Yeah, but banning abortion isn’t actually about preventing abortion though, any more than it’s about “saving babies”

Not going to wax poetic at you about drug use. Just going to say that the podcast Science Vs. did two great podcasts on this subject that are absolutely worth the listen. One was on mushrooms and one was on MDMA. They go into the science behind what these drugs are actually doing to the brain. Go have a listen, and maybe it will help you to better understand this article.

Siblings of grandparents are “granties” and “gruncles”

This guy made an app called Soosee that looks at labels for you, and highlights ingredients that are not ok. The app is pre-populated, but has a customizable element to it, meaning that you can manually add in all the bullshit names and it’ll search for them, too. It works really well, I use it all the time as I have a sulphate allergy, and they pull the same bullshit there.

Good for them! Hope they get what they’re asking for

How the fuck is this guy married?! I feel so bad for his daughters

Honestly, same. Ever since my own mother asked me if I knew that Swift was a witch (as in, pointy black hat, spells, and broomsticks kind of witch)(yes, I’m serious, she legit believes this, stop laughing) I knew the far right has had it out for her. Don’t know what she did to get their attention (and I don’t really care) but they’re coming with their pitchforks

The University of Alberta has a free course on science literacy. I think it’s available on coursera.

Main/secondary

Prime/secondary/tertiary etc

Talcum powder should not be used by women as studies have shown there may be an increased risk of developing ovarian cancer

It’s a culture cultivated specifically to make it difficult to leave

This is a feature of all cults, not just the well known ones that call themselves “religion”

Congrats, Curtis and Arthur! Wonder what name they’ve got picked out for the little one?

That’s cuz English is a bully that beats up all the other languages and steals their words

And they work with Voyager

I’ll admit I completely missed your parentheses and thought you were talking about the builders of fences, and I was a little confused for a second.

I know nothing about either kinds of fencing, but what you say sounds right

Perhaps the intent wasn’t to kill her, but only to keep her secure somewhere, and that’s why she had a tablet and phone and money and ID. (But why? Were they/was he in some kind of trouble, and they were (he was, since he left her literally chained to a fucking tree, implying she didn’t want to go/be with him (can’t blame her there) and he obviously couldn’t trust that she wouldn’t run off the first chance she got) planning on fleeing the country? Not enough money to buy a plane ticket, but a train ticket, maybe? Why else leave her with her ID?))

Maybe he did come back a few times and something happened to him where he couldn’t come back. (Why wouldn’t he come back? Did he get himself killed? What kind of trouble were they in, anyways??) (Although you’d think they’d have found an iv plug, or evidence of one. I guess it’s possible they purposely kept back information from being published, I know they do that sometimes.))

I agree, I’m just speculating how it would be possible.

You can’t survive 40 days without rehydration, but if you were given fluid intravenously, you can go without actually drinking anything. She states he injected her with something, maybe it was drugged, and maybe he hooked her up with an iv drip? I dunno. The whole situation is royally fucked up, any way you look at it

Ugh. And I liked him as an author. Why can’t it be a crappy writer instead? Now I’m gonna feel bad every time I read one of his works. What an asshole.

I can tell you that what works for me is to be polite but distant. I’ll say “good morning!” to my coworkers and “have a good night!” At the end of the shift. I’ll be helpful when needed, and I’ll do my best to work well with others.

However, I’ll keep an “out” handy for when people get gossipy or nosy. I’ll bring a book along to read during breaks and at lunch, or I’ll keep something work-related in my hands when I’m around a group of coworkers, as an indicator to the group that I’m not wanting to chat.

I’ve also gotten good at turning conversation back around on really chatty, insistent people. “No, I don’t have a favorite color. What’s yours?” “Yes, I do think that patient looks like Elvis, are you a fan of his?” “No, I don’t have a dog. Do you?” Basically, be really boring with your answers, but let them keep talking about themselves, as they’re likely tire themselves out eventually. Works if you can stand it, and if you can do your job with a coworker talking at you for an hour. Last resort, and all that.

Of the examples you’ve given as responses, I think the only one that doesn’t make you come across as dickish is the one stating that you don’t want to talk about religion or politics, and even then, you sound like an asshole when you state this.

Instead of “‘I’ve worked here for a year already. It should be clear by now that I’m not a talkative person. This is a question I don’t want to answer. And I hope that you respect that.’”, you could say something like “I don’t feel comfortable talking about this”. It’s shorter and way less aggressive, and people are more likely to listen to you when you’re not all up in their face over a question, you know?

“‘that I don’t talk doesn’t mean I hate you, it means I have nothing to say’” For the record, I also think it’s ludicrous that you feel you have to say this. Maybe you could word it a little differently though, something like “I don’t mean for you to take it personally, I’m just a private person, and prefer to keep my home life at home”

“‘I don’t see what that has to do with the job’” could be “Not to be a buzzkill, but mind if we keep this conversation on work?”