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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: July 17th, 2023

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  • When I was in school the kids with the weird names were either picked on or they were super cool and popular. Their parents had no idea which one they were going to be when they chose the name.

    Your friend has the benefit of knowing who she is already. If she knows she’s going rock it, then go Mildred.


  • pastabatman@lemmy.worldtoLemmy Shitpost@lemmy.worldStay Mad, Tankies
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    6 months ago

    So your solution is to give up and throw your vote away? I’m glad you didn’t want my respect because you didn’t get it.

    A literal corpse being paraded around for four years like Weekend at Bernie’s would still be a better choice than Trump. He attempted a coup to invalidate the will of the people and maintain power, sent a mob to attack the Capitol building, and has been charged with 91 felony counts in four jurisdictions just for stuff he did while in office and as a candidate (convicted of 34 and counting).

    But democracy died when an old man showed signs of being old? Not all that other stuff? Yeah, I’m voting for Biden. Easiest decision of my life. You should too.




  • They aren’t both Hitler though. One is unquestionably worse than the other even if you only look at that single issue. One of them WILL be the next president whether you like it or not. You can have a say in who that will be, or you can go with righteous indignation and let the worse option win by default.




  • It’s about having your desires counted on the public record.

    Get your desires on the public record in local and state elections and primaries where it might actually matter. For a US presidential election it’s an entirely empty gesture that makes you and only you feel better. No policies will change. No causes will be advanced. History will not remember you. It is very likely, however, that will make the lives of vulnerable people inside and outside of this country worse by giving trump a second term.


  • pastabatman@lemmy.worldtoLemmy Shitpost@lemmy.worldStay Mad, Tankies
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    6 months ago

    Do you understand why you are being demonized though? You’re making a choice that is purely symbolic just so you feel better, but real and vulnerable people across the country have to deal with the fallout.

    You want to make a difference? Great! There’s a lot of ways to do that. Campaign and fundraise at the local and state level. Push for election reform, ranked choice voting, end to gerrymandering, term limits, electoral college reform, curtail lobbying… any number of things, and push for them more often than once every four years. Voting third party in a presidential election does NOT help.

    If you want my respect, acknowledge the reality of the situation and vote for the best option (or the least bad option) among the viable candidates and then work for change within the system. It sucks that we are in this situation, but make a choice grounded in the real world, not a fake ideal world.



  • pastabatman@lemmy.worldtoMemes@lemmy.mlUSA presidential candidates
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    6 months ago

    I know it’s just a meme, but Krusty would be a silly and ineffective president at worst. You’d have to combine the worst traits of many of the shows most horrible characters to create someone similar to trump, and even then I’m not sure any character in that show attempted a coup and sent a mob to attack the Capitol.




  • pastabatman@lemmy.worldtoLemmy Shitpost@lemmy.worldStay Mad, Tankies
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    6 months ago

    The problem with your pedophile vs murderer analogy is that Biden and Trump are not equally bad. Trump is a drastically worse choice than Biden. It’s not even remotely close.

    You can choose not to vote and try to wash your hands of the whole situation, but they will never be clean. If you don’t vote and Trump wins, that’s on your hands too.



  • So I have some experience with this and have a few things I want to tell you:

    Consider a dedicated sleep study. If you have sleep apnea, medication will not fix your problem and some medications may actually make it worse.

    Xanax (an anxiety medication) and Ambien (a sleep medication) are very similar drugs with respect to their mechanism of action. Xanax binds to a specific group of receptors to cause anxiolytic effects and happens to also make you sleepy. Ambien binds to a subset of those same receptors to make you sleepy, but don’t have the strong anxiety reducing effect. If Xanax works for you, Ambien should theoretically have a similar effect. In practice, it doesn’t tend to work as well because anxiety can keep you awake. If that has been your experience with Ambien, think about taking some steps to address anxiety even if you don’t think it’s that bad. Yoga, counseling, meditation, whatever. There are also guided breathing audio sessions designed to put you to sleep in apps like Fitbit and calm that may be helpful.

    You can also supplement a prescription sleep aid with something non prescription, which is what I do. I take Ambien, and to keep my dose low I supplement with melatonin, tryptophan, and valerian root when I need an extra kick into sleepiness. I’ve heard CBD is also quite effective for this. Magnesium reportedly also helps with restful sleep, but get a sleep formulation because magnesium in the wrong form causes diarrhea.

    Don’t underestimate sleep hygiene. For a long time I had the attitude of “I have real sleep problems, basic stuff like cutting back caffeine is not going to help.” The thing is, when taken together, that kind of stuff actually can help tremendously. I scheduled a month where I went hardcore on sleep hygiene. Strict caffeine limits, no late caffeine or exercise, don’t do anything on your bed but sleep and sex, wake up at the same early time every day even when you don’t have to, limit screens before, bed… I mean ALL of it. I found that it actually really helped. In combination with medication it might be a life saver. Might be worth doing your own experiment with it.

    Good luck!