flicker

Glad you mentioned 'next of kin.' This is the important answer. If you're married, you can do all that important legal stuff- make medical decisions if your partner is unconscious or indisposed, get the death certificate if that happens and give it to all the people who will need it.

Say your partner is in a car accident and you go to the hospital. There's no marriage, no forms, no nothing to indicate you're at all related to this person. You're just some dude or lady, showing up at some dude or lady's bedside. You can't make the decisions for this person. Even if, say, they have a horrible narcissistic mother they're estranged from- that mother, just by being the mother, can get all the authority to make decisions your unconscious partner would hate!

(Drawing from my own life. Fuck my mother.)

You can't even call the hospital and get information on them. If they aren't awake to indicate a release of information, the hospital can't let you see them, can't tell you anything.

This is just the first example that came to mind. The purpose of marriage is, it's a legal way to indicate that you're the most important person in the life of the person you marry. (And yes, depending on where you are and laws in your state or country or whatever, domestic partnership and other stuff can grant that, too.)

I don't deserve this heroism but I appreciate it.

Francis appointed a majority of the voting cardinals. This isn't a democracy, where people have groups that lobby in any meaningful way- the Pope is the supreme executive. Like a dictator.

So either he appointed in a stupid fashion, and the next pope is more conservative, or he appointed wisely, and the voters follow him with someone equally progressive in view.

(Progressive here, of course, is very, very relative.)

And to be clear, it's not like, a slim majority. Of the 135 cardinals who will be voting for the next pope, Francis appointed 108 of them.

Don't get me wrong- some of those have been quoted as saying some super backwards shit. But statistically, I would put my bet on "around about the same."

It's well known that since he came back from the dead but he didn't decay or lose intelligence or anything, that Jesus was a lich.

Here's a link to the song "Pet" by A Perfect Circle.

Don't know why your comment made me want to add this.

Hey did you know that if you live in the US you can take Weather 101 classes from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration from home on your computer for free?

Tonight I was in the class for Severe Thunderstorms.

I work with a lot of veterans and the thing that breaks my heart is how many of them really bought into the lie. They really think they sacrificed years of their lives, some of them went through hell, all for the people of their country. And when or if they realize that they were used, it can break them.

Many, not all obviously, but many of them are victims of this self-same system of oppression. Taking it out on them is exactly what the people who pull their strings want from us.

No war but class war.

Like 6 good ones and a bunch of the same tired comments about poop knives, broken arms, same, this.

Here, at least most of the answers are real human beings trying to contribute to a conversation.

Ya'll are kinder than I am. I say put him outside and let the problem solve itself.

Congratulations on getting here!

Please keep in mind that medication does have negative side effects you'll need to manage. It's not a golden bullet. But it's very, very, very helpful to those of us it helps (I'm one)! I hope you get the results you're looking for!