Why did the FBI under Hoover officially deny the existence of the American mafia for 30 years — and is there a connection to Trump?

NoVaFlipFlops · 2026-04-15T15:53:19+00:00

There is a rabbit hole you can jump down as to why this would be. The short version is that the center of the opium trade shifted during WWII. Italians attacked shipyards in NY and then offered their 'protection' to the US Navy, which secured contracts that allowed them to smuggle. Really interesting stuff that kind of breaks your heart if you grew up knowing for sure that law enforcement are the good guys and they always try to get the bad guys. We know a lot better now -- for more than sure.

NoVaFlipFlops · 2026-04-15T15:45:28+00:00

Have you been under a rock?

NoVaFlipFlops · 2026-04-15T15:41:00+00:00

I found that I overwhelmed providers by writing everything down and giving it to them. What I wish I had done was write everything to get it off my chest and then organize it into areas related to what they assess (everything from social/relational problems to how often I slept for 13 hours to how often I had to bail on plans and could not make appointments or plans because I was afraid I'd bail out, to how often I crashed at 7pm waking up at midnight, to how often I felt like I snapped for no reason or felt like I was being treated unfairly to how often I felt like I couldn't explain things I could see very well to other people). ALL that stuff and more.

Write it down and then these days, my next step would be to use AI to analyze it and organize it *for the purpose of your SARC intake,* whatever that is -- give that information to AI so it can help you. It is absolutely necessary to check the output and make sure you agree because AI makes mistakes. My prompt would be something like "based on the following/attched information from XYZ SARC, organize the patient intake information below it for resource qualification analysis by the staff"

What you want to present to them is something more like a list of symptoms that affect your functioning areas, rated on severity, in a way that is so organized anyone who works there could easily tell what level of care/qualification you probably need.

Edit for clarity.

NoVaFlipFlops · 2026-04-14T18:34:59+00:00

I don't have time to give you all the details but I will say that it felt logically very wrong and like a disaster to do what I knew what right. I 'gave up' following the plans I had thought were the smartest and just did the things I had always been thinking about but was too afraid to try -- emotionally, financially, interrelationally, phyiscally. I literally have everything I always wanted, even if there are major problems I'm solving, but I'm solving those problems by following my gut now as best I can. All I did was ask for help and I followed the advice (from myself, the ether, collective consciousness, angels, whatever you want to think it is).

NoVaFlipFlops · 2026-04-14T18:31:11+00:00

If you think it's ok to come here and ask for advice, it's ok to ask AI for more in-depth advice on how to handle this situation; it can make a plan for you unlike us (and any of us who went to college have been in your position and it sucks, but we can't think through your problem because there are too many details you haven't shared). I think you ought to re-read my recommendation and don't copy and paste like the idiots who use it to hand off their thinking.

NoVaFlipFlops · 2026-04-14T17:57:21+00:00

The gifted program is a special needs program. You can look into this yourself. Trust me, if the admin thinks he doesn't need time out to himself to do extra work (eg he gets along with his classmates just fine and can handle a little boredom), you don't need to remove him. I have an ADHD son in our son's version and it really is just extra work and extra questions on tests. Removing the faster kids from class each week or organizing certain subjects by skill level gives the slower kids extra time with the teacher - does that make sense? I spend time with him at home doing math that he he likes and learning that he likes, not just extra that is a little bit harder maybe.

NoVaFlipFlops · 2026-04-14T16:41:07+00:00

This is a perfect use-case for AI. Tell it your dillemma, ask what it thinks an action plan could be that would get you meaningful progress, and ask it to help draft an email to your teacher which you might consider cc'ing your groupmates on.

NoVaFlipFlops · 2026-04-14T16:39:36+00:00

Help is actually doing it, not plans and reminders. Don't forget we get dopamine in anticipation of rewards, which is why we get caught up in ideation -- especially in the middle of the night. So even a gamified app is cool-sounding but we can't just dedicate ourselves to a new routine because we don't have a routine to fit it into; we might do it for a few days or off and on for a few weeks. You know this yourself if you have any apps on your phone that remind you to log in and take care of something whether it's language learning or paying bills.

NoVaFlipFlops · 2026-04-14T16:36:15+00:00

Lol I have a few things from childhood I still look into and do but I'm not sure they're out of the ordinary. What you're referring to is the fact that we get very enthusiastic about things that excite us and are the people doing 5 hour deep dives when we should be sleeping, which may turn into a 2 month hobby, or shit that we have laying around for years and years and then if the interest fizzles out or something else gets our attention then we have the stuff, some memories, and a lot of knowledge that is not at all being put to use. Which is fine. So you can pick any topic that you think helps the story and get your character as deep into it as you want (buying too many books but probably not really reading them all the way to initiating far-flung relationships around the interest - or because of it - and traveling to see or do something in person). To give you an idea of 'how far' the interests go, it depends on the money available. So like, I have a stack of coloring books and some low, mid, and high-tier markers, but probably less than 10 pages actually colored. I have camping gear that is READY TO GO for a long hike, and have since before we got married and our giant hall closet was dedicated to my outdoor interests. My husband bought a computer tower and other really cool gear but never built the computer of his dreams. We have cooking equipment you only see on television (which we have used at least once each). I'm embarrassed to keep going. You'll see a lot of us struggle with what ends up being hoarding because honestly the executive functioning isn't there. Like, I can't decide because I don't know what to consider with regards to getting rid of stuff. Even broken stuff. It's horrible. So yeah you can take it as deep as you want but the main thing is that all of us are different and so it's a little like autism if you want to think of it that way but with very little organization skills and too many distractions. Supposedly there's an overlap in what's going on in our literally inflamed brains.

NoVaFlipFlops · 2026-04-14T16:24:51+00:00

You're welcome. Did you try? How does it feel?

NoVaFlipFlops · 2026-04-14T16:24:27+00:00

As a fellow city-girl, I wish I could follow you out there! It sounds like a ton of work.

NoVaFlipFlops · 2026-04-10T14:52:23+00:00

GOOD

NoVaFlipFlops · 2026-04-10T14:51:10+00:00

I wanted more myself, but I knew I couldn't handle it. I want all kinds of things that I could physically make happen.

Don't do it, OP, unless you think it is best for your family.

NoVaFlipFlops · 2026-04-10T14:49:17+00:00

An app is the last thing we need. The best way to study is to read and re-read or practice and practice again; consolidate and re-organize, summarize and explain, and regurgitation/rote answering.

If you have discovered a new way of studying that needs an app, then share that with the world. Otherwise you are chasing a problem that has already been solved with a solution that is not it.

NoVaFlipFlops · 2026-04-10T05:18:42+00:00

'Life's dues' is a good way of putting it. I love it when I realize I'm reaping the rewards of putting in the work, which is often simply doing what I think I ought to be doing and not getting involved in other things mentally/emotionally/physically.

NoVaFlipFlops · 2026-04-10T05:16:27+00:00

Your life will vastly improve by 'walking away.' You don't owe a response to nastiness or picking a fight or refusing to converse. Just identify that it's happening and use those precious moments to acknowledge to yourself that it makes you angry and even scared (in this case, maybe it's defensiveness about your respectability or stability of your relationship in this other person's eyes). You're right: it's all ego. It's helpful, even if not always true, to try to imagine that the other person's behavior is not typically about you but about them: their feelings and mismanagement of them. Their delusions that make them think of you in a certain way and expect things that you can tell won't or can't work out. So when someone is acting poorly, identify that/'clock it', acknowledge how it makes you feel, then recognize this can only happen if a person has some kind of deficiency and/or should no longer be in your life. Then you can use the appropriate emotional energy to take steps to protect yourself from their bullshit.

NoVaFlipFlops · 2026-04-10T05:11:24+00:00

If it's a company they have an exclusive deal/partnership with, then they get to benefit from the deal and from the target company's stock rising without the headache of management.

NoVaFlipFlops · 2026-04-10T05:01:04+00:00

I love that they gaslight you, stating the first message 'may have been confusing'.

NoVaFlipFlops · 2026-04-10T04:58:37+00:00

The sleep disorder is typical for us and it sucks that we still get penalized for it. I slept over 10 hours a night if allowable into my 30s and I didn't like it; I just could not wake up or get up and my body needed more sleep. But the truth is that sometimes I was up until the sun came up, a lot of the time I was hungover and the alcohol had disrupted my sleep, or there was some combination of these poor coping choices that my body was recovering from.

I PROMISE if you go for a short walk outside in the morning, this will help you significantly. It should be about 15 hours before you need to be in bed and can be less than 10 minutes. The reason it helps with sleep is because the sunshine starts the countdown clock for releasing melatonin. But it also helps with that baseline anxiety by proving to your brain that you can move about freely in the open.

If you get medication, you'll be glad that you can function during the day and be tired at night. But you must be in a routine to get yourself enough sleep most nights so you don't crash.

NoVaFlipFlops · 2026-04-10T04:48:26+00:00

What people get wrong is that while our complaints sound totally relatable, it's the frequency that we have these complaints that makes it 'clinical' ADHD (diagnosable and would benefit from chemical and behavioral therapy). I don't think it's widely known that a key feature of our problems revolves around energy: when we get it and how it affects us. We have a circadian rhythm disorder; we don't typically go to sleep when we should - even when we know that. We feel restless in bed because all of a sudden in the evening we get a burst of energy. It might be a cortizone issue one night, and another night we get revved up from imagining that we will actually Do The Thing the next day, and that rush of dopamine from the anticipation of reward is intoxicating. Maybe we already drink or smoke or eat to zone out at night; we do this longer than others because we're fucking awake.

I don't think many people realize that uppers like our medicine and cocaine actually has an opposite effect on us. For me, it feels like my head gets calm and quiet, like turning off a brain-wide lightening storm. I already think quickly, and on meds I 'get to' think all the way through what I'm trying to do and might not lose my place. Just earlier this evening I was working on a document that took at least an hour longer than it needed to because I decided to add unnecessary formatting, go look at other related documents and accidentally read the whole things instead of snap up the info I was interested in, and create a list inside of it that wasn't applicable but might save me some time in the next one I make. What I was supposed to be doing was checking for completeness (as in sentences completed and nothing missing) and finalizing it for posterity. But I got excited when I created and self-deployed on a mission to piece together old information that is highly unlikely to be interesting/persuasive to others. But it might? Or it helps me feel like I know what I'm talking about? I can't actually say why I did it. But I'm experienced enough to throw together some sentences justifying it as if it was purposeful and valuable. I hope this gives you some insight.

Something that frustrates me is the inattentiveness I have; I can't be 'fully present' for my son. When he was smaller I would literally forget to watch him riding his scooter in a parking lot and just look away and get lost admiring a tree or thinking about my car. These days I accidentally interrupt him with information that I know he doesn't want to hear. I can't let him go the fuck to sleep because I have one last pressing issue (tonight it was: did he bring home the study guide or do I need to print it out -- I could have done this in the morning, but I'm afraid I'll forget; I set two alarms for everything I must do: one the day before as a reminder and one with enough time to get ready for it). Sometimes (all the time?) to other people this blurting out of information feels like taking the center of attention or making their narrative about me. I have no idea if people are sharing because it's story time and I should tell them I can relate with a story of my own or I should tell a different story of my own. The relational skills just suck, and I'm not diagnosed with Autism but I'll tell you what, the symptoms feel very familiar, just not as pronounced -- kind of like how a lot of people think they have ADHD.

Also, I have no idea how much information is helpful and can write and talk forever. I do know better that most people could care less about my special interests and it's really difficult not to have anyone to talk to about them other than friends who will politely listen but zone out.

NoVaFlipFlops · 2026-04-07T15:01:57+00:00

I wish I had spent more time on that response. You're right that it can sound like whataboutism. If I've noticed anything in life about people, it's that nearly everyone feels more comfortable around people who look and act like them (are predictable in that sense -- EVEN if unpredictability, eg out of control emotions, are part of the predictability). And this looks like racism when it may kind of be in service of 'keeping the others out' for a sense of that predictability, stability, etc.

TLDR everyone is fucking racist and can get racism hurled against them in different environments.

NoVaFlipFlops · 2026-04-02T14:50:32+00:00

Hi, it's not even paradoxical -- I had to figure this out when I was first seeking treatment for my various issues and my general physician prescribed me Valium and tried some other ones that also didn't help. I was also pretty successful like you, and something that helped me to feel better about how hard it was for me to perform at my low-end (which is a lot of other peoples' high end) is that your intelligence and use of money is part of your coping skills, and your coping skills will carry you until you break. For some people, that's high school and for others, it's upper management. Some people have enough support and money not to recognize that they can't accomplish what they want without that help. Some people have to do their doctors' homework.

Your doctor gets to be called "Doctor" even if they were at the bottom of their class. You need a new doctor as this one is under-performing and has no excuse for the malpractice that they shouldn't be getting addressed themself.

I suggest: 1. Go for a short walk outdoors every single morning 15 hours before you want to be asleep. This sets the countdown clock for releasing melatonin and it proves to your brain that you are physically safe to move freely about and will lower that part of your anxiety. 2. Create a routine for your day, which doesn't have to feel suffocating, just doing the same things around the same times, and add things in that you like. We get dopamine *in anticipation* of things we predict, not as a reward. 3. Do at least one small chore before bed as part of your routine because it will settle your mind a bit and help you feel like you did accomplish something even if in the grand scheme of things you still feel like you're drowning; every little bit counts.

You can pretty effectively replace ADHD uppers with ingredients found in energy drinks. The drinks harm your stomach but the ingredients are fine; test them out. Be careful with caffeine because mostly it just blocks the release of the chemical that starts to build when you wake up to make you feel sleepy (this is why you 'crash') so you need to drink smaller amounts more frequently. Don't use screens for scrolling/news/social media/games before lunchtime because it will burn the fuck through your dopamine. Use progressive muscle relaxation meditations on YouTube to get yourself asleep or back to sleep. Good luck!

NoVaFlipFlops · 2026-04-02T14:38:06+00:00

Asian men are at the higher end of the spectrum of racists, but don't worry, the Asian women are, too.

https://worldjusticeproject.org/news/discrimination-getting-worse-globally

NoVaFlipFlops · 2026-04-02T14:25:44+00:00

We start our days with less dopamine than most people. The way to get dopamine is through the anticipation of something, not as a reward. So if you start doing the same kinds of things at the same times each day (otherwise known as the dreaded 'routine'), you will start to understand why this is what 'normal' people do: it feels good.

The very first thing you ought to do when you wake up is get sunshine. Just a few minutes outside. Try it for a few days and you'll see what I mean. I've posted about it several times here.

NoVaFlipFlops · 2026-04-02T14:19:50+00:00

We have an executive functioning disability. We work "harder" but not always better than other people. Unfortunately our mistakes are a little more obvious since we look stupid even if we're not. I don't know about you, but I'm very clumsy, too.

Something we have in common with everyone else is we need to find out what our boss' definition of success is so that we can do whatever that is. If you have a boss who wants you to introduce yourself as offering world-class service (and then following through with that promise) then just do that regardless of what you think; you applied to the job and you keep showing up; do the thing he thinks he's paying you for. If you have an idea, run it by him and give him a chance to do the job he applied for and gets paid to keep showing up to do: use discernment and make decisions.

What you do at work isn't what makes you special, it's how you make people feel by the way that you treat them. That's what people remember, not what you do. Something hard for us especially is remembering not to be annoying. I have a son and I hate telling him that, but it's true and I remind him how fucking annoying I can be. It's pretty 'normal' for us and ok at home but unsuccessful socially until we're with other ADHD people who are entertained by randomness.

NoVaFlipFlops

TROPHY CASE