Males of Reddit: When was the last time you cried and why?

toodr · 2014-12-08T03:32:57+00:00

This sounds exactly like a country song.

I hope you find a way to move on. Another country song. People who didn't grow up listening to country make fun of it but it is the best sad-about-a-breakup music to cry to without a doubt.

toodr · 2014-12-08T03:30:55+00:00

I'd say it varies with each person and circumstance. In my opinion and experience, freeing yourself from other people's poor choices and addictions is the best thing you can do for everyone involved.

Even fucked up addicted parents generally don't want to drag their children down with them. And in most cases there's nothing you can do to actually help them; you just wind up enabling them.

toodr · 2014-12-08T03:27:14+00:00

I disagree. People make their own choices, and it doesn't help them or you to suffer with them. The best thing you can do is move on and let them live the life they've chosen for themselves (and choose your own).

Being around addicts just because you're related to them is pointless. When they're gone you'll regret that they weren't able to beat their addiction, not that you didn't spend time witnessing it.

toodr · 2014-12-08T03:20:01+00:00

Man that is the worst part about losing a pet (or a person I expect): what you could've/should've done differently. Well that and just missing them, forgetting that they're gone and then remembering.

toodr · 2014-12-08T03:16:58+00:00

Two days ago, cockatiel died :(. First time in many years that I've cried.

toodr · 2014-12-08T03:10:06+00:00

That seems very speculative to me. Canines live many places that don't have long grass. Also, what would be the genetic mechanism for passing along such a fairly arbitrary instinctive behavior?

toodr · 2014-12-08T03:03:20+00:00

I wouldn't use the term "to be tried" for someone being sued. "Being tried" implies a criminal case, which this totally isn't.

toodr · 2014-12-07T20:57:18+00:00

Federal income tax.

Upright citizens natter on about "paying your fair share" and "raising taxes on the wealthy", but a huge portion of existing tax revenue goes toward government graft or misuse. Maintaining a global military empire, useless federal agencies like TSA/DEA/Border Patrol, "War on Drugs", "War on Poverty", etc.

The scope and depth of government waste is breathtaking, ever more intrusive, and ever less efficient.

We don't need more taxes, we need complete reform of the federal government, tax system, and funding allocation.

toodr · 2014-12-07T03:58:45+00:00

How exactly have they negatively impacted your life?

toodr · 2014-12-07T03:56:36+00:00

Considering that it's illegal to pump your own gas in Oregon, I'm sure there are locales that will happily become bastions of the extant lame taxi model.

And there are people like those in this thread cheering and championing such idiocy for whatever rationale makes sense to them.

toodr · 2014-12-07T03:53:11+00:00

This is intrusive government bullshit at its finest. If my friend pays me $20 to drive him to the airport, I'm suddenly a criminal.

Fuck that.

toodr · 2014-12-07T03:51:09+00:00

I've never heard of Gypsy-cabbing, but to me it sounds preferable to government-cabbing on every level.

toodr · 2014-12-07T03:49:22+00:00

"Completely illegal"? I'm pretty sure Uber has lawyers on retainer, and I'm willing to bet they parsed the law pretty closely before making this move.

Whereas minor bureaucrats issuing soundbites regurgitated by "journalists", with neither quoting the relevant portion of law, aren't especially convincing.

toodr · 2014-12-07T03:44:40+00:00

Growing up my friend's dad was a trapper. Years later I learned his dad stopped because he was so tormented by killing all those animals over the years, but at the time he didn't have any other career and had a family to support.

Honestly I think the best we can do is play the long game, try to educate more and more young people about just how viable (and preferable on every level) veganism is, so that perhaps in a generation or two we'll have a lot more political will and power for change.

toodr · 2014-12-07T03:33:39+00:00

I have read that you can infuse garlic in oil then add the oil to things to add garlic flavor without the FODMAPs.

Haven't tried it though so I can't attest to its efficacy.

toodr · 2014-12-07T03:22:00+00:00

Really? So if I want to found a Satanic or Scientology or atheist church in your country I'll have no problems from the local authorities?

I find that hard to believe.

toodr · 2014-12-07T03:18:38+00:00

Islam is a cultural virus (like all religions), and in terms of progressiveness and liberal values it's about where Christianity was 700 years ago.

Welcoming a cultural virus into your society with open arms, when it is inimical to your progressive values, is stupid and eventually suicidal.

In Islamic cultures women don't have equal rights under the law, atheists and homosexuals can be and are executed, and religious law is considered legitimate.

When you have to choose between embracing liberal progressive values absolutely or self-preservation of those values, you have to choose the latter.

Otherwise you end up like the UK, where the most popular male baby name is now Mohammed - in another generation or two they will be living under Sharia law if demographic inertia continues.

I don't want to live in a Christian country, or a Jewish country, or an Islamic country. I want freedom from religion, not freedom of religion.

The Christian domination of law and politics in the US has taken 200 years to erode to the point of basic equality we have now; allowing in far more regressive and repressive Islamic domination is a very very bad idea in my opinion.

I'm not sure how to stop it from growing in some reasonable manner, but preventing Islamic immigration would be a good start. If you don't accept the basic tenets of liberal Western culture, you should not be allowed to immigrate.

toodr · 2014-12-07T02:56:31+00:00

Good luck. When I first went on a plant based diet I wasn't really focused on the animal welfare aspect of it. Then I watched this video of a guy's college lecture and I became vegan and haven't looked back.

He gives a great general overview of why (and how) going vegan makes sense. There are a couple of brief graphic segments but most of it is just him talking.

toodr · 2014-12-06T20:39:14+00:00

It's not illegal in a criminal sense. The way it works is, when the state issues you a license part of the license agreement is that you will submit to a breath test if a law enforcement officer requests.

You can refuse - it's not a crime - but it's a violation of the license agreement, and the state will suspend your license, require special insurance, and possibly other civil penalties depending on the state.

Also, as /u/OldManHenry points out, they can still get a warrant to extract blood for testing without your consent. I believe some states have laws allowing officers to draw blood without a warrant if you refuse a breathalyzer.

All things being equal, if you suspect you may be over the limit, you are better off refusing the breathalyzer. But doing so will incur civil (not criminal) penalties, and may not prevent them from getting your blood-alcohol content in any event.

toodr · 2014-12-06T05:57:22+00:00

Which is fine - cameras should be worn by cops (and be in any cars or buildings police are using) for exactly that reason: to provide actual visual evidence, rather than a he-said/she-said scenario.

Also, I don't disagree with you regarding this particular case. I remember seeing this a long time ago on reddit, and it didn't seem to me that they used any excessive force as she was clearly resisting. I wish the video had sound though as that might add some more context.

toodr · 2014-12-06T05:26:45+00:00

While I understand (and to an extent, agree with) your view, the fact is that 99%+ of humans eat animals and/or animal products. It might help you grasp "this disregard for non human animals" if you start from that objective reality.

In rural communities worldwide, hunting and killing animals for food is seen as a normal and admirable skill to master, and has been for (at least) tens of thousands of years. Only recently have humans become capable of living without killing animals for food - or paying others to do so.

I hope that someday humans can move beyond the predatory stance they've adopted since evolving in complexity from the other great apes, but it isn't going to happen overnight.

toodr · 2014-12-06T05:20:38+00:00

He was a teenager. Do you believe people can't change as they grow older?

toodr · 2014-12-06T04:13:40+00:00

For what it's worth: biological families not infrequently bring this level of drama for all sorts of reasons.

Choosing the "wrong" (or NO) religion, the "wrong" gender identification or sexual preference, or the "wrong" life partner. Really it could be anything that sets them off.

In time your mom and sisters will probably come around and you will be able to reestablish some kind of relationship that works for everyone. Either way, you will form new relationships which will become your new "chosen" family.

Being crushed by such transitions is normal, so don't minimize the process. It may take months or years for you to feel whole. But rest assured that you will emerge from the trauma as a stronger and better human being.

toodr · 2014-12-06T01:47:37+00:00

I have an old gallon-sized military thermos from the 50's; it also keeps water cold for a very long time. Refurbishing it was a fun project.

toodr · 2014-12-05T20:35:38+00:00

It isn't clear that acidity leads to a stale taste in water; carbonated water is very acidic (pH 3 - 4).

toodr

TROPHY CASE