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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: January 1st, 2024

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  • An unsolicited photo of something random might not be something everyone responds to. I wouldn’t necessarily send a response.

    So if she doesn’t respond, it doesn’t definitively mean she doesn’t want to talk to you. Maybe try again with something that actually indicates that you’re looking for a response. Like … ask a question about something you know you have in common.

    Did you finish the reading for class? I think the part about ABC could be interpreted to apply to XYZ. What do you think?

    You said you like comedians. Have you seen the new Marcello Hernandez special on Netflix?

    Make it something that could turn into an actual conversation if she answers you.




  • I think you’re right.

    I grew up in the '80s, and I heard more about “homosexuals” in church than anywhere else. (I also knew far more about abortion than anyone else in my kindergarten class. As an adult, I would say my understanding was not age-appropriate.)

    The good news is that the final straw for me losing my faith was going to university and actually meeting openly gay people. They were nothing like I had been taught they would be. And the whole evangelical house of cards came crashing down for me.

    I hope other kids in these sorts of households have similar revelations.


  • Since only Congress has the power to declare war, people who care about accurate language (especially journalists!) use other terms to describe troop deployments outside officially declared wars.

    The US military has had names for nearly all of their operations since the mid-1960s, and these traditionally have been used by the press. Operation Power Pack in 1965 (invasion of the Dominican Republic) was the first one I found in my cursory search.

    Major ones I remember from my life include Operation Desert Shield/Storm/Strike (1990s), Operation Enduring Freedom (“war on terror” in Afghanistan after 9/11), and Operation Iraqi Freedom (“war on terror” expands inexplicably to Iraq).

    This type of framing is not new, and it’s not a conspiracy. It’s a bunch of language nerds making sure that they use accurate terminology.