StatisticalOutlier

I forgot to mention one thing the documentary highlighted, which is the impossibility of dealing with Alex Jones and his followers. I can't remember who it was, maybe a lawyer? But he just refused to acknowledge them at all, despite how incredibly hard that is, because he knows they'll call him a coward or say he's hiding the truth, and that's NOT why he's refusing to engage. And if he does engage, they'll call him a liar, regardless of what he says. It was particularly striking with respect to exhuming the kids' bodies. I can see a parent thinking that as hard and painful and abhorrent as that might be, surely it would finally shut them up. But you know it wouldn't--they'll just manufacture crazy theories about that, deepening their pain. It must be unbearably frustrating. So...Alex Jones makes more money no matter what he does (I'm being persecuted in a show trial! Buy more supplements to support me!). And the parents endure more pain no matter what they do. I also felt bad for the judges. Who wants to have to tell this guy over and over and over to shut up, knowing that if you impose sanctions, it just plays into his narrative of persecution and makes him even more popular? It's yet another impossible situation. Surely if Bobby Seale could be bound and gagged, Alex Jones could, too. Again, it would just roil up his supporters, but it just might be worth it. Because no matter what you do, it roils up his supporters.

Actually, nobody's ever told me that I couldn't possibly understand student debt because I never had it. I was just searching for an advantage I have and used my parents paying for college and law school as an example. Frankly, if someone DID tell me that, I'd just ignore them. For one, it wouldn't happen because I wouldn't wade into student debt discussions except to try to brainstorm how to fix it. But if they took offense at my trying to fix it, I'd again ignore them because I personally don't believe people have to have a lived experience in order to understand something. They can believe otherwise. I don't care. Actually, that's the sort of thing that clearly is prohibited. As it should be--it's just rude and doesn't advance anything. My problem with the culture check is that it puts people with advantages into the same category with people with disadvantages, and tells us (I think--I swear I don't understand it) to acknowledge the advantages due to their background. What good does it do me for you to acknowledge my advantages? So that's dumb, but even dumber is the mandate to create a more understanding relationship with the people with advantages. I just don't understand why there needs to be a rule about dealing with people with advantages. Or maybe they ARE addressing people calling others over-privileged brats? If so, why does it have to be couched in such touchy-feely terms? Doesn't "don't be a dick" cover that, without treating people with advantages as a special case?

I'll tell you how bad it is: I understood TWOP's board on board rule more than I understand the culture check.

Aah, you have to pay for those. The way these streaming services operate so annoyingly (especially cutting off the credits, and in some cases the very end of the program!) has made me vow never to pay full fare for any of them. I have the Black Friday specials for Hulu (99 cents?) and Max ($1.99?) and you can bet your life I have it marked in my calendar to cancel them before they jack me up to regular price. I will say I'm pleased with Kanopy and Hoopla in that so far, neither has cut off the credits in a desperate and unseemly attempt to keep me watching something, anything, to keep me from clicking away from that platform.

My problem is that the differing background the post mentions is people who have advantages due to their backgrounds, and we're supposed to "work on creating a more aware and understanding relationship with them." Why do these people need to be coddled, and more importantly, HOW do we create a more aware and understanding relationship with them. And what is an "aware relationship"? I went to college back when tuition was a couple of hundred bucks a semester. Hell, law school was like $350 a semester at a top tier school. My parents paid for it and I've never had any student debt. That's definitely an advantage due to my background (and the luck of timing). What steps are y'all supposed to take to create" a more aware and understanding relationship" with me? (Leaving aside the WHY I need to have more special treatment when I'm already skating on my advantage.) Moreover, what good would it do to highlight this advantage in any discussions with me, other than to criticize me by saying, "You have no idea what a burden student debt is." How would it even come up? This culture check, especially without any reference whatsoever to what caused it to be pertinent here, is just gobbledygook to me. I literally do not understand it. I don't understand why it's here, I don't understand who the beneficiaries of the policy who are being singled out are supposed to be, and I definitely don't understand what people are supposed to comply with the culture check.

This is a pinned Moderator Note at the top of this subforum. Can someone explain what we're supposed to do with it, and why it's on the Pet Peeves forum and not the other general ones like Chit Chat? I've read all the explanations about the new regime and mission goals and inclusivity and didn't understand it in the abstract, and still don't understand it now that it's being applied specifically. Are we supposed to discuss acknowledging advantages some groups have because of their backgrounds? And if so, I'm supposed to work on understanding their struggle with their advantages?

Sounds interesting. How do the credits work on Hoopla for multi-episode shows? I get four "borrows" a month (and no access to multiple library cards). Is each episode one borrow? I don't want to "test" it and inadvertently get too far in the process and use up a credit.

I hear ya. In my case, I chose a 2-hour blood pressure spike over prolonged irritation. Since I refuse to even read about most of the craziness out there these days, it was educational for me. I was in Austin during Alex Jones's early days on cable access. Most people thought he was just eccentric and funny (keep Austin weird, right?). And it's a perfect example of "It's all fun...until it's not." He gets to unleash all this shit and will suffer no net consequences, because he profits from everything that happens to him. Just like another well-known denialist who gets other people to do his dirty work. I like to think they suffer inner torment, but deep down I know that's not true. This piece did cheer me up a bit. It's about Jones and his cable access show and there's a nice description of a parking lot fight with some people who prank-called his show all the time, and showed up in person. https://observer.com/2019/04/alex-jones-austin-public-access-tv-origin-story/ At least he got his ass kicked once.

I got my library card in Austin, Texas. I got to looking and there's something called the TexShare card, which gives me borrowing privileges at other libraries in Texas (once I've had my APL card for six months). I have to get a paper TexShare card at my library, and present it along with an ID and my APL card to another library and fill out a registration form at that other library. However, on the APL website, it says people who use a TexShare card have only these privileges: So it looks like Texans are SOL on this stacking thing for streaming. Then again, maybe we should just be grateful they allow libraries at all.

I would imagine that a good many of them still think it was staged. That's what I find chilling. Alex may have moved on, but that doesn't mean his followers did. Or they don't actually believe it and maybe never did but it was fun to be on that bandwagon. I find that even more chilling. I purposely keep Alex Jones out of my orbit, and knew very little about the trials except the massive verdict, so I watched the documentary. If I hadn't already given up on the human race, I'd be scared.

I just remembered that at the end, they showed one of the freezer rooms Surely that was intentional. I'm not sure why, though. But I congratulated myself for noticing.

How do you join (is that the word?) different libraries? I just got my library card about a month ago. I signed up online but had to pick up my card in person and present proof of a local address. Actually, I travel fulltime and whenever I've looked at getting a library card, they all required a local address. But a few months ago I was visiting my sister in the D.C. area and I was lamenting not having a library card because I'm not a resident of the places I'm traveling, and her friend said you can get one in Arlington, Virginia, even if you're not a resident. So I looked it up and that's sort of true--you can get an Arlington library card if you live in a reciprocal jurisdiction (covers basically the D.C. area). It sounds like someone who lives in that area could get cards for a bunch of different libraries. So maybe you're doing something like that? Being able to stack the credits would be a hell of a deal.

Thank you for mentioning Kanopy. I've never heard of it, and it has a decent amount of artsy and foreign movies I want to see. And my library gives me access to four per month, so there's a veneer of scarcity.

I don't think the trailer really does it justice. It's getting a rather limited release, which is a shame because it's a whole lot of fun. This is the first movie Julio Torres has directed, and he has a remarkably sure hand. I loved the images of the Roosevelt Island tram--he chose to show shadows instead of the tram itself. I always like wondering, "What made him think of that?" Tilda Swinton is bonkers. Elizabeth is the worst person in the world but I just couldn't make myself hate her. And about Tilda Swinton's hair--here's what Torres said on Fresh Air: "First we talked color, and we decided that she should have the kind of red hair that you see in the streets, but you rarely see in film because it's not a shade of red that anyone aims to get. It's the shade of red that something wrong happened, and then you ended up with that shade of red. It's, like, almost, like, a little purply. And then her haircut - the idea was that her haircut would be at odds with her hair texture so that her hair was just constantly in a fight with itself. And that really gave Tilda the fuel for the character of just imagining that every time that Elizabeth sees her reflection in the mirror, she's adjusting her bangs, she's adjusting the size of her fringes and she gets so angry about the hairdresser who promised her that she would look exactly like the photo she showed her in a magazine. We made this whole fantasy of, like, she walked away from the hair salon with all these products that she's supposed to use every day, but of course she doesn't." Her hair is constantly in a fight with itself. Brilliant. Also, at the very end of the credits, there's a statement that since the filming of the movie, Bank of America has changed its overdraft fees to $10, with a maximum of two per day (or something along those lines), ending with "We are legally required to tell you this." 😀

What kind of camera was Emily using? They looked like Polaroids, and not the hip kind of Polaroids. They looked cheap, fuzzy, and randomly framed. I felt dirty just looking at them. But...but...but...they were being silenced.

I didn't need glasses at all until I was 22, and used them only for driving. Then within two years my eyes were bad enough that I needed glasses all the time, so I got contacts. And my eyes went downhill fast after that, settling in the -5.00 range for a couple of decades. And then when I got older they started getting better. This most recent improvement has been wonderful because my multifocal contacts are working well enough that I don't HAVE to use reading glasses like I used to, in addition to the multifocal contacts. I think it's because the contacts aren't having to correct as much for distance as they used to, so my eyes don't need as much near correction to counteract the far correction. Also, I forgot to include Popeye's in the list of places to eat if you want your nearsightedness to improve. I started taking a multivitamin back before settling into this current diet regimen. I looked at the nutrition information for a bunch of different foods and realized that to get 100% of all the required nutrients, you'd have to eat an enormous amount of food, and be strategic about it. A multivitamin might not help (especially since without regulations, who knows what they actually contain), but it's unlikely to harm me. Good old beaver butt.

Unless it's the only thing she changed in her lifestyle, there's no way to know the greens caused the improvement. I have a horrible diet. I eat mostly processed foods, and vegetables only very rarely--a salad maybe every two weeks (the cranberry walnut one with chicken at Potbelly, which it turns out has more calories than anything else on the menu!). I got my eyes tested the other day, 18 months after the previous exam. One eye improved by .25 diopter (it's now -3.50) and the other eye improved by .75 diopter (it's now -4.00). If people want to improve their vision, I therefore recommend a diet that alternates among Whataburger, Culver's, Jersey Mike's, Panda Express, Potbelly, Schlotzsky's, and Chipotle.

I was disappointed in season two, too. I'm watching season three only because I'm a completist, and it's a struggle. One problem is that they're getting away from the store and the shenanigans of the employees and the customers. But also, many of the episodes are apparently take-offs of shows/movies I'm not familiar with. I'm sure they were fun episodes to make, but not fun for me to watch. I wish this had been a one-season wonder.

When did we learn his objection to her was based on her drinking and sleeping around? I remember at the beginning, when he was asked about his attraction to her, or lack thereof, he said he didn't want to say because he didn't want to hurt her. I remember the "hurt her" for sure. I assumed it was because of her looks, or her personality--something she can't really do anything about. When did he started talking about "protecting" her? That could mean he was protecting her from being hurt that he wasn't attracted to her, and not protecting her reputation or whatever. In fact, he mentioned her personality, saying she was too negative. That one I can actually see as a misunderstanding, because he specifically said she "hates" so many things. I wonder if she's the type who's says things like "I hate this traffic" or "I hate having to wait for a table," and she considers them observations and he considers it negativity. I do think he might be turned off by her drinking. Early on he said his dad doesn't drink water, he drinks vodka. Anyway, has he specifically said why he doesn't find her attractive?

Apparently not.

Same here. I had over 60 years of being a very comfortable, consistent size, and still wear clothes I got in my 30s. Shirts all fit the same, same bra size (and in fact same bra style) for many years, but shorts and jeans have gotten tight in the waistband. But it's physically uncomfortable for me to have this post-menopause roll around my middle for the last couple of years. At the beginning, I could keep it at bay by consciously not drinking as much sweet tea as I'd like. But that's not as effective as it used to be. There's a crease/fold above my waist in the back that I've never had before and I can feel it--not touch it with fingers and feel it, but feel it existing. In fact, it disguised my case of shingles because I've seen enough episodes of My 600-Pound Life to know what can happen when skin folds on itself, and I figured it was just whatever they have to deal with now that I've got some flab on me. Nope, it was shingles. And now when I sit, I have flesh folding over on itself in front and on the sides Sure, I've had it fold over a waistband or the like, but shifting my posture would go a long way toward fixing that. But it doesn't matter how straight I sit up, there's that roll, and it's uncomfortable. I don't know how fat people put up with it. I see these men with basketball shaped bellies and actually wonder if I could just power through the interim, it would be more comfortable to have a big hard ball instead of the squish.

The WW person said only a few words, and I don't remember what they were even about. I think she was there mainly so Oprah could mention resigning from the board and donating all of her shares of stock to the National Museum of African American History. I do know that WW is now embracing these drugs for weight loss, and talking about how WW is still relevant as a community. Pivot or die.

I would call it a preference rather than a shortcoming. From personal experience, I can say that Denver housing costs are high. Michael said that if they got that house, each of them would be paying $250 more per month than they already are, and my math says they're currently each paying $2,000 in rent. I always think of having two people moving in together as reducing the overall housing cost, not more than doubling it. I looked at rents in the building where the show rented the apartments (from the product placement I always thought it was Sen-i-ral but it's Sentral--logo fail on that one), and a 1-bedroom 1-bath is between $2,100 and $2,500 a month, and the 2-2s go for between $3,000 and $5,000 a month. A whole house, albeit not above a Whole Foods, for $4,500 doesn't sound that bad.

I watched it. I don't recall any mention of unavailability to people with diabetes, and there was definitely no mention of how this special is going to make demand for the drug even higher than it already is. I came away from it kind of hating Oprah, when before I didn't have much of an opinion. The whole thing was a justification for using these drugs for the "disease of overweight and obesity." Yes, wanting to eat so much you will be fat is a disease, and yes, it's overweight and obesity, not just obesity, that warrants treatment. They didn't talk about the side effects of the drugs, except one woman said she tried it and her nausea was so terrible she stopped using it, but she's considering trying a different one in the future. The only medical talk was about the health dangers of overweight and obesity. It was always "overweight and obesity." Seems to me "overweight" could include ten pounds if you're a Real Housewife™, and there was no mention of anyone who shouldn't be taking these drugs. Apparently these work by making you not crave food, and Oprah was going on and on about how food is always on her mind, and she's thinking about her next meal before she finished the one she's eating. Well, guess what. Some people who aren't overweight or obese do that, too. Probably a lot of people, actually. Also, one of the doctors said they've been using these drugs for weight loss (not diabetes) for 20 years, and Oprah was shocked and wanted to know why she didn't know that. In fact, the doctor is with a facility (Cleveland Clinic?) that Oprah said she is a patient of, and she seemed annoyed to be hearing about this for the first time. And I was annoyed that the host of the show was learning this on the show; it seems to me the host of an overview shows like this should have done the research and just be presenting information, not hearing it for the first time. And there was a moment where the CEOs (I think) of the two companies that produce these drugs were on camera together, and Oprah said it was a huge deal. Oh, and there was some talk about insurance coverage for the drugs, how insurance should be covering them because overweight and obesity are a disease. I'm sure the drug company muckety-mucks' presence had nothing to do with that. CEO(?) of Weight Watchers was there, too. Oprah said her disassociation with WW was so there would be no conflict of interest that would prevent her from airing this show. But she can pimp the drugs, apparently.

In a perfect world, yes. My sister lives in Maryland, just over the DC line. I can't remember what exactly we were discussing, but it was something along the lines of leaving your keys in the car and she said she never does it because she doesn't want to help anyone make a bad decision. It made me love her just a little bit more.