can then decide if you want to spend the money on it. The jeweler should easily be able to tell you its value. Hell, the shoe repair guy I go to for watch batteries and leather straps if something gets worn out, has a sharp eye for value. The watch’s mechanics scream out value to anyone with experience, not to mention the gold band. -
I have dinner with friends almost every Sunday night, and I usually bring the salad (and a bottle of wine, and sometimes a cake I bake, and often I bake the birthday cakes). The Great British Baking show has been in reruns on tv here, and in a bread episode contestants made focaccia, add ingredients on top please! One of the ladies had been on holiday on an island in the Mediterranean, Crete or Cyprus or some such place, and had been served bread with roasted red grapes, fennel and feta. I thought that sounded like it would be tasty in a salad and did that a couple of weeks ago, to great success. We talked about other cheeses and we decided it would be nice with a blue cheese too, so my Sunday salad will have the roasted, seedless, red grapes, slivers of fennel and a nice, crumbled, Danish blue.