It’s because he’s actually smiling

An RNSC article links to a “Interactive Polls” tweet that mentions the info is from UNH. So I searched the UNH polling dept stuff and got the link which says it was released on the 23rd, so the times match up.

Seems to be another UNH one.

https://scholars.unh.edu/survey_center_polls/897/

I did have to follow some breadcrumbs to get there but it was the one linked by some Twitter accounts

No one is born a racist, and no one is born a Nazi. If it’s something someone chooses to be they can stop. There are a lot of stories of reformed white supremacists.

I genuinely don’t think he got there though, based on his posts on Reddit made from 2016-2021. He would have had plenty of opportunities to make toxic, racist or violent shit posts there but the worst they dredged up on him was antiquated homophobic bro-talk that is unfortunately common in the military. Won’t deny that that’s a bad look but it’s a far cry away from some of the things quoted from MAGAs currently in office.

Of the people in my life, some of the ones who have served in the military are the most disillusioned with the establishment. Listening to him, he sounds burnt out with American Imperialism. I was watching his town hall last night, it’s worth hearing him talk about it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLEftvgSBJs

Considering this is a day and age where people who are overtly fascist, who have been pretty open about being Nazi-adjacent if not straight out Nazis, are winning elections on that platform then I would think if he held those views he would just run on them. Why be a secret authoritarian and masquerade as a progressive when the extreme right is the majority in US government and persecution of minorities and violent rhetoric is in vogue? It just makes a lot more sense to me that either he didn’t know, or was in some toxic male circles at the time. Either way I don’t think that’s who or what he is in this moment.

Interesting that the website you linked uses heavily biased language, cites a source that’s literally a guy who knew a guy who knew Platner, and consistently attacks the most prominent left-ish figures in American politics like Mamdani, Sanders and Cortes. Looks to me like a phony left website set up to trap leftists into thinking it’s on their side. Hmmm what does Common Dreams have to say?

https://www.commondreams.org/tag/graham-platner

Interesting.

I forgot politicians are always honest about their intents and goals on their platform websites, my bad.

Sometimes they are.

https://www.project2025.observer/en

Still waiting on the evidence of white nationalism and violent rhetoric in his platform. It’s clear the establishment is scared of him and is trying to use the common concerns of leftists to attack him, but it’s just kind of silly to call him a secret cryptofascist white supremacist when there are openly unapologetic ones already in government.

He said it was gotten in 2007 and has since gotten it covered up. Until I see evidence of him saying actual Nazi things like advocating for violence, holocaust denialism, admiration of authoritarianism/dictators, persecution of minorities or ethnicities, and other supremacist nationalist rhetoric I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

His website has some good policy positions.

He wants election finance reform, believes in environmental protections, medicare for all, protecting small businesses and is anti-billionaire. Seems like the right kind of anti-establishment populist and it’s refreshing to see someone so unapologetically progressive.

Because as much as they want to claim they’re logical and rational, no logical or rational argument would ever be the thing to convince them. Identity politics prevents people from accepting anything from the “other side”, so they ask for sources so they can point to it as biased and unfair etc. There’s really no point in arguing with someone like that using facts. The things most likely to change their mind is their own personal experience or writing an entirely new narrative about the world.

The “laughs” all felt from the outside. There was very little humor aimed at the people who would self identify as nerds and way more “haha look at these nerds and how quirky they are” set ups. Sure there are misogynist asshole nerds but usually they need to grow beyond that to find friends and partners. As far as I could tell none of them did. Sheldon and Howard were still super sexist, Leonard was still passive and whiny, but the story pushed forward foisting “perfect matches” on them.

Throughout the whole thing there was very little actual geek humor, and it felt denigrating to actual nerds.

My kid just had a screaming fit with big fat tears rolling down his face because he reached the bottom of the stairs. The other day, he was howling crying because I had a different colored bowl than he did. I have indeed had to carry my kid out of a public space to go calm down. I do my best to be calm and empathetic to him but emotional regulation is something they grow into.

Well, unless you live in Africa, they’re an invasive species. Cats hunt and attack wildlife regardless of whether or not they are hungry, which was great for humans looking to keep mice out of the granary but not so great for songbirds in the modern era. They do immense harm to bird populations in general, but even if you don’t care about that, why would you let it:

Contract FIV
Get into fights with other animals or cats
Get hit by a car
Get ticks and other parasites
Eat poisonous plants or animals
Get wounded or eaten by predators

When on the other hand you could just keep it inside and make sure it has enrichment. If your cat really is miserable without the outdoors, catios are a thing. Cats are pets, not prisoners, and as animals that are not native to the majority of the places they end up in, they are dependent on their humans to keep them safe and out of nature’s way.

That would be quite optimistic, but this is something I’ve noticed at multiple restaurants myself. I saw the tip “suggestions” were not accurate so I checked to see what numbers they might have been using and tried the after tax amount etc, but nope the numbers are just inflated artificially. It’s happened with or without alcohol on the tab, with and without sale items, and I don’t ever really get anything “comped” unless it’s a sauce on the side or something. I wouldn’t say it’s a scam, but I did roll my eyes the first time I noticed it.

Setting it to private would limit its discoverability for people who are welcome to contribute, which as you say, is about half of all people. Some people like to lurk and read without posting which is perfectly fine and even welcomed. It’s not a private forum, it’s a forum that just asks men not to post.

It literally requires every single person currently on the fediverse to actively block it. And it requires every single new person that arrives in the fediverse to learn about this group, learn about their rule, learn how to block a group, and then go ahead and block it. Everyone who comes here has to do that, for every single new user that joins the fediverse. Forever.

The community only excludes men from participating

Keeping it open means people can find it, and it only excludes men from participating. WomensStuff accepts NBs and transwomen and basically anyone who doesn’t identify as a man. Just because it’s not for men doesn’t mean it’s private.

There are definitely cats that need companionship and lots of socializing, but there are also cats that are perfectly content with an hour or two of your time, and cuddling in and lying on your bed with you while you sleep can also fulfill that need. 40 hours a week still means plenty of time with you physically in the house. I’ve had cats all my life and seen lots of personalities. I think it’ll be important to find the right cat but they are absolutely out there. I say go for it.