SeanBrently

Yes, I get that, but it seems like for some people, possibly OP included, the socially acceptable thing to do is just an empty ritual, without meaning or purpose. That's difficult for me to grasp, because it's not meaningless empty ritual.

And also it's the either/or aspect of it that I don't like. When my Neighbor Lady starts talking to me about quilting, I really have no interest in quilting, but Neighbor Lady is important to me, I like her and I want to maintain a relationship with her. I don't feign intrest in quilting, but because I care about Neighbor Lady i do want to hear what she has to say. So it's not a binary thing like deep fascination with quilting / just being polite but not actually giving a shit.

I suppose I could have used less words to express that in my first post.

Wait, what's the takeaway here? I assume conservatives like Elon Musk because he supports the republican guy, but at the same time, electric vehicles are weak, woke and soy-cuck. Also climate change isn't real anyway, and even if it were, rolling coal in front of them dang ole libtards would be worth it.

And as for the police, do we support them because thin blue line and law and order, or do we mistrust them because ain't they just a tool of government tyranny? I mean who was it killin God fearing Americans at Ruby Ridge and Waco? It was cops.

I've never drove a Tesla but they don't sound so great based on this and other things I read about em.

The framing of this question is interesting. "...or are you just being nice?" Seems to assume that being nice is not a legitimate or authentic way of being, maybe unless it is a means of getting something you want.

A psychiatrist once told me "If I've learned anything over the years, it's that people really do think differently from each other." I can accept this as true but it really boggles my mind sometimes when I think I have caught a glimpse of someone's fundamental assumptions that are so different from mine.

I have met a few people who have said things like "I don't have time for small talk or chitchat, it is meaningless noise to me." I thought to myself "OK, you're not getting invited to my bar-b-que then." Which was probably fine with them. Still, it's hard for me to imagine having that mindset. Maybe when I was a teen it might have been said of me that I was self-absorbed and didn't care about anyone else, but I certainly did care, more than I was able to express.

I occasionally encounter people -some way past their teen years- who have no interest in any of the things that I am into, but want to endlessly info-dump to me about My Little Pony or whatever their special interest is. I listen, not because I am particularly interested in My Little Pony, and not because I am "just being nice." There is another reason, and I don't think of it as transactional or "playing a social game."

If there is any point to my rambling it is that I find the either/or thinking of the question reductionist and over simplified. I think this is one of the aspects of autism that makes it a disorder or disability for some people, because the very rigid black and white thinking can create a lot of frustration when reality doesn't conform to their internal strict rules.

HAPPY BIRFDAY!!! 💛

Endorsed by Negroponte? When actual evil people endorse Harris, I don't know what to think. I am in despair for America.

Beach.

This got a genuine lol out of me. I'm imagining the patient explanation, "See, the actors can't hear you..."

Thank you for your service. I confess I did not read the article carefully. I see it is congress that holds a fair bit of responsibility for this situation. It is interesting to note that some of those who voted against extending funding to FEMA represent states that were hard hit by Helene.

September 2019

Mentioning states that would likely be impacted by the storm, he incorrectly included Alabama, which by then was known not to be under threat from the storm. Over the following week, the President repeatedly insisted his comment had been correct. On September 4, he showed reporters a weather map which had been altered with a black Sharpie marker to show the hurricane's track threatening Alabama. He also reportedly ordered his aides to obtain an official retraction of the weather bureau's comment that the storm was not headed for Alabama.

When asked by reporters how the Sharpie marker ended up on the printed map, Trump said: “I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know.”

While I don't disagree that Biden ought to retire and spend his time doing something else, any reasonable person should realize the other guy is not a better choice.

Nypost says that? FEMA says something different.

https://www.fema.gov/node/funding-fema-disaster-response-was-diverted-support-international-efforts-or-border-related

There's an obvious two part solution to this that will fix everything perfectly: 1. Tax cuts for large corporations s and the wealthiest Americans, and 2. Make sure trans people don't feel safe in their communities. I dont see how such a plan can fail.

OK I see. Apparently the DEI hiring process is such that a male applicant with several degrees in administration of justice, a blackbelt in akido and holder of both rifle and pistol expert qualification badges would be passed over in favor of a female applicant whose qualifications include having "been to a laundromat a few times" and "knows all the words to Vanessa Carlton's 2002 hit single A Thousand Miles".

Well I'm not in favor of that but in the case where both male and female applicants are equally qualified, it makes more sense to hire the woman because you can pay them less.