Luna Bliss

Agree with some of the speculation. We also have to consider the phenomenon of denial. People who can't handle their fear well often go into denial about the dangers they face in order to believe they are strong, sometimes even increasing the danger as proof they can't be harmed (protesting a bit too much). An uncomfortable mask covering a large proportion of your head kind of prevents that guise! I was just watching earlier a nurse describing some of her patients dying from Covid, protesting they don't have Covid as they die in some kind of denial fit, wasting the last moments they could be face-timing with family.

Could be an 'in' for them, yes. You've heard of the Log Cabin Republicans who are gay no doubt? I do wonder if (due to the crazy slant toward authoritarianism their party has taken) they fled their cabins..lol Will have to research.

fogalmam sincs mit mondtal lol!!! De valahogy gondolom!!! Well, you said "there is no accounting for taste", and my joke reply was "unless one is a fascist! " * Because, fascists don't care about diversity or the variety of 'tastes' in this world...they think they have the one true way and everybody else should conform.

Chyba że ktoś jest faszystą.

I am grateful for a thread about being grateful And, for unusual dreams that clarify...I had a good one last night.

This is very disconcerting: https://www.v-dem.net/media/filer_public/b6/55/b6553f85-5c5d-45ec-be63-a48a2abe3f62/briefing_paper_9.pdf

lol well I am a kitty in SL too ya know!!

I'll have to remember to keep it simple next time.. Yes, because kitties don't have the ability to do much critical thinking, you see. Although I do think one of my kitties has a master plan to get as much attention from me as possible.

Meanwhile, I do love the humor of the San Francisco people!

You say that as if "sucking" is a bad thing... That's right, kitty, cause I am sucking on a Spry cinnamon sugar-free mint right at this very moment....so will Ceka say I suck too?

Well I called my doctor but she's a heavily medicated resident of our local psychiatric ward atm...

I think this lack of trust in institutions, such as the journalism you point to, has a fundamental cause. Think of America as it has increasingly become in recent years, where the health of its citizens is not seen as a human right, and higher education has become unaffordable for most. When a society doesn't care if its poor citizens live or die how can there be trust in any of its institutions! At least in many other countries these important needs in a truly civilized society (health care and education) are seen as a public good, as a right, and they are afforded all, even the poor. This engenders a greater trust in society overall. I think most poorer folks don't begrudge the greater wealth of the elites as long as they aren't being relegated to death if they get ill, or forced into permanent poverty due to not being able to rise above poverty via an affordable education! How different this scenario is in America, where it's acceptable to have this bottom level of society (growing larger by the day) locked out of civilization at its most basic level. What caused America to feel it's okay to have this bottom, impoverished level, composed disproportionately of people of color? Enter racism, where a far greater percentage of white people (mostly older ones) voted for Trump in this election, perpetuating this racism we've been plagued with for centuries...it's a disgrace!

.....it was only by hitching my wagon to something larger than myself that I was ultimately able to locate a community and purpose for my life. Barak Obama

A message of hope from Obama: "I recognize that there are those who believe that it’s time to discard the myth—that an examination of America’s past and an even cursory glance at today’s headlines show that this nation’s ideals have always been secondary to conquest and subjugation, a racial caste system and rapacious capitalism, and that to pretend otherwise is to be complicit in a game that was rigged from the start. And I confess that there have been times during the course of writing my book, as I’ve reflected on my presidency and all that’s happened since, when I’ve had to ask myself whether I was too tempered in speaking the truth as I saw it, too cautious in either word or deed, convinced as I was that by appealing to what Lincoln called the better angels of our nature I stood a greater chance of leading us in the direction of the America we’ve been promised. I don’t know. What I can say for certain is that I’m not yet ready to abandon the possibility of America—not just for the sake of future generations of Americans but for all of humankind. I’m convinced that the pandemic we’re currently living through is both a manifestation of and a mere interruption in the relentless march toward an interconnected world, one in which peoples and cultures can’t help but collide. In that world—of global supply chains, instantaneous capital transfers, social media, transnational terrorist networks, climate change, mass migration, and ever-increasing complexity—we will learn to live together, cooperate with one another, and recognize the dignity of others, or we will perish. And so the world watches America—the only great power in history made up of people from every corner of the planet, comprising every race and faith and cultural practice—to see if our experiment in democracy can work. To see if we can do what no other nation has ever done. To see if we can actually live up to the meaning of our creed. The jury’s still out. I’m encouraged by the record-setting number of Americans who turned out to vote in last week’s election, and have an abiding trust in Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, in their character and capacity to do what is right. But I also know that no single election will settle the matter. Our divisions run deep; our challenges are daunting. If I remain hopeful about the future, it’s in large part because I’ve learned to place my faith in my fellow citizens, especially those of the next generation, whose conviction in the equal worth of all people seems to come as second nature, and who insist on making real those principles that their parents and teachers told them were true but that they perhaps never fully believed themselves. More than anyone else, my book is for those young people—an invitation to once again remake the world, and to bring about, through hard work, determination, and a big dose of imagination, an America that finally aligns with all that is best in us." This article is excerpted from Obama’s forthcoming book, A Promised Land. Barack Obama was the 44th president of the United States. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/11/barack-obama-i-still-believe-america/617073/

I make them all no-mod just in case a Trumpie gets ahold of it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You know one of things that makes me smile the most is the support I'm seeing from all around the world, welcoming us back and not blaming us for the mess the US is in..

Black women were a major force for getting Biden elected and keeping us from the orange authoritarian. I just hope Biden will attend to their requests as he's saying he will. https://time.com/5909002/kamala-harris-black-women/ (article speaks to how we can do them right) It's so discouraging that older white voters went much more for Trumpie though, but the younger white voters did not....so there is hope for a future that is more inclusive and not autocratic.

Indeed, likewise, and you are blocked along with about six others. You're blocked because you can't respond to my feelings when I say you offended me by calling me a name -- passive-aggressive. All you'd have needed to do was apologize for calling me an unwarranted name, but instead you chose to empower yourself via getting on the "let's gang up on Luna" scapegoating train. Adios

Regardless of whether your comment was covertly aggressive or overtly aggressive, it doesn't change the fact you do insult people - a lot. And, it was insulting, and I knew you were going to make excuses about your insults all-in-all no matter what and probably will continue to do so. But, I'd ask that you please not do it. I have never once called anyone a "Trumpie" and yes, did find that insulting among other things you've said as I do have friends who are Democrats, Republicans, Ex-pats, or none of the above. As you proclaim yourself a social worker, you should try doing the same. My father was a social worker, he never would have insulted anyone ever, not ever. He was truly an open-minded, loving person. Learn some grace towards others. Fairre, after Janet said she felt a special bond with me, Beth, and someone else due to what we experienced on the BLM thread I responded to Janet by saying: "I remember that time fondly -- you, me, Beth, and lets not forget Pussycat, fighting for the BLM cause against the world" ~~~~ And then you responded to my expression of special bonding I felt with Janet, Beth, and Pussycat on that thread by saying: "Wha? There were a lot of other people making strong suggestions on ways to fight. I'm the one who looked into it and found out qualified immunity could very well be unconstitutional and suggested started propositions which were met with a lot "it won't help" answers; nothing will ever change attitudes. Scylla started the thread and deserves a great deal of credit. The one who posted about us needing to over-turn the qualified immunity was a very brave person for informing us of that, plus other things....I can't quite remember who now. But, it wasn't just 'you four'. There were many people in the thread who were quite helpful too who were involved in inworld events. Plus, more...so, I am like what...?" ~~~~~~~~~~ And then you subsequently defended the above position as well as what "fight" meant to you by declaring to Molly I was passive-aggressive to people. Anybody on these forums has a right to feel special bonds with any other person on any thread. Just because you were left out of this mentioned bonding does not mean I am doing anything passive-aggressive to you. Like I said, to be passive aggressive is when you express negative feelings indirectly instead of openly talking about them, but I had no negative feelings for you however and was only expressing a special bond with others in that thread. This bonding I felt doesn't mean any other person's contribution was not important (like your contribution with 'special immunity') -- it only means there were reasons I felt especially connected with others during that time. Your bringing up the fact that I sometimes call people Trumpies has nothing to do with what I'm confronting you about. It doesn't matter if I call people Trumpies, or even if I flipped out and started noxiously insulting after every person's post on the forum -- this is not what we're discussing here but you can certainly start another post to address it. The issue I raised, and that I feel offended by, was you saying I was doing something aggressive by not including you in the people I felt most connected with in the BLM thread. But I can't help who I feel close to, plus not including you within those people is not aggressive. So stop calling me aggressive because I felt more connected with others during that time -- it's insulting to do so.

I feel insulted by your accusation of passive-aggressiveness via not mentioning you as a contributor in the BLM thread. Just because I didn't include you in mentioning those who contributed to the BLM thread doesn't mean I did so deliberately or with the ill-will that passive-aggressiveness implies. Passive-aggressive behavior is when you express negative feelings indirectly instead of openly talking about them. But I had no negative feelings against you. If you don't get your way with someone do you usually assume they are being negative or hostile and deliberately directing that hostility toward you? Did it occur to you that I simply forgot about any contributions to the thread you made, or that I might have thought you didn't contribute as much as the primary contributors in the thread and only feel it necessary to mention the key players? None of these reasons would mean I was deliberately excluding you, or that I was directing aggression (passive or not), or anything of a negative nature, against you.

And that's why I dance!!!