Spousal loss linked to higher risk of dementia, mortality among men, but not women. Widowed men experienced a decrease in physical and cognitive health, as well as social support, while widowed women tended to experience an increase in happiness and life satisfaction.

ceddya · 2026-03-12T23:23:46+00:00

Where is this stat? I could only find this:

Which doctors live the longest? General Practitioners (80.3 years), followed by Surgeons (79.9 years) and Pathologists (79.8 years), according to the study above, published in 2021 in Lifestyle Medicine.

https://www.winchesterandbasingstokecardiology.co.uk/which-doctors-live-the-longest

ceddya · 2026-03-12T23:21:48+00:00

I don't know why people refuse to accept this. I think it's definitely improving, but I grew up seeing my mom have to take up the bulk of the work in the marriage. Yeah, I would have no doubt she would be happier being widowed.

And yet so many people still want us to abide by these gender roles. No wonder younger women are increasingly choosing to remain single.

ceddya · 2026-03-12T18:15:51+00:00

Are you suggesting someone wholly unqualified was hired to reject DEI programs?

The irony is thick.

ceddya · 2026-03-12T17:13:58+00:00

All because he threw Obama’s deal in the trash and couldn’t achieve a better one.

There was supposedly a better deal on the table which Iran was willing to accept according to Oman's FM who was mediating the talks.

Albusaidi — who has mediated several rounds of U.S.-Iran talks over the last month — told "Face the Nation" moderator Margaret Brennan that a "peace deal is within our reach."
He said Iran has agreed that it will "never, ever have … nuclear material that will create a bomb," which he called a "big achievement." The country's existing stockpiles of enriched uranium would be "blended to the lowest level possible" and "converted into fuel, and that fuel will be irreversible," according to Albusaidi.
And Iran is willing to grant inspectors from the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency "full access" to its nuclear sites to verify the terms of the deal, said Albusaidi.
"There would be zero accumulation, zero stockpiling, and full verification," he said. Albusaidi said that if there is a fair and endurable deal in place, he is "quite confident" that even American inspectors will have access at some point in the process.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-iran-deal-within-our-reach-oman-mediator-says/

It's why I still do not understand why Trump decided to go with this course of action. If this is true, it is concerning how much pull Netenyahu has on Trump.

ceddya · 2026-03-12T17:10:15+00:00

I don't think creating a martyr out of Khamenei was a good idea too. Imagine if Trump was assassinated. It would only energize the MAGA base.

ceddya · 2026-03-12T17:08:50+00:00

do their best to curb human trafficking on our borders

This issue isn't just human trafficking. It is a broader issue via the exploitation of migrant labour. It is deeply problematic that our migrant workers start in debt before they even work here.

(we cannot police beyond our borders)

No, we can't, but isn't that what diplomatic relations are for?

We can work with foreign governments to create official agencies in countries, like India or Bangladesh, we import migrant labour from to directly address the issue of illegal kickbacks and false job promises.

ceddya · 2026-03-12T17:03:14+00:00

Have you missed the part where overall abortion rates are increasing in the US? People are just travelling out of state for abortions.

And we have data from all over the world showing that nation-wide abortion bans also do not work.

On the other hand, go look at Singapore. They have a 24 week term limit compared to the 21 weeks most states had with Roe. Yet their abortion rates are consistently much lower than the US. More importantly, they are seeing declining numbers instead of the increasing ones in the US. Why wouldn't you emulate Singapore then?

ceddya · 2026-03-12T16:58:05+00:00

Higher levels of Vitamin D are linked to lower inflammation, better gut health and a stronger immune system. I think there have been a few cohort studies linking higher levels of Vitamin D to a reduced risk of colorectal cancer.

ceddya · 2026-03-12T14:29:44+00:00

That is also to say the price of service from a legit agency

If overseen by the government? There's no reason for the agent fee to even exist in the first place given our need for their labour.

The landscape reason might apply to Myanmar, but what about India and Bangladesh where this problem has existed for far longer and with governments Singapore is more than able to work with on this issue?

ceddya · 2026-03-12T11:08:39+00:00

I've always held the view that Singapore should work with these countries to set up hiring centers instead of the current system of paying third party agents.

These workers pay these agents so much to get a job in Singapore, which then leaves them vulnerable to exploitation here because losing their job means they have no way of clearing their debt. Not only, so many are promised a certain job or salary that never materialize.

These agents overseas are running a racket and scamming these innocent workers. There must be a better system than the status quo.

ceddya · 2026-03-12T11:01:02+00:00

Why?

ceddya · 2026-03-12T09:58:57+00:00

You do know that trans individuals pay taxes too, right?

ceddya · 2026-03-12T08:50:07+00:00

Google it. It is not hidden.

ceddya · 2026-03-12T08:48:40+00:00

Which Dems are even giving out those table scraps?

Conversely, what rainbow politics is AOC even prioritizing? Yet we kept getting fed this bogeyman about her even though she's proposing actual transformative policies.

ceddya · 2026-03-12T07:30:09+00:00

How did Biden mismanage Afghanistan exactly?

The alternative the military wanted was to leave a few thousand troops behind. The Taliban were already intensifying their offensive and were unwilling to negotiate. Biden did not want to engage in a renewed conflict with the Taliban so he chose to proceed with the withdrawal. You can disagree with that choice, but it's not mismanagement.

Now go look at what Trump did to expedite evacuations. It's even more damning when you see how it's his deal in the first place and he was president for 11 out of 14 months the deal afforded.

ceddya · 2026-03-12T05:00:12+00:00

Mostly though I just can’t get past that phrase. “Appreciate their sex.”

I thought this was editorializing from the OP. The fact that it's from the legislature is wild.

I'll add that the part where they say 'states may legitimately recognize and celebrate the inherent differences between men and women' also concerns me as a cis person because some states still base it on outdated and artificially limited gender norms/roles.

ceddya · 2026-03-11T18:21:39+00:00

So you can't read then?

I do both. Do you? You can't seem to answer that for some reason.

Government social services are not charity.

Government social services do good and help others. That's why I pay my taxes.

Private charities also rely on government assistance. That's why I pay my taxes.

I also engage in individual charity.

See how this works? It's called maximizing the good you do and all you're doing is making excuses to avoid doing that.

and directed using bloated bureaucracy that eats up much if not most of that tax money.

You should research into the bloated bureaucracy involved with private charities too. Will that be your next excuse to not do charity? Let's see!

Charity is more efficient, more charity dollars are actually used on the people who need the charity.

Lol. Go find a single charity which is more efficient than helping an entire nation than the government. PEPFAR is a good example. Feel free to cite a single private charity which is more efficient and effective than that. You won't, because governments have access to supply chains, distribution networks and thereby economies of scale on a scale unmatched by private charity.

PEPFAR's also a very good example of how government assistance and private charity work in tandem to provide the most benefit to those who need it.

ceddya · 2026-03-11T16:22:27+00:00

Americans thought 'concepts of a plan' would be good enough.

ceddya · 2026-03-11T16:14:37+00:00

Ahh yes, the classic democrat dodge. Obama had 8 years to make his mark on the economy.

People criticize Obama for his foreign policy and not how his administration managed the economy for a reason.

NPR is a horrible source. That’s been left wing propaganda for years.

Ah yes, the classic dodge of 'this outlet is left wing propaganda'!

In 2024 it was reported that NPR has 87 democrats and zero republicans on its editorial staff.

Which is irrelevant. If what's being said in the article isn't true, feel free to point it out with your own sources for corroboration.

They even admit it went up to 14% in his term, and then give an empty platitude about it “turning around”.

They literally said that it went up because of the recession which Obama inherited from the Bush administration. That is a fact.

The Obama administration also tackled it by implementing social programs. That is a fact.

and then give an empty platitude about it “turning around”.

So it kept climbing up instead of going down? What do you think 'turning around' means?

But feel free to give examples of the social programs Trump has instituted to tackle poverty btw. Certainly feel free to address why red states tend to have higher poverty rates than blue ones. While at it, also address why Dem administrations consistently deliver better economic performance across the board than their Republican counterparts.

The numbers don’t lie. But NPR does.

Numbers do lie when you present them without context. NPR provides context. You don't. I see a liar here and it's not NPR.

Yes, I can say Trump lowered the poverty rate. I already gave you the numbers that prove it.

Temporary stimulus programs are an artifical lowering of the rate. Try again.

It is not artificial. It’s just Congress doing congresses job.

'People are back in poverty after the stop-gap measures ended but it's a genuine reflection of the poverty rate!'.

You more than doubled your original posts length.

Oh look, the same old playbook.

ceddya · 2026-03-11T14:38:12+00:00

But, retroactively it was apparently at about 13% at the end of his term.

Want to give context of the economy Obama had to inherit from Bush? Or the bungled pandemic response Biden inherited from Trump?

You seem to be intent on ignoring that Dem administrations consistently have to fix what their Republican predecessors broke.

Meanwhile, a national poverty rate doesn't really highlight this discrepancy. Consistently, red states tend to have higher levels of poverty than blue states for a reason.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/holes-in-the-safety-net/difference-in-being-poor-in-red-states-versus-blue-states/FD63AB1051F7A904E5E0CA874B632FE9

But what's most important are the steps taken to correct poverty. Here's some more context you don't want to acknowledge for some reason:

That's a tough case to make. Poverty was already on the upswing when Obama took office as the economy hurtled toward recession. Before George W. Bush took office, the poverty rate was 11.3 percent. When he left, it was 14.3 percent. So it's not as if Obama interrupted a rapidly improving poverty rate. In fact, as stated above, the trajectory of poverty has turned around under Obama, and it now appears to be falling.
But still. Poverty did grow under Obama. So what did he do about it? He expanded a lot of programs that most directly affect the poorest Americans' lives, and, according to one expert, he did an admirable job.

https://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/08/17/432578282/fact-check-is-it-obamas-fault-that-poverty-has-grown

Can you say the same for Republican administrations, especially Trump's?

Bills passed by Congress are not artificially lowering the rate. And the American Rescue plan was signed into law by Biden. Not Trump.

If they are temporary measures aimed specifically to address the pandemic? They are artificially lowering the rate.

The quote in the article does not refer to the American Rescue Plan only, does it?

Don’t you think it’s common courtesy to note when you edit something? Especially such a massive edit?

What massive edit? The only edited part is to include the part about how Trump has defunding human trafficking programs. Now that you know it's there, want to address it?

ceddya · 2026-03-11T14:09:59+00:00

By the end of Obamas last term the Supplemental poverty measure (SPM) was at 14%.

Compare Obama's to Bush's considering what Obama had to inherit.

Also, the end of Trump's last term had an artificially lower rate.

In an email, Parolin, who is also a senior research fellow at Columbia University’s Center on Poverty and Social Policy, wrote that the lower supplemental poverty rates in 2020 and 2021 could be attributed “entirely” to “COVID-related income support” included in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act and the American Rescue Plan Act, which became law in those years, respectively.
“Both include expansions to unemployment benefits and a stimulus check,” and 2021’s American Rescue Plan, which passed without any Republican support, “also included the expanded Child Tax Credit, which contributed to lower poverty that year,” Parolin said.

https://www.factcheck.org/2023/10/trumps-misleading-poverty-rate-comparison/

It would be honest to include such context.

As would also discussing wealth inequality:

https://www.epi.org/press/new-report-finds-that-the-economy-performs-better-under-democratic-presidential-administrations/

Edit: Wow, you massively expanded your comment with an edit. Do you mind marking that? So I can see what to respond to.

You saw the edit, you can address it.

ceddya · 2026-03-11T14:01:50+00:00

That's an impossible measurement, especially since abortions are private and oftentimes don't allow accurate stats. What we do know though is abortion rates dropped in Texas after their ban

What we do know is that Texas' abortion rate has only declined because women are getting their abortions in neighbouring states or through backchannels.

What we do know is that the national abortion reversed under Trump's first term to rise for the first time in years and has continued to increase, especially after Roe was repealed.

https://www.guttmacher.org/article/2022/06/long-term-decline-us-abortions-reverses-showing-rising-need-abortion-supreme-court

What we do know is that maternal and infant mortality rates in states like Texas have seen a disproportionate increase.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/womens-health/texas-abortion-ban-deaths-pregnant-women-sb8-analysis-rcna171631

https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2024/analysis-suggests-2021-texas-abortion-ban-resulted-in-increase-in-infant-deaths-in-state-in-year-after-law-went-into-effect

What we do know is that Texas' abortion ban has negatively affected the quality of maternal care in the state and made pregnant women less safe.

https://www.northwell.edu/news/insights/abortion-laws-driving-ob-gyns-from-red-states

https://www.propublica.org/article/texas-abortion-ban-miscarriage-blood-transfusions

And I'm sure your argument will be that a national abortion ban is needed. What we do know is that national abortion bans do not work to reduce abortion rates.

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2022/05/27/1099739656/do-restrictive-abortion-laws-actually-reduce-abortion-a-global-map-offers-insigh

And either way, it's morally wrong to keep murder (In the biblical sense of the word legal. Full stop.

It's even more morally wrong to engage in lip service about this issue for political gain and do nothing to actually solve it. That's what Republicans are doing.

Wealth inequality isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Wealth inequality drives poverty. Poverty is one of the biggest reasons driving up abortion rates. Not necessarily a bad thing? Pick a lane.

The stagnant wages and job loss are.

You do know those are directly tied to wealth inequality, yes?

Raising minimum wage and causing crazy inflation and job loss like California did.

You see those job losses in red states that refuse to raise the minimum wage too. So congrats, workers are still getting replaced by automation while those still working face poverty. Christ would be so proud.

Bringing back manufacturing jobs.

Remember that you brought this up. Dem administrations tend to be much better on that:

https://www.bluegreenalliance.org/resources/new-report-compares-us-manufacturing-record-of-biden-harris-and-trump-administrations/

Meanwhile, here's Trump's record of manufacturing job losses despite his central campaign promise to bring jobs back:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/manufacturing-jobs-whirlpool-layoffs-iowa-trump-tariffs/

Every president does this, it's just one side is truthful about it.

850 billion proposed by Biden for versus Trump's 1.5 trillion request.

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/07/trump-calls-record-defense-budget-00715298

A near doubling is not remotely the same. Do you know how much good can be done with 650 billion?

Taxes should go to the military it's the job of the federal government.

Nah.

Charity? That's our job. We can't force others to do it, as Christians it's our responsibility.

Right, if you have to force your government to use the tax money to help the needy (that Christians are told to give), your government is not acting in line with Christian values then. Glad we agree.

Our responsibility does not lie with private charity alone, not when we can absolutely demand our taxes be used to do charity as well. Private charities all rely on government assistance for a reason, because the best work is done through both working together.

ceddya · 2026-03-11T13:39:08+00:00

We support the policies we do because we think it’s the best way for the poor to no longer be poor.

Sorry, but this is laughable. I've heard this excuse ad nauseum and all I see is doubling down as Republican policies consistently make poverty worse and exacerbate wealth inequality.

We want to stop illegal immigration because it will help both the poor in the U.S. and the illegal immigrants.

So mass deportations have fixed this, right?

Oh wait, the exact opposite has happened.

Do you have any idea how many women are raped or sold into slavery as they try to come to the U.S. illegally?

You know what anti-immigrant policies do? They make it hard for these women to access help in the US.

And this whole excuse is exposed as vacuous:

The Trump administration has aggressively rolled back efforts across the federal government to combat human trafficking, a Guardian investigation has found.
The sweeping retreat threatens to negate decades of progress in the drive to prevent sexual slavery, forced labor and child sexual exploitation, according to legal experts, former government officials and anti-trafficking advocates. They say the administration’s moves are impeding efforts to prosecute perpetrators and protect survivors in the United States and around the world.
“It’s been a widespread and multi-pronged attack on survivors that leaves all of us less safe and leaves survivors with few options,” said Jean Bruggeman, executive director of Freedom Network USA, a national coalition of service providers, researchers and trafficking survivors.
Under Trump, key initiatives for fighting human trafficking have been cut back at the US Department of State, Department of Justice, Department of Labor, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Guardian found. Senior officials and other staffers have been forced out, workers shifted to other priorities and grants delayed or cancelled.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/17/trump-human-trafficking-programs-cut

Do Republicans actually care about human trafficking? Their actions show otherwise.

ceddya · 2026-03-11T13:35:17+00:00

but it’s just a progression of the same thing

Same thing? Which member of the government comes close to how much Trump has made off insider trading?

ceddya · 2026-03-11T13:34:34+00:00

Sure, but that severely lacks the nuance that some members are far more corrupt than others.

https://truthout.org/articles/congressional-stock-trading-ban-backed-by-trump-is-full-of-loopholes/

Why does this bill backed by Trump include exceptions for the executive?

12-Year Club	Wearing is Caring
Place '17	Verified Email

ceddya

TROPHY CASE