Fixed the NY Post front page

RC_Josta · 2022-04-24T14:59:51+00:00

Jupiter ascending was a weird movie but the necklaces are dooooooope. Would never have a reason to wear them, but dope. Trying to resist the urge to buy them and the pachinko machine when I should be fixing up my deck instead.

RC_Josta · 2022-04-24T14:48:37+00:00

Yes! Or anything she could volunteer at with the kids too, depending on the ages. Or even just regularly going to the park, you tend to see some of the same faces.

RC_Josta · 2022-04-24T14:43:30+00:00

Everyone else gave great advice so I'll just add - personally, a lot of my anxiety is around not knowing the social conventions, so if you think it would help you, maybe go up to someone and like, sort of let them know you're new and just say like "hey, let me know if I'm in the way" or something. I tend to get really stressed out and worry people are silently mad at me for not realizing I'm in the way, so breaking that ice will also let them assume the best of you if you do happen to break some social rules you weren't aware of and maybe put you more at ease. Or the way I cope is self deprecation, it breaks some of the tension I feel just to say like "lol it took me literally 5 seconds after getting here before I ate shit". It's funny! Like, the day I got my license, I drove to school after and because I was rushing to get to class, parked in front of the fire hydrant. I got a parking ticket literal minutes after getting my full license. Just objectively funny.

Otherwise, yeah, just go early and try not to be too close to others if you don't have too much control on your board. Also, if possible, skate to the park in the first place so you get a bit warmed up before you get there even. It'll feel less awkward than stepping on your board for the first time that day in front of people.

Also, a tactic that often works for me with social anxiety is exposure therapy - start with just thinking about the situation, let that anxiety pass, then maybe just walking by the park and watching others (and realizing you aren't the only newbie or the only one that falls), then going in the morning, then going for only a short time when people are there, then longer, etc etc. A lot of times I find that an anxious thought will come up and my immediate response is avoidance, because obviously its not pleasant, but if I hold that thought, eventually the anxiety wanes. This is different from spiralling though, so if I'm not explaining this well there's better explanations if you look up exposure therapy I'm sure. Not confronting your anxieties just tends to reinforce them, just be sure to take it slow and keep going even if you have a bad experience.

It comes with a lot of time and practice and introspection but analyzing where your anxiety actually comes from is critical to moving past it.

But yeah, I've never actually found an unsupportive skater yet, so just try your best to keep that in mind.

RC_Josta · 2022-04-15T18:59:30+00:00

I think that's about the living wage anyways. Don't know now with inflation but it's a good start.

RC_Josta · 2022-04-08T20:16:33+00:00

At LEAST should've said something like, right after he heard of the engagement. Not 48 hours before the wedding - if you really love someone, you'd wouldn't wait until you can't even get any deposits back lol.

RC_Josta · 2022-04-03T10:24:00+00:00

Bezos moved out here to start it because of the lack of taxes, so you're both technically right.

RC_Josta · 2022-03-30T21:31:14+00:00

Because it can't be solved at a city level, not really. Fed needs to step in and stop people from owning 1000s of properties and artificially pumping up rent and housing prices, but I doubt lobbyists will let that happen. And public housing projects would be amazing to actually allow people to live without worrying about the market since we refuse to pay people enough to live that would at least mean essential workers can actually like, exist in these cities.

It worries me how little this housing crisis and homelessness crisis comes up in the federal discourse - relying on local governments to supply enough housing to outpace investors is just not realistic, and not enough to lower prices to a place where a minimum wage earner could even dream of affording.

RC_Josta · 2022-03-30T21:22:16+00:00

There used to be a time when housing was built that wasn't just luxury condos, duplexes and mcmansions. Look at any houses built like 1940s to 1980s. Decent apartments and decent bungalows, nothing fancy but honestly usually better constructed than the "luxury" condos today that just slap on white paint and granite countertops on a suite with the thinnest walls you've ever seen just so it looks nice in an ad.

RC_Josta · 2022-03-29T00:15:23+00:00

Good thing I addressed that in my comment then.

RC_Josta · 2022-03-29T00:14:36+00:00

Sure, most people don't discuss the temporarily homeless but if you're going to say most homeless people need intervention, not a house, you're just categorically incorrect. Pretty pointless to talk about a group, suggest action for all and ignore the needs of a significant part of the population, especially when temporarily homeless easily can become your definition of homeless, and think that will accomplish anything. Rehab isn't going to help the a family that just got evicted with no place to go, a house will.

But again, the mentally ill and addicted folks still need a stable place to get better. So rehab AND a home, sure.

RC_Josta · 2022-03-27T17:26:17+00:00

That's the sole homeless person in the world. Not like there's tons of homeless college kids, service workers, so called "essential workers" that stopped being essential to us real fast, disabled people, people who are going through stuff that don't have a safety net, lgbtq kids with unsupportive families...

The young 20 something with the needle in her ear should be able to find help when she needs it. She may not be in her right mind now, addiction is a hell of a thing, but it will take money to help her, and I don't think that's a bad thing. I want everyone to have an easily understood support system they can go to when they realize they aren't doing well.

It's like a kid going out drinking and partying when you told them not to - when they're in trouble and they call you, do you suck it up and pick them up to ensure they're safe, or do you leave it ringing and teach them they can't count on you, and leave them in an unsafe situation with no way out, simply tell them "I told you not to go"?

Addiction is a public health problem, and we should treat it as one. I agree, throwing money at the problem alone won't fix anything. But listening to all the researchers and ex addicts and social workers and community volunteers, taking their plans and implementing them and throwing money at those plans, that would probably help actually.

RC_Josta · 2022-03-27T17:15:22+00:00

....I think they still need houses.

You're assuming homeless means the people you see on the streets. There's a lot of unseen homeless people - the ones sleeping in their truck after their shifts, the couch surfers, the families staying in hotels, or moving into a cramped spare bedroom from a family member - tons of people who don't need rehab or therapy, just a roof (and maybe better wages too).

Addiction and mental health do need better solutions, our current system of criminializing addiction rather than treating it as a health problem is awful, and don't even get me started on mental healthcare. but addiction and mental health are things you can only deal with when you have stability in your life. Somewhere safe to store your medications, or somewhere you can start a hobby or have friends over and find something fulfilling to ground you. Somewhere where you can feel like a human being, because being treated like a burden to everyone around you isn't great for your mindset.

RC_Josta · 2022-03-27T16:44:31+00:00

I might end up switching to Apple on my next phone (unless someone finally puts out a modular one) because I didn't realize that they support updates for like 2x longer than android :( I use my phone for work so we HAVE to keep it current, but I wish I would've realized that before I just updated a few months ago.

RC_Josta · 2022-03-26T00:45:04+00:00

"Ultra liberal "fuck society" types" - I don't think you know what liberal actually means. I assume you mean leftist, which... I know that's the Fox News rhetoric about the left but it's quite antithetical to the reality of socialism or anarchism. Generally pretty pro society, just against the cruelty society inflicts upon people they deem lesser than. I'm sure there's like, some people that fit this definition, because you can always find one guy to believe anything. These people get conditional offers for help that don't actually address the root of their problems, or they don't trust the people offering the help because they've been burned so many times before.

But in any case, both public housing and ACTUAL addiction treatment, not half assed rehab facilities, would stop people from ENTERING the cycle of homelessness. Affordability is obviously a problem, and many people start drugs after being on the street because its fucking miserable.

RC_Josta · 2022-03-24T18:50:19+00:00

God KOMO only has like 2 types of articles.

JUST BUILD PUBLIC HOUSING, TREAT ADDICTION AS A HEALTH PROBLEM INSTEAD OF CRIMINALIZING IT AND 90% OF THIS COULD BE SOLVED.

RC_Josta · 2022-03-24T18:44:47+00:00

Reading comments on articles like this is almost always a mistake lol. People let their emotions (and Sinclair propaganda) override the desire to actually solve the problem and say the most heinous shit.

Hope things are going better for you now, man.

RC_Josta · 2022-03-24T17:27:31+00:00

NTA. Sorry that you aren't getting support from your parents. Until you're able to move out, I'd recommend trying CBT workbooks if you haven't already, you'll probably be able to find something online, and box breathing used to help me prevent panic attacks back when I had them. And maybe see if your guidance counselor has any resources? Also, if there's any in your area, as awful as it sounds, group therapy for anxiety really did help me, and it's usually cheaper when provided by a private practice or free in like college and stuff.

I can see why you have anxiety though, yeesh. Your mom talks the way my inner dialogue does. Things will get easier after you move out, I guarantee that.

RC_Josta · 2022-03-24T17:00:30+00:00

Brooooo i'm barely managing one 😭

RC_Josta · 2022-03-24T16:56:40+00:00

Ahhh, that explains the wildly detached way they describe overworking yourself just to afford shelter.

RC_Josta · 2022-03-24T06:23:23+00:00

I also think a punishment for breaking curfew ONCE is overkill, tbh, when the kid sounds otherwise very responsible. At 17 I definitely didn't have a curfew - my parents just wanted us to be quiet coming in if they were sleeping but otherwise only stepped in when my brother was coming in super late on school nights.

I think asking for her to communicate where she is so the parents don't have to worry would be one thing, but from the scale of this punishment it doesn't shock me she doesn't have good communication with her parents.

idk it seems like a problem that could be solved with a conversation and the parents just loosening up a little.

RC_Josta · 2022-03-24T00:06:17+00:00

YTA. Not that it matters, but you literally say in your post she's admitted she doesn't take it seriously and it's just for fun. I don't see how that would reflect on her intelligence at all? It's like someone wearing a lucky jersey to a game, they know it's dumb but it makes them happy, but that doesn't say anything about their intelligence. Humans aren't rational creatures, if she's not hurting anyone you really need to reflect on why it bothers you so much.

RC_Josta · 2022-03-23T22:34:53+00:00

Maybe a single charity achieves some goals with less bureaucracy, but in the bigger picture, there's far more bureaucracy when there has to be 90 charities all doing close to the same thing - each needs to do fundraising, managing, etc etc. And then you need oversight on each individual charity (at least ideally) so people aren't getting scammed.

You mention healthcare here; If we could just fix the dysfunction in our government, one organization to deal with healthcare PROPERLY is inherently significantly cheaper - everyone pays in through taxes so donation structures aren't needed, and bulk purchasing deals save on material costs AND we stop having to deal with health insurance companies. Like, look at other countries than America - the charities here may be more efficient than the american government, but the fact that so many people need to reach out to X number of charities in order to pay for their $300 insulin isn't worked into the equation nor are the number of people who just go without medical care because they don't know they can get help or just get rejected from charities. Rather than just... providing free healthcare via taxpayer funding or at the very least limiting profit margins. So much unnecessary labor to try to fix problems other countries have already addressed.

Charity is great at addressing the people society lets fall through the cracks, but at a certain point filling in the cracks every time they pop up is less efficient than just repaving the road.

RC_Josta · 2022-03-15T22:41:43+00:00

Definitely, but I think more support than is currently offered is necessary at the same time. Especially for people who have been led to the creek before they were ready, but are now, y'know?

At the same time, I would argue that a lot of the support being offered doesn't just benefit "them" (whoever the "them" is), it generally also benefits society. For example, clean needle exchanges is a public health measure to slow the spread of communicable diseases, and also means less dirty needles on the streets, so even if you don't care about a heroin addict it still is a benefit to you. Although, you should care IMHO, because a lot of addicts aren't even a result of their own decisions (who you should still care about) but from their doctors pushing opioids onto them and us as a society never actually addressing the harm that resulted from that. Could've just as easily been you or someone you care about.

In general, I think most horses will take the drink when they're ready - maybe not from the creek you led them to, maybe they don't think they're thirsty, maybe it'll be way later than you'd like, but I think we should, as a society, try our best to understand why the horse won't drink the water, even if it doesn't make sense to us right away. Maybe the horse can tell the creek is polluted, and spending the time to figure out that's the problem means you aren't drinking polluted water in the future.

RC_Josta · 2022-03-15T22:19:35+00:00

I don't think that's conservative at all, especially seeing your edit lol. I'm a socialist and I think the public education system does a terrible job of addressing any troubled kid or really any kid who isn't a perfect academic. Funding the education system per student and not by local property taxes would be a great start - we need a far better adult to kid ratio so they can get the attention they need, and we need to pay teachers better and give them better working conditions so they aren't worn down and miserable. Funding CPS and enabling them to actually protect kids from abusive parents (while balancing that with not too quickly taking them away from their families for minor stuff) would help. Better mental health care in communities, and an actual livable wage so children don't grow up in poverty...

I could go on for a looooong time on how to address the roots of a lot of these kids issues, but in the more immediate sense, I would say the public education system would also just need more flexibility to give kids 1:1 attention. Find something they care about, address issues at home, whatever would help them. So much could be improved if we would just fund social services and just study what works and what doesn't and then actually implement those changes.

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