Absolutely, saying people have to take sides on some issues is absolutism. I think it’s apropriate, though, with respect to criminal behaviour, access to health care, and human rights. That includes, imo, condemning criminal behaviour on the part of activists.

It’s not just the education system. It’s generations of undernourished brains from too much junk food. Nutrition matters here, too.

If the US crumbles enough, maybe it will break up into separate countries so people can have more local control over their economies. (And at least you could get rid of gerrymandering that way.) You’re in for a rough ride, but the long term outcome could be better than you would otherwise get.

Those are government jobs. I don’t think government jobs are a priority, not like private enterprise jobs. Government jobs are for sissies. (I suspect people actually think this.)

I’ve been told that about handwritten letters by a veteran activist, too, and someone else who used to open mail somewhere agreed - he said those letters were taken very seriously. I’ve taken to writing handwritten letters now myself - I copy and scan them for my records. No idea of the impact, though.

I had a friend who declared bankruptcy to get out of her student loans (back when you could still do that in Canada), after it became obvious she wasn’t going to be able to keep up with payments for a long time to come. If you can, if it’s allowed, then sometimes it’s justified.

That’s it!

Why did she chew them? Is she getting a glue fix?

Time and attention. My birthday is Christmas so usually people are doing more important things. :p

This is a little off topic for today but I have some good personal news at last, for some stuff I was posting about last summer.

1. Me, C and the Evil Landlord: I won my case against EL, and got about half of what I asked for in damages and rental abatement, which is just fine. I ran into C at the LRT station the day…

There was one in Edmonton that said something like “You tried to bury us, but you didn’t know we were seeds.” There was also one that said “Leave our beavers alone” or something like that.

Bush and I disagree on what counts as evil.

Edmonton was cold (-6°C/21°F) and foggy. I was at the front so I’m not sure how many people were there - maybe 2,000? Not too many pink pussy hats - Edmontonians already have a lot of winter gear, I guess.

We do need men to take sides. If they don’t oppose evil, they’re basically sanctioning it. There’s no such thing as an innocent bystander for some issues.

He’d get it wrong.

This puts pressure on victims to report. And people are just as likely to complain about victims reporting as they are about pervs perving. Like sexual assault reporting everywhere.

I thought they would look like vulvas from the name. Cat ears are nice, too, though.

I remember that joke. It was in a birthday card I bought my brother.

I think he’s tearing down the old structure so people can build something new. Painful transition, but perhaps necessary. Maybe it’s better to focus on what we want the world to be once he’s done his thing, not on what we’re afraid of now. (I’m in Canada, so I’m not as strongly affected. We’ve come through a long dark…

How many of those medicines are the ones that are needed, and how many are the ones that the pharmaceuticals want to sell more of? And how often are they substitutes for preventive medicine? I have no problems with African countries turning to China as long as it leaves them better off.