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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: July 4th, 2023

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  • They may be internally consistent with their own ideologies sometimes, but the real problem is that they make the mistake of believing that Trump and the people supporting him have ideologies consistent with theirs. The rude awakening will be that they voted for simple racists who want to kick non-Whites out of America for absolutely no reason at all.

    I suspect that if she is allowed to stay in the country it will be because of the media coverage her case has gotten, not because ICE sees that she’s one of the “good ones.” For her and her family though, it will be irrefutable proof that they were right to place their faith in Trump. For that reason alone, I hope she’s deported; because it will shatter that faith for them and many other Trump supporters. I know it’s wrong, but I think it will serve a greater purpose.


  • In 2024, toward the end of his presidency, Joe Biden’s administration granted her a permit allowing her to work legally in the US. She had also been navigating the process to obtain legal permanent US residency, colloquially referred to as a green card, for years.

    Nonetheless, instead of supporting the candidate Biden endorsed to succeed him, then vice-president Kamala Harris, Olivera’s husband supported Trump in last November’s White House election. He told KGTV that Trump’s promises to deport criminals en masse – despite his own May 2024 conviction of felony falsification of business records – appealed to both Francisco and Cynthia. And, echoing other mixed immigration status families who have had members affected by Trump’s policies, the Oliveras did not believe she would be hurt by her lack of legal US residency.

    They learned she would in fact be affected by her immigration status when she went for a green card interview in Chatsworth, California, on 13 June. She was detained there by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agents, according to a change.org petition pleading for compassion on behalf of Cynthia.

    Olivera has since been transferred to an Ice detention center in El Paso, Texas, to await being deported.

    Speaking to KGTV over a video call from the El Paso facility, Olivera suggested her treatment was undeserved.

    Good riddance.





  • I’m an American atheist Jew, and I’ve had conversations with my (converted) mother about it. She’s pretty solidly on Israel’s side, but she’s also not very educated about the conflict. She just kinda goes by the mainstream media’s narrative and doesn’t think too much beyond that. When I present her with information, she’s horrified and agrees with me that “Israel is going too far,” but it never results in her thinking the U.S. should stop sending them money. She hates Netanyahu and his conservative government, but she’s very hung up on Hamas being a terrorist organization. And I suppose I am too, to be honest. I want a free Palestine and for the Israeli settlers to be expelled, but I don’t want to support Hamas and I think they should pretty much be eradicated. I’m just much more willing to condemn Israel for their actions than she is; she’s very caught on the idea that Israel has a right to defend itself from Palestinian terrorism, and has a hard time seeing that it’s gone way past that at this point.


  • Mental health counselor here.

    The outcomes of treatment for bipolar disorder are unfortunately very variable. It depends on how severe your son’s symptoms are, how well he responds to the medications cocktail he’s being given, what that medication cocktail is, and how well he adheres to it.

    The important thing is that your son controls what he can control, which is largely whether or not he takes his meds and how much he engages in therapy. Therapeutic skills involve insight/mindfulness work (i.e. how well your son can recognize his symptoms as they’re happening) and resource use (i.e. does he inform his therapist and/or psychiatrist when he notices he’s be king symptomatic). Mania often feels amazing to people experiencing it, so they’re often motivated against treating it when it occurs, and this is major barrier to treatment.

    A big component is whether or not symptoms of psychosis are involved in either the mania or depression. Psychotic symptoms are: 1.) hallucinations (false sensory perceptions, like hearing voices, seeing things, smelling things, etc), 2.) delusions (false beliefs that don’t conform to “normal” societal beliefs, like “I am Jesus” or “God has a mission for me”), and 3.) paranoia (i.e. feeling people around you are hostile to you or are spying on you, etc). These can be experienced in either mood state, but are most often seen in manic states.

    I would suggest getting in touch with an organization called NAMI (National Alliance for the Mentally Ill) as they have tons of resources for people struggling with mental illness and family members of mentally ill people.






  • LOL, the Amish Philosophy.

    Nothing so crude. I simply think it’s better for the universe if we don’t propagate it, because we’re not a good enough example for other species to follow yet. It’s not about respecting “God’s” law so much as acknowledging humanity’s limitations. We’re a pathetic species, not ready for rulership over multiple planets, let alone multiple solar systems. My comment simply suggests I don’t have confidence we ever will be. This has nothing to do with the Amish belief that we’re better in a simplistic state; just that the universe is better without us in whatever state.





  • No, you shouldn’t, because nearly half the country voted against Trump. It wasn’t enough, but it certainly indicates a significant portion of the country opposes him and the ideologies behind him. What we, as Americans, should be ashamed of is our pathetic educational system, which is at the root of this problem.

    Both Republicans and Democrats are at the core of this problem. Republicans don’t want any public education at all and Democrats have polluted public education with Far Left propaganda that has fueled conservative rage and helped Far Right people divide the nation. Race and gender issues have eclipsed class issues, which are the real problems of the nation. As much as LGBT and racial groups deserve their particular rights, the real divisions at the heart of America are between the middle- and working-classes and the ultra-rich. Corporations are the prime devil that need to be taken down, not White men. Plenty of White men are suffering at the hands of corporations and they need to be woken up. The most recent election has shown that non-Whites are just as susceptible to Trump’s charms as anyone else. We need to stop focusing on superficial divisors such as race and gender and start focusing on class divisors much more.