Texas being Texas, I guess ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Well, that is the wildest thing I read in a long time since the last Trump news, but it is actually very interesting. And constitutional. America is wild.

Ahhh, good to know! I’m just in Bordeaux rn and will visit Marseille at some point in the next few months, now I know what I should look out for :)

What is up with this Marseille soap? Second time someone mentions it in this thread.

That sounds like a really good routine tbh :)

What happens when you find out it isn’t there anymore?! Do you then just like order a replacement one from Amazon?

Everything (except 8, obviously) is pretty standard practice for CBT as well. In terms of self-help, I’d also definitely add

9: Find nice people/a nice group to spend time with. Doesn’t really matter what it is: sports club, theater, study group, board game club, garden builders. Just follow your interests.

I think many people dismiss the incredible value friends bring to our life and the stabilizing effect it has on out mental health. Loneliness is one of the deadliest causes out there (some studies say it’s as harmful as smoking daily), so make sure to have people around you whom you like spending time with! And no, digital groups are not the same as real-life ones. Body language is incredibly important in communication, and with it missing orr brain processes information differently.

Tl;Dr: Get out there and find nice people.

While you may have the right to call yourself what you want, you shouldn’t use it in an “us” context. At least I wouldn’t be okay with it.

This is really valuable advise. I’m 20 at this point, and (after therapy) I’m looking back and realizing now much self-acceptance and connection with your own emotion shape the way I perceive the world. I’m really glad that I started this young, and for people who live in a country where psychotherapy is covered by healthcare - there are usually offers of a short psychotherapy (in Germany it’s called Kurzzeitherapie, short-term therapy) which will in my opinion as a psychology student will benefit every person.

You and your work are amazing :)

One of my classmates did the Hitler salute and exclaimed “Heil Hitler” - an expression which is (rightfully) penalized in Germany, where I live.

The guy was a son of our local police officer.

He didn’t got expelled, but he had a very stern talk with our school director. I presume that it was made clear to him that if this ever happens again, he’s out. From what I heard last, in the last few years he was really ashamed of what he did when he was younger. I sincerely hope he is doing okay now - he got into the police, and people like him who recognize that being right isn’t cool are needed.

Coincidentally my school is in Dessau; our city is well-known for producing Zyklon B, a lethal gas used in KZs across Germany, and a “case of sudden self-igniting” of a migrant called Oury Jalloh in a police cell. Obviously all the camera footage of that cell randomly broke down, there was blood found in the dining room and the guy didn’t have anything to lit himself on fire with. But that all obviously is just a coincidence ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Not a good city to do the Hitlers salute in (if there ever was any, which - surprise - doesn’t), tbh.

We met in college. We are in the same class, and just sat together.

Funnily, I wanted to organize a D&D round, so I texted in the common class group if anyone was interested. No one publicly replied, and she felt sad for me - so she texted me privately and told me that she hopes someone answered me. That’s how we began texting and talking.

I think that’s a cute story :)

Thank you for your reply! I will think about the first point. I didn’t consider that second homes tend to increase property values in the area - that’s a valid point.

I disagree with your second paragraph. When you rent a house at its price, aka only and exactly the price for electricity, water, and repairs of the building, I don’t see any exploitation in it because you effectively aren’t making any profit from the person living there.

However, I’m replying from a German standpoint. I presume that in the USA, the situation is different and in an advanced stadium of dystopican capitalism, so probably my thoughts aren’t fully applicable.

Thank you for replying! I appreciate it.

Mh, I agree, but also disagree to some extent. I am a Democratic socialist and think that means of production should be used for the greater good, so keeping a house in order to make profit is exactly that: private property of means of production with the goal of $$$.

However, I think the question goes deeper than that. I think it’s absolutely valid for a family to have a secondary home, e.g. when they want to go to a vacation. Sometimes renting out a hostel is difficult, one might not like the hostels available, or a plethora of other reasons. As soon as the person owning the house uses it for themselves for a significant amount of time, it isn’t really a means of production anymore, but a private property. What is important in my opinion is that the time when the house isn’t used by the owner, other people have a chance to use it - cheap AirBnB covering the costs maybe?

Tl;DR - renting the house out to others to make profit: yes, unethical. Earning money by a human necessity is, in my opinion, not right. Using the house yourself and/or renting it for sustenance cost: absolutely valid. You don’t use the means of production to take money from the people, you use it for your own (and society’s) benefit.

I’ve delved way too deep into the fall of the Western Roman Empire. I think I know a lot about Majorian, Stilicho, Aetius and Ricimer. My gf at this point even knows who Honorius is and why he was a bad emperor. Edit: and that he had chicken :)

When I saw the meme “How often do you daily think about the Roman Empire”, I knew that it was about me, because the answer is yes :/

That is really cool! It makes me anxious that the quality of the education declined, but alone the fact that so many people got the chance go receive education is huge. I’m very glad that the government wants to pursue this goal and is confident to be able to stem the costs. I’m hopeful that this will work - and as the interviewed government person said, education is the best foundation for a good economy. Seems very logical to me.

A kind reminder from Germany: If anyone tells that they “didn’t know what they were getting into” and that “it didn’t seem as bad, they cant really mean it” and “time in power will pacify them and they won’t push through with their claims” - we already had this story and these excuses. I hope that we all can prevent the fascists from getting into power. I really don’t want stuff I’ve read in history books to repeat in my lifetime. The more people know about P2025, the better - but to be honest I fear that most will just ignore it and go on with their day.

Ubuntu actually. I hated Ubuntu for a long time, until there was a game which only ran on Ubuntu. And now, after installing it, I’m actually pretty impressed and like it a lot. Yaru is a very good-looking theme, and the customizations Ubuntu made to stock GNOME are actually pretty logical (like adding windows buttons). It has among the best documentation and package support in the whole Linux universe. I’m a guy who likes to tinker, but for whom it is more important that the PC runs well, and I haven’t encountered a single problem with Ubuntu yet - no kernel panic, no weird Bluetooth stuff, no apps which don’t run for some reason,…

Everything just works. And that makes me happy. So Ubuntu it is.

That changes my perspective on them a lot. Well, another lesson taken - don’t jump too quickly onto conclusions.

It was a difficult wordle - I wouldn’t have figured it our without my gf.

Spoiler: It is