Medically - and I say this as a healthcare provider - it follows logically that she would likely not have miscarried had she not been using dangerous, illegal, controlled substances. Meth use during pregnancy can cause severe congenital defects, restriction of blood flow to the fetus, preterm birth, miscarriage,…

Honestly, I think he’s too much of a cowardly little shit to kill himself.  It takes a degree of courage to do that (not saying anyone *should* or that everyone who does deserves some kind of admiration).

What could she have done to call attention to her cause? She wasn’t allowed a phone for long periods, her home and cell phone were monitored, she didn’t have access to her money or passport, she wasn’t permitted to hire her own lawyer to defend her own interests, etc. She was terrified of losing access to her…

I got to learn about antisemitism quite early despite being a WASP because I look “Jewish,” have a Hebrew first name and a last name that is Scottish but confuses people, and am an overachieving Ivy League alum. I’ve been invited by accident to occasions and holidays that were supposed to be exclusively attended by…

Since you’re describing people of Anglo-Saxon descent playing characters of German or Scandinavian descent, your sarcastic point actually makes logical sense.  An Episcopalian might not look much like a Lutheran and may not be appropriate for the role aesthetically.

Absolutely.  It being both an ethnicity and a religion is why Sarah Silverman’s point is valid.  It’s actually challenging to convert to Judaism, and it is not a religion that evangelizes or encourages conversion.  Almost always, you are born a Jew to a Jewish mother.   As a systematically oppressed ethnic minority,…

Yes and no.  There can be a cultural, and obviously religious, Jewishness that can be seen across geographical regions.  You’re correct though that New York Jews have their own distinct micro culture.

There are plenty of Black people of Jewish ethnicity, or plenty of Black people who have converted to Judaism?  There aren’t likely to be that many people of either description.  But you’re right to point out that these religious and ethnic groups are not all mutually exclusive.

As I’ve said elsewhere, entering a new relationship isn’t a terrific idea when you’re newly sober, but people do it all of the time. Sometimes it doesn’t work out, but sometimes it provides support and hope. A 12-step program would condemn it, but 12-step programs have a success rate of 5-10%, and plenty of people…

It’s not a great idea to enter a relationship in the first year of sobriety, but it also happens all of the time.  Some of those relationships last and some don’t.  My boyfriend and I got together immediately after we met in rehab, and we’ve been going strong for 3.5 years.  We aren’t AA people, so we escaped having…

Having lived this situation myself as an alcoholic who has an alcoholic boyfriend, my guess is that the marriage was irrevocably damaged by alcoholism and addiction, and it just wasn’t salvageable.  Maybe it was his wife who was just done.  Maybe their therapy wasn’t going well, and John didn’t think things could…

This is such a common story in the alcoholism community, and I’ve seen it a million times in rehab. Husband struggling with alcoholism/addiction finally goes to rehab and gets sober, but his wife has suffered years of trauma and pain from being married to someone in active addiction and is just DONE. Then husband,…

Fair!

Yeah, they’re completely reliant on the rest of us, not unlike the actual slave states that can’t function without federal dollars from the blue states. (I call red states the “slave states,” and I’ll continue to do it until I get the sense that the white people there don’t secretly wish they could still own people…

There’s a big barn near I-5 that says State of Jefferson on it. Those people are so delusional. If they’re so unhappy about the luxuries they enjoy in California courtesy of the taxpayers in our big blue cities and booming urban economies, they can move to Idaho.  They won’t be missed, and we won’t have to worry…

Ok, cool.  Then can we pass a law in California that allows anyone to sue anyone else who owns or sells specific types of guns?  Apparently it doesn’t matter that it may or may not be constitutional, since the state isn’t involved.  I look forward to suing the crazies living in the so-called State of Jefferson.  Might…

Well let’s focus on what’s really important: those Republican politicians got to skip on the condom to make their wee-wee feel better.  Isn’t that what really matters here?

My response to that - as well as the “concern” that the vaccine could cause infertility - is, “yeah okay, and what exactly would be the molecular mechanism of that?”  There is none.  These are scientifically illiterate people, and we’re living in a world where people refuse to trust experts with PhDs who know more…

Agreed!  And toys should never, ever look like weapons. My father’s best friend died in a mass shooting when I was very young. We weren’t even allowed to make our hand into the shape of a gun and point it at each other. No squirt guns either. You can actually grow up very happy and well-adjusted without pretending…

I have no intention of socializing outside of my fully vaccinated bubble, and that includes dating. I’m not going to coffee or out to a restaurant. I’m not going to a movie. I don’t want to be in someone else’s home. So, I’m erring on the side of caution and staying with my crappy boyfriend for the foreseeable…