sanity_is_maddening

Thank your for such reply and the link as well. The text you linked shares a lot of inspiration for these trying times.

And oh, how we definitely need it.

Why this level of vitriol and condescension in this exchange?

I'm also going to repeat... Taking your stance to an extreme, and you have yourself a reductionist view of the world with nothing but intolerance or hatred for those who don't share it. Sounds familiar?

I don't know what's going on in your life, you could be going through something and I don't want to add more to the pile of what you're already dealing with. So I'm just gonna leave this here, because I suspect that even my concerning tone right now will read as passive aggressive to you. It isn't. But I can't control that.

So take care.

I understand your anger. I really do. But may I remind you that the Republicans were the ones who took a stand to abolish slavery and even died for it not that long ago really. And look at where they are now.

It's people like this woman that are fencing any movement from turning corrupt and vile. Unfortunately all too often there's not enough of them to stop it from happening.

She most likely saw the cloth as a way to reach and help people in need. As it is one way of doing it. And given her very advanced age, when she was young, it was probably one of the very few that existed at her disposal. Especially as a woman.

And you shouldn't conflate the identity of individuals with the institutions they're a part of or with their social descriptors. That is precisely what you hate about these groups you brought up. So don't play for the opposite team and act the same way they do.

And by the way, you were downvoted but I wasn't one of the ones who did it. As I do think your anger towards these institutions is absolutely warranted and justified. I feel the same way. Just don't let that keep you from recognising a decent human being when it is very much the case. Otherwise, you allowed them to turn you into what we both hate about what these institutions represent.

This woman is on everyone's side because she's fighting for everyone. Even though I'm not religious, I recognise that I aspire to the same as her.

Oh, thank you so much. I wish I let myself believe that I am what you just described. You do seem to fit the description you assigned me very well from this very brief interaction.

Let us all keep spreading warm and fuzzy feels on and on to as many people as we can.

The world certainly needs an antidote to spread against the vile current that is dragging us all into a hole of despair.

We can't let that happen!

Unfortunately, I often do let myself go in that direction.

So thank you for pulling me the other way.

What a Fucking Legend!!! People such as her should be our icons. Not the plastic ridiculous people that the legacy media and the algorithimc social media keep pushing out like clowns to the circus floor to keep people distracted.

Sue Parfitt. Let's remember her name. In fact I'm gonna save this post.

And while I'm not one to support religion, between her and the reverend that gave that sermon to Trump's face in church, I would say "Lady Priests" (apologies for the reductionism) are having a moment and showing the cloth that apparently only the women in it seem to remember what "their calling" is supposed to be all about.

If anyone knows the name of the woman that gave that sermon, tag it under. Please.

It's not about supporting the church, it's about giving credit where credit is due.

In fact, we should start making a record of the people who are raising to the occasion these days all over the world, and taking the moral stand and give them the space and the limelight, instead of allowing everything to be about the shitty people doing their shitty deeds. That takes so much of the bandwith as it is, and makes us feel alone in the face of it all.

Be it about the atrocities being committed in Gaza, Ukraine, the U.S. or in any place where wrongful actions are occurring, let us make visible the people that raise to face it. Let us put forward the faces and voices of the ones who still truly give the word "humanity" some of its supposed meaning back.

PS: A lot of people here might not be able to read Spanish. But I do and I really liked the article you linked. It was a really nice complement to the one linked in the post. So, thank you for sharing it.

They want everyone's private data to be accessible and actionable. It's not even about avoiding the hassle. It's about you not being able to avoid them.

Now, think about how much they could use this to crush dissidence and prevent assemblies of protests or worse, jail people because they criticise the government.

I got nothing to hide. By today's standards. If it changes, and criticising my country's government becomes a legal offense, then I would be a criminal. So would most people I know.

This is about control. Surveillance is always about control. It's disguised as a necessity through the paranoia that those in power help veiling over us.

As you can see, the replies to your comment are like the reactions in general, they split in two factions. The ones who are embarrassed to death and those who believe this was a necessary step in diplomacy, setting aside ego to prevent even worse outcomes.

While I can entertain the second group's reasoning, I can only accept it as valid if it comes with a further plan to counter the position that led to the necessity of so much grovelling.

Otherwise - and pardon me for the following crude statement - this is like one rolling the red carpet for one's own rape and murder.

Except this one person is doing this in behalf of many people.

So if there is no plan beyond the grovelling, this one person is rolling that carpet for us all to be left hanging dry to the atrocities that will come after. And so far, I can't see a trace of a plan. And my only hope is for that to be part of one.

Otherwise, Rutte is just fondling the balls of a rapist, hoping for a more gentle rape when it's time.

So, let us all hope for that secret plan that we can't find any trace of really exist somewhere.