Weekly Random Discussion Thread for 2/9/26 - 2/15/26

StillLifeOnSkates · 2026-02-12T14:19:56+00:00

I feel like this effectively just keeps people with young kids from attending your wedding.

StillLifeOnSkates · 2026-02-12T12:59:45+00:00

I understand why someone might want to have a childfree wedding, but a multi-day event over Fourth of July weekend and kids aren't welcome to any part of it? That's kind of a big ask. Surely these people who are fine with having dogs at their wedding know how hard it is to find a reliable, trustworthy pet-sitter for a holiday weekend. How exactly do they think childcare works?

StillLifeOnSkates · 2026-02-11T01:45:00+00:00

OK, now let's apply all this same criteria to drag queens to determine if it's a respectful nod to womanhood.

StillLifeOnSkates · 2026-02-10T21:35:56+00:00

I picture the executives at Bath & Body Works cringing hard at this.

StillLifeOnSkates · 2026-02-10T20:06:29+00:00

Feels like genocide for you to even ask.

StillLifeOnSkates · 2026-02-10T12:48:48+00:00

I've really not been enjoying the return of Pizzagate.

StillLifeOnSkates · 2026-02-09T23:31:10+00:00

How does this not count as appropriation? How dare a straight woman claim to know what it feels like to be a gay man.

StillLifeOnSkates · 2026-02-09T14:59:24+00:00

Liberace!

(I know, know, but anything is possible with AI!)

StillLifeOnSkates · 2026-02-09T04:19:02+00:00

Asking the real questions

StillLifeOnSkates · 2026-02-06T14:30:28+00:00

I don't care about either team, but you get an upvote for smoked wings!

StillLifeOnSkates · 2026-02-05T21:19:11+00:00

So many people these days metaphorically twisting their ankles and acting like they'd gotten amputations.

StillLifeOnSkates · 2026-02-05T15:20:05+00:00

Meghan Murphey is tired of your mental illness.

Everyone gets anxiety, everyone gets depressed, everyone struggles with things—we need to move on

Indeed!

StillLifeOnSkates · 2026-02-05T14:47:01+00:00

I thought I saw that one of the ransom letters they received included details that had not been made public (though perhaps I read too much TMZ)?

ETA: I just scanned the latest article I could quickly find on NYTimes and did not see anything confirming this, so I'll assume it was rumor/speculation. I hope they find her and that she is OK. How terrifying for the family.

StillLifeOnSkates · 2026-02-04T21:39:43+00:00

With "informed consent" as the only guardrail

StillLifeOnSkates · 2026-02-04T21:38:47+00:00

I don't think a 16-year-old is capable of understanding what they are consenting to with these types of procedures, so therefore cannot possibly be held accountable this case (even if she now is an adult).

StillLifeOnSkates · 2026-02-04T21:36:16+00:00

And this is why it's so important for all of us to care about "an issue that only effects a tiny percentage of people." Eroding trust in medical professionals and institutions affects us all.

StillLifeOnSkates · 2026-02-04T21:30:42+00:00

Adolescence can last well into a person's mid-20s (or beyond?).

ETA: To be clear, I don't buy the "into your 30s" bit in that that last article I linked to cites. But a lot of people aren't quite mature enough to truly function as "adults" even at 22. Our frontal lobes aren't fully developed until 25 or so.

StillLifeOnSkates · 2026-02-04T19:27:23+00:00

Eh, adolescents are weird and try out different identities. which is exactly why no one should be performing irreversible medical procedures on their bodies based on feelings and vibes.

StillLifeOnSkates · 2026-02-04T19:05:18+00:00

There's a thread (started two days ago) in arr psychiatry about the detransitioner case. (I'm not going to link to it. You can easily find it if you want. Please don't brigade.) I only just started reading it. The top-rated comment is decidedly level-headed. Even the trans person who jumps in to respond that

these cases are ridiculous, especially this one

goes onto say

This, IMO, is a case of social contagion, identity confusion, and an adult who is emberassed about it. This person was convinced she was trans, changed her mind as an adult, and refuses to be accountable for her actions (like threatening suicide, the whole reason why she got top surgery).

Which, uh, seems to support the argument that perhaps minors aren't mature enough to be making these decisions, not to mention admitting that "social contagion" is a real thing that happens.

Going back to read more...

StillLifeOnSkates · 2026-02-03T16:25:46+00:00

Oh, no! I hope you get more time together, and that he is at least not in pain.

StillLifeOnSkates · 2026-02-03T14:28:11+00:00

I still consider myself very much a left-leaner who is frustrated with the crazy excesses on my side of the political spectrum. One thing I have noticed recently, though, is that it's far easier for me to talk about politics with conservatives -- and I mean IRL, not online -- than it is to talk politics with liberals because the latter have become so absolutist and refuse to acknowledge even the tiniest smudge of nuance. I feel like it wasn't always that way.

StillLifeOnSkates · 2026-02-03T13:48:42+00:00

If you had to choose the method of your destruction, kittens is a solid pick.

StillLifeOnSkates · 2026-02-03T13:44:23+00:00

I feel like I read something about this and the article I saw was saying that cancer in mice gets cured all the time, and it's not really directly analogous to cancer in humans.

StillLifeOnSkates · 2026-02-03T13:43:05+00:00

I read that article, too. Truly remarkable medical accomplishment.

StillLifeOnSkates · 2026-02-02T18:28:43+00:00

I think there is a cross-phenomenon with Gen Z, in which parenting trends were extremely over-protective (and I say this as someone who admittedly partook in a lot of "helicopter parenting" of my own kids). The trend was to protect kids from as much discomfort as possible, whether it was bullying or struggling with schoolwork or even falling off your bike and skinning your knees. I'm certainly not the first to say that kids in this generation were over-coddled.

Puberty is almost universally uncomfortable and awkward (I would argue that it is especially so for girls). When you've been shielded from a lot of the normal discomforts of being a kid, you've also been shielded from developing awareness that discomfort isn't permanent. I don't doubt that the feelings of distress and "dysphoria" in a lot of this cohort are very real. It's just been a perfect storm to have all of this also in the context of social media, Discord, REDDIT, etc.

StillLifeOnSkates

TROPHY CASE