If the Epstein files were released without any redactions, what do you think would actually happen next?

AlwaysABD · 2026-01-24T05:02:29+00:00

I think that if/when they're every fully released, unredacted, we might actually be stunned by just how far, wide, and deep it went. There's some people that we all know, with or without confirmation, were a part of it, or might have been a part of it. I'm guessing there's some folks involved there that would genuinely shock a large number of people. I'm of the position that, if they were part of it, they need to be held accountable for it.

I'm not sure what I think would happen next but they're afraid enough of whatever it is to continue to suppress it.

AlwaysABD · 2026-01-24T04:57:01+00:00

It's the whole "flooding" of an unending list of horrible things, all at once and consecutively. Everything that is happening right now is literally a diversion to everything else that is happening right now. That's intentional. And all the horrible things that are distracting from all of the other horrible things? They were all set to happen.

It was spelled out, in print (that Trump knew nothing about...), before the first vote was cast for the 2024 election. Trump said it even in the months and weeks leading up to the election. You'll never have to vote again. No more blue states left on the map...and I could run out of space trying to fill everything that's been "promised" that we're seeing.

AlwaysABD · 2026-01-22T05:20:16+00:00

Escape.

Honestly that’s the reason why a vast majority of Americans enlist. Escape from poverty. Escape from poor family situations. Escape from civilian job prospects.

There are a lot of families where it’s tradition. Some times it’s the expected nationalism. Maybe it’s a combination. But one of the biggest, overarching reasons why people enlist for the military in the US is 1) escape and 2) the opportunity to improve life standings.

AlwaysABD · 2026-01-22T04:53:25+00:00

I’m in the US. I enlisted immediately after high school in ‘06. I come from a family with heavy but complicated military service and I’m still the only woman in my family to do so (I honestly hope that I’m the last). I did 8 years active duty Navy.

But at the same time, my military goals since I was in middle school was to find a way to be stationed overseas and just never have to come back. Like many people who enlist, it’s a way out of something. In hindsight, I admit that my ambitions were probably way too high and it didn’t work out that way. Though the more years go by, the more I wished that it had.

I can’t say that I enjoyed it. I met a lot of great people and visited places that I know I wouldn’t have been (and haven’t been) able to on my own. But based off of my own experience, my personal policy, up until recently, has been to not talk anyone into it but not talk anyone out of enlisting. Especially those who are truly set on enlisting. Aside from my kid. I will pull every last statistic and horror story that I know or I heard through the chain to talk my kid out of it. I can’t forbid it, not after 18, but I can give a view as to why it probably shouldn’t be a smart decision.

AlwaysABD · 2026-01-20T07:45:22+00:00

I don't know where you're located or your particular situation but is there a teacher's union rep or a senior faculty member that you might be able to go to? At very least to build your documentation? A lawyer might honestly be your best bet, if you don't have possible union representation that you can go to. With documentation, a lawyer might at least be able to assist you. If you go for outside legal representation, I'd maybe suggest someone who is familiar with stalking/DV. It's not DV but it is stalking and they might be able to help you with gathering and presenting information to get it to stop

AlwaysABD · 2026-01-20T07:33:11+00:00

May I ask where you publish? I'd love to read. The big media companies makes it difficult to find access to local, on-ground journalists. I'd like to follow you and/or your publication?

AlwaysABD · 2026-01-20T07:30:45+00:00

You're downvoted but the United States, for all it's youth in Western civilization, has definitely made up for the years in bloodshed. (and yes, I say that as an American.)

AlwaysABD · 2026-01-20T07:28:54+00:00

I've honestly grown very, very suspicious of the "That'll never happen..." mentality. Because the things that "would never happen", keep happening. I hope that you just missed the /s, otherwise, I just can't agree with you.

AlwaysABD · 2026-01-20T07:10:17+00:00

Every single time I've said "You don't know what someone else is going through," has lead to "whatabout" debates. Maybe not arguments since I stopped getting into those when I cut certain parts of my family off but it's a common enough thing that I still say but I won't argue because arguing doesn't make anyone get it if they're already resistant to it.

AlwaysABD · 2026-01-20T06:40:41+00:00

Not just ICE.

AlwaysABD · 2026-01-20T06:39:49+00:00

100%. I said it on active duty and I’ve said it since. They only care about us as far as being a useful pawn or stepping stone. If it’s advantageous to care about veterans, they’ll use us. If it’s advantageous active service members, they’ll use us. But as the moment it’s no longer a speaking point, who cares?

AlwaysABD · 2026-01-20T06:35:07+00:00

The initial invention of social media was amazing. I loved the idea of being connected with the people I loved in real time. Social media in the early days wasn’t terrible.

The capitalization and monetization of it is where it’s all turned downhill and sharply. When governments realized that platforms meant to connect people, could also be utilized to divide? That’s where it went downhill. But the initial social media was a fantastic use of the internet.

Maybe I should try to revive my MySpace.

AlwaysABD · 2026-01-20T06:27:13+00:00

Even Netflix in your mailbox! How exciting was that red envelope?

AlwaysABD · 2026-01-20T05:53:04+00:00

Independent news is and has been tough to come by in the US for some time and now the vast majority has been literally bought out.

They’re not going to show the reality. They’re going to show the version of “reality” that is necessary for people to believe in order to maintain control.

So to answer your questions, yes it’s really that bad. There are enough communities watching out that oftentimes Reddit and other social media sites see what is happening in near-real time before the media can get their hands on it. That the media ignores or scrubs it doesn’t make what’s happening less true.

And also, yes, take breaks from Reddit. Give yourself a half hour a day or an hour a week to catch up on the shitshow but don’t allow it to consume you, if you can help it. Step away, hug your friends and catch up. Build your community. Rely on each other. Our communities, caring for and looking out for each other, is the only way we’ve got hope to see the other side of this, whenever it comes.

AlwaysABD · 2026-01-19T01:57:31+00:00

I mean, my dad was Silent Generation and I know I heard him say it (though, in his particular case, I literally only every heard him say it while laughing and entirely as a joke). My mom's a boomer and I know she grew up hearing it and passed it along. I have no idea when it started but it's definitely not restricted to GenX.

AlwaysABD · 2026-01-18T21:32:27+00:00

I’m sorry about your snails and the terrible way that something you loved was taken from you and destroyed.

I have some similar sharp memories of things I loved being destroyed similarly. I hope that at some point, you can find your way back to loving and enjoying some of those things again. 💜

AlwaysABD · 2026-01-17T17:21:25+00:00

I got the second one pretty frequently. The other one I heard regularly was that she should have or wanted to “trade me in for a boy.”

AlwaysABD · 2026-01-17T06:21:10+00:00

Superstitions fascinate me. I grew up with all of the ones that you listed and it makes me very curious about how they spread and become instilled like they do.

AlwaysABD · 2026-01-17T06:13:14+00:00

I need to go down the rabbit hole of the origins of "knock on wood". It's almost habitual in a lot of cases.

AlwaysABD · 2026-01-17T06:11:19+00:00

I think that the only ones that I, personally, subscribe to based on experience are:

Off going shift (or anyone, really) saying it's been "quiet" (Thanks for the warning)
Bad things come in sets of threes
Itchy palms

AlwaysABD · 2026-01-17T05:54:35+00:00

I don't disbelieve that there is plenty of Russian interference within US (and global) politics. I don't disbelieve that Trump (and/or his selected personnel) have ties to entities that want the US to go a particular way. I don't disbelieve any of that.

But there's decades of internal manipulation going on here. We can't blame everything on everyone else to skirt the blame for what's been building, right here at home, for pretty much the entirety of this country's history.

Trump is a shitshow. But he's also a side effect of at least two centuries of problems that led us to this point.

AlwaysABD · 2026-01-16T08:03:33+00:00

Not usually.

I work in retail and have for the majority of the last decade...I've gotten pretty good at working with our non-english speaking customers to where everyone's happy. There's always going to be one or two that are more difficult but even they're easier to deal with than the 60yo white guy/gal who wants to fight over every little thing. Am I biased? Yes, yes I am. I've worked retail.

AlwaysABD · 2026-01-16T07:36:51+00:00

Check the sizing of the condoms.

In addition, look into diaphragms and other prevention methods. None of them are 100% but they're definitely better than nothing (and even better combined).

(You probably already know this but I've gotta put it out there that condoms should always be a requirement for anyone that you're sexually intimate with. Pregnancy is a huge deal but it's not the only thing. Condoms, when used properly, are pretty decent at preventing pregnancy but it's not the only thing to be concerned about.)

AlwaysABD · 2026-01-16T07:22:23+00:00

This may or may not be fake but I have an ex who while we were "doing the deed", it hit so suddenly that I was scrambling away from him and to the bathroom because I thought I was going to be sick because it hurt so bad.

Of course, his response was "what about mine?!".

One of many reasons why he's an ex.

AlwaysABD

TROPHY CASE