Posts by hiddenpuma3

And why on earth aren't we billing them for all this wasted time?
In any real bank—I'm talking about places like Chase—they won't even give you the time of day without charging a service fee, yet they have the audacity to expect everyone else to work for free. It’s frankly insulting.

If one more market research firm calls my cell pretending to represent some banking institution, I swear I'm filing a harassment complaint...

The claim that kids hate religious studies? Absolute nonsense. They despise it like the plague—it’s just that they don't have anyone they actually trust to talk to about it.

More often than not, they're stuck with some uninspired instructor who has about as much connection to pedagogy as I do to mechanical engineering.
They spend their time forcing students to memorize useless trivia through incredibly rigid, soul-crushing grading systems.
It is nothing short of brainwashing—just endless cycles of learning complete nonsense.
In my view, only someone truly unhinged would try to control children by terrorizing them with threats of hell and sin.

Nancy Kelly31 said:Honestly, this is just hitting rock bottom. Can you believe it? She actually "threatened" the principal. 🙂 That’s just how things work in our wonderful country, apparently! It is exactly the kind of "value" parents should be instilling in their little ones. If something doesn't align perfectly with your personal preferences? No problem, just resort to intimidation... It doesn't matter what the school board regulations state about withdrawing from elective courses via a formal request before the start of the academic year... It doesn't matter that it would create absolute chaos if every student could just jump in and out of electives whenever they felt like it mid-semester... It doesn't matter how much it would wreck the teachers' schedules or the entire school's organization... None of that matters! All that counts is that she intimidated the principal! And instead of being mortified by her own behavior, she seems to be flaunting it openly! 😲 I truly don't know anymore. The moral compass of the world has clearly spun completely off its axis. A child raised under those circumstances really has no business sitting in a religious education class... 🤦

It’s funny how you conveniently overlook the teacher’s own condemnations of homosexuality and IVF—things that have absolutely nothing to do with her job description, much less her authority to judge.

What else would it take for people to actually wake up and feel concerned?

Lawrence Torres56 said:Maybe try reading back through a few posts if you're having such a hard time wrapping your head around this... why on earth would it be impossible?

Look, your kid belongs to you, not the teacher.
And honestly, if you think it's the teacher's job to manage your child instead of yours, then I can only ask one question: why did you have the kid in the first place? My child is mine, period. Whether they are sitting at the kitchen table or sitting in a classroom, looking out for them is my responsibility, not the teacher's...

If you truly believe that teachers in public schools are just part of the establishment, then honey, just enroll your kid in private school. Or better yet, start your own academy and hire teachers who actually align with your values.😉

And let's be real—as long as everyone invokes God whenever they need a favor, as long as top government officials show up at Mass, and as long as the President's inauguration ends with "so help me God," then please, save the lectures about a secular state for someone who actually believes it.😉

If we actually lived up to those "Christian" values even half as much as we love throwing the word around, wouldn't those other twenty kids matter just as much as our own?☕
So let's not misuse a concept we clearly don't understand just to try and tear someone else down.☕

When a kid is at school, they are under the supervision of the school and the faculty; please, don't try to spin this.
A parent isn't omnipresent—we can't be hovering over our children every single second from twenty miles away.

School isn't just something you breeze through in five minutes—it represents half a day of dedicated care and oversight.
The scheduling of that care and education rests entirely on the institution.
Because if parents were actually consulted, certain things might actually change in the schedule—but we all know that won't happen.

Quincy:

If you truly believe teachers in public schools are just bureaucratic hacks, then honey, just enroll your kid in private school—or better yet, start your own academy and hire teachers who meet your standards.😉

Give me a break.
I am absolutely losing it here. Eventually, people are going to learn what actual public accountability in a public institution means.😉

Quincy:

And as long as everyone invokes God whenever they need something, as long as the top brass of the government keeps heading to church, and as long as the President’s inauguration ends with "so help me God"—save the talk about being a secular nation for someone else.😉 If we actually held onto that concept of being "Christian" even half as much as we love invoking it, then those other twenty kids would matter to us too, not just our own.☕ So let's not abuse a word we don't even understand just to try and tear someone down.☕

What is the issue with the other kids? Why are you twisting the argument? 🍿
The majority of those kids are perfectly fine; they don't need anything because someone decided to force religious narratives on them while anyone who rejects that stuff is treated like a threat.

Lawrence Torres56 said:Personally, I really think it’s totally doable for schools to set things up that way... though I honestly doubt teachers would even want to deal with a tiny group of two or three students during that specific hour when they could just head home or finally get some actual work done in peace... and look, I wouldn't even frame it as a "Christian vs. non-Christian" debate, I'm just looking at the pure logic of it here...

Why on earth is that impossible?
The school administration handles the master schedule, so it is perfectly possible—and frankly, quite simple—to slot religion classes into a period where they won't disrupt the standard flow of academics, because at the end of the day, that's what the school is actually for.

Am I really supposed to worry about protecting a child's time both at home and at school just to ensure some bureaucratic teacher doesn't feel "unwanted"—which, let's be honest, is exactly what happens in a secular public institution?

We are talking about Christianity here—this isn't some debate about Hinduism. These people aren't causing trouble or running around the halls just because they don't share everyone else's worldview.
Bullseye.

Lawrence Torres56 said:If sports were a core part of the curriculum, and my kid wasn't enrolled in it while 20 other students were, well, I guess I'm the one who needs to adjust to the majority, right? I'm not "the majority" to me, sorry...
After-school care happens after the bell rings, so it really doesn't matter if a kid heads to the program an hour early or an hour late... If schools could actually form classes based on enough students whose parents have the guts to publicly say, "Hey, I don't want my kid in religion class," instead of just venting on internet forums, then those classes would exist.
No kid is just "standing in the hall" during religion class; the fact that they're bored is just proof of how we, as parents, are failing to raise them properly... Sorry, but those 45 minutes can be used incredibly well if parents stop passing their own drama down to their kids. Those 45 minutes can be spent reviewing lessons, reading literature, or getting homework done—that's 45 extra minutes of free time once they get home! So what's the big deal? Aside from us blowing things out of proportion because our egos are bruised since things aren't going our way... and the fact that religion class isn't "cool" anymore or whatever:

For the Millies who chew gum in church or cause scenes in the hallways, it's not the religion class's fault; it's the parents who taught them that behavior... So, as parents, we should probably start looking at our own flaws first, rather than pointing fingers at twenty other people who know exactly what they want and have the nerve to state their opinion publicly.

And why not just move religion class to the very first or very last period to avoid all this chaos with the kids?
Just a thought—for the sake of everyone else, which is what Christian values should be about, right?

Sarah Ruiz42 said:Banks are legally required to report anyone they have a damn good reason to suspect of money laundering or terror financing directly to FinCEN...

But let's be real: this bank clearly isn't sending a single thing to any government database. I mean, a centralized system *has* to exist—just look at how FINCEN operates under the oversight of the IRS and the Department of the Treasury. There has to be a massive registry for money laundering, just like there's a database managed by CBP for tracking anyone trying to move unauthorized cash through a bank (you know, those suspicious transfers over $10,000 regardless of whether they're declared or not).

But what good is some random declaration for that? It’s not like they aren't already supposed to be monitoring every single transaction themselves.

Oh, believe me, they monitor—they monitor everything.
The people actually running these shady operations aren't exactly routing their dirty money through a major institution like JPMorgan Chase or Bank of America.
And besides—what difference does a statement saying "I am a terrorist" make when half the players involved are just as crooked?☕

Nancy Kelly31 said:I get the impression you're just trolling here. I honestly can't decide whether it's worth responding to this or not. 🤔
If this is just another attempt to mock believers and the Church, then thank you very much, but I have no desire to participate in this anymore.
And if we are looking for a practical way to handle children who aren't enrolled in religious studies, that is a reality we face. This isn't the way to go about it.
It seems to me that children who aren't enrolled should be grouped together in the same classes rather than being scattered everywhere. That way, everything could be scheduled at the beginning or end of the school day, and everyone would be satisfied. Principals generally manage this new situation quite well now that these individual non-enrolled students are popping up, but it isn't easy. A principal is managing a massive system, and individuals often get lost within it...

It isn't "trolling" to point out that the religious education curriculum is in direct conflict with actual science—so why the sudden excuses?

No discussions on masturbation, no mention of premarital sex, no contraception, and zero open dialogue about sexuality between parents and children... encouraging kids to jump into sexual relationships without any guidance is absolutely disastrous for them.

Jerry Williams53 said:Spot on ... info costs money... and time too...
Until I get paid... I don't have the time...

The woman actually thought I was just refusing to answer! 😵 As if I'm going to be the one chasing *you* down.
WTF, who do you think you are?

They’re constantly shoving these surveys down our throats at work.
The higher-ups hire some fancy consulting firm—probably something like McKinsey—to run market research on their business clients.
Do I even need to state the obvious here? It’s a total waste of my time, we gain absolutely nothing from it, and they completely ignore any actual feedback we give them anyway.

It’s almost like they take it personally when you tell them you don't have the bandwidth for their little questionnaires.
If you want your opinion to actually matter, pay up. ☕

shadowheron49 said:And I’m definitely not saying this is just about my ego...
It’s not even that... damn... it’s just my heart that's hurting...
I’ve honestly never met anyone quite like him, there just aren't people like that around here, someone who feels so deeply connected to me...
I guess I just bonded with him in a way that's hard to explain...
It isn't even like I'm grieving... it's more like that constant knot in your stomach because you realize you're never going to see that person again...
That's all... That word "NEVER." I absolutely hate it.

Exactly—it's an addiction.
"Heartache"? Please, give me a break.😁
It hurts because he blew you off—plain and simple. Get over it, shake off the dust, and move on. If you want some comfort, remember this: if he were actually the right one for you, he would have stayed. But he didn't.

shadowheron49 said:Yeah... honestly, the only reason I'd do it is for my own sanity too...
But you know what's actually tearing me apart right now?
He used to tell me... about how so many girls fell for him exactly the same way I did...
And he never ended up seeing any of them...
Now I can't help but wonder if I'm actually anything special at all... I've seen photos of some of those girls, and they are gorgeous, seriously stunning... and he turned them all down...

It's not even that... it's just... it opened my eyes to the fact that I might just be another girl in a long line of people who fell for him, and that I don't mean a damn thing to him...

I don't know how to explain it... my ego... my pride won't let me humiliate myself like this...
All I wanted was for him... to carve out even just a tiny sliver of his life for me, even just one hour...

But it's not that I'm a bad person... it's just that I feel like I'm not "worth" that single hour because I'm nothing special, and that completely kills my desire for him... my drive to even try...
I just wanted him to show me, in his own way, that I actually matter a little more than everyone else...
And now, he's been gone for two weeks, knowing full well I'm worried sick (I'm terrified something happened to him), yet he could easily have just decided to ghost me... by doing that, he proved I'm no different from the rest... which I already realized before this...

Honestly, it just killed any urge I had to see him, to work for him, or to care about anything at all...

He hooked you—and it’s laid out perfectly right here if you just take a second to actually analyze what you wrote.
Maybe he does this unconsciously, maybe because he’s just messed up, or maybe he’s just playing games.
He subtly dropped hints about how he’s dealt with multiple women he rejected. Your brain—that primal, lizard part of you—interpreted that as "Wow, he’s a high-value male, women are fighting over him, which means he’s top-tier long-term material."
In reality? He might be lying through his teeth; it’s probably just his go-to tactic for picking up women.
Plus, you’re feeding your own ego. By being in contact with him, you’re building your ego too, because in your head, he’s nothing short of a superhero.
Over those two years, you’ve definitely constructed this image of him as some ultimate alpha in your mind because
-you wanted to
-he made it easier for you to fall for him.

Now I feel like... maybe I wasn't anything more special than the rest of them... I'm not sure...
But it isn't that I'm bad... it's that I'm not "worthy" of that one hour because I'm nothing "extra," and that just kills my drive for him... my drive to try...
I wanted that specific way of doing things to let me know, even if it was just a little bit, that I actually matter more than everyone else...
But now that he’s been gone for two weeks and he knows I’m dying of anxiety (I’m terrified something happened to him), it could just be that he decided to simply cast me aside... which proves I wasn't worth any more than the others... which I already realized before this...

Honestly, it just killed any desire I had to see him, to work for him, to want anything at all...

So, here’s the bottom line. You didn't get chosen by the guy you idealized, and honestly, it’s just your ego taking a hit.
There’s also a hint of pathology here—it’s pretty obvious when you act like a lunatic wondering if he’s still alive😁 after two whole weeks. It’s the classic pattern of someone who’s addicted. "I just need to know he's breathing so I can walk away with my dignity intact." *facepalm*

Why your ego is keeping you trapped in this bubble of illusion? You'll have to figure that out yourself, but you aren't alone in this.
Go back and read the Joe Biden thread over on the Lonely Hearts forum; you’ll see a whole crowd of people who were in love with illusions, where it led them, and just how brutal the wake-up call can be.
That particular part is especially interesting—honestly, I don't even know what I was thinking.
Good luck.

Once you’ve actually established yourself on your own property—once you have total autonomy over your own land—then you can grow and raise whatever the hell you want. (And frankly, I suggest you make that happen as soon as humanly possible.)
Until then? Just sit tight and stop getting worked up about things that don't concern you.

Quentin Tarantino:

neno1966 As stated by: Everyone here seems to be operating under the flawed assumption—and I use that word intentionally—that these loans were just pulled out of thin air yesterday. It’s a ridiculous premise. 🙂 Let’s look at the reality of mortgage debt—those loans taken out a few years back. A massive chunk of that principal has already been paid down by now. Plus, if we’re being honest about the market, most of those properties could probably be offloaded almost instantly for, say, half of their actual value. When you run the math, the "unrecoverable" portion of the debt—the part where the bank actually loses its shirt—is significantly smaller than the alarmists want you to believe. Even then, the bank would still be legally entitled to pursue the client for that remaining gap. It’s simple arithmetic, really. ☕

I'm with you on that—completely.
If you actually factor in all those various service fees and junk charges that banks are so incredibly efficient at squeezing out of you—not to mention the compounding interest—the final amount ends up being significantly lower than what they claim. It’s a joke.

Poor little banks. Truly pathetic.

Hannah Castillo said:I'm not quite sure which sub this belongs in, but this felt like the right spot...

I have a friend. She’s always been a genuinely good person—straight-A student, reliable, polite, organized, you name it.
Then, during her sophomore year of high school, it was like she just grew tired of being seen as the "good girl." Suddenly, she started fabricating this persona of a wild party girl who lives for the nightlife.
Out of nowhere, she starts claiming she’s slept with dozens of guys, lost her virginity at twelve, went on trips to Europe with some guy when she was ten, or tells these elaborate lies about getting proposed to last Valentine's Day. She talks about partying every weekend and drinking constantly. Everyone knows it's nonsense, but nobody wants to be the jerk who calls her out, so we all just let the lies slide. We haven't even met any of the "friends" she claims to hang out with, despite us all being close for four years now.
She’s 18 and a half now.
I don't get the motivation. What’s wrong with being seen as a responsible, decent person? Have we really reached a point where you have to pretend to be a reckless hedonist just to feel accepted?

Whenever she starts spinning these yarns, I just ignore it and change the subject. I've noticed it's grating on our other friends too, and they're starting to tune her out. But she won't stop; she finds a way to bring up sex or something equally desperate almost every single day.

What do you all think? How can I make her realize how exhausting this is without having to be brutally blunt about what I actually think of her?

She's way too young—she's still in that phase where she's basically just molding her entire personality around whatever she thinks is "trendy" at the moment. Either she'll start chasing guys because she saw some influencer post about how that makes you "cool," or eventually, reality will set in and she'll finally grasp the importance of just being herself.

briskpuma23 said:It’s been common knowledge for a long time that this forum is mostly dominated by a narrow, small-minded mindset, and I have no interest in debating that.

What actually shook my delicate soul today was something else—something different, yet equally telling. This forum doesn't offer a space for people who don't fit into the binary of male or female.

Germany, a country that has always led the way—sometimes through genocide, sometimes through tolerance, depending on which way the wind blows—recognizes five genders.

I'm not suggesting we should immediately adopt everything from the decaying West, even if it comes from the only nation we love besides our own homeland, but let's be honest with ourselves: there are all kinds of people out there. Not everyone identifies according to medieval standards.

If there’s a Women's Corner—which, let's be objective, hasn't offered an original thought since the idea that women can think—and a Men's Corner, which is only conditional at best and serves as a sanctuary for unlived adolescents, then I see no reason why we shouldn't provide a subforum for those who don't feel like men or women, yet still crave a sense of belonging. To put it in forum terminology - let's call it a subforum for gender-neutral cosmopolitans, anationalists, stateless people, and xenophiles.

I don't need to prove that a transgender subforum couldn't be even more ridiculous than, say, the Alternative section, or that its residents will certainly have more coherent thoughts than the crowd in Spirituality, be more mentally stable than the group in Psychology, or show a higher level of tolerance than the folks in Politics—that much is already obvious. The important thing is that such a subforum could serve as a refuge for anyone who feels stifled by the existing two gender-defined sections.

And I don't doubt for a second that once this subforum comes to life—and it will, whether now or in three years—it will eventually sink into petty conformism. People there will likely be mocked for defending the only logical thesis: that every human is a gender unto themselves, and therefore there are as many genders as there are human beings. But it doesn't matter! Transgender people have a right to be petty too! Let's give them that.

Thanks for listening.

🤣
I truly believe there is a massive crowd of them surrounding us right now—just a literal mob—charging straight toward the barricades of democracy as we speak. ☕