That’d be tantamount to seceding, so legally no but practically yes if they want to secede.

Alternatively, it’s to be sexually attracted to the pursuit of happiness.

People from non-Western countries complain too; it’s just that in a dictatorship complaining can get you thrown in prison or worse so people take care not to complain too much in public.

Yeah I wanted to say WWI and mistyped.

Oh shit I added an extra I for some reason. I mean WWI. WWII was definitely an American problem too.

I mean I don’t think most people are for state independence now, but the idea is gaining legitimacy. There’s just no reason to stick with a federal government that will take your taxes and then give you nothing.

Just to make it clear, though: The kind of protesting that works is not standing in the road and blocking traffic on a weekend. We’re talking indefinitely long protests where you occupy public places in a massive show of force meant to force the present regime to back down, and all the violent clashes and multi-day standoffs that come with that. This is (part of) why the civil rights movement worked but the Iraq war protests didn’t. For a recent example of this in action look up the Ukrainian Revolution or the Tunisian Revolution, or for an American example the civil rights movement. If the person you’re responding to had in mind more typical quiet single-day protests then they’re 100% correct, otherwise you’re right but it’s very much uncertain whether Americans have the guts for this kind of stunt.

I mean WWI was salty Europeans fighting salty Europeans over European salt. Nothing for America to get involved in.

Seeing a therapist is probably the way to go here.

So I’m in a similar-ish situation to you in that I process emotions differently to other people and think a lot of what characterizes normal communication is burdensome, though in my case I appear more as cold or insensitive than angry. With that in mind, I’ll say this:

My mood problems impact the people I care about, and I’m wondering if it’s a turn off since some people don’t want to be around me rather than loving me for me.

You’re correct. If someone was being an ass to me all the time I wouldn’t want to be around them either. You have to understand the differences between your thinking and that of people around you (which is easier said than done; I’ve been and still am there), and with that understanding decide how much you intend to adjust your behavior to account for those differences. The spectrum here has two extremes; one is changing nothing about your behavior and the other is to completely go against your instincts and do everything you can to appear as a normal person to the other side. Where you land on this spectrum is ultimately up to you, but it’s up to other people whether they’ll stick around or leave you, so it’s a trade-off and you’ll have to decide how much you’re willing to make it. Of course, remember the golden rule and don’t do things you know will hurt the other person. Also:

While I do tend to praise men and ignore women, as some people say, it’s tough love since I think women should be the best versions of themselves :) [I believe this is why society is so hard on women as a whole]

This is an exception to everything I’ve said above. It’s just misogyny, no two ways about it. It’s not up to you what “the best version” of a woman (or anyone else) is, or whether or not they should be that.

Apple could also claim that Google “fragmented” the smartphone market into two different OS.

That’s a completely different situation though, because that “fragmentation” hasn’t impacted your ability to access anything.

Will humanity ever make autocorrect that’s more reliable than a Ouija board?

I don’t think giving just enough help to keep things at a standstill is particularly positive.

That’s your problem right there; the stalemate situation is well… it’s not ideal, but make no mistake it’s advantageous for Ukraine. Russia’s military is much bigger and better equipped (when it comes to the big stuff anyway), and unlike Ukraine they don’t have dumb conditions attached to their weapons. However, Ukraine has one advantage compared to Russia: the purse. As long as Western support lasts, Ukraine has nearly infinite logistical and financial aid to help prop it up while it fights the Russian invasion. This gives them a massive advantage in a long battle of attrition, which the current stalemate is, while Russia’s economy declines and its ability to sustain the war effort decreases. The result of all this is that Ukraine’s position will improve as time goes on, so even if we assume that they’ll eventually be forced to take a Russian peace offer it makes sense to delay that as long as possible so they can increase their leverage when they go to the negotiating table. This, of course, does come with the price of Ukrainian soldiers dying to sustain the war effort, but so far it seems like Ukrainians are willing to pay that price.

I wasn’t trying to add something of value to the discussion; Bucket did that already. I was just remarking on an interesting… phenomenon??? in the wild; don’t mind me. However, to actually respond to your point: Trump is going behind Ukraine’s back to draft a peace deal that will result in them losing territory if they accept it. Harris was not going to do that. Rather than Harris being a positive Trump is being a negative here.

I have to applaud you. This is a work of art.

So when hardcore Democrats around here call me a Russian/MAGA troll this is what they’re talking about. I don’t think I’ve ever said anything quite this outrageous but… uh… fair enough?

So first, that’s not funding a genocide unless he literally gives Russia money. Second, people also care about that, but he surprisingly hasn’t done it in between his destruction of America so I’m not sure what you want anyone to do here.

I mean yes. Gaza protests are still ongoing.

Thanks for that, really interesting stuff.

It’s still an ongoing area of research about why this happened

Wouldn’t the obvious answer be “because cancer”?

their division is very tightly controlled, and even then they are the source of the most common cancers in humans

Can you give examples?