Nor that the information that they use against you be necessarily true given their accepted monopoly in ‘truth’.

Do you not have otters?

I don’t call for an end to America over its hundreds of years of killings, murder, rape, slavery, genocide, ecocide, innumerable hypocrisies, and corrupting hegemony. I don’t come on here and sweatily proclaim that all I hope for is the fall of the American ascendency. I don’t because I recognise that America like Catholics or Muslims is a vast mix of people with a wide range of lived experiences and view points. And that not all of their history is terrible. Some of it is actually commendable. And the actions of the leaders often do not line up with the majority of their people.

Yes, true, Catholic church is outdated and reactionary with way more than it’s fair share bad actors but there are also hundreds of millions of Catholics, and people with Catholic backgrounds but no longer practicing, out there that are a wide mix of human beings that deserve a basic amount of respect.

You can, for clarity, include within the parameters of basic respect, to not have to endure your overgeneralising hostile invective.

I’m sorry but you come off as just another nutty reactionary to me.

Have a good day.

It’s perfectly legitimate to have issues with any organised religion but damning everyone brought up in their traditions is myopic.

I was brought up a catholic in Northern Ireland during the troubles. Similar prejudice was routinely trotted out to justify treating us as second class citizens. So surprise, surprise even now as an atheist, I find it a bit triggering, as anyone mght imagine, to hear someone singling out my persecuted community in such a toxic mischaracterisation. I didn’t ask to be catholic but I was brought up in a community of caring and open minded people. Sure there were arseholes but guess what every community has them.

There are some Catholics that are reactionary morons but the majority are not. Describing religions by the worst people in them doesn’t really come across as tolerant. Which ironically is what you’re accusing them of.

It’s a drawer that he’s pulled the keyboard into to free up desk space for highlighting text on the printouts.

More worryingly, the space between the bottom of the drawer and the top of the chair would make a XKCD character wince.

My genX ass was trying skibidi on its own cause most of the rest of the text is usually auto-suggested while typing in the search terms.

Ke-Ke Laa Wheatabix

I was on holiday in Munich for that eclipse. It was badly overcast there too. When the full eclipse hit in it got really dark so everybody was screaming and yelling at the sky in the park we were in so at least it was a bit of an event.

Potty mouth.

To be fair we’ve had various shades of unfettered neoliberalism for near on 50 years; so it’s a policy without an awful lot of competition.

Wait a second. This is Sounds of the Boreal Forest! No wonder my bamboo is withering away.

Just the five minutes. Thank you. Anyway, I did.

Oh I’m sorry, is this a five minute argument, or the full half hour?

A stitch in time saves nine.

-Pliny the elder

What do you think have been the successful privatizations in the UK. To my mind none of the big ones. I guess the little ones that work we don’t hear too much about.

Offshoring profit

I would suppose the brain, like a muscle, can be trained to be stronger (more computing power) and simultaneously can wither if neglected. Rather than the brain structure being an innate political preference indicator from birth it is (attempted to be) nurtured into a culturally efficient information processing organ. Which is why the battle lines in children’s education around set conservative orthodoxies (such as religions) vs critical thinking, or obedience/conformity vs self actualisation, or hierarchical society vs egalitarianism are so heated. It is a battle for the soul of the country. Which, of course is continued throughout the rest of your life too overtly through partisan messaging and covertly through message format/style.

Imagine the faces on the baker and fisherman when when Jesus copy pasted their hard grafted produce to feed his five thousand starving followers.