Posts by briskowl24

The International Cat Association decided to ban any cats coming from Russia from competing in international shows because of everything happening in Ukraine.

I guess this might actually be a turning point in the war.😁

I can't actually see my own post on the forum.

The system says it's published—twice, actually—but the only way I can tell my post even exists is when I hit ''reply'' to send something else. I also noticed that in the subforum list, it shows my post was the most recent activity.

It’s almost like it’s invisible to everyone else just browsing.

I checked on both my phone and my laptop.

It's happening in the COVID subforum, specifically within the conspiracy theories thread. Everything seems totally fine in this thread and in all the other COVID topics.

Is there any chance this is some new kind of censorship?

EDIT:
Everything is back to normal now.

Matthew Jackson2 said:Look, once we actually have those definitive answers, then—and only then—can we sit down and reevaluate the current guidelines. But honestly, the mere fact that there is an ongoing scientific investigation into these unknowns isn't some kind of valid reason to push for vaccination right now.

Exactly.
The thing is, there’s no going back once you've had the shot.

And honestly, if parents decide to vaccinate their kids just because some celebrity suggested it... well, they might want to remember who gave them that advice if things ever go south.
Just saying this as a bit of food for thought so people don't make the same mistakes later on—I'm not out here calling for any kind of trouble.

coastalorca43 said:Is this pilot program by Šimetinka inspired by those ideas coming out of France regarding reactive vaccination for everyone in a positive person's circle?
The whole plan seems to involve mobile teams rushing in to vaccinate households, workplaces, schools, and even entire neighborhoods the moment they detect a single positive case.

If things ever get to that point, I'll personally take that balloon apart piece by piece.

Alex Morales47 said:I was riding the subway today—just minding my own business, really—when I overheard a group of older women, all of whom are fully vaccinated, by the way, having this intense, heated discussion about some parents who made the choice to have their child vaccinated. It’s quite a sight, honestly—these ladies aren't exactly lacking in wits, either.

I guess even during a big vaccination push, parents like that will probably end up being social outcasts.

silverpuma61 said:Quincy:

Morgan Peterson As stated by: Maybe try to dial back the drama a little and give my last post another careful read. I’m actually talking about that 8% figure, not 30%. 🙄

Are you trying to say that when you wrote...

Do you really think it’s realistic to assume that 92% of the population will actually end up getting vaccinated? I mean, I guess one could hope, but I seriously doubt it.

If we ever actually hit that 75% mark without them rolling out some "vaccinate or lose your job" mandate or a "get the shot or you can't even buy bread" rule, then I guess I owe everyone an apology. 🍿

I didn't really want to reply to her using that angle—you know, suggesting that if it wasn't for all the restrictions and coercion driven by pure fear of the virus, maybe no more than 30% of people would have gotten the shot.

I held back because, honestly, people who push those kinds of mandates see that pressure as a totally legitimate part of managing an epidemic, and they think those measures are perfectly justified ways to drive up vaccination numbers.

Morgan Peterson said:I have been keeping a close eye on this vaccination poll since the very first discussions regarding the virus surfaced, and honestly, the numbers haven't budged much; it looked almost identical back then, with nearly 70 percent opposed and a timid 30 percent in favor.

Now, considering that the rollout is already well underway—with over 500,233 people having received at least one dose—why would we expect a sudden shift in sentiment here? It might move at a glacial pace, certainly, but eventually, we will reach that targeted 70% threshold, if not surpass it.
After all, people are watching the vaccinated and seeing that nothing catastrophic is happening, which proves that life can actually return to a semblance of normalcy.

In the end, we will be left with only a handful of stubborn, fringe anti-vaxxers, who, frankly, represent nothing more than an insignificant and loud minority.

I guess those who aren't getting vaccinated actually have the upper hand here for one practical reason: they still have options. Once you've taken the shot, you don't really have a choice on this matter anymore. You'll see.

slyfox43 said:I don't live in America, nor do I have any intention of visiting right now, so the answer is no—unless we’re talking about the general human capacity for self-destruction, which is a depressing thought in its own right. We’ll see how things shake out in a few years; until then, it's just a matter of survival. There are certainly people like that here too, but given how divided things are in my neck of the woods (for instance, about 83% of adults here have had at least one dose, and our infection rates have plummeted tenfold over the last month), there are still some pockets of relative rationality, thank goodness.

I truly feel for those who haven't managed to distance themselves from that conspiracy-minded crowd—the very group that motivated me to say goodbye all those years ago.

It's nice of you to care about America, even if you seem pretty fed up with it...
and where I live, along the Adriatic Sea, there are almost no active cases at all.

slyfox43 said:I’m not trying to drag anyone into a full-blown conspiracy theory or a disinformation frenzy, but plenty of studies have already confirmed that vaccinated individuals face a significantly lower risk of infection—not just avoiding severe illness, but preventing transmission altogether if they don't catch it in the first place. This is just the icing on the cake, rather than the main course, when you consider the clinical benefits of vaccination if an infection does occur.

It is much less exhausting to dump a pile of nonsense into the world than it is to spend your time debunking it, which gives certain groups a built-in advantage. Even though the direct benefits of vaccination are thoroughly researched and documented, scientists tend to shy away from making categorical claims unless they can confirm them through direct experimental proof, even when the conclusion is obvious from existing data. Because other fields of human endeavor aren't held to such rigid standards, people will stubbornly cling to any "hunch" they have, even when the mountain of evidence proves them wrong.

Right, and I guess the accuracy of those studies was "proven" by all the nursing homes over in our neighboring states, where tons of residents who were already vaccinated still got hit hard.
I think I'll trust my own eyes over some funded study any day.
Maybe you're just choosing to believe the studies because it suits your interests, or maybe you're just being misled.

But anyway, let's set that aside—does looking at this poll bum you out?

If you're just fueling up on empty calories, you're going to end up feeling hungry sooner, running out of steam, and missing out on essential vitamins and minerals.
In the long run, it’s just not good for you.
I guess it isn't really fair to just look at how you feel during that thirty-minute window; you have to consider the actual consequences or benefits you'll see playing out over the next few days.

casualbadger22 said:You should probably start taking Vitamin D too. Honestly, nothing in your body really works right without it.
I remember being totally loaded with all sorts of minerals and vitamins, yet I was severely lacking Vitamin D. I ended up in the ER three separate times—twice because of skin issues and once because my joints were so swollen—and it took them an entire year to figure out what was actually wrong with me. My blood work looked perfectly normal, so they basically thought I was losing it, until something would swell up and they finally realized I wasn't crazy.

If you want to avoid the flu season, maybe try heading up to higher altitudes? I guess there aren't as many bugs up there. The only thing we usually deal with in the mountains is a lack of Vitamin D.

I’d also suggest getting some Vitamin D3, the "sunshine vitamin," since you can't really get enough from food alone.

Most of us are pretty much deficient during the winter months when the sun isn't around much.
It's great for your immunity, fighting fatigue, depression, irritability, and stuff like that... just Google it. It's very likely one of the reasons why we feel so much better in the summer than we do in the winter.

I started taking it for the first time back in the fall, and I just went with the lowest dose I could find, which was 400IU—about 50% of the daily value. It's not expensive at all, especially if you grab it on iHerb, $8.25 180 capsules.

hollowsailor19 said:Hey everyone, hope you're all doing well and staying active.

So, here’s the deal:

I usually hit the gym after dinner—about an hour later, so around 8 PM.

My question is, what should I be eating after a workout like that? For the first three days, I just had two oranges and a glass of yogurt, but tonight I grabbed a protein bar. That’s roughly 200 calories.

I’d really appreciate some serious advice on this.

Wait, you're training after dinner?
If dinner is your last big meal of the day, snacking late at night right before bed isn't really great for anyone, especially if you're trying to burn off some extra fat.

Ideally, you’d want to move your workout earlier, maybe sometime before 8 PM.
If you can't change your schedule, though, I’d suggest rearranging your other meals so you don't actually have to eat anything after your workout. That’s what I would do, even if some gym "rulebook" tells you that you absolutely need a protein shake immediately after lifting.

I honestly think what she’s going through is just the fallout from a few traumas during her childhood, mixed with her naturally sensitive personality and some tough times at home. She’s also just got a bit of a pessimistic streak by nature. Her phobias play a massive role too; she’s mentioned them to me before, and I feel like those intrusive, dark thoughts—the "what if this happens, what if that happens, how will I feel, how much will it hurt, will I even make it..." type of stuff—constantly creep up on her, even in normal situations. These fears started surfacing around middle school. She used to talk about them quite a bit, but for the last couple of years, she’s been avoiding the subject because it clearly scares her, and she knows bringing it up only makes things worse... since she’s really trying her best to keep her mind focused on more positive things.
I could get way more specific, but I wouldn't want anyone to recognize her and have the post get taken down.

She can be pretty awkward at home, but out in public or at work, she actually comes across as very composed and calm.
She says she feels like she's constantly stuck in a depression, and she has to put in a ton of effort just to occasionally keep her head above water.

She realizes herself that things might get harder as she gets older, and she’s said that a new trauma—like losing a family member—would probably break her completely.
It makes sense, too; as you get older and your nerves aren't what they used to be, and once the kids are grown, you just don't have the same fight left in you. I really hope she starts getting on the right medication soon.

Kimberly Cooper said:I think you can have a milder version. Maybe something snaps once a year, but that doesn't warrant a diagnosis. For a full diagnosis, things have to be way more complicated...

It's basically a cocktail of different psychoses hitting all at once, or constantly rotating through them.

For her, though, it's constant. We aren't talking about something that hits once a month or once a year.

Honestly, she probably just has some form of depression mixed in with that anxiety that's constantly gnawing at her.

Her fighting spirit and her kids are what keep her going right now, but I worry it might get harder for her as the years go by.

I guess I'm wondering if there’s such a thing as a mild form of schizophrenia?

I'm asking for someone I know. I know they had a pretty traumatic childhood and youth. They also had a brief stint at a psychiatric facility several years back. As far as I can tell, they aren't on any medication. I also know they don't use opioids. On top of that, they deal with frequent phobias and struggle with sleep quite often. Most of the time, they'd describe themselves as being depressed.

It's hard to call it schizophrenia without hallucinations. Maybe she experiences them in some sort of subtle way? I've noticed that during a normal two-way conversation, her mood can just plummet out of nowhere. It's like something suddenly unsettled her. She starts scanning the room with her eyes, loses focus on what we're talking about, and suddenly seems really anxious. I don't think it's anything crazy or obvious, but you can definitely pick up on it.

If these same "symptoms" have been happening for maybe 5 or 6 years now, would a more serious illness eventually get worse over time?

She used to wonder how I could know her so well, maybe even better than some of her closest friends. I just... I got her, you know? I could read her reactions perfectly. She wasn't acting; she was just being herself, though whenever she tried to mask what she was feeling, I noticed it immediately.

Over the course of a few years, she mentioned twice that someone had actually managed to help her overcome her fear. The first time, she thought it was gone for good after talking to a former nurse, an old colleague of hers. I remember the key phrases—based on how terrified she was at the time—being things like, "You're afraid, don't be, think about your son, imagine if something happened to him, what would you do then?"
For two weeks, she felt totally reborn, but then everything just went back to the way it was.
The second time, it was some religious groups or prayer that helped her, maybe Jehovah's Witnesses or something similar. She had a connection there, and they’d come over to visit on Sundays. But I suspect that was short-lived too. I have less info on that part because, by then, she wasn't talking as much about her fears in private. Maybe she didn't want to overdo it and worry me that she was losing her way... anyway, she calls herself a believer, but we never had deep talks about it; I'd say she's just an average believer. She once told me, "God will put obstacles in your path, but he'll never give you one you can't overcome."

Generally speaking, she’s the kind of person everyone just loves—beautiful, humble, and she always gives off this really warm, positive, funny vibe to people she meets. Much like the author here, she couldn't stand seeing unhappy faces; she always had this energy to lift others up... I realize I'm speaking in the past tense, but that feels more natural right now.

Thinking about her fear and the author's, I feel like all these different things, people, and places get "linked." Like, they create this intense, immediate association that sits deep in their gut.
For instance, they view certain families differently because those families are linked to a deeper, stronger emotion, rather than being tied to horror, death, shock, uncertainty, ghosts, mortality, corpses, coffins, loneliness, aging, paralysis, or suffocation...

As much as both of them might be masochists in a way, deep down, they only find relief in positivity, brightness, smiles, and humor; that's what they crave. That’s why they can’t stand gloomy faces, whereas a bit of cheerfulness can easily pull them back into the "NOW" and yank them out of those negative mental movies.

I saw a conversation on YouTube once where someone talked about having similar fears, hearing voices and seeing things too. Maybe schizophrenia. She basically healed herself by treating those negative voices and messages with love, almost like saying, "Thanks for looking out for me, you guys are really kind." Basically, she managed to link them as useful messages that could actually help her.
So, it's positivity against negativity. She didn't ignore them; she accepted them and thanked them for the help.

To me, that seems like a real solution. Those short bursts where they manage to escape the fear aren't enough; the negative emotions rule for too long, and that's just not sustainable in the long run.
You have to fight it by linking your biggest fears and triggers to a positive emotion. You could call it "facing your fear," but not in the sense of treating it like an enemy, but more like a friend... like when I told her that if I saw a ghost, I’d just start chatting with it like my best buddy, maybe even teasing it, like, "What are you gonna do, scare me?" and she actually gave a little laugh at that.

It isn't easy, though, especially when a person is full of doubt—if they don't trust the good stuff, how are they going to trust the good in the negative? But I guess that's the struggle. You have to learn to detach, to act like it doesn't touch you, when things get too heavy. All of this is possible as long as the person hasn't lost their grip on reality; after that, it gets harder because they can't tell anything apart anymore. But still, you have to try to look at everything through these "glasses of positivity and chill."

Back in the day, the priority was often that a woman knew her way around a kitchen and was ready to dedicate herself to the home; people could criticize that if they wanted, but hey, every era has its own set of rules.

Nowadays, everything is just so "fast-paced." Because of that, I guess there’s a bigger emphasis on traits that are immediately obvious—things like looks, being charming, having a great smile, being put-together, financial stability, or social status. People don't go out as much anymore, communication is shorter, and we spend way less time actually socializing and getting to know people deeply. It makes it kind of tough to really discover someone's more subtle strengths.

Even back in elementary school, you can see how some kids focus entirely on grades and studying, while others take a more laid-back approach, focusing more on playing and just enjoying life. It carries over into high school, too; for some, college prep is the main goal, while others are busy discovering talents or becoming the popular crowd—the ones who are super charismatic, rule the social scene, turn heads with their looks, and get compliments constantly.
It isn't really realistic to expect everyone to have the same kind of compatibility when it comes to the opposite sex.
A straight-A student isn't going to compete with the popular jock in certain categories, and vice versa in others.
Also, those girls who were the "it girls" in their youth will probably just keep leaning into those advantages, maybe smoothing out a few flaws if they feel it's necessary, and that's pretty much it.
It all seems pretty logical to me.

Regarding what our colleague wrote: "the more a woman focuses on her appearance, the less interested a man is in her as a person"—I think that's just poorly phrased logic. If we interpret "a woman who takes care of herself" as meaning an attractive woman, then she would likely prioritize someone who is more of a scholar or an intellectual, and those two groups usually come from completely different social circles based on what I mentioned earlier.

For guys who base their identity on intellect rather than those "fast" physical advantages, I think they should continue looking for partners based on intelligence. Finding someone who also happens to be physically stunning is basically like hitting the jackpot on a scratch-off ticket.

I see the OP isn't active anymore, but I really hope she sees this someday.
To be honest, there’s this girl I care about deeply—someone I love—who has these exact same fears and ways of thinking. It’s so similar that I actually wondered if she was the one writing these posts. I was one of the few people she completely opened up to; I was someone she trusted, and I really hope I still mean a lot to her. Over the last month, I’ve gone back and read all your posts on this thread a few times. Part of it is just pure nostalgia for her; I miss her. Her sister has been on her deathbed recently, so she’s pulled away from everyone, and she’s also found some other reasons to push people away, so I haven't seen or heard from her in maybe two months.

I thought about showing her these posts of yours, but the timing hasn't been right. After I post this, though, maybe I’ll just read them to her without telling her where they came from online. I think it would make her feel even a tiny bit better to know she isn't the only one who's terrified in this specific way. You wrote everything so well; I think she uses the same defense mechanisms you mentioned. She gets caught up in these temporary distractions—stuff like music, flirting, constantly switching jobs, getting into arguments with people, etc. You can tell exactly when her mind starts drifting off to those places; you described it perfectly. She has these very specific fears regarding different ways to die. For example, her biggest fear is waking up trapped in a coffin underground. She analyzed that scenario with the same level of intense detail you used here. Her second biggest fear is dying alone, like just collapsing in the middle of a room and being paralyzed, unable to move, just lying there until she dies of dehydration. She once even asked me how things would go if a tornado hit a shopping mall while she was under the roof; she wanted my help analyzing the whole scene... that was back when those threats against the U.S. were making headlines. She also had a bad experience at a cemetery when she was little, hearing something she shouldn't have and running away. I could go on forever listing how much she’s like you. I can't help but wonder how she's holding up right now. By the way, her friends who have known her longer than I have say she’s socializing way less than she used to. Oh, and this is important: she told me that back in elementary school, her best friend died, and left a suicide note that actually blamed her, saying, "you betrayed me too." Ever since then, she's dealt with nightmares and stuff like that.

She told me she's been dealing with this fear since the 6th grade. She had a really stressful childhood—I won't get into all the details, but between her parents and then the bullying and her parents' divorce, she had a complete nervous breakdown.
She describes her mental state as a constant depression that she has to fight just to occasionally surface from. She also has these almost masochistic tendencies where she seeks out shocking situations, like watching horror movies or reading about terrifying events. She knows it’s bad for her, though. And yeah, she doesn't really like people. When she's with me, she says she feels relaxed, better than she does with anyone else.

One time, I was home alone, and for just a couple of seconds, I was hit by this sudden "essence of fear." It came out of nowhere while I was probably just stepping out of the shower or brushing my teeth. I’d describe the feeling as "total abandonment"—like when you're a kid and your parents leave you all alone in the middle of nowhere to just die. It’s a terrifying sensation. If that feeling lasts for long, you can't stay sane, and honestly, that’s probably why people turn to suicide. Personally, I’m not afraid of much. But yeah, I also had this random, intense thought once that fear is basically the same thing as mistrust or betrayal—like, if fear is ruling you, you’ve strayed from God's path, or something like that. That was just my interpretation.