southsamurai

I still get shocked at having a chicken as a companion sometimes. She’ll hop up and nestle in like that, and it’s just surreal lol.

One is her awake, the other is her when she settled in for a cuddle nap. The background of the sleepy one is colored in because I don’t show pictures of my house, not because there’s a wall of porn or anything.

Dude, did you just make this post to preach?

Every response that isn’t what you wanted to hear, you’re pounding the pulpit, despite the responses focusing on the topic of this community, which is about whether or not mod actions are appropriate or “power tripping”.

What you did has nothing to do with your beliefs. You went around spamming down votes, and got the ban you deserve. It absolutely, 100% does not matter why you did it, you took an action that is widely known to be ban worthy.

So, stop whining about it and move on, you deserved it.

And, it doesn’t matter whether or not someone else did or didn’t get banned for something, it’s all about what you did.

Nope, it’s an actual chicken. She’s cuddly when she’s in the right mood.

Music, though I’m down with some toons as well :)

Project mayhem needs to take his balls

Well, they’re definitely not the same thing.

However, the thinking behind both forms of discrimination is.

There’s some people that will not be happy unless they have a target for hate and nastiness. That kind of person is going to have something to hate, and the only reason they aren’t openly racist, or homophobic, or whatever other form of bigotry you pick is that they don’t think they can get away with it.

If society as a whole moved far enough into not being assholes to people based on their weight, the haters would just switch to a new target.

So, absolutely, 100%, racism is not the same as weight based discrimination and prejudice. But the same kind of people are taking part. It’s all based in the need to feel superior, to have someone to shit on, to point at and say “ha, they suck, I don’t”.

That’s what I’d say to someone conflating the two as exactly the same.

Then I’d break down why they’re different. How racism is built on systemic oppression on top of hate. How it’s engrained into society through a long and violent history (and I’m not only pointing to racism against a single race here, pretty much every “race” has been a target anywhere that this conversation would be taking place, and it has all been violent at some point). How race isn’t something you can change at all, barring multiethnic people that can “pass” as one of their ethnicities.

Then, I’d tell them that it’s nice to see anyone taking a stand against any kind of hate and discrimination, offer them a fist bump or other congratulatory gesture they prefer, and then GTFO.

Kiss my wife, hug my family members, cuddle with my chicken and enjoy some tunes.

All the fucking time because it’s not worth the effort and time

All of them. If they had worked out, I wouldn’t be married to who I’m married to, and I love her with every bit of me.

Now, if you had asked me that before I met my wife, I still would have said all of them; but because I had realized by that point in my life that crushes are just hormonal/chemical sensations that are a horrible way to find a partner. Seriously, a “crush” on someone blinds you to who they really are, you’re to swept you in your own feelings to see them as the human they are.

Not saying it isn’t ever worth trying anyway, because if it goes on long enough, that infatuation fades and you have enough time in that if you’re actually compatible, some of the bumpy phases are over. It just isn’t a way to pick someone.

If you’d asked me before I figured that out, it would be a toss up between two. Made up names, Megan and Tara.

Megan was a high school crush. Sweet girl, very pretty, and I knew she was into me a little. I just didn’t have the motivation at the time to go through the whole first stages of trying to turn a crush into something.

After school ended, I went out into the world and it was a few years before I ran into her again. Which is a common refrain in my life since the local area isn’t prone to people leaving permanently. Anyone you know, you’ll eventually run into again. By the time I did, she was still sweet, but also verging on alcoholism, and into a wide range of drugging as a hobby. I have nothing but respect for people that overcome addiction, but I have zero room in my life for active addicts, and didn’t then either.

Last time I ran into her, she was still an addict, but had narrowed it down to “just” booze and weed. Still sweet, but worn down to a nub.

Tara, she was later. Met her at the hospital. Used to work for one, and had a benefit of access to their medical library and any lectures or other educational opportunities that were done on site but didn’t require a specific credential to take part in.

Tara was this tiny little thing with a great smile, and we’d end up chatting frequently. The crush was minor, but it was another one I’m confident was mutual. But I had zero time for dating at that point. Two jobs, doing martial arts, writing, taking trips all over for camping and a side gig, I was burning the candle at both ends and the middle too.

She ended up in jail for some major opiate theft, along with a handful of other people. So I dodged a bullet with that because if I hadn’t been so crazy busy, I’d have taken the chance.

That’s not accurate, but it’s a damn good shower thought :)

Awwwww, who’s a good birdie? Is it you? It must be you! Yes it is!

Why am I forced to downgrade if it’s a genie wish?

Well, that’s the problem.

Karen is just an excuse to call women something without having the guts to be up front about it.

Originally, it was about a specific kind of entitled behavior. But it turned into a generic misogynist term like bitch used to be.

That’s one of the great things about the internet, running across all those local variations on life :)

Death.

Not mine, but my parents are aging, and my chickens have a short life span compared to some animals. So I know damn good and well I’m losing someone or something I care a great deal about, and almost certainly in the next decade if not sooner.

Also have a damn chipped tooth and my damn dentist has been on vacation since before Christmas. Wouldn’t be a worry, but the damn thing irritates my tongue.

I agree with you.

But can we let the Karen thing go now? It’s been long enough

I’ve been doing Doom Patrol lately, switching between it and What we do in the Shadows.

I can recommend them both with the caveat that I’m not very far into either.

Oh, heck yeah! Having critters to take care of makes having a knife on you pretty much mandatory. My pocket tools I maybe use once a week, but just with our chickens and doing all the little stuff tending to them, I’ll use a knife at least daily, and that’s just for them.

Well, it’s perfectly legal here, though there’s places you can’t take a knife inside with you.

But, yeah, plenty of people do.

For one, we’re pretty rural and a good knife is a necessity. It’s the most versatile tool on the planet. Then, we’ve got a fairly difficult problem of feral dogs, and not everyone can/will carry a gun for that risk. Not that a knife is a great idea against a dog attack, but it’s better than nothing I guess. And there are people that carry them specifically as a weapon, with the other factors being less important.

There’s this one lady, shes in her seventies now, and carries a buck 119 on her hip everywhere, even church. Has done so since I was a kid at least. She’s one of those tough as hell farm ladies.

Women in particular end up very worried about being victimized just because it’s statistically a huge risk. So they want something to equalize their chances, even a little. I can’t say a knife is the best choice for that, especially without training, but knives scare people, so they think they’re a magic wand you wave around and bad things go away.

When you add in the women and girls that are engaged in activities that up their chances of being victimized, that are also not going to realistically carry pepper spray or a gun, the percentage gets a big bump. There’s a little section just outside of town that’s essentially a meth driven community. There’s nobody there unarmed entirely because meth heads are fucking crazy.

It might be surprising, but some folks carry multiple knives. Typically that’s going to be because they have specific tasks that are better suited to a given type of knife. Best example of that is a guy I know that keeps animals, livestock. He keeps one knife that’s just for cutting twine and other rope/string. A folding hawkbill, or a carpet knife depending on what he grabs first. But he also has a pocket knife for whittling and a general purpose folding knife for general use.

I carry two myself. One bigger one for general tasks, one smaller one with a blade that’s half serrated for specific jobs that are better suited to a serrated edge. Use both of them multiple times a day. And they go everywhere with me that it’s legal to do so. They’re just too damn useful to leave at home.